Ties With Her [Life is Strange]

Chapter 9: A Good Morning

Chloe opened her eyes from her sleep. She let out a yawn and sat up. Stretching out her arms. She noticed that her window she left open last night was shut.

Mom probably came in last night and closed it.

She rubbed her tired eyes and got off of her bed. She got her set of clothes for the day and brought them into the washroom.

After her shower, she dressed in her clothes consisting of, a black shirt, dark blue ripped jeans, a black hoodie, and her skate shoes. She looked into the mirror and smiled confidently.

Her life seemed to have finally started to turn itself over.

I can't believe Rachel feels the same way. I've never felt this happy in years. I'm really excited to see her today. Rachel is seriously something special to me. She gets me. But she's also not too happy with her dad. But that's something I can help her with.

Chloe made her way down the stairs with the smell of eggs and bacon filling her nose. She turned to the table and walked past the kitchen. "Good morning, Chloe." Joyce greeted. "Morning." Chloe said back. Giving her mother a smile.

"You look happy." Joyce said as she smiled back.

"Yeah. I guess I am..." Chloe said as she walked over to the table. She sat down into a chair and sighed happily. Slouching in her seat. Joyce brought her breakfast and said, "What's on your mind, dear?" Chloe shrugged, still smiling wildly.

"Don't know. It's just a good day." She said. Joyce smiled and said, "I'm glad you feel that way." It had been so long since Joyce last saw her daughter happy. It warmed her heart to see her daughter's smile again.

Chloe finished her breakfast and stood from her seat. "Mom..." Chloe said as she approached her mother. "I'm sorry for scaring you yesterday." Chloe told her.

"And I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Joyce said. "And... I'll try to do better." Chloe said. Joyce smiled at her daughter. "Thank you, Chloe. That means a lot to me. Have a good day."

"You too." Chloe said and walked to the door and opened it. Surprisingly, David's muscle car wasn't in the drive way. It wasn't like Chloe was disappointed in any way though. Just because she made amends with her mother doesn't mean she automatically feels good about David moving in.

She didn't show it to Joyce. But she was still very upset about that. And still even a little upset with her mother for going behind her back to talk about it. And actually agreeing to it. Maybe it's a far cry, but if Chloe could clean up her act, maybe Joyce wouldn't need David to move in anymore.

But it was probably set in stone by now. Which Chloe wasn't looking forward to. Living with David was probably, if not, the worst thing that could ever happen.

Chloe stepped onto the bus and sat in her usual spot. There were a couple of Blackwell students on the bus as well. Once she was comfortable in her seat, Chloe plugged her earbuds into her phone and played some music. As she watched the world pass on by, her phone vibrated. She checked what it was and it was a text from Steph.

From: STEPH
This is Chloe Price, right? It's Steph Gingrich.

From: ME
hey

From: STEPH
Cool. I have your DVD with me. I'm at the picnic tables. You can get it before school

From: ME
thanks

The bus soon dropped Chloe and the other students off at Blackwell. She walked up the steps and made her way to the picnic tables to get her DVD from Steph.

"Hey, Chloe." The voice of Eliot Hampden spoke.

Chloe stopped her tracks and turned to face him. "Oh, hey Eliot." Chloe greeted back. "So... The Tempest is happening tonight, huh?" He said. "Um... yeah? I think so?" Chloe said, an irritable expression on her face. Although Chloe's known Eliot since kindergarten, she still found it a drag to talk with him.

"It's probably gonna be lame, but... do you wanna see it together?" He asked.

Rachel's in The Tempest. And I'm hoping we can hang out once it's done. But I really don't want to see it with Eliot. He's not all bad, but we've kinda grown apart over the years. He thinks we're still close, but we're really not anymore.

"Maybe... I don't know." Chloe said with a shrug. "Yeah, that's cool." Eliot said. "Alright. See you in chem." Chloe said and disbanded from Eliot.

"Yeah, for sure!" Eliot said and walked back to his book. He quickly turned back. "Oh, do you... wanna... hang out?" Eliot questioned silently as Chloe had already gotten too far to hear him.

Okay, so Steph said she was at the picnic tables. She's probably playing DnD with Mikey. I should go get it before school starts.

Chloe saw Steph with Mickey at the picnic tables and approached their table.

"If only I knew the celestial avenger was bloodied, I would've definitely given him my potion." Mikey said. "It was a skill challenge, Mikey. Potions don't work here." Steph told him. "Skill challenge?" Chloe questioned as she neared them. "Oh, it's just part of the tabletop game we play." Steph said. "Not that you'd understand." Mikey muttered.

"Try me nerds. I know what tabletop games are." Chloe said. Mikey smiled approvingly and said, "Cool." Chloe faced Steph. "Got my DVD?" She questioned. "Yep. Here you go. As requested." Steph said as she reached into her backpack. "Directors cut of Blade Runner." Steph said and handed Chloe the DVD.

"Sweet. Five bucks you said?" Chloe asked. "Nah. Keep it. I'm glad someone here has a taste for the classics. Especially if they're a directors cut that cuts out shitty voice-overs and replaces it with a sweet dream sequence." Steph told her.

"Hell yeah. Dream life beats real life, that's my motto." Chloe said. "Right on." Mikey said.

"Do you know if Rachel is a gamer?" Steph asked. "Rachel Amber?" Chloe questioned.

"Yeah. I saw you two together at lunch yesterday. Is it... like a friend thing?" Steph added. Mikey chuckled and teased, "Steph has a cru-ush." Steph sent him a glare across their tabletop game. Chloe rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well... I'm just starting to get to know Rachel." Chloe said with a shrug. Hoping to hide what she has with Rachel from Steph. "Oh. Cool." Steph said with a nod. "Well, if she says anything, let me know. I'm curious to see how good she is at Crash Bandicoot." Steph said.

"Yeah... I'll... see what I can do." Chloe said, starting to feel a little protective of her feelings toward the popular girl.

"Anyway, I gotta head..." Chloe said. "Bye, Chloe." Steph said. "See ya." Mikey added.

Chloe approached the doors and was about to open them when they opened themselves. And there stood Rachel. She was dressed in her Tempest play costume. She smiled at Chloe. "You're here. Great! Come, follow me." Rachel told her as she dragged Chloe into the building.