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Chloe found herself a bit winded. Breaking into school grounds, dodging security guards: she was getting too old for this kinda shit.
At nearly thirty years old, this kinda thing was getting old, even if there was some kind of oddly-familiar nostalgia in it. It was almost as if she had done all of this before, but not alone. Though, she couldn't tell if it was a dream or a memory.
She giggled to herself as she entered what looked like a bar on campus. It had been a long, long drive from where she ditched Drugstore Makeup back in Nevada, and she could use a drink. Just one though, probably.
And then, once she found out where Max was, she'd be gone.
Could she have just texted Max and asked for her address on campus? Maybe. But something in her felt that this was the only way. To just, show up back in her life and go from there.
Chloe hoped to lay low for a bit anyway. That security guard was bound to catch her here, but hopefully she could relax, have a drink, and get the information she needed before she found her. She'd already booted her from campus once, despite Chloe's flawless attempts to try and bullshit her way into staying.
The next time was bound to be more violent, especially with those muscles. She hadn't been man-handled by a strong butch since Chicago, and at least that woman had bought her a beer first.
Realistically, she could just wait until the morning when there was staff to let her on campus as a visitor, but she knew she wouldn't sleep tonight until she saw Max again. It had to be tonight, despite how much it hurt.
Chloe shook off the snow from her hair and looked around at the little place. It was cute, not like the dive bars Chloe was used to. It had an art school charm to it, much in the way Black-hell couldn't ever dream of with its soul-sucking halls.
The place was practically empty at this hour. It was quite late for a school night, she figured. Chloe walked over and skimmed the flyers on the bulletin board by the stage before she went over to the bar and planted herself on a stool.
The bartender was a cute babe with her hair tied up in twin buns. She looked up from drying a glass and smiled. "Hey there. Cold out there?"
The girl tilted her head, and Chloe thought she almost saw a fleeting glimmer of recognition in her eyes.
"Wait, I don't know you, do I? …Are you new here?"
"I- uhhhh. Yeee-yes! I-uhhh…" Chloe stammered. She used to be better at this, or at least it was always easier against dumb men.
Charming, pretty girls were her weakness.
The bartender giggled. "Hey, easy, don't have an aneurysm! I don't give a shit. As long as you're, you know, of age… Which…"
Chloe immediately recoiled. "Hey! You callin' me old? I got my ID right here if you wanna card me. It's pretty convincing!" Her hand dove into her pocket for her wallet.
The girl smiled, shook her head, and put her hands up innocently.
"Hey, I meant no offense! Look, I'm just sayin'." She leaned in closer on the counter.
"Listen, they don't want me serving people who just sorta, you know, wander in here from off campus. But…" She briefly looked around the bar behind Chloe and then winked at her. "It's a slow night. What'll you have?"
Chloe read the girl's name tag. She sat back on the stool and smirked.
"Well…Amanda…gimme a.. local brew. Whatever ya got on tap. Dealer's choice!"
Amanda winked and flashed Chloe a finger gun. She then pulled out a glass from down below and filled it steadily to the brim at one of the taps before sliding it over to Chloe. Chloe quickly put her hand out and stopped it.
"Woah, I thought they only slid drinks like that in movies! You're smooth!"
Amanda bowed. "What can I say? Easy to practice when there's plenty of downtime on nights like this."
Chloe smiled as she starred into the mug containing the dark brew.
"It's a local, like you asked. I don't personally drink it, but it's popular here."
Chloe looked up at Amanda quizzically. The bartender grinned and put her hands up.
"I didn't poison it, if that's what you're wondering…but I did spit in it!" She joked.
Chloe laughed. "Oh sweet, more flavor!" She announced before quickly taking a swig.
Hey, not bad…
Amanda clutched her stomach and giggled. "You're weird, miss. But I like that! And I'm glad you didn't take that joke seriously!"
Chloe giggled back at her.
As Chloe started to sip at her beer, the bartender looked over at one of the tables where a girl wearing what looked like a fishing hat and ordornments in her hair sat alone, staring at a laptop pensively. She then turned back to Chloe.
"Hey, I'll be around if you need anything. Or, if you decide you have a name and wanna tell me it, or if you have a reason for being here on campus of all places and you wanna chat about that or whatever. Feel free to give me a shout out! Cool?"
Chloe swallowed a gulp of beer and considered her.
Should I just…ask if she knows where Max would be? Or…
Nah, maybe I'll just sit here and procrastinate. I have all night to yank this bandage off. And this beer is growing on me.
"Uhhh, yeah! Sounds good!"
Amanda smiled and shrugged. "Okay! Have it your way, mystery girl!"
She stepped away from the bar and headed towards that other girl. "Hey, Diamond, how we doin' over here? Wanna order anything? We might be shutting the ovens off soon."
Chloe watched her for a few seconds before turning away. She sat and sipped at her beer pensively.
And then a familiar voice broke the silence.
"Wow, what a cutie! Maybe you should ask her out and call it a night."
Chloe whipped around to her right.
There, sitting next to her at the last stool on the bar, also cradling a beer…was someone who didn't belong. Not anymore.
Chloe scoffed at her.
"What do you know? And hey, aren't you too young to drink anyway?"
The girl took a big swig and then placed her mug on the counter.
"Woof, harsh, Chloe Price! I do believe I'm twenty-nine, just like you! Unless…wait, is it March yet?" She leaned in closer, obnoxiously.
"Are you thirty already? I love an older woman, you know…" The words slithered from her mouth, obnoxiously and salaciously. Her feather earring slid across her shoulder and dangled freely as she did so.
Chloe sighed. She didn't want to play this game again.
Not with the "ghost" of Rachel Amber.
Chloe knew she was really a hallucination, and this wasn't the first time that she appeared.
"You died at eighteen, dumbass. Now, go away. Fuck off!"
Rachel leaned back and placed a hand over her heart in mock offense. "Rude! And here I thought you'd want to see me again, Chloe Price."
She took another swig of her imaginary beer and then folded her arms up against her chest and crossed her ankles gracefully.
Chloe sighed. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and then spoke again.
"Why…why am I hallucinating you again? I…I thought I was over this whole…bullshit!" She whispered.
Rachel squinted at her and tilted her head. Even like this, Chloe started to almost believe for a second that she was really here.
Maybe a small part of her, buried deep down, still wanted to believe that. If it wasn't so obviously bullshit, unlike her nightmares.
So, because she knew this was fake, she just wanted her gone. If she wasn't really here, then this was likely to be like pouring salt on the wound again.
"Yeah, why are you seeing ghosts again? You've always been hella weird, but this sixth sense bullshit really isn't like you, is it, Chloe?"
Chloe sighed and studied her. She wore the same outfit she always had: ripped plaid shirt, same feather earring.
The same earring that her and Max found buried-
Chloe quickly shook off the memory. Like so many of her memories over the past few months, everything had gotten so jumbled.
It was like there was two of her. The memories of that week reunited with Max, and then leaving Arcadia Bay with her…
(What was left of it, anyway.)
Those ones felt like dreams, even though she knew she had spent years with Max on the road. That part in particular was indisputable.
But like a smashed jigsaw in which someone stole half the pieces at random and then threw them out, Chloe could try to reassemble what she could, but it would still be only half of a picture at best.
But, on the other side: The most vivid dream of all…the nightmare she kept having repeatedly…
Was the one where Nathan Prescott shot her in the Blackwell bathroom and left her to die.
That one felt…all too real, even though it was impossible. But she just kept having it all the same.
"Penny for your thoughts, Price? Hellooo?! Chloeeee, are you there?"
Chloe had zoned out. She shook off the thoughts and looked at Rachel.
"Yeah, sorry. I've…I've just been having these…nightmares, R-Rachel. I…can barely even tell what's real anymore…Between shit that I know happened, and…I guess, shit that didn't."
Rachel sat back, rubbed her chin, and pondered.
"Heh. I guess that includes me, too. But seriously…what gives? Is Max doing…some weird time shit again, you think? I remember you told me all about that last time, back when you, you know…"
Broke up with her? Yeah, how can I forget the first time I hallucinated you. I immediately quit pot after that.
I was hoping that that was the first and last time, but apparently I'm still losing it…
Chloe shook her head. "I…I don't know. This…storm. It was in my dreams, too. But it…didn't happen. At least not back home. But…the worst nightmare I've been having, the one that feels so, so real…"
Chloe turned and took a big gulp of beer and swallowed. It felt like a rock going down her throat. She then turned back to Rachel.
"…Is the one where I…die. Nathan fucking Prescott shoots me in the Blackwell bathroom, and then I bleed out all undignified like on the tiles. He panics, and then it fades, and then I wake up in agony, frantically feeling my chest for a bullet wound, the sheets for blood…"
Rachel gave a quick laugh and a grin. "So, the prick got you too, huh? Join the club." She punctuated with a large gulp of her imaginary beer.
Chloe scowled at her. "It's not funny, Rach. It feels like I keep getting fucking shot! Over, and over, and over…"
Rachel gunned down the rest of her imaginary beer and studied Chloe.
"Oh, my dear Chloe. Being dead isn't so bad, you know! If you were too, we could still, *eh-hem,* hang out, like old times…"
Chloe rolled her eyes.
"I'm so glad I reimagined my dead ex only for her to tell me to jump into the void. How romantic."
Rachel giggled. "Ohh, ex? Is that what I am?" She clasped her hands together next to head and swooned. Chloe just stared at her and sighed.
"Look, we both don't necessarily know what I'd really say here, Chloe. I'm…a figment of your imagination, after all. A…very active one, mind you. But still. I can only really say what you'd expect me to really say. Beyond that, you're technically on your own."
Chloe sighed. "Right…I fucking wish you were really here, though."
Rachel just smiled warmly at that. "Now now…why are you here?" She looked around the bar. "This is…a cute little place. You…came here to find Max, right?"
Chloe nodded.
"And yet, you're wasting time talking to a dead girl…You're still an idiot, Chloe."
Chloe laughed and shook her head.
Rachel soon dropped her smile. "So, wait.. all this shit with your…nightmares. Is that what finally kicked your ass? You're just…scared and confused?"
Chloe shook her head. "N-no. That's not- Well, at least it's not the whole story. There are…other nightmares, too. Ones that also seem real, too. Ones with, uhhh, fire."
Rachel scoffed. "Oh? Remembering our first date, are you?" She teased.
Chloe half-grinned but then shook her head. "No, no, stop. These-…I can tell these might be the future. There was…some guy I don't know, carrying me. I was unconscious, but I somehow still heard his voice. It was so real that I would recognize him if he was here in this bar right now, instantly. Even though I know I've never met him. And…I assume it was here on campus. I looked up pictures of this place, and it matched what I could recall to the letter."
Rachel nodded pensively. "And…you want your…living ex, emphasis on "living,"…to use her…powers again. Even if you can't quite parse real from fiction with all these memories?"
Chloe knocked back the rest of her beer and then shrugged at Rachel.
"Yeah. Pretty fuckin' stupid, huh?"
Rachel gave a quick laugh and shook her head. "Well, if you want my opinion?…I think you miss her regardless…You're not just afraid of these…scenarios that you see in that thick, pretty head of yours…you're also scared that she won't take you back after what you did."
Chloe reared back.
"What?! How is that scarier?!"
Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Because it's more realistic! You mailed her a note after all you two had been through, and then kicked her to the curb! All because you were afraid that was…addicted to using her powers, but all the while not realizing that it was your own damn paranoia that kept you from seeing that she stopped! And…despite all that she fucking did for you, including all of those things that you can't even fucking remember, you let it win! You let it win, and it caused you to stop trusting her, and it ruined what you two had."
Chloe shrank in her seat and stared in disbelief.
"That's not. That's…"
"Bullshit?! Tell me I'm wrong, Chloe Price. Go on!" Rachel crossed her arms again.
After a few seconds of silence, Rachel leaned forward towards her. "I know you, Chloe Price. And not just because I'm a version of Rachel that you fabricated. I. Know. You. And I know the guilt and fear that's been eating at you."
Chloe frowned and looked at her empty beer. For a split second she wondered where the bartender had went before she turned back to Rachel.
"Okay, fuck it! You want me to say it?! FINE! I'm afraid Max won't take me back. Happy?! I'm…afraid more shit is going to happen to us! To HER!…I'm-"
She got choked up, paused, and then swallowed.
"I'm afraid…"
She looked down at her boots on the rungs of the stool.
"…I'm afraid I…don't deserve her. Maybe, I never fucking did…"
She slowly looked up and started to speak slowly and softly.
"But, regardless….I have to try. And if she's in danger, and she needs me…" Chloe sniffled. "…Then she can kick me out, after it's all over, whatever this all even is, if she wants. I don't care. I…deserve it. But I just…I just have to know she's safe…" She wiped her eyes and smiled.
Rachel sat there quietly and let her speak.
"Fate has its own plan for all of us.. " Chloe smiled and rubbed her misty eyes.
"…And if we're not meant to be because I ruined it, then it's just another fucking thing that I fucking ruined, and I'll own that. Just as long as she's fucking safe."
Rachel solemnly nodded. "Fate…don't I know it. I'll need another beer if we start talking about that shit."
"Nah. Again, you're underage. That hot bartender isn't gonna serve you once I tell her." Chloe joked as she rubbed her eyes again.
"Fuck you, Chloe Price!" Rachel quickly shot back.
They both started laughing.
As their laughter waned, Rachel spoke again. "She's gonna take you back, Chloe. I can feel it."
Chloe squinted in disbelief. "Oh, yeah? How do you figure?!"
Rachel smiled and raised her empty glass. "You're Max and Chloe! You want to talk about fate? Well, there has never been a more fated couple in history! I'm rooting for you. Both of you. And maybe I always have been. So…cheers!" She pretended to drink from her empty mug before slamming it back down.
Chloe smiled warmed and giggled as she raised her own empty glass.
"Hey, you want another one?"
Chloe whipped around to the bartender.
She then quickly looked back over to where Rachel was sitting,
But she was gone.
Ugh, that bitch always knew when to make an exit…
It was as upsetting as it was amusing. Such were most things when it came to remembering Rachel Amber.
She tried not to let it get to her this time.
"Uhh, mystery girl? There's no one sitting over there. It's just you and this guy at my bar right now." She pointed at some older guy to her left that Chloe had never even heard come in and sit down. "Unless you're seeing a ghost sitting right there, or something."
Chloe laughed and put down her empty mug. "Uhh, was I…talking to myself?"
Amanda raised and eyebrow at her. "Uhhh, no? You did seemingly raise a glass at nothing, which was kinda weird, but…Why do you ask? Do you, uhhh…do you do that?" She leaned forward again on the counter and whispered. "Because, it's totally fine if you do. I do it, too! Just, you know, give me a head's up so I don't think you're talkin' to me. You know?"
Chloe shook her head and laughed. "No, I'm good. I may have…issues, but I try to keep it all up here." She pointed to her head.
Amanda stood up straight and smiled. "Riiiight…So, mystery girl…name? Your deal? Another beer? Water? Anything? Heh."
She took Chloe's glass and started cleaning it.
Chloe put her arms on the bar and nodded. "My name's Chloe. And…I don't need another beer. At least not right now. I kinda just want to…think for a second, if that's okay?"
Amanda squinted down at her thoughtfully, and then nodded. "Well, no rule against that, Chloe! Again, I'll be around if ya need me! I just, uh…"
She leaned in again and blocked her mouth with the back of her hand secretively. "I gotta pee. Sorry if that's TMI! Anyway, I'll be back in a sec!"
And just like that, Chloe was alone again. Well, besides the random guy who seemed zoned out and defeated, and that other girl at that table, steadily clacking away on her computer.
Rachel Amber…after all these years, you still find ways to get into my head. Such an asshole. Even if you're fucking right.
Chloe turned, smiled, and shook her head at the memories.
Hald a minute later, the security guard who had tossed her out that suddenly came charging in from the backdoor.
"Hey! Didn't I kick your ass out?!"
Fuck! You gotta be kidding me.
She sped around the bar and quickly approached Chloe.
Jesus, where the fuck did she come from?!
"You're going on the banned list! Are you a student?!"
Chloe looked away anxiously for a second, and then looked back. "…No?"
The security guard, who Chloe could now see based on her badge was named Noelle, stood there smugly.
I wonder if she's the first.
"Good! Then I'm banning you from campus, too! Name?!" She demanded.
Shit! Better think fast…
If she wasn't confident here, then she could at least fake it. Just like the good ol' days. Surely it has worked flawlessly back then, too, right?
"Thing is…" she readjusted herself and turned towards Noelle. "I'm actually a perspective graduate student. I'm here to visit campus."
Noelle stood unmoved.
"What program?" She asked, without missing a beat.
Chloe thought for a second.
I could do this the smart way…or I could fuck with her…
But I have to be subtle if I do that.
You know, this is probably really stupid, but…ahhh fuck it!
"I'm doing- A…Astrology! And what-not!" She sarcastically answered, with a bit of overly-snarky punctuation at the end.
Noelle didn't appear to catch the intentional pun, but again she didn't budge, either.
"Uh-huh." Noelle briefly looked around and then stared back at her, unblinking. "And where are you matriculating from?"
Oof, a big word for the campus piggy who just fell for that! Or…did she? Ugh, I can't tell...
You know, she'd almost be hot without that fucking badge. But…fuck, what do I say now?
Goddammit, why can't I think of a name of any other college-
"Noelle, I got her! I already cleared Chloe. She's good!" Amanda quickly came back to the bar and pronounced.
Noelle gave her a weird look and then turned smugly to Chloe.
"Huh. Chloe, eh?" She leaned in with a devilish grin, close enough to whisper. "I'm keeping my eye on you. Consider that my sign."
Shit…
Chloe leaned back and scowled, but said nothing. Noelle then backed away and stared at Amanda as she started walking backwards towards the front door while pointing at Chloe.
"If she does anything, it's on you, Thomas!" She then turned around and marched out the door, waving as she did.
"Have a good night!" She yelled as she left.
Bitch.
It didn't matter that David had been kicked to the curb years ago and was still living as a pseudo-hippy in a makeshift trailer park, she still hated school guards with every fiber of her being.
Chloe turned to Amanda.
"You…didn't have to stick up for me, you know. You don't even know who I am."
Amanda smiled and shrugged.
"Don't I? You're Chloe. That's all I needed to know."
Chloe raised an eyebrow at her. Before she could ask, Amanda placed a small piece of paper face‐down in front of her.
Chloe looked at it, and then looked up.
"What's this, your number?"
Amanda giggled. "Nonono, I'm…That's very flattering!" She quickly composed herself. "But uhhh, no."
She reached over and flipped it over. Chloe looked down and read it.
It had Max's name on it, handwritten. Along with her address. Below that was a little drawings with arrows and a marked 'x'.
"No, I think Miss Caulfield would be even more interested in seeing you, Chloe Price."
Chloe looked up in shock.
"H…How?!"
Amanda just smirked. "A bartender never reveals her secrets…"
"…But seriously, if you must know, I know she keeps a photo of you in her wallet. Safi told me."
Chloe looked at her confused. "Safi? Who?"
"Excuse me." The man next to Chloe suddenly butted in and raised his finger.
Amanda took the empty mug from him and asked if he wanted another. He nodded and she quickly obliged before she went back over to Chloe and leaned on the counter again, now wielding a rag.
"Right, sorry…Safi. She's a friend of Max's…."
Chloe shrugged.
"Anyways, I figured you might not have known where Max was, or that you may have been stalling, but either way, there's the apartment number," she said as she touched the paper with her finger. "And as you can see I drew you a little map, just in case."
Chloe studied it and then looked up and grimaced shyly. "Wow, I mean, I'm…guilty of both, I-I guess…"
Amanda smiled and swooshed the rag towards the door.
"Okay, but now, get going! Go! Go get her! And don't worry about your drink, because I owe Max for…something. Not important. But get going!"
She started to wipe down the counter as Chloe stood up.
"Ohh, and watch out for Noelle. I can't defend you again once you leave the Turtle. You'll be outside my domain." She said with a wink.
Chloe thought about Rachel again, and how maybe she would actually be rooting for them if that had really been her ghost.
This girl certainly was.
As scared as Chloe was, it was time to face the music.
Chloe adjusted her jacket and took the piece of paper.
"Thanks, Amanda. Five stars on Yelp."
She flashed Amanda a finger gun and a wink, causing the bartender to giggle again and wave as Chloe turned to walk out.
She stared at the map as she walked outside and to her truck.
Just halfway around the main road and a left at those campus houses, and then a right.
Okay…*sigh*
Here goes…nothing, I guess.
She pocket the note and fired up her truck.