Hellions of Arcadia

Chapter 12: Backwards

Max

I have no idea what just happened.

We were just going through the standard tests, but then, Warren lied to me? He claimed he didn't but I know he did. I swear with every fiber of my being that I had the right pass code, but then Warren starts proving me wrong, and for what? To show that he was better than me? It makes no sense that he would tell me one thing, then one second tell me another.

I sit quietly in the car while Chloe and Warren bicker outside, I know I'm in trouble, for snapping at Warren, but why? It wasn't my fault that Warren cheated, that he told me me the truth before I Rewound, then lied afterwards, and I have no idea what he was trying to prove, but I'm going to find out.

Chloe and Warren end their argument, and Chloe starts walking over to the truck, she doesn't look overly impressed, but it's hard to tell, she's always looking neutral these days. With a rough yank of the door, Chloe slid into the drivers seat of the car and harshly closed the door behind her. She was definitely mad.

"Now, can you tell me what the hell that was, back there?" Chloe asks angrily, jamming her keys into the ignition. Her face was scrunched up and angry looking. I can't believe this, Chloe was taking Warren's side, over mine? Her girlfriend? I let out an unstoppable sound of disbelief and slumped back into my seat.

Chloe's also unimpressed. She lets the car rumble to life, but doesn't start driving just yet. "I want an answer, Max. You just completely flipped out on Warren back there." Chloe turns herself towards me, her blonde ponytail slung over one shoulder. I can't believe this. "He lied to me Chloe. He told me the answer, and when I used my Rewind, he told me something completely different."

Why was Chloe not taking my side? She should be taking my side, its me over Warren. Chloe only scoffs. "No, he didn't, Max."

What, was Chloe just gonna date him now? This is un-fucking-believable. "So you believe Warren over me, huh?" I growl, maybe harsher than I intended, but I don't care. It's shocking that Chloe would take Warren's side over mine, I never thought in a million years...

Chloe seems confused, her eyebrows furrowing, yet her eyes are soft. "What? Dude, no. warren is your... Your friend. He wouldn't just lie to you as a joke." Chloe's dead set on this, her fingernails slowly picking at a scab on her palm. I remember that scab, Chloe accidentally cut her hand with a knife in the kitchen a few weeks ago, I had to bandage her up. I swear I felt like her mother.

The memory lightens my chest. Chloe has been here for me, despite everything, how much of a brat I am, she's stuck with me for 4 whole years. She's always been stubborn, even stubborn enough to put up with my shit. So I had to give her that.

But why? She was siding with Warren, instead of me. I know I'm not wrong, there is no way I'm wrong. The Rewind has never failed me before, why now? Maybe because it's been a while since I used it?

After Chloe and I drove out of Arcadia that October day almost 4 years ago, I made some sort of invisible pact with myself, that me Rewind would never be used again, only if My life or Chloe's was in severe danger. And I never needed it. Chloe and I settled down tight in Seattle, she got a job as an Uber (fitting, as she decided her own work hours.) But I, I'm always bouncing between jobs.

It's not that I'm bad at any of the jobs that I've worked at. I just, need some special care these days. My head isn't always the best, my brain always stewing something up in the dark corners of my mind. The emotional trauma from everything that happened during that week in Arcadia Bay, plus the physical weight of my Rewind in my bones, all went sour in my head.

Chloe and I have tried several doctors, and all kinda of different medicines, but so far we found nothing, no relief for the constant pain in my consciousness. And I know it's stressing Chloe out, and I don't want her to be all worried over me, but I'm worried about myself, too.