A/N: Aaaaand I have left this story to rot yet again for another year... Fantastic job, me...
So, yeah, I'm very sorry that this took another year for me to update this story again. On the bright side, I have scrapped both my RWBY Volume 5 story and Blaze's Lemon Collection, and remastered The Path to Hope (again), so expect much faster updates.
Also, I have some announcements to make. I will not be doing an alternate take on Before the Storm. However, I will be making allusions and references to it. As crappy as the prequel was, it's still part of the continuity.
I say I won't be doing it for a couple reasons. A) I am not the biggest fan of the game and it would take plenty of writing skills to fix the plot holes in it, and I know for damn sure that I don't have that type of skill. And B) It would just be unnecessary and I fear that it would only sprout unnecessary plot holes.
And before you ask, no, I will not be doing Life is Strange 2, not even when it's finished. Mostly because, even if I switched out a character, I would not be able to change that much, mostly due to there being no time rewinding abilities in it. The time rewinding abilities are one of the reasons why I'm even doing this story, because there are so many possibilities and situations that could take place. Just simple telekinesis? That wouldn't change much. Besides, I feel this story doesn't really need a sequel. So, this might be the only LiS story I'll write. Key word being "might."
Now I'm sure you guys are sick of me rambling, so let's do this. Without further ado, let's begin Episode 3: Chaos Theory!
"So, let me get this straight..."
Those were the words of Kate Marsh, as she and I walked through the empty halls of Blackwell Academy.
"Yesterday, you received these time-rewinding abilities..." She started.
"Yes..."
"And you used them to save your childhood friend, Chloe Price, from Nathan Prescott, who you then proceeded to have a scuffle with..."
"That's right..."
"Then you used them to save Victoria from committing suicide."
"Well, not exactly, but yeah."
"And now you and Chloe are searching for Rachel Amber, and you seek my help?" Kate finished.
"...Yeah, that's basically the gist of it." A small silence occurred before I sighed. "Look, if you want me to prove it, I could–"
"I believe you."
"–guess some events that are gonna happen and– wait, what?" I stopped.
"I believe you." She repeated. "I know you, Jace. You wouldn't say something unless you meant it. That's the kind of person you are."
I fell silent before a smile started to grace my lips. "I'm so lucky to have a friend like you..."
Kate's cheeks seemed to flush. "Likewise... But anyway, we should probably go. You know, so people don't get suspicious."
I nodded. "Right. Let's go."
Kate and I managed to sneak through the courtyard. Due to the dim lighting around the school, it was rather easy to sneak around.
I wiped some sweat from my brow. "Phew... We're almost there. Now we just need to–"
"What are you two doing out here late at night?" It was Principal Wells, and he sounded rather... tipsy?
Shit! I groaned in my head, looking at the principal. "O-Oh, sorry Principal Wells. We were just taking a walk. You know, to ease our minds."
"I understand, Jace." Wells answered, his voice taking a more somber tone. "Trust me, I know a thing or two about stress." He grabbed a bottle of alcohol and took a swig.
Kate's eyebrows raised. She was probably surprised to see our principal drinking. "You're drinking..."
A look of shame washed over the principal as he set the bottle aside. "My apologies. I know alcohol consumption isn't a very professional thing to do, especially on the job." He let out a sigh. "But I'm afraid I am reaching my breaking point. I just received a call from the DA..."
"James Amber?" I asked.
The principal gave a nod. "Precisely. Ever since his daughter's disappearance, he's been calling me nonstop, threatening to sue me and the academy for the incident..."
"But that's not fair!" I snapped. "He shouldn't hold you responsible!"
"...I wonder about that." Wells murmured.
"Huh?"
"I hear the things people say about me. Saying that I only care about raising money for this school. If I seem that way, I apologize. But you must believe me, I truly do care about my students." The principal explained. He's being honest, I realized. I could see the sincerity in his eyes. "My wife and I have been in debt for years." He explained. "It's why I am so focused on making money. Not just for the school and for a good cause, but to also help me and my wife out of our financial crisis..."
"I... Principal Wells, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." I said to him.
He simply waved it off. "Don't be sorry. I don't deserve it. If I had just kept a closer eye on my students, Ms. Amber never would have disappeared."
"No, that's not true–" Kate started, but Wells cut her off.
"Stop it... Don't try and feed me pretty lies. I know it's the truth." He stood up, grabbing his alcohol while doing so. "Just... stay safe, please? I can't lose another one of my students..." Wells sighed, taking another swig of alcohol as he walked away from us. I frowned, holding my arm.
"Are you okay?" Kate asked me. I was going to say yes, but I decided not to bullshit my way out of this.
"Not really... I just assumed he as a no-good money grubber... but he's actually a really nice person..." I inhaled and let loose a sigh. "I'm a dick..."
"No, you're not." Kate objected. "You just judged a book by its cover. A lot of people make that mistake." She reassured me, tenderly placing her hand on my shoulder. "Come on. Chloe's probably waiting."
I fixed my gaze toward her, giving a nod of affirmation. "Yeah. Let's go." As Kate and I continued our path, a thought entered my mind. Have I... been judging Nathan like that? I pondered. Sure, he was a psycho and he did try to kill me and Chloe, not to mention he roofied Chloe and probably Kate. But... what if there was more to him than I realized? What if... I shook my head. No... Now I'm just being crazy. It doesn't matter what I don't know about Nathan. He did terrible things... Why the hell am I even thinking about him!? He's expelled, and he's out of my life for good.
"Jace? Is everything okay?" Kate asked, noticing that I had spaced out.
I quickly reassured her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just... have a lot on my mind..."
Kate and I made it to the other side of the school, but Chloe was nowhere to be found.
"Where the hell is Chloe?" I asked myself. "She should've been here a while ago–"
"BOO-YAH!" Chloe yelled, eliciting a yell from both me and Kate.
"Chloe! What the fuck!?" I snapped between breaths.
"Heh heh, get it? BOO-yah? Y'know, like a scary punk ghost?"
"I don't think that's how puns work..." Kate remarked.
"Are you kidding me, Chloe?" I shouted. "After everything that's happened today, you just fuck around!?"
Chloe was taken aback. "I-I-"
"Seriously, what the hell!? So far, I'm on some fucking drug dealer's shitlist, I had to watch a friend of mine try to kill herself over my own actions, I was nearly murdered by Nathan Prescott, and I have these powers that I never asked for! For fuck's sake, is everything a fucking joke to you!? You're always going on and giving me shit for not being there for you, but is this how you're gonna be there for me!? God, you're so inconsiderate..."
Chloe had a look of guilt on her face, while Kate was in shock, probably because she had never seen me that angry before.
The bluenette sighed. "You're right... I'm sorry... I suck..."
I stayed silent before exhaling through my nose. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you... I've just been so stressed about everything these past two days..."
"It's okay, Jace. Don't worry about it." Chloe reassured.
"So, what now?" The blonde asked. "Jace didn't give a lot of details."
Chloe gage a look of bewilderment. "You didn't tell her!?"
"Well, she wouldn't have joined if I told her." I retaliated.
"What are you talking about?" Kate asked.
I rubbed the back of my head. "Well... we're kinda... sorta... breaking into the school..." And almost immediately, I was greeted with a slap to the face. "Ow!"
"What!? Are you insane!?"
"Hey, don't look at me! It was Chloe's idea, not mine!" I confessed, rubbing my sore cheek.
"Whatever, let's just go." Chloe interjected, briskly walking past us.
"This is a bad idea..." Kate said in an unsettled tone.
"Believe me, you're not the only one who thinks so. Sadly, we don't have a lot of options..." I reasoned.
"B-But..."
"Don't worry, Kate. We'll be fine."
"We're fucked, we're fucked, we're fucked, we're fucked, we're so fucked..."
"Shit, Jace, calm down..." Chloe urged. The three of us had broken in, thanks to Chloe's lockpicking skills, and we were traveling through the dark hallway.
"I'm nervous, okay? I've never broken into a school before!" I shot back, making sure I was quiet.
"If we get caught, we're gonna be in so much trouble..." Kate muttered.
"Yeah, if we get caught." The bluenette emphasized. "Now hurry up and stop whining. We're almost at there." And right on cue, the three of us entered the office. The only thing in our way was a door. Chloe tried to pry it open, to no avail. "Shit... We need to find the damn keys."
"We got it." I said.
"Perfect. I'll try picking the lock." Chloe said as she began to pick the lock, while I searched the room with Kate. We searched for a good fifteen minutes, but the keys were nowhere to be found. "C'mon... Where are those keys?" I wondered.
"Principal Wells probably has them with him..." Kate theorized.
"Crap..." Chloe groaned, still trying to pick the lock.
"Looks like we're gonna have to find another way into the room." I decided.
"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, Lupin?" The bluenette mocked.
"I do have one idea..." I started walking away, bringing out my phone and calling Warren. I placed my phone near my ear and heard the soft ringtone vibrate against my ear before it stopped, signaling that Warren answered the phone.
"Hey man, what's up? I'm playing a sick game of World of Warcraft!" Warren exclaimed through the phone.
I chuckled, rolling my eyes in amusement. Fucking nerd... I thought, despite the smile on my face. "So I was wondering something… If, perchance, I needed an explosive to destroy a lock or something... How would I make said explosive?"
"Smooth..." Kate commented.
"Well, you see– Wait a minute… You're not doing anything devious, are you?" Warren asked.
"What? Pffft, no way, man! Just a random fun question, that's all!" I scoffed, trying not to make my lie so obvious.
Warren was silent for a couple moments, probably because he was suspicious. Finally, he sighed. "Fine, but if you get in trouble, don't come crawling to me for help. I'll text you the details. See ya!" The brown-haired boy said as he ended the call. A few seconds later, I received a text. "Sugar, a soda can, duct tape, and sodium chlorate, huh...?"
Kate tapped my shoulder. "Let's split up. I'll get the soda can and duct tape, while you get the sugar and sodium chlorate. Sound good?" She suggested.
I gave an affirmative nod. "Definitely. Let's head out." Kate nodded and we went our separate ways. Alright, if I recall, the sugar's in the science lab. Well, of course it'd be there, dumbass. It's a freaking science lab! I scolded myself as I let myself into the lab. The light in the room was practically nonexistent, but I managed to catch a glimpse of the sugar. Perfect! I swiftly swiped the sugar. Now I just need some spice and everything nice. ...Wow... Okay, I'm gonna pretend I didn't just make that reference... Anyway, now I should look for the sodium chlorate...
I searched around the dark room for ten minutes, but there was no sodium chlorate in sight! You gotta be shitting me! A science lab, but no sodium chlorate? Bullshit! I then noticed a chemistry book. Maybe there's something on here that'll help me out. I picked up the book and proceeded to flip through each page until I found a page concerning sodium chlorate. "Alright, let's see... 'Sodium chlorate,' yadda yadda yadda... Ah! 'Sodium chlorate is usually found in weed killer.' Perfect! I recall there being weed killer here. Now where is it...?" I glanced around before my eyes fell upon the weed killer on top of the shelf. "Ah, there it is. Hmm... it's all the way up there, though. How do I get it...?" I leaned against a nearby chair. I looked at said chair and an idea hit me. "I got it!" I brought the chair near the shelf and stood on it. Thankfully, I was able to reach up and grab the weed killer. I pushed the chair back in place and walked out of the room, the sugar and weed killer in hand.
"Jace." It was Kate. She had the soda can and duct tape. "I see you got the supplies."
"And so did you. Now it's time to show Chloe that Kate Marsh and Jace Wolfe are the bomb!"
Kate placed her hand against her mouth, giggling.
"...Ugh, that was so lame..." I smacked my palm against my forehead, annoyed at myself.
"No, it was actually quite charming." The blonde complimented with a smile that could light up a dim room.
I blushed. "R-Really? You think so?"
Kate smiled. "I know so. Now then, let's make this bomb. ...Wow, that's something I never thought I'd say."
I chuckled as Kate and I worked on the bomb. It took a little while, but we managed to create the small bomb. "Neat. Time to head back." She nodded and went back to the office with me, where he found that Chloe has made zero progress.
"Fuckin' door!" She snapped, banging the door in her anger.
"Yeah, keep doing that... That's totally not gonna alert people." I stated sarcastically. "Now take it easy on the door. Let's try this instead..." I taped the bomb underneath the handle.
Chloe's eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh hell yes! Time to blow shit up!" She brought out her lighter and lit the candle.
"Get back, now!" Kate warned, leading us both away from the door. Within seconds, the bomb went off, destroying the handle and opening up the door.
"That was so fucking cool!" Chloe exclaimed, and I couldn't help but agree. I even felt a little proud. Unfortunately, that feeling wa short lived as the alarm started going off. "Uh-oh."
Shit! The fire and police department are on their way! I panicked. Thinking quick on my feet, I sprinted into the office.
"Jace? What're you doing?" Chloe asked incredulously, panic flowing from her voice.
"Don't worry, I got a plan!" I raised my hand up, and rewound time to before we used the pipe bomb. I checked my surroundings and saw that I was inside Wells' office. Holy shit, that worked! I went towards the door, hearing Chloe rage at it.
"Gotta get this open so he doesn't cheat with his rewind... Ugh, this is bullshit! Fuck you, door!"
Oh my god, you have no idea how hard it was for me to restrain my laughter. Once I had gotten ahold of myself, I swiftly opened up the door and was greeted with the shocked faces of Kate and Chloe.
"This has been Jace the Magnificent. Thank you for joining." I said dramatically, giving my best magician voice.
"You are magic. How the hell did you get in there?" The punk girl asked.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?" I smirked.
Chloe rolled her eyes. "You are impossible..." She flicked my nose for good measure. She took a good look around the room. "I can see why Wells locks this room up. Fancy faux art crap..." Her eyes fell onto the bronze bird on the desk. "How can you trust someone with a fucking bronze bird on his desk? I'm glad I was expelled..."
"Yeah, if only he had a Monet or a Picasso, you'd still be here." I quipped, earning a giggle from Kate.
"Bite me..." She grumbled, sitting on the ugly-looking chair. A look of relaxation flitted her face. "It may be ugly as hell, but damn is it cozy..." She rests her feet on the desk.
"Alright, time to become one with Sherlock Holmes..." I smirked, looking over at Kate. "You don't mind if you look with Chloe, do you?"
"Not at all." Kate said, making her way over to the bluenette, who started searching for clues on the computer. And with that, I began investigating on my own. I grabbed one of the files and opened it. Lo and behold, the first report card was about Nathan. What shocked me was that, besides the shooting incident, the guy had a spotless record. Wha!? No fucking way... That shooting incident definitely wasn't his only crime... I went to the next report card and, to my surprise, it was mine. Curious, I decided to read it. It's most likely nothing special...
'Jace, as he prefers to be called, is considered a quiet attentive student with much potential for his photography. His GPA fluctuates and his teachers feel he should be doing better. They back up his quiet intelligence, though some complaints find him too nervous and "nosey." Some faculty members would like Jace to speak up in class and be more assertive–' ...Yeah, I'm done here... I finished reading, feeling my self-esteem worsen the more I read it. However, I did notice an update at the bottom as I was about to go to the next one. 'Despite some recent confrontation with Blackwell security, Jace successfully stopped fellow student Victoria Chase from jumping off the dormitory roof today. There is an ongoing police/faculty investigation but Jace's bravery is undisputed.' ...I wasn't that brave, was I? I thought to myself, my self-esteem starting to gain resolve.
I went to the next report card and it was of Victoria. Some papers were clipped on it, stating that Victoria's grades were beginning to suffer due to intense bullying. I felt a pang of guilt in my heart. Victoria may have forgiven me, but I could never forgive myself for nearly pushing her to suicide...
The last report card in the file was of Warren. His GPA was 4.0, of course. Due to being one of my good friends, I knew how smart he was. Well, science-wise, anyway. I couldn't for the life of me understand why he hasn't noticed Brooke's crush on him yet...
I put the file away. Alright, two more files to go... I grabbed another file and opened it up. Rachel's report card was the first one I saw. I read through it all, even the update that stated she hadn't been in class for the past month. I don't understand... I pondered. From what I can tell here, she doesn't seem troubled at all... I read through the paper concerning the investigation. To my frustration, nothing new was presented. Damn it! Another dead end...
I went to the last report card in the file, and it was Chloe's. To no one's surprise, she had a shitty GPA and was expelled. Bad Chloe... I mentally chided, putting away the file. Alright, time to nab this last file. ...Hehehe, I've always wanted to say "nab." I went over to the last, which was conveniently opened. It included a report card. Kate's report card. I skimmed through it. This sums up Kate to a T. Shy, sweet... and in the wrong place. I shuddered, remembering when the poor girl was being bullied.
"Jace, you need to come look at these files..." Kate said, bringing me back to reality. I swiftly made my way over there.
"You won't believe this! Nathan accuses Rachel of bringing drugs on campus? And my step-troll went along with it because he thinks Rachel was a bad influence on me... Fucking bullshit." She cursed under her breath.
"David is teaming up with Nathan? This doesn't look so good..."
"And look at this!" Chloe interjected. "It reads like a rap sheet! Bad grades, teacher complaints, secret probation... I'm glad the fucker got expelled."
As I looked, I noticed something. "A note?" I opened it up. It was some disturbing drawing, but I could make out some words.
"What is this? Some crazy drawing?" Chloe queried.
"It's not a drawing..." Kate realized. "Look... 'Rachel in the dark room, Rachel in the dark room...'"
"What the hell does that even mean?" I wondered.
"Nathan has something to do with Rachel missing... I just know it..." The bluenette stated firmly.
"Huh? The hell? "David M. always asks what's going on in my head... David M. always helps me follow those he follows..." If that isn't cryptic, then I dunno what is..." I was legitimately getting freaked out, and so was Kate. My eyes were darting all over the place, I felt like the room was closing in on me. "Fucking David... He was stalking Kate, then Victoria, and now we know he was all over Rachel too..."
"Stalking me? What do you mean?" Kate asked me with a befuddled expression.
I let out a sigh. Might as well let her know now. "Yesterday, when I visited Chloe's house, I found these pictures of you in the garage. They were likely taken by David."
The blonde was in shock and fear. "Why... Why would he do that?"
"I wish I knew..." I sighed curtly.
"What we do know is that we're going into his garage files... Plus, I'm starting to freak out in here." Chloe said with a slight quiver in her voice.
"You're certainly not the only one..." I added.
"Let's bail. We got our info. Though, we shouldn't leave without a little souvenir..."
"No, you're not taking the chair." I objected firmly.
Chloe groaned. "Jace, do your powers include mind-reading?"
"Nope. I just know you well enough to the point where I know what you're thinking." I said matter of factly. "Or perhaps I rewound because you tried to steal the chair? You never know."
"Okay, now you're just fucking with me." Chloe and I laughed.
"Anyway, we definitely need to leave. We've pressed our luck enough–" Kate started, before she was interrupted.
"Hellooo... What have we here?" Kate and I focused our attention back to the feisty bluenette. She had an orange envelope in her hand that consisted of a shitload of money. "Holy shit! We hit the jackpot!"
"Chloe, that's for the handicapped fund. Put that away." Kate demanded.
"No way! This is five thousand dollars. I could pay Frank back tonight!"
"Chloe, I know you have a debt to pay, but this isn't the way." Kate tried to negotiate.
"I'm with Kate. We can't just–"
"Are you sure? This'll get you off of Frank's shitlist..." That shut me up. She had a really good point. If we paid Frank tonight, that might get me off of his shitlist, meaning I'll no longer have a target on my back! Plus, there would be some money left over for us. I was about to side with Chloe, when I remembered our conversation with Wells earlier. If we take this money, not only will the handicapped fund go down in flames, but so will Wells and his wife's chances at a financially safe life.
And with that, my decision was made.
"Chloe, we can't take the money, and we're not going to. It's 2 to 1, Chloe. We outnumber you."
The bluenette sighed and put the money away. "Fine. If you wanna get shanked by a dangerous drug dealer, be my guest. It's your funeral, Justice Jace." She spat venomously, getting up and walking out of the room. I sighed to myself. I know that money would have helped me and Chloe, but I couldn't do that to Wells. No way.
"Hey." I looked over at Kate. "I appreciate you doing that. I know that money would have helped you both out. But I'm glad you did the right thing." She smiled shyly.
"Yeah, I don't regret that decision. I just regret pissing off Chloe again. She's already angry at me for abandoning her to go to Seattle, I don't need her hanging this over my head too..."
"What happened? Between you and Chloe, I mean." Kate asked, before cowering a bit. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"No, it's fine. I'll tell you." I let out a sigh as I began to explain. "Four years ago, Chloe lost her dad in a car accident..."
Kate covered her mouth in horror. "Oh no..."
"I wanted to stay with her and help her deal with the hardships, but I couldn't... because I had to go to Seattle, thanks to my sister."
"Your sister?"
"Grace Wolfe. My older sister. She's an amazing artist. So much so, she managed to land a job in Seattle. And a few days later, during the funeral, I had to leave."
"Why? Why didn't you stay?" She asked me.
"It's simple; I had no choice in the matter. Not only was I not old enough to live on my own, but Grace forced me to come with her. Our parents died when we were very young, so all we had was each other. I tried to propose any other options, but she wasn't having any of it. She..." I began to shake in terror. "She would... hurt me... just to get what she wanted..."
Kate was on the verge of tears. "That's horrible... Why haven't you told Chloe?"
"I have, but she just thinks I'm making excuses and trying to shift the blame. Probably because she has a picture perfect image of Grace..." I held my arm. "So, long story short, I left when Chloe needed me the most, and she hasn't forgiven me since..."
All Kate could do was hug me. "I'm so sorry, Jace... I had no idea..."
"Don't be... I deserve her anger." I wiped my eyes, realizing I was nearly crying. "Let's just go... Chloe's probably waiting for us." Kate and I walked out, seeing Chloe waiting for us. However, there was an air about her that was... suspicious. "I dunno what that impish look is for... but it scares me..."
"Care for a midnight swim? The Blackwell pool is ours..."
"Swimming? You wanna take that risk now?" I asked, exasperated.
"C'mon! It's been a cray week! You didn't let me take the money, so if Frank pops a cap in my skull, at least let me have a little carefree fun for a few minutes... Splish splash?"
"I... *sigh* Fine... Splish splash... Kate?"
She was silent for a few moments before she shrugged. "Alright. Splish splash!"
I smiled softly. "Sweet! Besides, we hella deserve it."
Chloe looked at me incredulously. "Did you actually just say "hella"? I think I'm a good bad influence on you."
That... doesn't make any sense...
"We're in the Otters' lair..." I murmured worriedly, walking into the pool area with Kate and Chloe.
"Big fucking whoop. I want that heated water!" Chloe exclaimed.
"We still gotta keep it cool, okay? Jace and I still go to school here." Kate reminded.
"Jace could rule this hellhole once he figures out his rewind power."
"Actually, I don't want to rule anythi– ...Ah, never mind..." I sighed, not even bothering to finish that thought. Soon, the three of us found ourselves in front of the two gender-divided bathrooms.
"So... boys or girls?" Chloe asked me.
This was a tough choice... mostly because I could feel Kate's judgmental gaze burning into the side of my skull. Thankfully, I managed to reach a compromise. "How 'bout this? One of us goes into one of the bathrooms and one pair goes into the other bathroom."
"Alright... Boy's for me!" Chloe laughed, heading into the boys side.
"W-Wait, what!? You were supposed to go into the girl's side!" I objected.
"Should've been more specific then, Wolfy." She teased, blowing me a kiss before entering the boy's bathroom.
"I guess we're going into the girl's side. You better not do anything gross, Jace." Kate warned.
"Wha–!? What kind of guy do you think I am!?"
So, after walking through the girl's bathroom and getting Kate's undivided attention, we got to the pool area, where we found Chloe splashing her hand around in the water. "Jace, Kate, try to find the light for the pool. I wanna see the sharks!"
"Otters don't like sharks. They bite." I pointed out.
"So do I... Hit that light!" Chloe requested. I shrugged and went into a nearby room. There has to be a control panel here... Just as I thought that, I found the control panel. I walked over and switched it on, causing the lights in the pool to turn on.
"Perfect." I said to myself, walking out with Kate. "There, now can you see the... er..." I was completely flabbergasted when I saw that Chloe was only wearing her undergarments...
Chloe eagerly dived into the pool, proceeding to swim around. "Hey, Jace! Care to swim?"
"Well, my shoulder has been feeling better, though I have to be careful about the cannonballs..." As soon as I said that, Kate, also in her undergarments, bolted past me and proceeded to do a cannonball, splashing me and Chloe in the process.
Kate swiftly swam back to the surface, laughing softly, her hair now let down. I have to admit, she looked really pretty with her hair down. And hey, she doesn't look half bad in her bra and panties either. Then again, Chloe looked just as good...
Wait, what the hell has gotten into me!? I swear, I wasn't like this before...
"Come in, Jace! The water's fine!" Chloe exclaimed, before a mischievous smirk appeared on her face as she slashed water at me, getting water on my shoes and pant legs.
"You better not!" I warned playfully.
"Try and stop me, nerd!"
"Okay, you asked for it!" I stripped down to my underwear and proceeded to jump into the pool, splashing both Kate and Chloe in the process.
"Hey, I didn't splash you!" Kate said, before proceeding to splash water at me. "Hehe, now I did."
"Oh, it's so on!" And thus, the Splash War of 2013 began. The three of us began splashing at each other, laughing while doing so. I made a particularly good splash on Chloe, who did the same to me. A mini-war of splashes took place between me and the bluenette, but the both of us were swarmed by a big splash, courtesy of Kate. At that moment, Chloe and I teamed up on Kate, splashing her relentlessly. Kate squealed softly, trying to splash us back to no avail. However, Chloe backstabbed me by splashing me. "Ahh! Traitor!" I exclaimed as I was now at the aquatic mercy of Kate and Chloe.
By the end of it, we were completely soaked. We decided to lie back, the water keeping us afloat. We were panting softly after the fun we had. A few minutes passed, the three of us relaxing.
"I wish Rachel were here with us..." Chloe said somberly. "She would love coming here at night..." She looked over at me and Kate. "Wish you guys had met her... You would've been great friends."
"Don't worry, we will. With everything that's been going on, I'm starting to believe everything is connected..." I theorized. "And... I want to find out why..."
"Your power is changing everything, Jace. Even you. I can tell. You're not so chickenshit anymore." Chloe... complimented, I guess?
"Thanks, I guess." I swam with Kate and Chloe, resting our shoulders on the ledge.
"You know what I mean. You're becoming this force of nature..."
I scoffed. "Force of nature? I nearly stumbled trying to save Victoria..."
"You didn't stumble when you saved me." Chloe pointed out.
"And you didn't stumble when you helped take down the video and website..." Kate reminded.
"But... what if I did? What if–"
"Don't focus on the past, Jace. Focus on the future. We have to move forward in time." Kate advised. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Chloe pondering to herself.
"Yeah... You're right." I agreed.
"...So... What now?" Chloe asked.
"Let's get to know each other. I'm sure you and Jace know each other well, but I want to learn more about you two." Kate suggested.
"Alright, let's get to know each other veeery well... what are your sexualities?" Chloe asked suddenly.
"Chloe! Th-That's a little strong, isn't it?" I asked cautiously.
"No, it's fine, Jace." Kate reassured. "If you really want to know... I'm bi."
"Bi? But aren't you Christian?" Chloe asked.
"Well... actually..." Kate hesitantly started. "I'm... not actually Christian."
"...What?" I asked flatly.
"I'm not Christian. I just go along with it for my family's sake."
"But what about your abstinence campaign?" I asked.
"While I'm not Christian, I do believe couples need to wait some time before getting into the... physical stuff." Kate explained. "So... yeah. I like both girls and guys. Jace?" She looked at me.
"Straight as a line. Alway have been, always will be."
"Looks like Jace is the token straight member of our group, because I'm bi." Chloe revealed.
"You too?" Kate asked.
"Yeah. I've always been attracted to guys and girls. I never found a gender I was attached to more, so I just started liking both." Chloe explained.
"Well, that was interesting..." I pointed out, looking at the two girls again. I found myself admiring them again... They were just so pretty, I couldn't take my eyes off of them...
Shit... What's gotten into me? My heart's going wild...
"Well, I'm starting to get cold in here..." Chloe splashed me and Kate. "Probably because we've been talking instead of attacking each other!"
"Ah! Hey!" I splashed Chloe back.
Chloe giggled a bit. "Alright, I've had my swimming experience for the year. Let's bounce." The three of us got out of the pool and dried off, putting our clothes back on.
"Yuck... We smell like we've been swimming in Chlorine Bay..." I grumbled.
"We'll fix that once we get out–" Chloe was interrupted when we heard another voice.
"Hey! Who's there!?"
My eyes widened, and only one thought entered my mind.
Crap... We're so screwed...
A/N: Holy shit, this was a beast of a chapter! This might be my longest chapter yet! Including the author's notes, this chapter is over 6K words long! But hey, hopefully this'll make up for the hiatus this story was on. So yeah, we learn more about our main trio's lives (Jace's past and family life, Chloe's dad, Kate's sexuality, ect.). So I hope you guys enjoyed!
But wait! There's more! I'm planning on releasing an alternative, more... lemony-scented take on the pool scene. Of course, due to this site's rules, I can't put it here. But I will be putting it in my AO3 account. My account name should be on my profile, so be on the lookout for the alternate pool scene.
With that out of the way, see you guys next time!