“Where am I? How did I get here?” 

The storm that raged on the shore had sprinkled droplets and coldness of weather on her hair. She was already drenched in rain, yet Max Caulfield couldn’t have cared less. The lanky body, hazelnut brown hair, and freckles on her face wearing a gray hoodie and washed jeans were too captivated by the storm that heading towards her hometown, Arcadia Bay, ready to destroy everything.

Next to the old lighthouse pathway where Max Caulfield stood, was her best friend, Chloe Price. Like Max, the thin girl with light blue hair fell silent as a violent storm rocked the beach and came their way. Chloe stands in stark contrast to Max. She was taller than Max and dressed like an 80s punk girl in ripped jeans and a black leather jacket.

“Max…” An unfinished word full of bitterness and anxiety from the light blue-haired girl before reaching a black and white polaroid photo to her best friend.

Max took it and stared at the photo for just a few seconds. Mumbled by the roar of the downpour and the fierce storm, tears were shedding sorrows from Max’s face as she glimpsed one last look at her best friend.

“I love you, Chloe!” She finally confessed to her feelings. The feeling that was buried for 2 years and millions of words.

Undeterred by her surroundings, Chloe stepped over to Max and kissed her gently on the shy girl’s lips.

“I love you, too!” Then, she stepped back, saw Max’s face filled with sadness as this was the last farewell that fate had decided. “And don’t you dare forget about me!”

“Never!” The short and final answer from Max. Fate has determined them both. There was no other choice for them to choose from. Shivering with cold, Max grabbed the photo again and focused on it one more time.

The deafening sound of the rain and storms around her began to die down and fade away in the distance, as the image in the photo began to appear vibrant and colorful.

She felt a transition. A blinding white light filled Max’s world and the surroundings faded into the void. She has gone back to the past where the photo was taken and where it all started.

A warm guitar melody filled her ears. It was calm. She knew that part of the song reminded her of the good times with Chloe.

“Forget the horror here, forget the horror here… “ A soft voice followed the lyrics of the song. Max recognized the voice from millions of voices.

“Chloe?” Max said very quietly, hoping for a reply.

“Oh, look at the Sleeping Beauty finally awakens from her sleep!”

Slowly, Max opened her eyes and only to find bright sunlight in the bedroom window. After she got used to it, she looked at his best friend by her side, lying next to Max, smoking a half-burnt cigarette.

Just happy to see her light blue-haired best friend beside her, alive. Max embraced her best friend very closely, who was taken aback by this amount of affection.

“Whoa, what’s up with you, Maxine?” Said the confused Chloe.

Max barely managed to hold back the tears.

“It worked, Chloe! I don’t know how but it worked!

“Huh, what worked? Said Chloe who found her friend dumbfounded. Just now Max realized that Chloe didn’t understand what she was trying to say because the storm never happened, at least for Chloe.

“Hey, uh... What year is this, Chloe? “ She asked and wondered.

“That party sure makes you forget everything, huh? It’s 2010, you dummy!“ Chloe laughed and slapped Max's arm lightly.

“Shit, did I fuck up the reality again? I’ve changed the timeline a lot. I should have gone back to my senior year. Now I have to start all over again. What if I made everything worse? This fucking sucks so much. No, Max stays positive, please! I will make sure this time I’m gonna build better relationships and improve my grades in the photography class. But at least my best friend is alive and there is no storm happening"

“Don’t be a dummy, Max. Come on we have many plans to do on this beautiful Friday afternoon in the junkyard as usual!”

“As usual? Chloe, wait. I think I messed up with the timeline again, ”

“No, no you don’t, Max. If you fucked up the timeline again, I shouldn’t be alive remember?”

“Chloe, I-“ a sense of nervousness to explain everything to Chloe flooded and overflowed Max as she still standing in silence, not continuing her talk.

”Hey, when we get to the junkyard you can say whatever is on your mind, Max. Now, first thing first, I have an appointment with someone in the school’s fucked up bathroom and I want you to be my Velma,” Enthusiasm comes from Chloe who tries to calm Max down. She hugged her shy best friend very tightly. Max felt calmer than before. More than anything.

They head to Blackwell Academy in the old brown pickup truck that Chloe drives.

“Okay, Darren, calm down! You own this school. If I wanted, I could blow it up. You’re the boss. There has to be an explanation and definitely a way out of this. I just have to keep calm and don’t fuck up too much until I found a way back to my reality.”

The slim 19-year-old boy wearing a jacket and blue jeans is breathing heavily, panicking in the school’s bathroom over the missing drug money he lent to Chloe. While the boy was looking at himself in the mirror, there was a loud sound of the bathroom door opening.

“So, what do you want?” Hoping for a reply from the light blue-haired girl who just entered.

“I hope you checked the perimeter as my dickhead stepfather would say. Now, let’s talk about a deal, shall we?” Said Chloe as she checked the stalls if anyone was there.

“I got nothing,” Darren calmly replied while holding his anger.

“Oh, look at this little punk ass rich kid that has been selling drugs ‘round the school blocks. If I go to your parents and tell them that their beloved young man is in hella big trouble, will you give me a break?” Said Chloe with a sinister smile, expecting her to be given some slack for the money.

“Leave them out of this, bitch!” Darren snapped.

He then pushed Chloe against the wall and pinned her arms.

“Wha-what are you doing? Th-this is unnecessary, ugh…” Chloe tried to release Darren’s grip but was unsuccessful as she was powerless against the tall man.

Darren pulled a gun out of his jacket and points it towards Chloe’s stomach. He kept pinning Chloe against the wall with one hand and the other holding the gun.

“Wh-where did you get that? Please Darren put that thing away!” The words came from Chloe’s mouth who sounded groaning in fear.

“Don’t ever tell me what to do! You don’t know who the FUCK I am and who you fucking with,” Anger filled Darren’s voice.

“Get that gun away from me, shithead-“ Chloe pushed Darren away from her and he was shaken, pulling the trigger and shooting Chloe in the stomach.

“NO! CHLOE!!” A loud scream from Max who just comes out of the stall and sees her best friend being shot.

Max stretches out her left hand and everything becomes blurry. The gun and Chloe fell in slow motion as Darren caught Max in the eye. In the next moment, the whole sequence is reversed. Max wakes up again in the lighthouse with her best friend. The storm’s events repeat themselves.

“Max… “ said Chloe.

“I’m sorry, Chloe,” Max glanced at her best friend, filled with fear and hopeless as she can’t change his best friend’s fate.

“Max, please take this photo and save the town!”

“I can’t, Chloe. I will stay here with you,” Max cries and embraced Chloe for the last time because she realizes that Chloe’s death or reversing fate can’t save both of them.

As the two of them stood watching the storm draw nearer, they embraced and accepted what fate had to offer. The storm got closer and closer, finally destroyed the shore and then the town. The two lovebirds have accepted their fate and finished what they started.