Chapter 1:

Arcadia Bay, January 1st, 2013

It was another dreary day in Arcadia Bay. Sitting back blazing yet again was one Chloe Price in her favorite hang out, the junkyard. Or what she liked to call American Rust. She had been sitting here for the last few hours just thinking about her past and how fucked up it was. She always did during her smoking sessions before coming back around to the same subject. The abandonment of her former best friend, Max Caulfield. It had been 5 years since she had last heard from or seen her. The more she thought about it the more pissed off she got.

'I don't know what I was expecting. First dad dies, then Max takes off to the fucking city, and then mom marries that asshole David Madsen. I still can't believe she just dropped me like that.'

Chloe always ended up here every time she was left to think on her own. She had just finished what was left of her joint and had stood up to walk out of the small shack she and her current best friend frequented often. Looking over the trashed cars and scattered litter she couldn't help but kick a bottle that was close to her in frustration. As the bottle flew into the bumper of one of the crashed cars and shattered she got a text message. She pulled her phone out to see it was from none other than her current best friend, Rachel Amber. She opened the message to see what was up.

Rachel: Hey blue! Come to Two Whales. I need to talk to you

Chloe: Nothing better to do. On my way

Chloe pocketed her phone again and pulled out her keys before walking over and climbing into her truck. She turned the key to the ignition and the truck sputtered to life. She pulled out into the road with her thoughts more controlled and on what Rachel needed to talk about. She arrived 10 minutes later and took the first available spot. She climbed out and made her way inside the tiny diner and over to the corner booth they always sat at. Rachel was already there and waiting as she sat down across from her.

"What up my sista from another mista?"

Rachel looked at her before smiling and giving her a look that she know meant she was about to get an ear full. Chloe just hoped it wasn't about something she had done.

"So you know my parents have been looking to adopt a kid right?"

At this Chloe became more intrigued having talked with Rachel about her parents wanting to adopt again since her mother was no longer able to have children due to having to have her ovaries removed from ovarian cancer. It was unfortunate but at least she had been cancer free now for 10 years. Chloe leaned in to be able to hear every last word.

"Well they went to visit one of the orphanages in Seattle just before new years and they found this girl. She was older than they had wanted to adopt but after asking about her and hearing her story they just couldn't leave her there."

Rachel leaned in so Chloe wouldn't miss a word.

"So they told my mom and dad that her parents had been killed 5 years ago in a car crash and that she had been in and out of foster care and orphanages due to a medical issue she has."

Chloe's attention was completely wrapped at this point. She was hanging on Rachel's every word waiting for more. Rachel glanced behind her and gave a smile.

"Here she comes now!"

At these words Chloe began to turn around. If only she had been prepared for the shock she was about to receive as Rachel continued.

"Chloe Price. I would like to introduce you to my new sister, Maxine Amber."

As Rachel finished Chloe's eyes landed on the face of the girl and in an instant every emotion of abandonment she had felt over the last 5 years came crashing back. All the sadness, all the regret, but most prominently was the emotion she was most known for. Anger. Before her stood a girl standing 5'5" with brown shoulder length hair and freckles dotted all over her face. She was dressed in a knee length white skirt and a simple long sleeved white blouse with white pumps. Before her stood someone she though she would never see again. This was none other than her former best friend, Max Caulfield.

"Hello, my name is Maxine Amber. What is your name?"

Chloe didn't know what to say. Her former best friend was looking at her as if she had never seen her before. 5 years without a call or anything and this is how she treated her? No way was she gonna stand for this.

"What the actual FUCK?!"

Chloe shot up out of her seat and began to walk over to her with her hands balled up. Rachel stood up wondering what was going on and not knowing what to do. Maxine's eyes grew wide and she began to slowly back away with an expression of fear on her phase.

"What did I do?"

Chloe was seething now. How dare she act like she didn't know her. How dare she act like she had done nothing wrong. How dare she show up back into her life after all this time and act like nothing had ever happened.

"Who the FUCK do you think you are Max? How dare you show up and act like you don't know me and nothing happened. After 5 years you come up to me and introduce yourself like we've never met. Do you think you are better than me or something?"

Rachel was confused but after a hearing Chloe's words she was piecing it together. She remembered Chloe telling her about her friend that left 5 years ago named Max and how she hadn't heard from her since.

"I d-don't k-know what y-you are t-t-talking about?"

Maxine was backing away not paying attention to where she was going and until her legs hit the end of a booth and she was now trapped against the wall. Nothing left between her and the very angry blue haired punk girl.

"Oh really? You have no clue? HOW. FUCKING. DARE. YOU!"

Every emotion from the past 5 years was coursing through her veins. She was getting closer and closer to the girl preparing to give her a piece of her mind but what happened next was something she was completely unprepared for.

"P-Please don't hurt me!"

Chloe wasn't ready for this. The girl before her was terrified and she had been too caught up in her anger to notice. The girl was trying her best to get farther back in the booth and was now in a fetal position with her arms over her head protecting herself. Chloe didn't know what to do to this. Everyone that was at the diner was staring at her and the girl. She was angry but she hadn't meant to terrify her. She unclenched her fists and took a step back just in time to hear Maxine begin to sob. Chloe didn't. know what to do. She was mortified.

Rachel had managed to finally unfreeze herself and in 3 quick strides had managed to cross the distance between her and the other 2 girls. She got between Chloe and Maxine before giving Chloe a disapproving look.

"Go outside Chloe. I will be outside in a minute."

Chloe didn't know what to do so she did exactly as she was told. She exited the diner and walked over to her truck before pulling her cigarettes out with shaky hands and lighting one up. She waited outside long enough to see Rachel's parents pull up and rush into the diner. They returned a few minutes later holding and helping Maxine to the car before leaving in a hurry. A moment later Rachel walked out and over to her with a look of anger written all over her face. She strode up to Chloe with a purpose before stopping in front of her.

"We need to talk. Get in the truck and drive us to American Rust. Now!"

Chloe simply did as she was told and climbed in the truck. A short time later they arrived and Rachel climbed out with out a word walking towards the small shack. Chloe followed and when she walked through the door way Rachel was starring at her and began to speak.

"What the fuck where you thinking Chloe? You just met the poor girl and you already have her terrified of you. She just got here yesterday!"

Chloe looked up at Rachel to see her angry like she had never been before. She wanted to talk in a civil manner but her anger came back again and she decided she needed to explain why exactly she was so angry.

"Just met her? I FUCKING ALREADY KNOW HER! That is Max Caulfield. I haven't heard from her in 5 fucking years and then she turns up out of the blue acting as if she doesn't know me? Tell me why I shouldn't be angry? The only thing I don't get is why she was so afraid of me. She never got scared before when I got angry."

Rachel simply pinched the bridge of her nose before taking a deep breathe and letting it our with a large sigh.

"Chloe I need you to calm down and take a seat. I think there are some things you need to know that will explain things better."

At this Chloe plopped down in one of the make shift chairs they had still seething in her anger as Rachel took a seat opposite of her. She looked Chloe in the eyes with a look of sadness that Chloe was unprepared for and with that look began the story of Maxine Amber. Formerly Max Caulfield.

"Chloe, 5 years ago Maxine's parent were killed in a car accident."

Chloe's anger immediately melted away at these words. Remembering the conversation at the Two Whales where Rachel had told her that her parents had ADOPTED her. Chloe was stricken to complete silence as Rachel continued.

"Maxine survived but only barely. She suffered severe head trauma and was in a coma. She woke up in the hospital 3 months later with no memories of her past."

Chloe looked at Rachel and finally found her voice again. Speaking much lower and with much less aggression.

"But Max was always a good girl. Why wasn't she found a permanent home?"

Rachel just looked at her with the sadness still evident on her face.

"After she woke up she didn't know anyone or much of anything. Due to the head trauma she gets these migraines and has to have high powered pain medication to help. She also had to relearn a lot of basic skills and go through rehabilitation to regain her ability to walk properly and regain her basic motor functions."

Chloe was quickly regretting her anger and she could feel the tears begin to slide down her cheeks. She didn't interrupt. Choosing instead to allow Rachel to continue.

"She spent 6 months in rehab just to have no one to return to. The first home they placed her in kept her for 2 months before sending her to an orphanage. She had began to have flashbacks of the crash and would wake up at night screaming. They weren't prepared for it and couldn't handle it. It went on like this for 2 years with her bouncing between orphanages and foster homes until this one family took her in."

At this point in the story Rachel's shoulders began to shake and tears started falling from her face. Chloe sat up with tears still falling from her eyes prepared for the worst.

"This home kept her for 6 months. Always telling the social worker she was fine and they had had no problems. Fucking evil bastards. They were selling her meds and making her suffer. They would beat her and degrade her. Treat her as less than trash. The social workers finally started to get suspicious and kept trying to see her but they always had an excuse. Finally they returned with the police and found Maxine malnourished and barely alive. Fuck bastards had gone to town on her and beat her all night.

They rushed her to a hospital and were lucky cause if she had arrived a minute later she wouldn't have survived. They got what they deserved though. Everyone involved is in prison and wont be getting out for a long time. She spent 2 months in the hospital after that in recovery. Once she got out no one would take her knowing what she had been through. Now suffering from abuse related trauma along with everything else she was looked at as too much work. Mom and Dad took one look at her and couldn't leave her there.

They filed the paperwork and were approved only a few days ago. She arrived yesterday just in time to celebrate New Years with us and to get settled in."

Chloe was in a state of pure misery. All this time she thought her friend had chosen to abandon her only to find out that she had been through hell and back And she hadn't contacted her because she literally had no memory of her past. Chloe was saddened by this but felt a small pang of relief knowing she hadn't been abandoned. Chloe took a deep breathe before wiping her face and eyes and looking at Rachel who was doing the same. After the girls had calmed back down and dried their tears Chloe decided to speak.

"Rachel, can I see her again?"

Rachel stared directly at Chloe trying to gauge her motive. She saw no trace of the anger she exhibited earlier but could see the sadness of realizing she had fucked up. Rachel sighed, deciding her next course of action and words.

"No."

At this simple word Chloe's anger had started to return but as she opened her moth to speak Rachel raised her hand to quiet her.

"Not today Chloe. You really upset her. I had to call mom and dad to come and get her cause she was so distraught. You really fucked up today."

Chloe just looked down dejected knowing she had really messed up. She felt tears threatening to fall again before she felt her friend sit down beside her and pull her in to a hug. She returned it gratefully before Rachel pulled back to look her in the face again.

"Hey now don't you cry anymore. I said not today Blue. Not never again. You just need to give it a day or two for her to calm down. I will diffuse everything to the best of my abilities and try to get her to meet you again. So just be patient."

Chloe accepted that she would have to wait. She had waited 5 years. She supposed she could wait a few more days. So with everything explained she and Rachel had left American Rust and she had dropped her off before making her way home. She pulled in the driveway and walked up the stairs. As she was about to reach for the door it was flung open and she was met with the very angry face of one Joyce Price, her mother.

"Chloe Elisabeth Price you get your ass in here and you do it right now!"

Chloe walked in and sat on the couch in the living room. As her mother followed close behind.

"Now young lady do you mind telling me just exactly what the hell went on at the Two Whales this evening?"

At this Chloe looked up at her mother with a look of sadness on her face. Joyce was prepared for Chloe to do a lot of things. She was prepared for anger, yelling, dismissal of it all, but she wasn't prepared for what did happen. Chloe began to weep. Joyce could only look at her daughter for a moment before her anger was quickly replaced with concern as she sat down next to her daughter and began to console her. It had been years since Joyce had seen Chloe cry like this.

"Mom, I saw Max today. That's what happened. Oh god mom! The things she has been through since she left."

Joyce was shocked to hear Max was back in town, but was even more shocked to hear she had apparently been through a lot. For the next hour Chloe explained and cried to her mother about the things Max had been through. How she didn't remember anything, how she was abused, everything. Joyce was shocked to know that the family she once considered so close was no more and that Max had been through so much pain in such a short amount of time. Joyce didn't know when but she had began to cry at some point during the explanation and when Chloe had finished they had both needed to dry their eyes.

Joyce had let all the anger go and had led Chloe upstairs to her room where she laid down before letting the exhaustion of the emotional day take hold of her and she fell into a dreamless sleep. Joyce after leaving Chloe's room walked down stairs and opened up her phone book to to look up the number for the Amber family. She decided that apologies and explanations were do so as to hopefully not cause the Ambers to choose to keep Max away from her daughter. Even if her daughter had been a bit of an ill minded idiot earlier that day.

She dialed the number and was met with the voice of a man.

"Amber residence. Joseph Amber speaking."

"Yes hello Mr. Amber. This is Joyce Madsen. I'm calling on behalf of my daughter Chloe."

At the name the man sighed but Joyce could tell it wasn't in anger.

"Mrs. Madsen, my daughter has already explained everything to us and we understand, but your daughter has to realize that Maxine has no memory of the past. She has Post-Traumatic Amnesia from the crash that killed her parents. And to top it all off due to the evil of some very bad people she now suffers from sever depression and anxiety from her traumatic abuse afterwards."

Joyce had to fight back the tears threatening to fall once again at hearing these words. Max was once like a daughter to her and had she known what had happened she would have taken Max in without hesitation. She composed herself before beginning to speak again.

"I understand sir. I'm sorry my daughter had caused you any problems. All I'm asking is that you please don't hold it against her. She has some issues that she is working through but I feel like her being around Maxine could help her. And hopefully help Maxine as well."

Joseph sighed again and for a moment Joyce thought he might have hung up on her before he started to speak again,

"Mrs. Madsen, we have to look out for whats best for Maxine. We won't force Maxine to be around your daughter, but if she chooses to see her again we wont stop her either. But know this, we wont tolerate Chloe causing Maxine to have breakdowns. If it becomes a problem we will start to keep her away from your daughter. I hate to be that man but we have to make sure Maxine is cared for to the best of our ability. Is that understood?"

Joyce didn't know what to say. She didn't like hearing that someone would intentionally not allow their child around her daughter but at the same time she understood that Maxine's health mattered much more than that. So with a heavy sigh she answered.

"Understood Mr. Amber. I hope you have a good day."

"The same to you Mrs. Madsen. Good day."

She heard a click of the phone being hung up before she followed suit. She exhaled before hearing someone come through the front door. She turned and saw her husband now of 2 years, David Madsen. He walked up to her with an annoyed expression after hanging up his coat and hat.

"I heard about what Chloe did today. Where is she?"

Joyce sighed before taking him into the living room and sitting him down. She began to explain everything that had gone on and why. At the end of the explanation all his annoyance and anger at the way she had acted was gone and he was left with a small feeling of sadness for the 2 girls. He looked at up at his wife before speaking.

"Alright I wont say anything to her. I just hope she learns to think before she acts from now on."

With everything out of the way they decided to simply have diner and retire for the night. Chloe finally awoke when it was dark out. She turned over and pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket. Half past eleven. She decided that she had slept enough and got up and wondered downstairs. She found a covered plate with food from the dinner she had missed. She heated it and began to eat. As she finished she heard a noise and someone walking down stairs. She hoped it was her mother but was disappointed when it turned out to be her step father David.

They had never gotten along and more than not were almost always at each others throats. He walked over to the table she was sitting at and took a seat opposite her.

"Hello Chloe. How are you feeling?"

Chloe sighed. She didn't want to argue tonight. She had too much on her mind. So she stood up and put her dishes in the sink and just as she was about to walk to the stairs she heard him speak again.

"Chloe wait….please."

She stopped and looked at him. Though it was dark she could tell by the way he asked her to wait he had no ill will. So she walked back to the kitchen and stood beside the table.

"I don't want to argue tonight David. I just want to go back to bed."

He looked up at her and she could see he was thinking but he didn't speak for a moment. He stood up and waved for her to follow him. Normally she would never do what he wanted but for some reason she felt that this was important. She followed him to the garage where he stopped at the counter where his laptop was sitting. He opened up the cabinet bellow it and started going searching through it A few minutes later he pulled out a book and turned back to her.

"I heard about today and your friend. I don't claim to know everything or what you and her are going through. But I know a thing or two about trauma. Here. Take this and read it. It might give you some insight on your friend. Maybe even yourself."

She took the offered book. It was a book on trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. She looked up at him to see him with an expression of understanding. She gave him a nod before exiting the garage and making her way up the stairs to her room. She laid down and began to read the book. Feeling like she wasn't understanding anything she closed the book and decided to look at it another time. She laid down and began to think on the day she had had, the reunion she didn't expect, and the pain she had caused her old friend.

She couldn't believe that her friend had been through so much. All this time she had been bitter just to find out that her anger had been misplaced. She rolled over thinking about what Rachel had told her. She couldn't believe anyone would hurt a kind girl like Max in such a way. It rocked her to her very core. Max had never hurt anyone. She was shy and soft spoken yet kind and caring. It just didn't make any sense. During her musing she began to feel drowse and she drifted to sleep once again.

January 4th 2013

Chloe had been reading the book David had given her. She had no idea how much trauma could affect you. She had read a few chapters and felt like she could better approach Max with the new knowledge so she decided to text Rachel and see if it would be an OK day to try talking to Max agaain.

Chloe: Hey Rach! You think it would be OK to try to see Max today?

Rachel: Idk. I will see if she is willing. And don't call her Max. She prefers Maxine.

She had been told this the past several days. Always the same response and now she would wait and most likely hear the same exact thing she waited for and got told the last few day when asking to see Max.

Rachel: Well looks like its your lucky day. Meet us down at the beach in 15 blue!

Chloe was ecstatic! She had asked to see her former best friend for the last 2 days just to be told that she was still too afraid to meet again. Chloe jumped up out of her bed and began looking for a fresh set of clothes. Even through her excitement she couldn't help but think to herself that she really needed to clean her room. She finally found some clean clothes and after a quick shower she dressed herself and ran down the stairs. She didn't even stop to say bye to her mother who was in the kitchen before bolting out the door to her truck and speeding off towards the beach.

She arrived 10 minutes later and climbed out of her truck. She began to calmly breath and prepare herself to meet her one time friend that had now been stricken with amnesia. Even spending the last few days preparing herself she was still worried about making an ass out of herself again. She really hoped Max didn't hate her for her outburst a few days ago. All the thoughts going through her mind distracted her until she heard a beep behind her.

She turned to see Rachel getting out of one of her family's cars before walking to the other side. She opened the door and knelt down beside the passenger side opening. She stayed there for a few minutes before standing up and putting her hand out to the person sitting there. Out climbed Max now in a simple sun dress that was yellow with pink flowers all over it. She watched as Max allowed herself to be led towards herself my Rachel. As they got closer she could see the nervous look in Max's eyes. They stopped a few feet away from Chloe.

"Hey," Chloe said giving a small wave.

"Hello there Blue," Rachel greeted back enthusiastically.

"Hi," a small squeak of a voice came from Max who was standing partial behind Rachel.

Chloe sighed shakily before approaching Max giving Rachel a look that she hoped conveyed she had no ill intentions.

Max's eyes began to widen and her breathe began to quicken as Chloe got closer but then Chloe dropped to her knees and began to cry in front of her and Rachel.

"I'm so so sorry Max. I never meant to scare you or hurt you in any way. Sometimes my anger gets the better of me and I speak before I think. I would never ever hurt you. Please forgive me," She bowed her head as small sobs began to rack her body and the tears began to hit the pavement.

Rachel and Maxine were stunned. Rachel had never seen Chloe beg someone to forgive her. Even seeing her cry was a rarity. She thought about moving to comfort her until she felt Maxine move past her. Maxine knelt down before wrapping the sobbing Chloe in a hug. Chloe was shocked but the contact and the effort to comfort her made the tears fall even harder. So Rachel stood there and observed as her best friend let out years of grief from a lot best friend and as said former best friend held her not knowing the full extent of just how much she was helping.

Half an hour later and the crying had finally stopped. Chloe had looked up at the Max as she stared back at her. Max smiled a smile that made Chloe's heart melt and made all the sour emotions go away.

"It's OK Chloe. I forgive you. And please call me Maxine."

Chloe was practically leaping for joy on the inside as Max, er Maxine, forgave her. She smiled back at her still wiping the old tears from her face. Maxine stood up and offered her hand to her which Chloe accepted allowing herself to be pulled up. Maxine turned to Rachel giving her a smile before walking towards the car.

"Damn Blue. Cry baby much," Rachel teased as Chloe just gave her a half heartened middle finger before they both turned to see what Maxine was doing. They watched as she pulled out a messenger bag and slung it over her shoulder. She began to walk back to them before smiling and making her way towards the beach. Chloe couldn't help but smile at seeing Maxine in a happy mood and looked at Rachel to see her rolling her eyes.

Both girls made their way down to the beach as they watched Maxine open her bag and pull out an old Polaroid instant camera and begin to take pictures. Chloe smiled, happy to see that at least something never changed.

"She takes pictures all the time," Rachel began to explain,"She has told me she doesn't know why but it just feels right. She said when she hears the whir of an old instant camera everything just feels OK."

Chloe looked over at Rachel until she finished.

"Back when we were little she loved pictures. She had an old yellow Polaroid that her parents bought for her at a flea market when she had thrown a fit for it. She never put the thing down." Chloe sighed as she reminisced on the old days...before her dad died. She was brought out of her musings when a flash went off in her face and she realized the Polaroid was inches from her face.

She yelped jumped backwards as Rachel laughed and Maxine smiled at her. Chloe's startled face settled into a mischief filled smile.

"You brat," She yelled before shooting forward and snatching the picture out of the camera. Maxine was caught of guard and reached for the picture but Chloe just held it above her head having a good 6 inches in height on her. Maxine began to hop up and down trying to get the picture as Chloe and Rachel laughed. Maxine finally stopped and looked up at Chloe with big eyes that looked as if she was about to cry.

Chloe panicked before handing the picture to her.

"I'm sorry. I was only playing. Here. Please don't hate me."

Maxine took the picture before walking away a short distance than turning around and sticking out her tongue and holding up the peace sign.

"Got ya," she said before looking at the picture to see how it turned out. Chloe was taken aback. She had been bamboozled and had by the little brown hair vixen. She couldn't help but smile to herself knowing that this new Maxine was going to be fun to get to know.