PAINKILLERS || max mayfield (ON HOLD)

vi - boyfriend issues

"Dump his ass."

--

"AND THEN HE said he missed me and then he just hung up," Eleven said, sitting on the bed next to Andy. Max was pacing around the room, listening to El's story about Mike. Apparently, Mike's been a real dick these days. Not only has Andy not heard from him for almost 3 days, but every time El tried to call him, he'd act weird and hang up the phone.

"He's a piece of shit," Max said, without a hint of usual jokery in her voice. Regardless of the way Mike treated her, El's brows lowered, and she defended him. Max rolled her eyes and continued pacing around the room, thinking carefully.

"Mike doesn't have jack shit to do today, and his Nana obviously isn't sick. And I guarantee you, he and Lucas are playing Atari right now."

Of course, El still wasn't convinced. "But friends don't lie-"

"Yeah, well boyfriends lie," Max scoffed in a mocking tone. "All. The. Time."

Max stopped pacing and sat beside El on her queen-sized bed. "You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls. And as far as you're concerned, he doesn't exist."

"Doesn't exist?"

"He treated you like garbage. You're gonna treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine."

"Give him the medicine," Eleven said, her eyes filled with excitement as she gave an innocent smile. Max nodded, happy that she got the hint. "And if he doesn't fix this--if he doesn't explain himself--dump his ass."

Eleven nodded, and soon Max stood up and grabbed Eleven and Andy's wrists. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Asked the two girls in unison. Max rolled her eyes once again.

"To have some fun! There's more to life than stupid boys, you know." Andy pulled her arm away from her grip, forcing a yawn. "I think I should stay. I didn't get any sleep last night and I'm pretty tired."

Max gave an understanding nod and mumbled a 'sure,' but Andy could tell she was upset. And with that, they left the room, leaving her alone in Max's messy bedroom.

Truth is, she needed time to think. She knew her mother would report her missing soon if she didn't come home. However, she would rather be on the run her whole life than live with her again. And there was a chance her mother was at the mall looking for her, and she couldn't take that risk.

She laid on the bed and turned onto her back. The girl stared at the ceiling as her mind wandered to the conversation with Dustin. Then she closed her eyes and imagined herself living with her dad after he got out of jail. They wouldn't have to deal with her again if they moved away.

It would be perfect.

But for now, she was stuck hiding, running away from her past.

--

She hadn't known she fell asleep until she opened her eyes to Max standing over her, gently shaking her awake. She peered over to the large window beside Max's bed, surprised to see the sun had set for the day.

"How was your nap, sleepyhead?" She laughed, tugging on Andy's arm to tell her to get up. The girl rolled her eyes and got up from her spot on Max's bed, stumbling on her feet.

"Where's El?" She said through a yawn. Max was now filling her checkered bookbag with clothes. Andy looked at her with confusion, her head aching from how hard she slept. Although she was happy since that was the first sleep she'd gotten in a long time nightmare-free.

"We're having a sleepover at Hopper's cabin tonight. You can come too if you want." She paced around the room, grabbing things like nail polish and flashlights. But she was much more eager to bring Super Teen magazines since El seemed to not know anything about trends or celebrities. Hell, she didn't even know what a sleepover was until that day.

Andy nodded, her face lighting up when she realized she'd be getting away from Max's creepy stepdad. "Count me in. You were right about your dad being an asshole."

"Told you," Max smirked, sliding her book bag onto her back. "Also, I packed some extra clothes for you since I know you don't have any-in case you were worrying about that."

"Thank you," she replied, trying her hardest not to blush at the redhead in front of her. Andy grabbed her converses from the floor and they left the room, watching as Max looked in the hallway for Billy or her stepdad. The unpleasant scent of burning cigarettes wafting from Billy's bedroom told them he was in there, locked in his room as always, doing God knows what.

"We don't have to worry about him," said Max, reading the look of worry on Andy's pale face. "The only time he comes out of there is to eat or use the bathroom."

They hurried into the living room past Billy's workout equipment, holding their breath at the smell of sweat. Andy felt weight being lifted off of her as they exited the house, the full moon's radiance lighting up her face in the dark. The two girls made their way through the darkness of the night to their skateboards. They kicked off, finally allowing themselves to breathe when they knew they were far from the house.