𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄 | ᴍᴀx ᴍᴀʏꜰɪᴇʟᴅ x ᴏᴄ

oʍʇ-ʎʇɹıɥʇ

꧁꧂

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ-ᴛᴡᴏ: ꜱʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴄᴀʀᴇ

School was shit. The worst. I hated every second of it. From the stupid ass bullies that wouldn't leave El alone, to the homework that was set for the next day, expected without any failure. The way kids ran around the hallways and how teachers will be up my ass to get off my skateboard the moment we were on the premises of the place was enough to get me to want to go right back to Hawkins, Indiana. Back to Max.

On her birthday, the girl had been much quieter than what I'd imagined, but there wasn't a ton that could be done. She didn't really talk to any of the others when we had the dinner, and she was kind of lost for any words when I gave her the present. It was nothing special, but she insisted to take the pack of records back to the store I'd bought them from (like that was going to happen).

But thank God, Christmas was finally here. Finally. And Joyce and Johnathan were now basically sure that I was in love with Max, too, so there was that. We never officially had that talk, but I'm pretty sure they were getting the gist...

"You know how much that'll cost?!" Mom repeated the question to me as I'd sat at the dining table, listening to her and her reaction to my idea of Max's Christmas present. It only made sense, though.

"You know I'm paying, right?" I asked her, eyes narrowed a little. It wasn't like we were tight for money. Her new job paid at least double of what she got at the store in Hawkins, and I'm talking before the mall was built and the store's profits went from one hundred percent to what felt like twenty.

When I had said that to her, she raised an eyebrow at me, confused on how I'd got the money. This time, not all was from Johnathan's wallet, so there was that. I got a few jobs here and then, some paying better than others, I won't lie, and Mom had never been too impressed when I came home a little later than she'd wished for. But it was enough. It was enough for my tickets to Hawkins, and back and enough for the girl's present. That's when I assumed she got the idea, that is...

"I'm gonna miss you." As El pulled me into the twelfth hug of the day, I did my best to keep a smile on as we stood at the airport, very, very awkwardly. At least Argyle wasn't currently here. That would've been far too awkward for us. Johnathan had been getting high with Argyle more often in recent days, and it wasn't like I cared to a certain degree. Chances were in a few years I was going to be the exact same.

The only problem I had was that Johnathan was insisting that Mom didn't need to know- like ever. He was sure that if word were to get around about him and Argyle doing drugs, which was probably already going around Lenora Hills if you ask me, then Joyce should be the last to know, anyways. I don't know if he was scared for Mom to know as she'd freak out on him and ban him from doing something or that he was scared she was gonna treat him differently to how she treated me, Will and El. Rule number forty-seven: do drugs, but tell mom. 

"Yeah, well, I think I'm gonna miss you more." I tell El as I heard an announcement go off from the speakers. It was my flight.

As the others began to make a fuss of me, mainly Joyce, I said my goodbyes to the other three before turning to Will. "Say hi to... you-know-who..." My twin tells me after a moment.

Raising an eyebrow, I pulled him into a hug. "Which one are we talking about?" I teased the boy, smiling he put a hand on my shoulder.

"That's not funny-" He said, laughing as he pulled out of the hug. Okay, William, sure, act like I'm not the most hilarious person you know... Rule number forty-eight: start a comedy show "Okay... say hi to them both for me." I rolled my eyes at his words.