SULIT | robin buckley.

eighteen | The Piggyback

WHY NOT???

Danielle shakes her head at the message and grabs her notepad, quickly writing-

IT WOULDN'T WORK

Angela pouts and writes-

IS IT BECAUSE I'M BLACK?

Danielle's jaw drops and Angela is silently laughing at her own comment.

NO, IT IS NOT!

Danielle flips over a page and writes

I WAS GOING TO SAY LONG DISTANCE YOU BITCH

Angela's brows furrow and then she writes.

UCLA?

Danielle shakes her head.

MAX

Angela stares at Danielle, blinking a couple of times as she nods her head. She smiles at Danielle and writes on her notepad. When she flips it toward Danielle, the redhead smiles, as she reads it.

BEST SISTER RANKING

1. DANIELLE

2. ANGELA

3. NANCY

HONORABLE MENTIONS

ERICA

HOLLY

Danielle writes on her notepad-

I LOVE YOU

Angela responds-

I LOVE YOU TOO. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!

A light flickers from outside and the four of them look over at the window to see that Erica was in place. Lucas looks back at everyone and Danielle holds up her finger. Lucas's brows knit together, and Danielle gets a fresh page of her notepad and writes-

ARE YOU SURE?

Max nods her head and Danielle sighs and nods her head. Lucas sends the signal back to Erica and everyone is tense as they return to the spot where the light was flickering. They all stare at it and Max looks back at her sister.

Danielle didn't want Max to do this, but her sister was stubborn. She had to let Max do it or and if things did happen to go wrong, then at least she was there. So, she offers Max a small smile. Max nods her head as she takes her headphones off, and presses pause on her Walkman.

"Hey!" Max shouts, "Asshole! I'm here. No more music. No more games."

Nothing happens.

"Do you hear me?" Max asks, "What are you waiting for, huh? Come on! Do you want me or not?"

The lantern that Erica had used to mark Vecna's location fades and the one that Max was holding begins to glow. They all stare at it and Max begins to walk out of the room and upstairs toward the attic where they knew Vecna was located. The light shines brightly before dimming.

Max looks at it with a frown, "What are you waiting for asshole? I'm right here. I'm right here!"

"I know you can hear me. I know you can hear my thoughts. Even the worst ones. Maybe mostly the worst ones," Max says before setting the lantern and Walkman down and taking a seat on the ground in front of them both.

Angela reaches out and turns up the volume on Danielle's Walkman. The eldest Mayfield looks over at Angela confused, but she shakes her head. She knew that Max was about to say some things that Danielle definitely did not need to hear.

"I thought about what you said," Max begins, "About how I wanted my brother to die. I thought that you were just trying to upset me. To anger me. But you weren't, were you? You were just telling the truth. Billy, he made my life a living hell. Danielle too. So sometimes when I would lie in bed at night, I would pray...I would pray that something would happen to him. Something awful."