PAINKILLERS || max mayfield (ON HOLD)

viii - searching

A/N: I'm so sorry for not uploading omg. I've been so busy and have had no time to keep up with this story. Anyways, expect chapters 9 and 10 to come out in the next few days. <3

"When girls are with my brother, they make happy screams."

--

"ARE YOU SURE we should be doing this?" Andy's brow furrowed as Max grabbed the radio from El's dresser.

Max rolled her eyes at how anxious Andy was acting. "Relax, Andy. He won't even have a clue we're doing this." Max rested her hand on the brunette's shoulder, causing a smile to creep onto Andy's parted lips.

"Okay look, El, I know you've done this before but I should just warn you–if he's with a girl or doing something gross just get out of there right away before you're scarred for life–"

"Max." El interrupted, watching the girl as she darted around the room searching for the blindfold. It was funny to Andy to see how Max already knew her brother's behavior by memory, even after living with him for a few years. Max raised her arms in defense. "No, I'm just saying I'm serious it's really gross–"

"Max!" The brunettes said in unison. Max chuckled to herself and raised her eyebrows. "Fine. Shutting up now." El tied the blindfold over her eyes and gestured for Max to turn the radio back to the unoccupied station. She nodded and glanced at El, whose nose was now dripping with dark scarlet blood. Now all they had to do was wait.

The ominous silence in the room made the girls' stomachs twist with pure nervousness and excitement, wondering what Billy could be doing at this hour. Although Andy still thought this was a dumb idea, and that it was a waste of time since Billy was doing what every teenager does; smoking and getting laid. But of course, Max was still all in for the idea. She watched as Max bit her nails, focusing deeply on El to see if she would make any sign of movement. She watched as Els' nose flared with every deep breath she took, the whistling of her nostrils and the muffled comedy show on the television being the only sound in Els' room.

Minutes had passed and El was still in the void, so the two girls shared another look of wonder.

Suddenly El threw off her blindfold, revealing glistening tears under her soft brown eyes. She gasped for breath as Max and Andy begged her to tell them what happened. However, the only response was a look of horror, and at that moment they knew she had seen something terrible.

–

The girls awoke the next day fairly early, though all still upset from the previous night. When El finally told them what had happened, they wished she hadn't. Questions about the void kept them up all night, staring at the ceiling trying to figure out if what El saw was real. And if it was, what was Billy doing with that girl?

And so instead of them doing what they normally do, a desperate El forced them to Max's house to see if it was true.

"It's gonna start pouring soon." Max looked up at the deep gray sky, listening as thunder pounded like drums in the clouds.

Andy sighed and nodded, receiving an annoyed look from El. "We should be at the mall–or like–watching a movie or something," Andy whined and El stopped walking to look at her.

"You don't believe me, Adrienne?"

"I believe you saw some super weird stuff, totally," Andy said and Max quickly nodded in agreement, but she could tell she was joking. Els' lips fell into a disappointed frown as she waited for Andy to continue. "But you said that Mike sensed you in there before right?"

El gave a half nod. "So maybe Billy just sensed you somehow–"

She lowered her brows. "But the screams."

Max crossed her arms and let out a loud groan, letting the girls know she was pretty annoyed to be there.

Andy cleared her throat and tried to ignore the impatient stares from Max. "Yeah I know, but here's the thing. When boys like Billy and my brother Steve are alone with a girl, they make like–really crazy noises."

"They scream?"

"Yeah, but like happy screams."

"Happy screams? What are happy screams?" El asked, genuinely confused as to what she was talking about. Max chuckled to herself and tried to hide her growing smile, knowing exactly what Andy was referring to. Finally, they saw a house with a screened-in porch and immediately knew it was the Mayfields. Max glanced at the driveway, searching for Billy's black Camaro or her parents' car but saw none. She was starting to believe El at that discovery since he was usually there working out or inviting high school girls over.

"His car isn't here." Max sighed and shared similar looks with the girls. "You really want to do this?"

El nodded and the three entered the house, looking around at the vomit green paint and at least ten bottles of beer on the table. They walked past her parents' room and her room to Billy's, immediately getting hit with the smell of cologne and cigarettes. They entered the room and scrunched their noses at the crushed cans sitting on piles of random junk. They cringed when they saw the posters of half-naked women on his walls. A rock song was still playing on his radio, slightly muffled by the shirt he threw on top of it.

"Why do I get the feeling we're gonna find all kinds of wrong in here?" Max walked toward the nightstand, rolling her eyes at the jar of cigarette ashes on top of it. Curiously, she pulled open a drawer but soon regretted it after finding the dirty magazines he kept in them. Her eyes widened at the picture of a naked woman on the cover of one of the magazines. "Ugh, gag me with a spoon."

Max shrugged and crossed her arms. "Everything's pretty much normal here–I mean for him. But we should go before he comes back–if he sees me in here he'll kill me."

El sighed and looked around the room, still not convinced. "Where's the bathroom?"

Max cocked a brow and uncrossed her arms. "Two doors down to the left, why?"