𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄 || 𝘔𝘈𝘟 𝘔𝘈𝘠𝘍𝘐𝘌𝘓𝘋

10. the olive theory

Once everyone has gotten to the bus, Steve orders everyone to find metal scraps to cover the windows of the bus with.

After all the hard work of covering each and every hole, it was time to lure Dart in.

Steve pours gasoline on the meat, leading up to the door of the bus.

Everyone walks in the newly secured bus, Dustin looks around outside and closes the door.

————
5:00

༺♥༻ It's Stephanie's job to sit on top of the bus and look out for any Demogorgans.

Every so often, she'll use her binoculars to scan the ground.

But, Stephanie gets distracted by looking at the stars with the binoculars.

The stars look so pretty.

They remind me of her eyes.

While Stephanie is lost in the stars, she hears something from behind her.

Stephanie slightly jumps, in fear that it was Dart, but it was Max.

Oh, shit. Okay. What do I do? What do I say?

The girls sit in silence until Max says, "it's kinda awesome."

"Huh?" Stephanie looks at Max, confused.

Max looks out at the fog. "The fog, I mean. Looks like the ocean."

"You miss it?"

"What?"

"The ocean. The waves? California?"

Max looks away from Stephanie.

"Hawkins seems pretty lame compared to-" Stephanie starts

"No, no, no, it's not that. It's just..." Max hesitates to continue.

Stephanie put her binoculars down on the roof of the bus. "It's okay. You can say it."

"...My dad's still there. So..."

"Why?"

"It's this legal term called 'divorce'."

Stephanie smiles.

"See, when two married people don't love each other anymore-"

Stephanie was going to talk about how she doesn't see her dad (also her mom), but it didn't seem like the right time.

"My mom and my stepdad, they wanted a fresh start away from him. As if...As if he was the problem which is total bull." Max avoids looking at Stephanie. "And things...are just worse now. My stepbrother's always been a dick, but now he's just angry all the time and...Well, he can't take it out on my mom, so..."

Stephanie continues. "So he takes it out on you?"

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this. It's just...I know that I can be a jerk like him sometimes, and I do not want to be like him. Ever. I guess I'm angry, too, and..."