"You're dripping like a saturated sunrise
You're spilling like an overflowing sink
You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece
And now you're tearing through the pages and the ink"
where the zoomer falls in love with the thief.
(max mayfiel...
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"And that was the last we ever saw of her. After that, she was just gone. I can't believe it's been that long. Feels like yesterday. I really miss her, I guess."
Joe sighed in relief after reliving the past year out loud. It was slightly therapeutic.
"Yeah. I mean, I bet," Max agreed, which shocked Joe.
Joe was almost positive that Max was gonna think she was lying.
"It's crazy, I know," Joe replied.
"It's crazy, but... I really liked it," Max said.
Joe was just confused at this point. She wondered if this is how Steve felt everyday of his life, since he famously lived in a state of confusion at all times.
"Liked it?" Joe asked, squinting her eyes brows in confusion.
"Yeah," Max replied, "Well, I mean, I had a few issues."
"Issues?" Joe asked.
"I felt it was a little derivative in parts," Max responded.
"What are you taking about, Max?" Joe asked, fully confused at this point.
"I just wish it had a little more originality. That's all," Max said nonchalantly with a shrug.
Joe scoffed.
"You don't believe me," the dark haired girl replied, standing up, "I don't even know why I bothered."
"Joe, come on, seriously?" Max laughed, "How gullible do you think I am?"
"Why the hell would I make this up?" Joe asked, getting irritated now.
She should have expected this. Of course Max wouldn't believe her. I mean, it did sound utterly insane. Max wasn't exactly the trusting type from what she could tell.
"I don't know. To impress me or something?" Max replied, "Or you're just, like, insane."
"Seriously? Impress you? I tell you all of this. I mean, top secret shit. Risking my life, and this is how you react?" Joe crossed her arms.
She was officially pissed off at Max's attitude.
"Risking your life?" Max chuckled.
"Oh, so this is funny to you?" Joe asked, clenching her fists, which still kind of hurt from the other day when she hit the mirror.
"Yeah. I mean... kind of funny," Max replied, "Stupid, but funny."
Max stood up with her skateboard, heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Joe asked.
"Story time's over, isn't it?" The redhead asked as she opened the door and walked out.
"What is wrong with you?" Joe asked, following the girl out into the bustling arcade, "I gave you what you wanted."
"I wanted to be apart of the group, not a part of some joke," Max replied, turning around to face the dark haired girl.
"It's not a joke, Max. I'm being serious."
"You did a good job, okay? You can go tell the others that I believed your lies, if it gets you experience points or whatever."
Max turned on her heels, headed for the door. Joe decided to make the bold decision to grab her hand, stopping her from leaving. She blushed, but quickly focused on the situation at hand instead of her crush. She had to protect Max and the party right now.
"We have a lot of rules in our party, but the most important is, 'Friends don't lie,'" Joe spoke, still holding Max's hand in her own, "Never. No matter what."
"Is that right?" Max asked in a patronizing tone, "Then how do you explain this?"
Max guided Joe to the Dig Dug machine with the fake "Out of Order" sign on it. Joe rolled her eyes, dropping Max's hand. Max was just being dramatic at this point. Max ripped the sign off, sticking it to Joe's black turtleneck.
"I had to do that," Joe sighed, snatching the sign off her own chest, "Like I said before, you're not the easiest person to reach, Maxine. This was all to protect you."
"Protect me from who, exactly?" Max raised her voice slightly, "The big bad government baddies from Hawkins Lab?"
"Dude, lower your voice," Joe whispered, looking around the arcade.
You never know who is listening in Hawkins.
"Maybe it was to protect me from the Demogorgon from another dimension?"
"Max, I'm serious, shut up!" Joe whisper yelled at the redhead.
"Oh, no, no, no. You know what it was? It was Eleven. The girl-"
Joe slapped her hand over Max's mouth as quickly as she could. She didn't even have time to process that she was touching Max's face or the fact that she kinda did it a little too hard. She had to act quickly to protect her friends, so she did what she had to do.
"Stop talking," Joe hissed with fear and worry clouding her brown eyes, "You're going to get us killed. Do you understand that?"
Max actually looked a little surprised. Joe couldn't see her whole face, but the surprise, slight fear, and shock were all evident in her ocean blue eyes.
Max pulled Joe's hand away from her mouth slowly, once again, holding the darker girl's hand.
"You're serious?" the red-headed girl asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"I really wish I wasn't."
Max shook her head.
"Prove it."
"I can't."
"So what? I'm supposed to just trust you?" Max asked.
"Yeah, that's how that works," Joe replied, a little more snarky than she intended.
The sound of a car revving outside interrupted their conversation. Max suddenly looked worried and began to scramble, grabbing her skateboard. She ran to the door, which Joe followed her to. Billy was outside.
"Shit. I gotta go. Um...," Max grabbed Joe's hand again, but this time it seemed sincere and sweet, "Please don't follow me out. Okay?"
Before Joe could get another word in, Max was out the door, running to Billy's car. All Joe could do was stand there and watch the girl of her dreams leave just as quickly as she arrived.
Max scurried to Billy's car, quickly getting in. She could already tell this was going to be a long drive home.
"The hell I tell you?" Billy asked, laying back in the driver seat, his eyes covered by his dark sunglasses.
"I'm not late," She replied quickly, even though she had an idea of what he was actually referring to.
"You know what I'm talking about."
"Oh, Joe?" Max fake scoffed.
"So she has a nickname now, huh?" he asked, staying scarily calm.
"It's.. It's a small town, okay?" Max stammered, "We weren't hanging out."
"Hmm. Well, you know what happens when you lie."
Max was officially scared now.
"I'm not lying," she insisted to the older boy, who seemed to have already made up his mind.
Billy finally turned to look at her. She couldn't get a read on his emotions due to the sunglasses, but she knew it probably wasn't good. He didn't say anything, just sped off.
Joe exited the arcade, watching the pair speed off in Billy's blue car.
