The Long Game━ (l. sinclair)

middle schooler's scare the living shit out of me - steve

"What... What's going on?"

"Okay, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then take a left on Mount Sinai," Sam told Max, looking up from the large map in her lap.

Steve's eyes went from the girl in the passenger seat to the redhead in the driver's seat. It was like a slap in the face, and then reality hit him. There was a thirteen-year-old driving a car and those stupid fucking kids were going to the stupid fucking tunnels.

"Oh, my god!" Steve yelled, clearly panicking.

Corey groaned, said, "I told you guys he would freak!"

"Steve, relax, she's driven before!" Dustin said calmly.

Mike rolled his eyes at Dustin's comment. "Yeah, in a parking lot!"

"That counts!" Lucas defended Max.

"Oh, my god," Steve continued — just like Corey described — freaking out.

To try and convince Steve that the situation was ideal, Dustin explained, "They were gonna leave you behind—"

"Oh, my god!" exclaimed Steve as Max started to go faster.

"—I promised that you'd be cool, okay?" finished Dustin, hastily now.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah. What's going on?!" Steve continued panicking in a muffled, slurring voice. Max pressed her foot on the gas — or, her foot pressed the boxes they'd taped to the gas pedal so she could reach — and Steve was yelling, "WOAHHHH!"

Corey was growing increasingly more uncomfortable with how much Steve was squirming, especially since there were four people in the back that kept being knocked against each other. His arms and legs were pressed up close to Lucas and Mike, touching at every point. Corey was way too claustrophobic for this.

Mike noticed Corey's discontent, and snapped at Dustin with, "I knew we shouldn't have let him come!"

"Oh, my god. No! Woah! Stop the car! Slow down!" Steve continued losing his shit. He went to grab anything that was near him, and he ended up patting his hands all over Corey and Mike's faces. Mike hit Steve's hands off of the uncomfortable Corey who was contemplating throwing Steve out the window. "STOP THE CAR!"

"STEVE, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Corey threated, and he wasn't joking.

Trying to calm Corey down, Mike placed a hand at the back of Corey's neck, thumb rubbing up and down the bone there. Mike watched Corey's shoulders fall limp, no longer tense, and he couldn't help a pleased smile form on his lips, despite everyone screaming and yelling around them.

"Do not kill Steve!" Dustin hissed, knowing Corey's threat was real.

"God, his stupid hair is getting into my mouth!" Lucas complained.

"STOP THE CAR—!"

"Everybody, shut up!" Max screamed, and the boys fell quiet. "I'm trying to focus!"

Sam's eyes widened when she looked back down at the map, then back outside, then back at the map. "Oh, wait!" she realized, tapping at Max's shoulder and pointed at the dark earth outside the windshield. "That's Mount Sinai! Make a left!"

"What?"

"Make a left!" Sam exclaimed.

Max swore before she quickly spun the wheel. Lucas let out a girlish shriek, Steve released a bellowing cry, and Sam had accepted their fate. They transformed into rag dolls, each passenger thrashing in their seats. Shoulders clashed against shoulders, butts slid from off the leather. Then, Max stomped on the brakes — the tires screeched, and they jolted forward.