Feelings, Max Mayfield ¹ ✓

xxii. eye spy

El smiles back before spinning the bottle. It spun for a couple seconds before eventually landing upon Billy's name. All three girls read out, "Billy."

"This could be either really good or really bad," Liz admits. She knew Billy was an asshole but he was also a mysterious person. Liz didn't know what he got up to in his spare time. She thought maybe he could be doing something embarrassing that they could hold over him for the rest of his life or he could be doing something really gross that scar them for life.

Max hesitates but when she's El's smile, she sighs and gets off the bed, "Okay, look, 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 grabs the radio and the blindfold from El's dresser before coming back to the bed. El takes the blindfold, "Max—"

"No, I'm just saying, I'm serious," Max continues. "He's really gross."

"Max!" El scolds, knowing she needs quiet in order for her ability to work.

"I think El will be fine," Liz tells Max, chuckling slightly. "She's a big girl."

Max holds up her hands in surrender, "Okay, shutting up now."

Max tunes the radio to a station that wasn't in use. The crackling static echoed throughout the room. El gave one last look to the girls before putting on her blindfold and focusing. A few minutes went by and El's nose had started to bleed just as she announced, "I found him."

"What's he doing?" Max asks.

"I don't know," El starts. "He's... on the floor... talking to someone."

Liz furrows her brows, "Who's he talking to?"

El started to breathe heavier, like she was scared. Liz and Max exchanged a confused and worried look before looking back at El. The blood was starting to drip farther down and then she suddenly ripped off her blindfold and gasped loudly, like she was gasping for air. El was visibly shaking, so Liz reached over, "What's wrong? What happened in there?"

"What is it?" Max asks, grabbing her as well. "What happened?"

El was breathing heavily, her chest rising up and down faster than it was supposed to. Liz moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around the girl, rubbing her hand on El's upper arm to calm her down and make her feel safe. Max grabbed El's hand and both girls patiently waited until El felt comfortable enough to explain, "He saw me."

Liz and Max exchange a confused look before Liz looked back at El, "What do you mean he saw you? How?"

"I don't know," El states. "There were screams. The girl was screaming. He was hurting her."

"That's really not that unusual with Billy," Max admits. Liz gags once she understands what Max means by it's not unusual for girls to scream when they're with Billy. "He wasn't hurting her, in fact, she probably felt really good."

Liz shakes her head, not wanting Max to continue talking about her stepbrother's sexcapades, "Max."

Max flashes a small apology smile to Liz before looking back at El, "I'm sure she's fine, same with Billy. I'm sure he didn't actually see you."