I'm feeling bold, so let's start this bitch now.
Please read the description for trigger warnings.
I won't be listing the triggers at the beginning of chapters, I'm experimenting.
Bon appetit.
"And after that, I totally kissed her. Right there, in front of everyone! It was fucking awesome!" It was the beginning of the school year, and Dustin was retelling the story of his first kiss. Over and over. The other boys groaned each time. Who cares if he kissed Susie? Everyone else at the table had already had their first kiss.
Jane and Mike kissed each other. Then they broke up.
Will kissed Mike, now they're dating.
Lukas, Lukas kissed the girl who was supposed to be in the empty seat.
"Max should be here by now." Lukas nudged Will. He was the most caring and empathetic out of them all.
"Yeah..." Will nodded in agreement. The gang always met up in the cafeteria for lunch. "You think she's skipping off again on purpose?"
"I don't know...maybe." Lukas shrugged. "I should go look for her."
Will grabbed his arm in protest. "I don't think you should...You know she might be with Troy or James. Maybe even the new girl, Abi."
"It's fine." Lukas stood up and grabbed his backpack. "Troy and James have better things to do than bully us these days. I'm not holding onto the past. As for Abi, she seems nice to me." Lukas put on his backpack.
"Where are you going?" Mike asked, talking over Dustin's story.
"Just for a walk." Lukas lied swiftly and started walking out of the cafeteria.
Mike looked over at Will and shook his head. "Go with him, he's going to get himself hurt."
Will nodded and quickly ran after Lukas. "Why are you so obsessed with Max? You know it's not healthy."
"I don't need a lecture, mom." Lukas huffed and made his way to the back of the school. That's where the old art room was. It was mostly storage now. But, it was a hotspot for teens like Max.
"Lukas...You know Max isn't yours. You have to stop treating her like she is." Will grabbed Lukas' arm softly. "Come on...Let's just leave her alone. What good does it do to stalk her?"
Lukas shrugged Will away. "I'm not stalking her, I'm just...checking on a friend."
"And if she's on her knees in the art room?" Will whispered, pink.
"Then I know she's...moving on."
Will rolled his eyes. "you had a summer fling, that's all. She told you herself she didn't want anything serious. I think YOU need to move on."
"I know." Lukas snapped. "She's shared so much with me this summer...I just want to check on her."
Will sighed as the art room got closer. He could already hear two people talking in a whisper. "I think you need to let it go...She doesn't even want to be our friend anymore, Lukas. I know a lot happened with you and her this summer, but it's time to let go."
"She's still our friend. I can check on her as a friend." Lukas quietly slipped in front of the art room door and held his breath as he looked in. Will stayed back. "She's fine..."
"Then let's go." Will grabbed Lukas and pulled him back down the hall. He never bothered to ask what she was doing, it wasn't something he wanted to know.
Inside the art room, Max had no idea Lukas was there. But she felt it. Whenever he was around she got this strange feeling that she couldn't describe. It was raw, it was desire. She wanted to be with him. The feeling was enough to make her pull away from Abi. "Did you hear something?"
"Mn, no?" Abi breathed heavily, looking at the door. Her soft tan cheeks were sticky with Max's lipgloss. Max was versatile in many ways. She could skateboard, she could do makeup. She liked comic books and thick novels. Max could kick someone's ass and be a friend. She could kiss boys and she could kiss girls. But she could love neither, not yet.
"I just...feel like I heard something." She never heard, she felt. Max went to the window and peeped out. There wasn't anyone. "Damn, I'm hearing things."
"Come on, let's keep going." Abi placed her hand on Max's lower back. Giving her such a sweet and caring smile. Abi really cared about Max, in such a short amount of time. So much like someone else Max knew.
Max looked into Abi's eyes, long enough to see the reflection of her heart in them. She had to make distance, now. She was forming a connection, a real connection. "No, we don't have much time. Let's just go."
Abi shrugged and wiped her face in her sleeve. "Is my lipstick smudged?"
"Definitely." Max nodded and giggled as she tried to fix her face too.
-
That night Max couldn't sleep. She could replay Abi's smile over and over again, but she couldn't sleep. She didn't want a connection with Abi. For once it wasn't because she was afraid of love. It was because she secretly already had someone she wanted to love. It was a secret to herself too.
DING
Max opened her phone and caught herself smiling. Then the smile faded when she remembered the walls she had built.
Lukas🔥
Lukas: Hey! How's it going?
Max: Good
Lukas: You didn't join us for lunch again...I thought maybe something happened?
Max: You're so dumb...I have other friends. Did you come by the art room?
Lukas: Hey!!!!
Lukas: Yeah...😖
Max: I thought I heard someone...Figured it was you.
Max: Stop stalking me!!!!
Max: ☠️
Lukas: Sorry. I'll stop.
Lukas: Just because we're not together, doesn't mean I can't care.
Lukas: If you need a place to stay, I'm here. Show up whenever you need me. Okay?
Max: That's boyfriend roles.
Lukas: Well now it's best friend roles. Seriously.
Max: Thanks...
-
Morning was no easier than nights for Max. She sat at a table in a tense circle. Her mom and stepdad eyed each other aggressively and her stepbrother ate like he was about to be executed.
"Hey, Max." Billy started, mouth full. "You cosplaying a cheap slut today?"
"Billy!" Susan gasped.
Neil looked up and eyed Max. "Billy, watch your mouth...Max, go change. He's got a point."
"It's really not that bad..." Max said in regards to her black crop top and blue jean shorts.
"GO CHANGE." Neil raised his voice with ease. "Every man in Hawkins is going to be pulling over their cars for you."
Max got up quietly and walked to her room. She felt eyes on her body. Eyes that should be there.
Max changed into dark red jeans and an oversized hoodie with the logo of a basketball team she didn't recognize. She stared in the mirror, wondering how she could be so stupid. Obviously she didn't recognize the logo, she didn't like basketball.
"MAXINE! HURRY UP! GET OUT HERE!" Neil rushed her.
Change again and risk a beating?
Wear Lukas' hoodie?
Both sounded painful but Max ran out of the room and sat back at the table. "Will this be okay?"
Neil scoffed and ignored her.
"Is that a boy's hoodie?" Billy pretended to be shocked.
"No...it's mine, I like boy's clothes." Max did go through a tomboy phase, and she still dressed boyish on occasion.
"Mn..." Billy left her alone. He knew if he kept prying about the hoodie, Max might slip up. Might earn herself a beating.
Billy didn't care, but he did.
-
"Is that my hoodie?" Lukas asked as soon as he saw her.
Max cried internally. She wanted to shout yes, giggle, and throw her arms around him. She did none of that. She just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you never asked for it back. I needed something quick, so I grabbed it."
"I mean, you can keep it." Lukas sounded flustered. If he couldn't hug Max, having her in his hoodie was a good compromise. "You look good."
Max slammed her locker in his face and gave him a look that he knew well. The 'I am not yours' stare. "And you look awful, did you sleep last night?"
"I did..." Lukas looked back as James walked by and swept Max away with him. "Hey!"
"Sorry, Sinclair!" James flipped him off and walked a giggling Max down the hall.
"What's going on?" Max lightened up. James wasn't a connection. He didn't want to touch her heart. He wanted to touch her chest. It was so much easier, on the surface.
"I'm having a party tonight. Interested?" James kept it simple. Another thing Max liked, for the wrong reasons.
"Who's going?"
"Not sure, probably the usual." James nudged Max. "You can invite the little bitch."
"Lukas?" Max hated how she assumed he was talking about Lukas. Lukas wasn't talked about highly amongst Max and her 'friends'. "Nah, he's not the party kind."
"Which would make it so entertaining to have him." James said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"How so?" Max leaned into James.
"Get him drunk, show him a good time. It's so funny to watch goodies turn to the other side." James put an arm around Max and squeezed her. "Since you like him sooo much, you can babysit him~"
"No." Max shook her head. "You can fuck with anyone, but not him."
"Oh, why's that?" James was puzzled. "Are you hoeing out for Sinclair?"
"Uh, no." Max furrowed her brows angrily. "He's just sweet, everyone gets along with Lukas. If we mess with him, the whole school will get upset."
"Whatever you say, babe." James sighed.