𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄: madmax
CINDY HARRINGTON SUNK deeper into the plush cushions of the large couch, legs tucked underneath her as she blankly stared at the television set in front of her.
She glanced down at her watch, smiling as it was right on time for her to leave.
Mike had called her earlier that evening, informing the youngest Harrington that their friends were planning on meeting at the arcade that night—he had also made sure to stress that she should find as much loose change as possible, as the boys were extremely possessive over their hauls, and it wasn't likely they would be inclined to spare her anything.
"I'm off," Cindy spoke, wiping her hands over pants as she stood, walking towards where her mother sat in a coral lounge chair, pressing a loving kiss to her cheekbone.
"Oh," Dianne Harrington smiled gently, slipping her hand through her daughter's, giving it a soft squeeze before releasing it, "Have fun, sweetheart. Call us if you need anything."
The Harrington girl sent a nod in her mother's direction, smiling as she made her way to the foyer.
"I guess I wasn't told you had plans tonight," Ron Harrington spoke, not bothering to pull his crinkled eyes away from the television.
Cindy halted at the sound of his voice, cringing slightly as she spun on her heel to face him.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I thought you already knew," She picked at her fingernails, rolling her eyes in his direction as he concentrated on the commercial blaring through the television.
Her father hummed, a sound she had long ago learned was his favorite way to voice his disapproval.
Her eyes trailed over him, still in the clothes he had worn to work, the cuffs of his white dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows, his tie was loosened, and he had long discarded his suit jacket, draping it over the arm of the couch when he had arrived home.
His hair—a deeper shade of brown than her mother's, one that almost looked black in the right lighting—was slicked back, yet it was obvious he had run his hand through it frequently during his long workday.
Cindy ground her teeth together as his eyes finally met her's, glancing down to where he clenched his hand around the glass of scotch he held in his palm.
"All I want to know is where you're going," Ron's eyes glanced towards his wife before darting back onto his daughter, "That's it."
The girl tried not to squirm under his stare, desperately ignoring the weight of his eyes on her.
"Ron," Her mother warned, pursing her lips as he gazed at her from his peripherals, "She's going out with her friends. That's it."
Sensing the tension rising in the family's living room, Cindy sighed, breaking the deafening silence.
"Yeah," She nodded carefully, peering towards her mother, then letting them land on her father, "Just the boys and I. I'm meeting them at the arcade downtown—"
"—The boys?" Ron raised his bushy eyebrows, biting down on his lip as he set his glass down on an end table.
Cindy twisted her face in slight confusion, glancing in her mother's direction with a frown.
She had been spending all her time with the boys for nearly two years, yet somehow, her father had failed to notice.
It wasn't a surprise to her, no, she was accompanied to his lack of attention, she had been since she was merely a small child.
"Yeah...the boys, my friends?" Cindy paused, eyes scanning over his face, sighing under her breath as he simply stared back at her, "Mike Wheeler? Dustin Henderson? Lucas Sinclair? Will Byers?"
"Byers?" Ron sat up in his chair, eyebrows shooting even higher on his forehead than they already were.
"Okay," Dianne silenced her husband, extending a hand in his direction before turning to her daughter, "If we keep you here any longer, you'll be late. Go before the boys start to worry, we'll see you later."
Smiling thankfully in her mother's direction, Cindy headed for the front door, stopping and resting a hand on the staircase railing to overhear her parent's conversation.
"What is your problem?" She could hear her mother mutter in the distance.
"Oh, I'm sorry Dianne, I'm sorry for being concerned about our daughter, who spends all her time with a group of boys, including that Byers boy. For God's sake, Dianne, the boy died and came back to life!"
"Will," Her mother interjected, "is a sweet boy. Don't judge the kid before you meet him, Ron."
"I don't have to meet him to know what he's like, Dianne. Have you met Joyce? The woman's practically one step away from being taken to a psych ward. The kid, whether he's sweet or not, I don't give a damn, is bound to end up just like Joyce. Or better yet, like Lonnie. Now, I don't like the idea of our daughter hanging around a family like that, do you?"
Cindy's face twisted in disgust, and she held back the urge to stamp back into the room and tell her asshole of a father off.
Instead, she took a short detour to the kitchen, tiptoeing towards the jar of change her father kept on the counter.
Ron strictly enforced that the change was not to be touched or used by his children, implementing that the change was strictly for his own personal use.
Cindy lifted the lid of the jar, opening it to reveal the endless amount of change.
He would never notice, not with how overly full the jar was, piling to the brim with various amounts of silver and copper coins.
She grabbed a handful, moving her hand slowly within the jar as to not draw attention to actions.
The sound of a cough made her jump inside her skin so harshly that she almost dropped the glass jar onto the floor.
Cindy whipped around, preparing her excuse for when she would meet her father's furious eyes.
Yet, it wasn't her father who faced her, and she heaved a relieved sigh as she leaned against the counter.
Steve stood in the doorway of the large kitchen, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
He stifled a laugh as he took in his younger sister's state, smiling widely as she sent a playful glare in his direction.
"You're stealing now, I see?" Steve teased, uncrossing his arms as he approached her.
Cindy shoved the handful of coins in the back pocket of her jeans, smirking at she looked up at him. "Does it count if the person you steal from is an asshole?"
Going along with her joking, Steve tisked, cocking his head to the side as he shook his head at his sister. "No, no, you're right. I don't think it does."
Cindy let out a laugh, startling herself as the sound echoing throughout the room, and she clamped a hand over her mouth worriedly, unable to hide the smile that was still visible despite her hand covering her lips.
Steve chuckled, reaching over to quickly reseal the jar and move it to its original spot before taking her wrist in his hand, pulling her out of the kitchen as the siblings choked on their own muffled laughter.
✽
"No! No! No! I hate this overpriced bullshit!"
A frown creased at Cindy Harrington's lips as she rolled her eyes, letting her hand that rested on Mike's shoulder fall limp, dropping to her side as she stepped away from the game.
Dustin slammed his hands against the machine, chanting his agitation loud enough for the entire town of Hawkins, Indiana to hear.
"You're just not nimble enough," Lucas smirked from beside his friend, leaning a hand on the game's wooden exterior, "But you'll get there one day. But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine."
"Whatever," Dustin scoffed, rolling his eyes, "I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug."
"You sure about that?"
The party turned, glancing questionably in the direction of the voice.
Keith, a dorky high schooler with a face full of acne stood away from the group, occasionally looking down to dig in a bag of Cheetos.
"Sure about what?" Dustin muttered, eyes going wide as Keith smiled knowingly, munching down on a chip.
"You're kidding me. No, no, no," Dustin pushed through his friends, nearly knocking Cindy over in the process.
As she stumbled back, Mike placed a hand on her back gently, keeping her from falling flat on the floor.
Cindy's cheeks went pink as she looked up at him, sending him a shy smile, noticing his cheeks were tinted as he beamed back down at her.
"No, no, no!" They heard Dustin shout from the other side of the arcade.
Mike and Cindy peered around machines before looking back to each other, laughing in unison as their eyes met.
The two walked quickly to where Dustin and the rest of their friends were standing, huddled around the Dig Dug machine as cries spewed from the curly-haired boy.
Will pushed Dustin aside, grinning in amazement as his eyes trailed over the pixelated score. "Seven hundred and fifty-one thousand, three hundred points!"
"That's impossible," Mike shook his head, glancing over Will's shoulder.
Dustin turned, eyebrows furrowed. "Who is Madmax?"
"Better than you," Keith smirked down at him, rolling his eyes as Dustin raised his middle finger, pointing it in Keith's direction with a scowl.
"Is it you?" Will questioned, gazing up at the older boy with wide eyes.
Shaking his head, Keith grabbed another Cheeto from the bag, scoffing. "You know I despise Dig Dug."
"Then who is it?"
"Yeah, spill it, Keith."
"You want information," Keith laid his eyes upon Mike, a smirk graced upon his lips, "then I need something in return."
Each of the children steered their gaze onto the raven-haired boy, who shook his head quickly. "No, no, no. No way. You're not getting a date with her."
"Mike, come on," Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, "Just get him the date."
"Uh, no," Cindy glared over him, slapping her hand against his arm.
"I don't think that my brother," The youngest Harrington moved her glare onto Keith, narrowing her eyes at him, "would like that idea. At all."
"Yeah," Mike nodded, "I'm not prostituting my sister!"
"But it's for a good cause," Lucas tried to reason, earning another hit to the arm from Cindy.
"No," Dustin pushed through his friends, laying a hand on Cindy's shoulder as she squinted her eyes threateningly in Lucas' direction, "don't get him the date. Know what? He's gonna spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family."
"Acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid," Keith covered defensively.
Cindy rolled her eyes, ignoring her friends as they began to argue with the older boy.
She stepped away from them, shoving her hands in the pockets of her coat. The machines surrounding her buzzed and bleeped, their bright, pixelated lights ghosting over their occupant's features.
Venturing deeper into the arcade, she jolted as someone bumped her shoulder, walking quickly past her and towards an exiting door.
It was the chestnut locks fluttering as the outside wind picked them up that caught the Harrington's attention.
Cindy paced closer to the door, a crease forming in between her brows as she peeked through its glass front.
Will stood in front of the arcade, eyes cast up towards the sky. His body, unmoving as if he were glued to the gravel beneath his feet. He began to tremble, eyes never leaving the dark, starry sky that hung over the town.
Placing a hand firmly on the door, Cindy pushed through it, standing in the doorway as she observed the boy, careful not to startle him.
"Cindy?"
The girl glimpsed over her shoulder, a worried smile flashing across her cheeks as Mike approached her.
"What's wrong? You were there one minute and when I turned around, you were gone," His eyes scanned over her, and he lifted his hand to rest it in between her shoulder blades, unaware of the butterflies in her stomach that sprang to life at his simple action.
However, Cindy pushed his advances from her flirtatious mind, refocusing her stare onto Will. She lifted a finger in the boy's direction, Mike's eyes following quickly.
"I followed him out here," She muttered, looking up at the boy as she spoke, "I think something's wrong."
Mike walked through the door, Cindy standing back as to not overwhelm the boy.
"Will?"
He spun around, panting as his eyes darted over his friends frantically.
"Are you okay?" Mike looked the boy up and down, noticing the fright that glared in his green eyes.
Will turned around, glancing up at the sky. "Yeah. I just...I needed some air."
"Come on," Mike walked over to the boy, slinging an arm around his shoulders and pulling him back inside the arcade, "You're up on Dig Dug."
"Hey," Cindy smiled softly at Will, raising her hand onto his forearm and squeezing it lovingly, "I'll give you twenty bucks if you bump Dustin's score even lower."
"You're on," Will laughed lightly, smiling as the trio trudged back to their friends.
✽
"Meet the human brain."
Cindy calmly stared down at her binder, resting her chin on her hand as she mindlessly doodled onto the notebook paper, barely paying an ounce of attention to the science lesson that took place ahead of her.
Her friends, however, leaned forward in their seats, eyes widened with pure intrigue.
The classroom's door slammed closed, causing the Harrington to jump in her seat, dropping her pencil to the ground as her head snapped up in the direction of the sound.
"Ah," Mr. Clarke smiled brightly, "this must be our new student."
Cindy's eyes flickered over the girl who stood before the class.
The first thing Cindy noticed about her was her hair. Bright red, blazing like fire as it gleamed in the limited sunlight the room allowed in, tumbling down her shoulders in long, loose waves.
She was extremely tan, and she had so many freckles dotting across her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose that Cindy was sure she was born from the sun, shining brighter than anyone she had ever met.
The girl kept her eyes, occupying a piercing icy blue, fixed on the ground, walking quickly towards an open seat in the back of the classroom.
"Alright. Hold up. You don't get away that easy," The teacher waved his hand out to the ginger, stopping her in her tracks, "Come on up, don't be shy."
Mr. Clarke glanced over at Dustin, smiling widely. "Dustin, drum roll."
The Henderson boy closed his textbook, moving it to the center of his desk before tapping his fingers against it rhythmically.
"Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine."
"It's Max."
"Sorry?"
"Nobody calls me Maxine," The girl spat, finally removing her eyes from the ground and lifting them onto the teacher, "It's Max."
Lucas turned from his seat in the front row, looking back at each of his friends. "Madmax."
"Well," Mr. Clarke pursed his lips, a faint smile still lingering there, "all aboard, Max."
Max trudged to the back of the classroom, dropping her bag and slumping into the desk at the very back of the room.
Cindy rolled her eyes as each of her friends shifted in their seats, moving their entire bodies in order to stare at the girl.
"Oh, my God," The youngest Harrington muttered, sinking deeper into her seat as she peered over her shoulder at the new girl, "Surely she won't notice if we all stare at her, right?"
✽
"There's no way that's Madmax," Mike shook his head back and forth, squinting from behind the chainlink fence the party stood behind.
"Yeah," Will nodded, "Girls don't play video games."
"Bullshit," Cindy nudged Will in the side with her elbow, playfully glaring at her friend as their eyes met, "I go to the arcade with you guys all the time."
"Cindy," Dustin groaned, "That's because we've educated you. We made you like video games, we made you cool."
"Bullshit," The Harrington repeated, looking over her shoulder at him, "I'm Cindy Harrington. Cool is my middle name."
"The point is," Mike spoke over Dustin and Cindy's banter, "you can't get seven hundred fifty thousand points on Dig Dug. It's impossible."
"But her name is Max," Lucas reasoned.
"So what?" Mike squinted at the back of his friend's head.
"So, how many Maxes do you know?"
"I don't know."
"Zero. That's how many."
"Yeah," Dustin interjected, "And she shows up at school the day after someone with her same name breaks our top score. I mean, you kidding me?"
"Exactly," Lucas nodded quickly, "So she's gotta be Madmax."
Max's focus was fixated on her feet, her skateboard underneath her.
The girl's fiery red locks floated behind her, crowning her head with a flaming halo.
Cindy had to admit, she was envious of the simple beauty the new girl possessed. Her hair was a golden-red in the sunlight, shimmering and burning like embers that tumbled from her scalp.
"I think I'm gonna go talk to her," The youngest Harrington smiled softly, feeling sorry for the girl as she had spent the entirety of her first day alone.
However, Cindy's bright smile dropped as she turned to look at her friend's astonished expressions.
"No way!" Dustin shook his head frantically, "You can't go talk to her, you'll blow our cover."
"Yeah," Lucas agreed, "I don't think it's a good idea. Not yet."
"Guys," Cindy sighed, tucking a loose strand of sepia hair behind her ear, "She's new. She doesn't know anyone and to be honest, we're in need of another girl in our party. You four are too much for me to handle alone."
Will laughed under his breath, both he and Cindy smiling as Dustin and Lucas rolled their eyes at her.
"Hold on a minute," Mike pushed through Dustin and Lucas, who stood in front of him, "Our party's full, you know that."
"She's just one more person, it's not that big of a deal," Cindy's brows furrowed slightly, shaking her head as she turned on her heel swiftly.
Cindy approached the red-haired girl, watching in silent admiration as she glided across the concrete.
"Hey," Cindy smiled softly, extending a hand out towards the girl, "I'm Cindy. Cindy Harrington."
Max let her skateboard out from under her foot, brows creasing as she studied the brunette in front of her.
She halted her skateboard with her foot, kicking it up and resting it against her hip.
"Max," She returned the smile, placing her hand in Cindy's slowly, "Max Mayfield."
"Nice to meet you," Cindy shook her hand, releasing it and letting her hand fall to her side, "So, where'd you move from?"
"California," The girl smiled at the thought of home, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear.
"Wow," The Harrington mused, mimicking Max's actions as she nervously pushed a strand of long hair from her face, "I can't imagine moving from California to Indiana of all places. I bet it's beautiful."
The Mayfield smiled wistfully, her blue eyes softening at the thought of home.
"It is. I miss it. But I'm here now," She scanned the perimeter of the area, her eyebrows furrowing as her stare landed somewhere behind Cindy, "Uh, do you know them?"
Max pointed a finger in the direction of her stare, squinting her eyes in confusion. Cindy turned quickly, following Max's pointed finger and laughing quietly as her gaze fell onto her friends, who tore their eyes away from the girls awkwardly as they had been caught.
"I do," Cindy smiled, turning back to face the redhead, "I promise, they're less creepy once you get to know them."
They shared a laugh, muffling them as if the boys could hear them from where they stood.
Cindy smiled softly, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans. "Listen, I know what it's like to not have a friend, and I'm sure it's hard being new and all, so, you're always welcome to hang out with us."
Max smiled a close-lipped smile at the girl, nodding carefully.
"You know, I just might take you up on that, Harrington."
（this chapter has been revised and edited as of october 4, 2020）