"and you need to know that i'm hella obsessed with your face."
——
"oh my god! where's will?" the flustered face of joyce byers appeared around the corner. felicity and max exchanged a nervous glance, "we don't know..." the brunette explained.
"shit!" joyce swore, before running past them towards the science rooms. felicity couldn't breathe; will was missing... again. vivid pictures of the previous summer flashed across her vision. what if this time he was gone?
"lis?" max interrupted her panic, stepping in front of her and taking her small hands in hers.
"lis, you need to breathe, ok?"
"yeah, sorry, it's just-"
"breathe with me. in and out. ok?"
a few minutes later felicity's heartbeat had returned to almost normal. "come on!" she called, dragging max towards the field.
——
"will?" mike called, approaching the small boy. he looked hypnotised, pure terror frozen on his face and pictures no one could see behind his eyes. "will? what's going on" joyce called over, "i think he's having another episode, i just found him like this." mike explained.
"this happened before?!"
"on halloween, and then once before that, i thought he told you...?" felicity admitted, sprinting over to the group.
"will! sweetie, you have to wake up!"
"will? can you here me?"
their desperate cries were all that could be heard from the field, but still he stood paralysed. what seemed like days passed, until suddenly he awoke, eyes wide and screaming.
——
"ok that totally freaked me out?" max muttered as the party watched joyce escort will to her car. "do you think it was true sight?" lucas wondered, causing mike to throw him a harsh stare. so he still wasn't going to tell max? felicity sighed. "what's true sight?"
"basically, it's-" dustin began, but was quickly intercepted by mike. "it's nothing."
"are you kidding?" felicity argued, but mike simply shook his head and headed towards the bike racks, "see you guys tomorrow."
lucas followed him, then dustin.
"i'm sorry about him"
"it's fine. i just thought he finally liked me."
"he's just... worried about you, that's all."
"worried? lis- there's something going on here, and i'm the only one who doesn't know it. he's worried about me? that's the excuse you make up for him? i thought we were friends, i didn't think you'd want to exclude me too. i don't wanna be in your stupid party anyway!"
tears stung felicity's eyes. "no i didn't... it's just... max i'm sorry!" she stuttered, but the red haired girl was already halfway towards the gates on her skateboard.
"shit!" felicity swore, wiping her eyes with the back of her jumper. max's jumper. of course she was wearing max's fucking hoodie. the girl she was falling for so fast it scared, and she now hated her?
——
dustin and felicity rode up to school, felicity's eyes firmly set straight ahead of her. "aren't you coming?" her brother asked, motioning towards the back of the school. "i'm going to class. you go on ahead." she smiled.
dustin shrugged and walked over. "are you kidding?" he exclaimed- mike, max and lucas were poking through a huge pile of trash. "look who finally decided to show up! we're looking for your pet" lucas called from inside the brown container. max's brow furrowed slightly.
"where's lis?" she asked, crossing over to stand by dustin. "oh, she went to class!" he shrugged, picking up a stick and poking at the black bag. "oh. thanks." max muttered before running towards the main entrance.
"she complains she's not in the party, then she ditches us to sort through trash by ourselves?" mike laughed.
quietly, she slipped into class ten minutes early. felicity was slouched at her desk, her head on her desk and her hands covering her face. on the chair next to her, max's hoodie had been draped. a wave of sadness and guilt washed over the taller girl's body. she'd snapped at felicity, she'd lost her only real friend. but most of all, she'd upset the girl that was pure sunshine. and for what?
——
"lis!" mike called, grabbing onto her backpack and pulling her back so they were in line. "do you have any coins? i'm gonna call mrs byers."
"yeah sure" she replied, digging into her pockets. "let me know what she says, i'm worried about him"
"me too" mike agreed, before turning in the direction of the pay phone on the east wall.
——
dustin, lucas and max sat waiting on the stairs. felicity still wasn't talking to max. it stung.
mike came running towards them, a look of alarm painted on his face. "we need to talk. now" he breathed. anxiously, the three grabbed their bags and followed him into the building.
"party members only" mike sighed.
"fine, fuck you too!" max exclaimed, flouncing off to the library. she was just about done trying with mike wheeler.
the library was pretty much empty, with most of the kids preferring to be out while the good weather lasted. however, tucked up in a corner with her head in a book was the girl she was avoiding. sighing, max headed over to her.
"hey." max felt she might as well be the bigger person, since it was basically her fault.
"hi"
"look, lis. i'm sorry. i shouldn't have snapped, it wasn't fair. you don't have to tell me shit."
felicity looked up from her book, her honey eyes filled with tears. god, she was so pretty. "i'm sorry max-" she began, before the red haired girl pulled her into a tight hug. "i'll explain it to you at some point. it's just... hard." felicity promised. "thank you." max smiled.
"meet me after last class?"
"yeah, ok. my locker."
——
the two girls left school hand in hand, felicity laughing and gushing about a book she'd read, max grinning and trying not to melt. suddenly, max dropped her hand and stepped away. "are you ok?" felicity asked, trying to disguise the disappointment in her voice. "uh... my brother. he's over there. i've gotta go, see you tomorrow" she hurriedly explained, turning red. "oh, ok... bye!"
"who was that?" was the first question billy spat at her when she reached his car. "no one."
"no one?"
"just my friend... felicity..." max mumbled, shrinking back. "why was she talking to you?"
"just about a book... for a class"
"then why are you being so defensive?"
"i'm not. why do you care so much?"
"you may be a piece of shit, but we're family now. and the sooner you learn that there are certain types of people you stay away from in this world, the better."
"certain types of people?"
"don't you think i saw the way she was looking at you. stay away from her, you hear me? i'm NOT having my little sister turn into a f*ggot."
her brother's words felt like a punch to the stomach. she wouldn't cry. she wouldn't.
——
"lis! come here please!" dustin called from the opposite room. reluctantly, she left her math homework and pushed open the door to dustin's room. "it's dart. he's... gone."
"he's gone?"
"i can't find him, he's not in his tank!"
it was at that moment that the siblings became sickeningly aware of the animal growling and chewing coming from the corner.
"oh my god." felicity gagged. "dustin look!"
the boy's face was struck with a perfect mix of horror and disgust. dart had eaten the cat.
——
1196 words!
i'm sorry if you stan billy aha.
i'm writing this on the way back from geography field work lol.
feel free to vote and comment!
~bee 💜