bitchin'

Chapter 22

"Lindsay, where are you going?" Dustin asks. He walks behind her towards the exit at the end of the hallway.

"Home," she answers, not even turning to look at him, "I don't care what Mike said, Dart's obviously long gone and I'm not going to waste my time hanging out here."

"Hey, what's going on?" Max asks as she and Lucas step out into the hallway. Lindsay stops and turns to the other three.

"I was just telling Dustin that I'm going home. Dart is obviously not here and I don't want to spend anymore time here than I have to. You guys should go home too, do something better with your time," she explains before turning around and continuing towards the exit.

"Wait up!" Max calls. Lindsay waits for the redhead to catch up with her, "thank you."

"For what?"

"Getting me into the Party," she answers. She holds her skateboard under her arm as they walk out of the middle school and towards the parking lot.

"Well, I didn't want to choose between the boys and you," she sighs, "Although I would choose you."

"Really?" Max asks with a surprised expression.

"Yeah, we're friends right?" she asks, smiling. Max nods, "There's my brother. See you later?"

"Yeah, bye!" Max calls. From a distance, her older step-brother, Billy, watches the Harrington girl separate from her. Max's smile fades as she approaches the blue Camaro.

"Who was that?" Billy inquires. The blonde mullet-wearing teen watches the Harrington siblings pull out of the parking lot as Max gets into the car.

"What do you mean?" she asks obliviously, trying to avoid talking with her step-brother. He sits down in the car, windows rolled down.

"That girl, the one who was walking with you," he elaborates, taking out a cigarette.

"Oh, that's Lindsay, she's in my grade," Max answers. The two step-siblings have hated each other from the moment they met, so she doesn't give out any other details. She puts on her seatbelt as Billy lets out a puff of smoke.

"I don't want you hanging out with her," he states.

"What? Why?" she questions, "cause you have to be a big brother and protect me fr——"

Max mocks her step-dad Neil and how he wants Billy to be a good, protective older brother. In reality, Billy is anything but that. Her tone makes him angry and he grabs her wrist.

"Because, Max, there is a certain type of people in this world that you stay away from," he sneers. His grip on her wrist is tight and she trembles, trying to pull away, "And that kid, Max, that kid is one of them."

He lets go of her wrist and she looks away. She holds her wrist, a bruise forming around it. Billy smacks the center console, causing her to jump, "you stay away from her, you hear me? Stay away."

***

"What did you do? Did you say something?" Lindsay asks her brother as they drive to the Wheeler residence. Steve promised Lindsay he would drop her off at the arcade after he went to apologize to Nancy.