bitchin'

Chapter 29

"Z? Z? Do you copy?" Max's voice says on Lindsay's walkie-talkie. She leaves Robin at the counter and walks to the break room. She takes it out of her backpack.

"I copy, are you here?" she asks.

"Yeah, Lucas and Will too. We are waiting for Mike."

"Okay, I'll come down and wait with you," Lindsay says.

"Over and out," Max turns the walkie off. Lindsay puts hers back in her bag before walking out of the back room.

"Where are you going?" Steve asks, holding a waffle cone with chocolate ice cream in it.

"The Party's here, just waiting for Mike," she informs him as she walks out of the parlor. It's been a couple hours since the arcade incident. Now she's going to sneak into the movie theater with the Party to see the new Day of the Dead movie.

"Hey, Lindsay!" Lucas greets. Him, Will, and Max stand by the bike racks just outside the mall's entrance.

"Hi!" she smiles. She meets eyes with Max and her heart flutters.

"Hey, Z," Max hugs the brunette. Her chin nudges the side of her head. Lindsay remains the smallest member of the Party, especially since Will has hit a growth spurt.

"Where's Mike? It's almost time," Lindsay asks the three.

"Where do you think?" Lucas huffs, "he's with El."

Lindsay closes her mouth after she remembers. Since El's been back, Mike and her hang out nonstop. And now that they are officially a couple, they spend most of their time at Hopper's cabin... alone.

"You're late!" Lucas scolds Mike as he hops off his bike quickly.

"Sorry!" he exclaims. He puts his bike on the racks and locks it.

"We're going to miss the opening!" Will complains.

"Yeah, if you keep whining about it. Let's go!" Mike ushers.

"If you keep whining about it," Lucas mocks him. Lindsay laughs, walking next to Max as the Party heads into Starcourt.

"Just please stop talking, dude," Mike groans.

"Let me guess, you were busy..." he says making kissy lips at him. Will laughs and Lindsay make smooching noises.

"Oh, yeah, real mature, Lucas," Mike answers as Lucas high-fives Lindsay.

"Oh, El, I wish we could make our forever, and never hang out with any of our friends!" Lucas mimics in his best high-pitched voice for Mike.

"Lucas, stop," Max scolds.

"Will and Lindsay think it's funny," Lucas points out.

"Because it is," Will answers. Lindsay nods, earning a subtle glare from Max.

"Yeah, it's so funny that I want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend," Mike reasons.

"I don't know if making out for hours on end is classified as 'romantic'," Lindsay jokes. Lucas and Will chuckle.

"Lindsay," Max scolds, grabbing her arm.

"What?! I'm just saying!" she defends herself. The Party heads to the escalator, going down to the basement level.

"Hey!" someone exclaims.

"Excuse us! Sorry!" Mike says, leading the way.

"Sorry, sorry. Sorry!" Max says pushing past shoppers.

"Pardon me, coming through," Lindsay says. She gets off the escalator, following behind the group when a group of teenage girls cross paths.

"Hey! Watch it!" one of them shouts, nudging Lindsay in the shoulder.

"Yeah, watch it nerds!" Lucas' little sister Erica jokes.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" he asks sarcastically.

"Isn't it time you died?" she fires back.

"Psycho," he spits.

"Butthead!" she yells.

"Mall rat!"

"Fart face!"

Lucas sticks his tongue out at his sister before Max grabs his arm.

"Oh, now that was mature," she scolds him. She pulls him into Scoops Ahoy, pushing him ahead of her and Lindsay. Mike walks up to the counter and repeatedly rings the bell.

"Hey, Dingus! Your children are here!" Robin announces.

"Come, on. Come, on," he ushers the group through the back door, "Remember, if anybody hears about this——"

"We're dead," the Party answers in unison. Max and Lindsay walk behind the boys, holding pinkies. Only the Party know that the two are dating and when they have the chance they hold pinkies.

"What did you do today?" Max asks. Although Lindsay was nervous to tell her about the incident, she knows that she will support her.

"I went to the arcade for a little bit, but I spent most of my day at Scoops," she tells her, the ending of the sentence in a quieter tone. Max picks up on this.

"Did something happen?" she asks.

"Joel and them found me at the arcade," Lindsay reveals.

"Did they hurt you?" she asks, looking at her arms and legs for bruises.

"No, no, they just chased me into Scoops. Steve threatened to call Hopper and they left," Lindsay explains as the Party arrives at the employee entrance for the movie theater.

"Oh, well, it's good they didn't hurt you," Max smiles. Lindsay nods.

"Yeah."

"All clear," Mike announces, looking around to see if anyone would notice the teens sneaking in. The teens follow Mike as they head into the theater. They sit in the middle, taking the last seats available. Mike sits at the end, then Will, then Lindsay, then Max, and Lucas, "See, Lucas? We made it."

"We missed the previews," he replies.

"Still made it. Fart face," Max teases. Will opens his backpack that is filled with snacks. He hands Lindsay a soda and she passes it down to Lucas.

"Skittles?" she whispers to Max.

"Thanks," she opens her hand and Lindsay pours some of the candy in it. The Party gets settled in their seats with their candy and sodas, ready for the movie. The film starts up but glitches and shuts down, leaving the theater in pitch-black darkness.

"Awww!" everyone groans. People begin shouting at the screen.

"What the hell?" Lindsay curses.

"Boo!" Lucas shouts.

"Oh, come on!" Mike shouts.

After a few seconds of sitting in the darkness, the movie winds up and the picture flashes on the screen again. Everyone starts clapping as the movie resumes. The Party settles in once again and the theater's chatter dies down. Lindsay turns to Will, who looks a little nervous.

"Hey," she whispers, making the boy jump, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answers hesitantly.

"Are you sure? Do you want to step out for a second?" she offers. He shakes his head.

"No, I'm okay, thank you," he says more confidently. Lindsay knows that the movies they see can sometimes scare Will, even if he denies it. Although, that wasn't what was on Will's mind.