Head Over Heels » Steve Harrington

chapter nineteen

Chapter Nineteen: The Trance

"Okay. She's in."

"I'm missing collarbones, not eyes."

Lydia released a heavy sigh, her narrowed stare scrutinising the semi-detached house that Max had just stepped inside. It was a modest place, in a nice suburban, picket-fence neighbourhood. It looked so unassuming and unthreatening, even belonged to their school guidance counsellor. But Lydia felt nervous.

What didn't help was that Steve and Dustin had been bickering the entire way there. The added stress had prompted Lydia to be approximately one loose thread away from wringing their necks.

Dustin leaned forwards, poking his head in the gap between the two front seats. "So, we gonna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Steve asked exasperatedly.

"Uh, Lydia's temporary insanity earlier," Dustin clarified. "When she basically tried to fight Marnie."

"That's not what happened," Steve defended. He cast a conscious look at his girlfriend, who was still preoccupied peering out the front window.

"Pretty sure that's what happened," Dustin insisted. "It was public. There were a lot of witnesses."

"I was protecting you and Max," Lydia replied, not once removing her stare from Ms. Kelley's house. "And anyway, it was Marnie's fault. Shouldn't have started on you both like that."

Steve nodded along. "Exactly."

Dustin faced him. "You really do just agree with everything she says, don't you?"

Steve placed his hand on Dustin's forehead and shoved him into the backseats. "Shut up. Or I'll punch you so hard your teeth will fall back out."

The car went quiet.

Dustin's expression dropped. "Whoa. Too far."

"Not cool. Sorry," Steve acknowledged, holding up his hands apologetically. "Not cool."

"It's okay."

The boys fist bumped in consolation.

Lydia rolled her eyes.

They sat in silence for a short while, watching and waiting. Lydia was leant forwards against the dashboard. Her eyes flickered from Ms. Kelley's house to her wristwatch.

"Okay, does anyone else have a bad feeling about this? Like, something just feels odd."

"I mean, there's a creepy, wizard monster roaming Hawkins," Steve reminded.

"It's not just that," Lydia said.

"You worried about Max?" Dustin asked.

Always. "I just...can we trust Ms. Kelley?"

"I mean, she's a guidance counsellor," Steve pointed out. "It's, like, the least threatening job a person could have."

"Shit–" Dustin cursed. "Here she comes. Here she comes."

Max hurried to the car, briefly glancing back over her shoulder. Once she reached the vehicle, she flung the back door open and clambered inside.

"What'd she say?" Steve questioned.

"Nothing, just drive," Max urged. "Steve, drive."

"Okay."

He pulled out the parking spot and set his foot on the gas. Lydia swivelled round, brows raised expectantly at Max, who lifted a set of keys from her pocket and dangled them in the air.