The next morning (summer school, dummies)...
As Micheal Wheeler walked through the doors of Hawkins High School, he contemplated the night prior. He wondered why Max had hidden that bruise, and if there were more.
He saw her walk in not long after, quite clearly spaced out. He noticed the absence of an acne scar on her forehead, meaning she had concealer on- and a lot of it. (You do what you gotta do, I'm not tryna make him seem stalkerish!)
The preoccupied teenager only got reprimanded once, for paying literally no attention in chemistry- he accidentally set fire to a solution in a test tube by spacing out while the teacher was giving instructions (and completely forgetting to turn off the Bunsen Burner). Otherwise, no one cared enough to tell him off.
After 2nd hour, during passing period, Mike fell in step with the redhead in question. Without as much as a sideways glance, she sighed and said, "Meet me by the pear tree off Jackson, I'll explain then."
He took her up on that offer- after Human Geo, last hour of the (albeit very short) school day, he took a slight detour and waited by the plant in question. Not 10 seconds after, a bushy mass of red hair came into view. "Hey," she muttered, adjusting her bag. "Hey."
After a long pause, filled with awkward silence, he asked about the night before. They started walking, and she practically spilled her guts all over the sidewalk- complaining about Neil, her mother's obliviousness... That kind of thing. She only left out the whole "oh-yeah-I'm-also-depressed-and-my-brother-was-an-asshole-but-I-feel-guilty-about-his-death-anyways" part.
Ten minutes later, that decided to stop by Family Video. Steve and Robin had moved their interviews up to few weeks before they were originally intended, so they would be working that day.
The two teens- an unlikely pair, given the circumstances- waltzed in the blue-ish door and found the older kids behind the counter of the (albeit, mostly empty) store.
"Hey, guys!" Max said upon entering. "Oh, hi Max! And... Mike? Never thought I'd see you two here together." Robin rambled, chuckling under her breath.
Max just shrugged. "We were both in the area. Wheeler over there took a detour and we ended up in the same spot."
A few moments later Steve said a hasty goodbye and set down the phone, all the while grumbling, exasperated.
"Oh, hi, guys." he had a look on his face as he side-eyed Mike, like "does he know?" to which Max replied, "You know, Mom, sometimes I actually come here to get movies." He nodded and turned around to keep working.
Mike
"What was that all about?" I asked.
"Sometimes I'll crash at his place- his parents are mostly gone, and the guest room is never used."
"Ah. So, who all knows?"
She muttered something under her breath and selected Karate Kid from a shelf. "Steve's actually the only one who knows about everything, other than you. Lucas knows about the arguments, but not the actual, ya know, physical abuse. My mom's usually drunk when it happens, so she knows the bare minimum."
Another long silence. Those were getting pretty annoying, I would say.
We payed- half price, of course, because it was Robin at the counter- and made small talk until parting at an intersection.
"Well, see you tomorrow, dingus." Robin raised her well.
"You too, idiot."
YOU ARE READING
Every Rose Has Its Thorn- (PLATONIC) MADWHEELER
FanfictionDON'T COME AT ME, IT'S PLATONIC (with a capital "P")! In which Maxine Mayfield, a seemingly perfct girl with the perfect home life, blows her cover, and a certain boy is there at just the right time. ... I know the song didn't come out until '88...
