Trust -|- An Elmax Story

IX

Max

I hear the bathroom door creak open. I look over and see El. She keeps her head down low and walks over to Will. 

"Everyone ready?" Dustin asks. Everyone says yes, and we start traveling upstairs. Before El walks up, I grab her arm. She looks up, making eye contact with me.

"What's wrong?" I whisper.

"Nothing," she whispers back.

"You can talk to me if something's wrong," I tell the brunette.

"I know," El responds, walking away.

I follow her upstairs and meet everyone outside.

"We have to stop by Family Video to see when Steve and Robin get off work," Dustin states. Everyone hops onto their bikes. El gets on the back of Wills. I pick up my skateboard and walk over to the sidewalk. I drop it and hop on it.

When we all make it to the store, we walk inside together. El was still separating herself from everyone else. I wonder if she heard the Truth or Dare game. That would be terrible.

"Max? Max?" Lucas was saying repeatedly.

"Sorry, I zoned out," I say.

"Steve and Dustin get off work in like 20 minutes," he tells me.

"So what are we doing?"

"I think Dustin plans on waiting here, and Mike's going on his own."

"What are you doing?"

"Staying with Dustin. Will and El are going with Mike."

"I'll go with the siblings and stupid."

"You sure?" Lucas chuckles.

"Yeah," I say.

"Have fun," he responds.

"How are you guys going to find us?" I ask.

"Walkies."

"Oh, alright. Bye," I say, walking off. I walk over to Mike, Will, and El.

"You're coming with us?" Mike asks, disgusted.

"Yes. What are we doing with our bikes and skateboard?" I ask snarkily.

"Dropping them off at my house," the raven-haired boy says. I nod in response. The boys start riding off on their bikes. El was on the back of Will's bike. I follow them on my skateboard.

We get to Mike's house, and we drop our bikes and board there.

"Y'all ready?" Mike asks, looking at Will. Oh my god, does Mike like Will. That would be crazy but also amazing. He'd have to break up with El.

"More than ready," I say happily, while El and Will say yes at the same time.

We start walking into the woods. El still keeping her distance. I wish I knew what was wrong. I hate seeing her like this. I just don't know what to do. We got deep into the woods. I don't know if we're looking for anything, but this is quite boring.

After a little bit, Dustin, Lucas, Steve, and Robin caught up to us.

"Hey, kiddos! We're here," Steve announces.

"Hey," Will says, sadly. What's wrong with him? I pull him aside.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Just missing Jonathan," he tells me, not looking at me.

"It's okay. It's going to be alright," I assure him and give him a hug.

"Thank you," he whispers into my ear. He pulls away, and I notice he's holding back tears. Poor guy.

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By the time it was dark, we still hadn't done anything. The woods were quiet, although there was an occasional hoot from an owl or a crunch from someone stepping on a twig. It was just about pitch black out, but luckily Dustin and Steve brought two flashlights. Dustin led the way, and Steve was in the back.

El was still keeping her distance from me. I really want to talk to her. She just won't even look at me.

"I think we should head back, guys," Dustin says, turning to look at us.

"Finally, someone said something. I didn't want to be the first to say it. That would've been so embarrassing. Thanks for taking the hit, Little Child Friend," Robin rants, patting Dustin on the back. I heard a little chuckle from Steve behind me.

"Yeah, I'm ready," states Will.

"So am I. This was a waste of time," Mike says.

"It's not about the wasted time. It's about the memories," Dustin says, jokingly.

"The memories of wasting our time," Steve says back. I turned around and started walking back. Everyone was just standing there watching me.

"You guys coming or just standing there stupidly," I yell at them.

"Coming," Lucas says, running up to me. Everyone else followed.

The journey back to Mike's house was a silent but quick one. Mike went inside after saying goodbye to Will and El.

"Alright siblings, you two ready to head back home? I'll give you guys a ride," Steve offers.

"I can't. I brought my bike," Will tells Steve.

"I can, though," El says. I look over at her. Damn, she speaks. She looks at me, and we make eye contact. I smile at her, but she ignores it and looks away.

Will gets on his bike, while El gets into the back of Steve's car with Robin in the passenger seat. I watch them drive off, feeling miserable that El doesn't seem to like me anymore.