Bloody Nose {Max Mayfield x OC}

Hawkins

The smell of chlorine washes over me from the dim, indoor pool, as well as the adjacent smell of blood.

"Y'know, I really think this going to be good change for us," My mothers words snap me out of my thoughts and suddenly I'm back in the passenger seat of the shitty, barely running Volkswagen that has been passed down from my great-grandfather.

"Uhh-yeah, yeah," I say, mildly stumbling over my words as I collect myself. My mom slightly frowns into the rear-view mirror, clearly noticing that I'm out of it, but stays silent none the less. I glance to the back seat at the small carrier that holds a small ginger kitten that I named Meatball. His sleepy eyes open for a few moments before falling back asleep.

"Ellis, I bet you're going to make a ton of friends here," Mom starts up hopefully, "I know it's still summer, however I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for you to make some good friends," She emphasizes the word "good" so much that it almost sounds like she's saying "goot".

In fact she's probably emphasizing it so much due to the fact the only friends I've ever had are teenage dirtbags that only used me to some benefit, like homework answers and shoplifting. A lot of the quote-on-quote friends I've had were really just assholes. I don't think I've ever had an actual friend.

The sun has begun to set, casting the surroundings in a fiery orange. I sigh and stare out the window.

"Maybe you'll even find a boyfriend," My mother says warily, as if one wrong word will cause a lightning bolt to strike us off the face of the Earth.

Truth be told, I don't think I've ever liked anyone romantically. I've never looked at a boy and felt the need to hold his hand, let alone kiss him.

"I'm not interested in relationships-" I start before getting quickly cut off.

"You're 14 years old, you are getting to that age where you might start liking boys." My mother says with this almost excitement. I roll my eyes and put in my headphones. I turn on my walk-man and turn on the the album "Frontiers" by Journey.

"I feel like whenever I bring up a simple subject that you don't simply like to talk about, your response is to shut me out," My mother starts ranting about how apparently bad of a daughter I am. I just turn up the volume of my music.

"Other girls actually have good relationships with their mothers," The lyrics of "Separate Ways" by Journey still doesn't drown out her words.

Someday love will find you.

"I try so hard for you for you to just ignore me,"

Break those those chains that bind you.

"But you're such a victim, right?"

One night will remind you.

"Or maybe I am just such a horrid mother,"

How we touched and went our separate ways.

I feel like mom would be very happy and then all of a sudden snap. I might not be exactly daughter of the year, but I never have said anything mean to her.

I feel so unbearably lonely.

It didn't take long before we pulled off the expressway and into the small town known as Hawkins. It was twilight at this point and we pulled into the mostly peaceful town. One thing that did disturb me is that in the "Welcome to Hawkins!" sign is that the word "Hawkins" was scribbled over with red pain displaying the word "Hell".

What a nice welcome sign.

We drove through the main town that had worn brick buildings. A lot of them seemed to going bankrupt and out of business. I guess we've managed to move from a shitty city to a shitty town.

The car lurched as we sharply turned into a neighborhood. I start getting that feeling where adrenaline starts pumping through your body due to the pure excitement and nervousness when your about to move.

"1418 Cherry Lane, 1418 Cherry Lane..," The words breathily repeat from my mother as her eyes dart from house to house. I take this as cue to sit upright and look at the houses.

"There!" I point once I see "1418" displayed on a faded, robin's eggs blue mailbox. Mom pulls into the driveway of our house. I quickly hop out of the car before the Volkswagen has even stopped, resulting in curses from my mother which I promptly ignore.

Before I step into the house, I hear the gravelly noise of skateboard wheels against the road. I turn my head to see a girl with fiery hair skate down the road. She stops in front of the house across the street and makes her way up the driveway.

Before she enters her house, she turns around and gives a small wave in my direction. I smile and wave back, my heart beat quickening and my face heating. I'm suddenly really nervous.

I'm just shy. I've always gotten nervous around people. Except this isn't like a normal nervous. A part of me feels super giddy and I sorta love this feeling, but at the same time I despise it. I feel happy-nervous, if that makes sense.

A shaky hand grabs and turns the door knob. The knob turns about three centimeters before abruptly stopping. I forgot the stupid key.

I turn back around and have my walk-of-shame back to the car. I'm glad that girl isn't still out here to witness this.

"Forgetting something?" My mom asks in a bitter mocking voice. I stay silent as she hands me Meatball's carrier and my cream colored blanket from the backseat.

"The moving truck shouldn't be here til' morning so we'll just make do for now," Mom says, inferring why I needed the blanket. She grabs her own blanket, and then the house key and starts walking towards the house.

Once we're inside I peer around the house. The walls are a monotone yellow throughout the entire main area. To my left there was a kitchen with dark wooden cabinets and a stained stove. There is empty space of hard, gray floor that would presumably be for a table.

To my right, the hard floor turns into white carpet with gray and black specks. The living room. It was more of a empty void of space due to the lack of furniture.

Connecting to that was a hallway that had three doors. Two bedrooms and a bathroom.

I decide I can leave the rest of the exploration for the morning and hike to what my mom says is my room and set the carrier and my blanket on the floor.

White walls and a decent sized closet. It was definitely something I could work with.

Despite the fact I haven't bothered to turn on the lights, the room was still illuminated by the porch lights of the house the girl disappeared into earlier. She lingered in my mind, though I don't even know her name. I haven't even seen her up close.

I give up on the thought and let my exhaustion collapse me to the floor. I let Meatball out of his carrier and let him dash around the room with all of his pent up energy. I wrap myself in the blanket on the floor and let my eyes fall heavily.

It was quiet. A lot quieter than Detroit, Michigan. It was also a lot more boring than Detroit. However boring is safe.

I should be a lot safer now.