If I Stare Too Long

Chapter 20: Without My pride (I Reach Out From The Inside)

"I want you to take me shopping today," Max tells him, looking a bit like she has been working herself up all morning for this. "In the city."

Billy blinks up at her, arching a brow. "In the city?"

"There are no good clothes shops in Hawkins," Max insists. "And I want to bring El with me."

Billy takes one more look at her, assessing her, and then crosses his arms.

"What's in it for me?"

It's not that he's opposed, exactly. But a whole day shepherding two girls around the city doesn't exactly sound fun. The logistics are complicated, too. He'll have to borrow Susan's car. Or Steve's, if Steve's willing.

Max shifts on her feet. "I don't exactly have an incentive. I just want to go. And I want you to bring Steve."

Billy's a little taken aback by the request, but the purse of Max's lips and the pink highlighting the freckles on her face keep him from being too mean about it.

"Why am I bringing Steve?" he asks.

Max rolls her eyes. "You can bring Eddie, too. Steve just– dresses better than, like, everyone. And school is starting soon."

"You are not going to school looking like a prep," Billy says. "Munson would give better advice than Steve."

And Billy would give the best advice overall, obviously. But Max won't listen to him—or she will, but not obviously. Not overtly.

Max rolls her eyes again, arms crossing defensively. "It's not for me. It's for El."

"She shouldn't look like a prep either, I thought she wanted to look like a badass."

Billy crosses his own arms, a mirror image of Max.

"She wants to look pretty," Max says and then lets out a long sigh. "She's nervous about her hair, so I figure if she's dressed nice, maybe she'll worry about it less. That's all."

"Preppy doesn't necessarily mean pretty," Billy says with a roll of his eyes. "But fine, I'll bring Steve."

He'll probably have to, anyway. Since he's more than likely having to borrow Steve's car.

"And Eddie?" Her eyes are way too full of mirth.

"That's a full car, kid. You really want to sit in the back, crammed like a sardine?"

Max shrugs. "An hour squished in the backseat won't kill me."

"An hour squished next to Munson might, he gets fidgety and annoying."

"Aren't you, like, dating him, or whatever?"

And they haven't talked about this. Not really. But Max isn't stupid, as much as Billy gives her shit for being dumb all the time. She's not. She's way too observant, actually.

"Shut your trap, Maxine," Billy hisses.

"Who's gonna hear me?" Max asks, glancing around the empty dirt lot of the trailer park, only sparsely populated by a few crows and a dog barking behind a chain link fence. "It's the middle of the day– we're, like, the only ones out here."

Technically, Billy was the only one, until Max came jaunting out with her demands. He can hear Eddie snoring in his own trailer even from here. It would feel vaguely desolate if it weren't for the sounds of people in their small houses.

"Please?" Max throws in. "If you don't say yes, I'll just radio Steve and ask him to take us. Without you."

"Okay fine," Billy says, folding fast.