𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

39

𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄, 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍 had stopped just on the outskirts on the old junkyard. it was a few minutes from dani and steve's neighborhood, and the girl had frequented to place often when she was younger. it was the perfect smoke spot; it made her crave a joint.

steve nodded his head approvingly. "oh yeah. yeah, this'll do," he said aloud as he examined the area. he sauntered ahead, plucking his ray bans from his eyes. "this'll do just fine. good call, dude," steve praised dustin. sheridan glanced down to watch the boy's face light up with a smile. she knew him, and lucas, mike, and even will, loved to pick on steve. it was really easy to do. but she also knew that deep down, they really admired him for all that he was. and that was dustin's secret.

sheridan tagged along with steve and began to scatter the last few pieces of meat around the many desolate vehicles. her worst nightmare was seeing betsy end up in a place like this.

once the three had found their strewing sufficient, they all dumped the last of their buckets in a pile in the deserted center of the yard. the sound of the meat chunks colliding with the other made dani want to hurl for the umpteenth time that day. "i said medium-well!" a familiar voice shouted from a hill just ahead. all three heads shot up to see who it might've been; they found lucas sinclair, and a redheaded girl who looked more like dani than dani did. the older girl's brows dipped; it was like looking in a mirror.

"who's that?" steve questioned aloud, his eyes flitting between dustin and sherrie.

"i have no idea," the girl answered. "but she looks like she could be my-"

"could be your twin," steve finished sheridan's sentence with her. the two caught a glimpse of dustin, and it looked like his life depended on looking at this new girl. sherrie and steve then locked eyes. it had all fell into place: this was the girl.

right away, the mini dani helped her and steve round up leftover pieces of sheet metal, while lucas and dustin were having a very dire conversation behind one of many rust buckets. the younger girl hauled segment after segment into the old school bus. as they neared the same few slabs, sheridan figured now would've been a better time than ever to get the ice breakers out of the way. "hey," sherrie piped up. the girl gave her a quaint smile. "i'm dani. you are?"

"max," she answered. max? her brows furrowed. she had heard that name before. it jogged a memory of the arcade.

"holy shit!" sherrie exclaimed. her face had lit up with joy and she practically jumped out of her skin once she realized exactly who max was; and she had almost caused max to jump out of her skin, as well. max's eyes widened in bewilderment. "you're mad max!" max's face flushed as she glared down at her sneakers. "god, i will never forget the look on dustin's face when he saw that you beat his score. priceless."

"thanks," max softly expressed. "i just-" a loud clank cut her sentence short. the two red-haired girls whirled around. steve was at the trunk of the car dustin and lucas were hiding behind, a folding chair in his hand and a sour expression etched into his face.

"hey! dickheads! how come the only ones helpin' me out are dani and this random girl?!" he questioned loudly as he motioned toward the two at the other end of the junkyard. "we lose light in 40 minutes, let's go!"