Together Again

Chapter 3 - The Flower (part 4)

  Just after the kids left Max's house, Steve told them they shouldn't be out biking. They hadn't even had the chance to comprehend what happened at Max's yet. They headed back to Lucas's house and we're going to bring out the old board game dungeons and dragons. It had been 2 years since the boys would have 10 hour campaigns, and Max had never played it, so they were going to teach her.

  Lucas tapped Max on the shoulder and motioned to her to slow down. The two of them fell behind the rest of the group. "Max." Lucas started. "What happened at your house...Is it common? Because your stepdad—" He was cut off

  "Not here!" Max said in a hushed voice

  "No!" Lucas argued. "I need to know. Does he hit—" Max cut him off again.

  "I said not here. Not with them." She motioned to Erica, Will and Dustin.

  This time Lucas shut his mouth. But his brain didn't stop. Did her stepfather abuse her? Or just Billy? Was her household always that angry? What kind of home had she been raised in?

  They arrived at Lucas's house. Erica didn't want to play dungeons and dragons, so she went upstairs to find some of her own toys. At least that's what she told Lucas. The older kids went down to the basement, and instead of playing the game, they just all sat on the couch. What they didn't realize is that Erica had his in the closet, and was eavesdropping on their conversation.

  Max spoke up. "Do you think this has something to do with the cloud? They all looked pretty freaked out, especially Jonathan."

  "Something is definitely going on." Will added.

  Dustin just sat there, silent. That was weird, considering it was Dustin. He didn't look great either, and had one hand clutching his stomach.

  "Are you okay Dustin?" Lucas asked

  "I'm just suddenly not feeling great. But I don't think it will last. It's been happening a lot lately, I'll feel sick for 15 minutes to an hour, and then I'll be fine. Dustin reported.

  Lucas, Will and Max continued talking, but were still concerned about Dustin. "They said that the woods we were heading into were unsafe. I wonder if they saw the cloud there." Will noted

  "That's not very far from the junkyard." Lucas turned to Will. "And didn't you say that Jonathan and Nancy were at the hospital? Why were they with Steve?"

  "Yeah, he definitely left with my mom today." Will remembered

  Interrupting their conversation, Dustin groaned, and then suddenly ran into the bathroom. The sound of him throwing up was heard from the living room.

  Lucas's mom came running down the stairs. "Oh no! Who's puking?" Lucas pointed to the bathroom. Mrs. Sinclair went in and found Dustin. She washed his face, then helped him up and took him upstairs to call his mom. A few minutes later she came down with cleaning supplies and disinfectant. She cleaned the bathroom and made Lucas, Will, and Max move so that she could disinfect the couch.

  Erica, who was still in the closet, wondered what they were talking about. It sounded like they were detectives. She was going through a phase right now where she loved to play detective.

  They all went upstairs to Lucas's room. They sat on his bed. "That was weird, he was perfectly fine until we got into the basement, then he got really sick really fast." Max commented

  "Yeah." Will agreed. He tried to change the subject. "So, you two are back together again."

  "Did I let that out when I was yelling at Billy?" Max asked.

  "You may have." Will agreed. He could see the worried look on their faces. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

  Max and Lucas thanked him, then the three of them went back to trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Sorry for the short chapter guys! I hope your enjoying the story! Let me know if you have any requests for stuff to happen later on, and let me know your thoughts in the comments! Thank you so much for the reads and votes!!