Together Again

Chapter 6 - The Letter (part 6)

Jonathan drove the car down the road, where could Dustin be. Steve kept biting his lip and looked worried. He was searching every inch they could see. They had driven out around the junkyard and had seen nothing. They were going to head into town. The sun had now dipped below the ground and it was almost dark. Jonathan flicked on the headlights.

In the back Nancy was still asleep. Mike watched out his window. On the other side Will and Lucas chatted quietly while watching out the other window.

"So...when did you and Max get back together?" Will asked, keeping his voice low so that no one else could hear.

"About a month ago, when she started hanging out with us again." Lucas answered.

~one month ago~
Lucas was walking with Erica to the park. They arrived at the playground and within a minute, Erica was already off playing grounders with her friends. That was when he noticed her. The red head.

She was sitting on a bench with her skateboard at her feet. She looked angry. She had a scowl on her face and tear stained eyes. Lucas didn't want to go talk to her, what would he say? But he could tell that she needed a friend right now.

Slowly he walked towards her. She was facing the other way and didn't see him coming. He sat down on the bench beside her. She gasped and turned, not expecting anyone to sit by her. She saw who it was and her face fell

"What do you want?" She asked in an angry tone, emphasizing the word you. She wiped at some of the tears on her face, sniffling.

"What's wrong?"Lucas asked in a kind voice.

"Why do you care? You haven't spoken to me in forever and now You suddenly care?" She accused.

Something stood out to Lucas. He tried to be sneaky while examining it. There was a red mark on her face. It looked like it was stinging. It was mostly covered by her hand, as if she was hiding it.

Lucas grabbed her arm and lifted it up, revealing the red mark. "Did something hit you? Someone?" He asked, concerned.

She lied and shook her head no. She said that her face always goes red like that when she cries. That was a complete lie. She had actually gotten into a fight with Billy, he got wound up and slapped her across the face. He had never actually hit her before, she was now terrified of him. But she couldn't let Lucas know.

Lucas nodded, not entirely believing her, but he didn't want to press the issue. He could see more tears welling in her eyes. Hesitantly, he put his arm around her, she didn't push him away. He wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her in close, holding her. It felt weird, but also like the best thing in the world. He pretended not to notice Erica making kissy faces at him from the playground.

While she leaned against him, crying, he noticed how much she had changed. Her clothes were newer, a little more girlish, but still kinda tomboyish too. She had on a maroon tank top with a reddish plaid unbuttoned shirt overtop. She wore light blue baggy jeans with her red vans shoes. And was that...mascara? Yes it's true. She had a little bit of mascara running down her cheeks. Her hair had been straightened and although she was not wearing earrings, she had little holes in her ears from getting them pierced.

He leaned into her and kissed her on the forehead, surprising them both. Max looked up and smiled. "You missed." She said.

Suddenly there lips were touching. They pressed them together for a few seconds before Erica started singing "Lucas and Ma-ax sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G." She was standing on the ground about 10 feet away.

"Erica!" Lucas scolded, embarrassed.

Over the next few days they began to hang out more and more, and began dating again.

"There!" Steve shouted bringing Lucas out of his memory. Nancy blinked her eyes open and looked around. It took her a couple seconds to remember where she was. Steve was pointing to a car parked outside of Bradley's Big Buy. There was a dent in the back of it and steam coming out of the engine.

They pulled up next to it and stopped everyone got out and ran over to Dustin who was looking in the engine. Wasn't he sick?

Dustin saw them coming. "Oh! Hey guys!" He said is his normal cheery voice. That was weird. A couple hours ago he was puking

"Aren't you supposed to be sick?" Will asked.

"Well, on the way home from Lucas's my mom stopped here to get me some medicine. And then—"

Dustin's mother cut in from behind him. She looked more upset than any of them had seen her before. "That idiot hit my car!" She pointed across the road. There was a teenager getting out of a car across the parking lot. A cigarette hung from his fingers. His hair blew in the breeze. It was a blond mullet.

Billy.

Yes, I know what your thinking, "you never said why Dustin wasn't sick!!" But I will get to that next chapter. Along with a couple other surprises...