PSYCHO 《 stranger things 》

-0.6 max is, in fact, mad

chapter six!

"THIS IS SO DISGUSTING, is this really necessary?" Max complains as Dustin approaches the group. The group stood around of the dumpster, Lucas actually inside of the gross bin. The three stood with sticks, Cassie twirling hers easily around, like a ninja would. She nudged Max, showing off her skill, until the stick flew out of her hand and into the dumpster. Cassie hears Lucas let out a grunt.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Dustin, giving the group an incredulous look, gesturing to Lucas in the dumpster. Cassie had momentarily forgot that he wasn't there when they hatched their plan. She felt a lot better than she did the day before, having had taken her medication first thing when she woke up
this morning. The group could tell Cassie was getting back to her usual, crazy, and attention-seeking self.

"What do you think? We're looking for Dart." answers Mike, shaking his head at the boys apparent stupidness. Dustin ducks out of the way as Lucas (without warning) throws a few bags over the side of the dumpster before jumping over the side and landing on his feet next to Max and Cassie. He held Cassie's stick in his hand, the one she'd lost a moment before, and held it out to the girl. Cassie grinned, reaching out for her 'ninja-wand', when Lucas suddenly held it out of her reach, making her pout. Lucas gives her a strict look, as telling her not to play with it anymore, and Cassie nods. Grabbing the stick out of his hand, she began twirling it around again as soon as Lucas turned to talk to Dustin.

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up, after I drew the short straw." said Lucas, sarcastically. Cassie laughed as Max had to duck to avoid being hit in the face with her spinning stick. Moving to the other side of Cassie, she found herself standing next to Lucas. "Real convenient."

"Ew you stink," comments Max, walking away from Lucas and towards Dustin. Cassie sniffed the air, not noticing before, and nodded in agreement, following behind her.

"Hi, Cassie," grinned Dustin, looking down at the girl. Cassie grinned back, flashing one of her charming Hargrove smiles.

"Hey, Dustin."

"Wheres Will?" asked Dustin, turning back to the group. Max rolled her eyes as Cassie began poking her in the side, apparently for no reason other than just to do it.

"He'll be here," Mike states matter-of-factly. Cassie had her doubts, however. She may have not been there when Will freaked out, but Max explained it all in thorough detail. Cassie knew that if she was Will, she'd definitely use that as an excuse to skip school the next day— the rest of the year if she could manage it.

"Are you going to just stand there—," Lucas begins, throwing Dustin a stick. Cassie is tempted to start a stick war by clashing her stick with his, and decided that it wouldn't be appropriated for the moment. She does it anyways, and Dustin subtly hits her stick back with his."—or you gonna help?"

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"All living things, from complex mammals, to single celled organisms, instinctively respond to danger. Expose a bacteria to a toxic chemical and it will flee. Or deploy some other defense mechanism. We're very much the same. When we encounter danger, our hearts start pounding, our palms start to sweat. These are signs of the physical and emotional state we call fear."

Cassie listened to the lesson, frowning slightly at how much she understood it. Sure, she was somewhat smart, but she hated showing it. This lesson in particular made her feel upset— made her tummy twist in a way that made her want to throw up. Or some other defense mechanism, he'd said. Cassie wasn't stupid— she knew her entire personality was based off a defense mechanism. It wasn't to flee— she wasn't a wimp. But being a wimp and being a coward are two completely different things. When her dad— or Billy— did what they do, it made her feel small, belittled, and unimportant. And she knew that because of that, she would seek reassurance and attention by acting out at school and with her friends. Sure, she made friends this way— several people at Hawkins Middle wanted to be her friend, but she stayed with Max and enjoyed the popularity and attention from afar— but she hated that that was what she was known for. Even at her old school she was known as that kid who did crazy shit in front of the school, and that made her cool. She was an attention-seeker and she knew it. Everyone knew it. But part of her wanted to be more. Part of her wanted to make friends the normal way and not by rollerblading down the hall or jumping in a trash can and rolling through the cafeteria. Part of her wanted to have a personality trait that wasn't crazy or cool.