bitchin'

Chapter 20

"Hey, Lindsay!" Max's voice calls. She turns around to see the redhead rolling towards her.

"Hey," Lindsay greets. Her heart had stopped racing, but she still feels on edge.

"What are you doing?" she asks, popping her skateboard up into her hand.

"Going home."

"You're not going to help look for Dart?"

"No, it's uh, not safe for me to be here..." Lindsay whispers, looking around to see if any rogue Hit List members were around.

"Oh shit," Max looks down at the girl's bloodied knees, "the fight club?"

No one is around the gravel road, but Lindsay doesn't want to risk being ambushed.

"Shhh, yes, let's keep walking. The farther away I get from here, the better," the brunette explains. Max throws her board down as Lindsay begins to walk. She rolls along slowly next to the Harrington girl.

"Are you okay? Did something happen?" the redhead asks as the two turn off of the school driveway onto a road towards home.

"My old friends stopped me, led me outside where everyone was waiting for me."

"To do what?" Max asks, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Well, in all honesty, they wanted me to fight a high schooler for my spot," Lindsay explains. She looks down, watching Max push herself on the board beside her.

"Oh my god, you didn't fight them did you?" she gasps, pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"No, I... uh, told them I was leaving the Hit List," Lindsay says nervously, looking away from Max's face.

"I thought you were waiting for the right time?"

"Well, turns out that was the right time, for me anyways," Lindsay shrugs.

"What do you mean? What happened?" the Mayfield girl questions. The rubber wheels create a soft hum on the road in comparison to the sound of Lindsay's feet crunching the grass.

"Anthony attacked me anyways. Then, they started chasing me down to the field. Chief Hopper stopped them just in time," she explains.

"What would've happened if the chief wasn't there?"

"I don't know..." Lindsay lies. She knows they would've beaten her until she was unconscious or dead. Max steadies herself on her board with her arms out. She falls silent, thinking of all possible scenarios, "you ask a lot of questions, you know?"

"Well, just trying to keep my only friend alive," she sarcastically comments, taking her back foot off to push.

"I'm not your only friend, am I?" Lindsay questions. Max looks at the other girl, face as serious as stone, "once Mike warms up, then you'll have the boys too."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure that's gonna happen," she huffs. The girls turn onto Lindsay's street, heading towards her house.

"He just needs time, he's got a stick up his ass most of the time," Lindsay jokes, making her chuckle.

"Lindsay?" Max asks, getting off her board. She pops the tail with her foot and catches the top of the board with her hand.

"Yeah?"

"Will you tell me the truth?"

"The truth about what?" Lindsay asks confused.

"About Will, or whatever it is that the boys are keeping from me, it's not fair for you to want to be friends with me, but then go and keep secrets like we're in second grade or something," Max explains. They stop in front of Lindsay's house. She turns to stand face to face with the redhead.