𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻]

𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓 𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵

𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 - my little shit

━━━━━━━

 "𝐆𝐎𝐃, 𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 believe you own so many flannels." Max's voice had her usual edge of snark, the familiar twang of absolute, raw judgement. Her fingers had curled around the flowing edge of Scarlet's unbuttoned shirt, tugging on it as though it had personally offended her. It had. "You need to get a sense of fashion."

 Scarlet blinked, unintimidated by the girl — how could she be after watching Maxine Mayfield stare at her as though she was the moon itself? She flicked the girl's finger, "Has anyone ever told you that you're —"

 "— a bit of a bitch?" Max shrugged as though they were talking about the boring humidity that had suddenly sprouted within the air, "All the time. I live with Billy, remember?"

 The mere mention of Max's older sibling made Scarlet's fists tighten into a fierce ball. How could she not remember? Her poor knuckles were scarred over, and to this day she could swear her stomach constricted as though his heavy boot had slammed into her torso just an hour prior. It was hard to forget Billy fucking Hargrove, even if she wanted to — and she really wanted to.

 "What an asshole," Scarlet muttered, eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as she watched Max toss her skateboard from one hand to another, scowling at the tape she'd had to smother it in just to seal off a splinter.

 Max snorted, this was why she'd been so drawn to Scarlet; they were the same person. They stood up for what they believed in, they called someone an asshole if that's what they were being; there were no filters, because really, who had the damn time for that?

 It was easy with Scarlet, Max had found that out rather quickly. It was easy to be herself, she didn't feel the need to try harder to fit in like she had with the boys — or rather, still had to, thanks to Mike. She didn't have to keep the occurrences within her house a dirty secret buried six-foot beneath the ground. Scarlet knew of every fight her parents had, of every foul word that slipped from Billy's tongue.

 Because she listened. 

 "But," Max chimed as the duo trudged along the sidewalk. Her sneakers squashed a bug as they passed by a bunch of kids trailing after it. It made Max grin when one of them cried out in anguish, "Billy being an asshole doesn't excuse your shitty outfit."

 "Okay, judgey, first of all; if the flannel was gone, what would you think?"

 "Ten times better."

 "That brings me to my second of all — I'm telling Hopper you said that."

 "What's he gonna do? Arrest me for his bad taste?"