LONELY TOGETHER - max mayfield (EDITING)

1. "The ladies say i'm a gentleman."

JAXON WAS currently quietly scurrying around his room, looking for quarters to go to the arcade. The party had invited him and now he had to pull his own weight. He was about to give up when a lightbulb flipped in his brain. He lifted his mattress and pulled out a ziplock bag of $9 in change. Jax smirked before picking up his walkie.

"-and multiply it by five." He could hear Lucas cockily reply to Dustin.

"Jax, whats the verdict?" The curly-haired boy asked.

"Ni- nine twenty-five! Just found another one." Jax exclaimed, stuffing it all into his hoodie pocket.

"Dustin, call Mike." Lucas said.

"You call Mike!"

"I have to go take a shower from doing real work, like a man! Over and out." Lucas spat back, and Jax could be heard laughing in the background.

"Yeah, Dust. I gotta go. I'll be there soon, though! Over and out." Jaxon set his walkie down and ran downstairs to slip on his shoes. His dad was watching tv with the volume so loud he probably didn't even hear his son.

Carefully, Jax slipped out the door and walked over to Joyce's car who was waiting for him with Will in the front seat.

"Hi, sweetheart!" Joyce welcomed as he opened the car door.

"Hi Ms. Byers, hey Will." Jax spoke, putting on his seatbelt.

"Hey." Will greeted, turning in the passenger seat, with the seatbelt rubbing against his small flannel.

"I told you just to call me Joyce." The woman looked back in her mirror, smiling.

"I know, but it feels better. And plus, the ladies do say i'm a gentleman." Jax smirked to himself, rolling a quarter between his fingers.

"Oh, I bet, sweetie. I bet." Joyce laughed, and even Will cracked a smile.

"Hey- uh- Jax, how much cash did you get? I-I couldn't really find any." Will spoke, opening his pale palm to reveal 5 quarters.

"Oh, here, I probably won't use all mine anyway." Jax smiled, dropping 6 coins into the smaller boy's hand.

"Thank you! I promise, I'll pay you back." Will exclaimed, nodding his head.

"Oh, Jax, you didn't have to do that." Joyce cooed.

"Don't worry about it, I usually share anyway." The boy dismissed.

Joyce had pulled up at the Palace Arcade, where Mike, Lucas and Dustin were waiting for their two friends. The two boys in the car unbuckled their seatbelts and were about to exit the car when Joyce stopped Will.

"Okay, I'm going to pick you up in two hours, so that's 9 o'clock on the dot, okay?"

"Okay." Will answered, already expecting this talk.

"And if anything happens, if you need to call me just ask to use their phone and call home, okay? And don't--"

"-don't walk or bike home, I know. I know." Will finished her sentence.

"I'll make sure everything goes smoothly, Mrs. Byers." Jax spoke up.

"Thank you, and sweetie-" Joyce began.

"Mom, we have to go!"

"Have fun." She concluded.

Will and Jax got out of car, walking into the arcade. Jax turned back to wave at Joyce as she was making sure they got in okay.

"To slay the dragon, use the magic sword!" Princess Daphne spoke seductively. The party, plus Jaxon were all huddled around Dragons Lair, watching Dustin take his turn.