- 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗈𝗈𝗇 -

-9-

Hold on. Just...hold...on. She could do it. The wind wasn't whipping hair into her face and the sliver of sunlight was thinner than yesterday, but it was fine. But Max still couldn't help but grumble again for the forth time.

"Mayfield!" someone shouted. She heard the familiar voice and she slowed down, but didn't stop her anxious pace. Her skateboard was missing and she suspected Neil took it because he mentioned a few times at dinner that it wasn't very "lady-like" to ride a "flimsy board" to school.

And she was also embarrassed now, because even though it wasn't a "big deal" it kinda was to her. That skateboard was a part of her, and with it gone, she felt a little hollow.

She had ignored it all, of course. Immersing herself in the comic book scene she had read earlier on and replaying it in her mind. She didn't think he would do it. Max didn't think Neil would actually take her skateboard away.

This morning, She checked the cupboards, broken the lock on the basement and crept down, even going as far as to creep into his room to poke around. She found nothing. Nothing but dust and emptiness and no bright red skateboard with her own dragon design on the back in sight.

Nothing.

So here she was, walking to school because Billy had left her early. It wasn't his fault. But she wished he had waited regardless. A part of her soul ached at the loneliness she felt.

Always forgotten. Always alone.

Behind her, she could hear the clanking of a bike and a certain Mike panting hard. The clanking of the bike got louder and Max had to screw her face up to hold back from cupping her ears with her hands. She smirked when she saw him beside her, cheeks puffed and red and hair messy, some strands were matted to his forehead. He looked so different from the normally put together boy she was used to seeing. "Mike." Max greeted and looked at his bike.

"Pretty cool bike. But wasn't it lying in the grass the last time i saw it?" Mike gave a shy embarrassed smile. "Thanks and yeah, my dad fixed it up for me. Where's your skateboard?" He asked, noticing the absence of her red board. Max huffed loudly, "Neil took it. He was going on and on about how unladylike i was and how dangerous it was to skate last night, and i didn't take him seriously." She blurted out.

"Neil? Your dad?"

Max huffed, a strand of red floated around her shoulders. "Step-dad. Before you ask, no, i do not respect him and that is why i call him Neil. He acts like this control freak sometimes. I hate it." Max blushed and hugged herself tighter when she realised she had just confessed something private to a boy she had just gotten to know.

Unfazed by her outburst, Mike have her a soft smile. "Yeah, dads can be like that." Max looked away. He didn't understand what Neil was, what a monster he could transform into. Mike didn't know a fraction of what her life was before she came to Hawkins. But...

it was sweet how he tried to understand. It really was, and maybe she could kinda see how Elle liked Mike. He was quiet and a little too much for her, but he was understanding and nice too.

Elle was lucky. Really lucky.

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Okay...well, do you need a ride?" He gestured awkwardly towards his bike. "Oh. Sure." Max said. Inside, she was a ball of nerves. She rode on the backs of Nate and Eddies bikes of course, so she didn't know why it fazed her now to have to sit on the back of Mike's bike. It shouldn't. So why were there butterflies in her stomach? Why did she feel so giddy and lightheaded?

Slowly, Mike stopped and Max got onto the front of the bike, perching on the near edge. Mike scooted more to make room for her and peddled away when she was comfortable enough.

"Thanks, Bicycle boy." Max teased, the nickname she had only ever mentioned in her mind slipping from her lips.

"Don't mention it, Max."

She hoped that he didn't feel her blush through that darn sweater as she pressed her suddenly heated cheek into his back. When he said her name...wow. It sounded like honey from his lips. A melody only they knew.

He smelled like grass and love. She carefully looped her arms tighter around him as they picked up speed, the love in his sweater burned her nose and making her eyes water.

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