𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝟲. 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙚

𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙚

It had been more than a day since the incident with Will, and somehow everything had only gotten stranger. 

Will hadn't returned to school; according to Mike, he was staying home with his mom for now, just to avoid triggering another episode. Dart was still missing despite the group's intense search efforts. Lucas had even ended up digging through the school dumpsters, but there was still no trace of the creature much to the boys' growing frustration.

James, meanwhile, was completely in the dark. He had no idea what was actually happening with Will, nor why they absolutely had to find Dart. He and Max were both stumbling through the same fog, yet they kept helping anyway.

The "members only" meetings, the ones they weren't invited to, were still happening too, always organized by Mike, who seemed to enjoy repeating his favorite line. Dustin had tried, unsuccessfully, to get the siblings included, but it was a lost cause.

James had been patient. He really had. But watching Max slowly withdraw, clearly hurt and tired of being pushed aside, pushed him closer and closer to a confrontation he knew was inevitable.

"Hey guys!" Lucas's voice cut through the chatter of the hallway. 

James was waiting while Max finished gathering her things, Billy already waiting for them in the parking lot. 

"Have you seen Dustin? We're supposed to meet after class."

James answered, noticeably colder than usual. "No."

Max didn't even spare Lucas a glance. She slammed her locker shut and headed toward the exit. James followed, and Lucas confused quickly caught up.

"Wait, guys—Max!" He moved to walk beside them, mostly beside Max, who was clearly irritated. "Where are you going? Come on! We've gotta go look for Dart!"

Max scoffed. "Yeah, good luck with that."

Lucas frowned. "What is wrong with you?"

The comment made James stiffen. How could Max possibly be the problem here?

Max spun around. "What's wrong with me?" she echoed, sharp. "What's wrong with you?"

James stayed silent, not wanting to get stuck between them. Lucas clearly didn't get it, and Max being Max wasn't going to sugarcoat anything.

"I don't understand," Lucas insisted.

"No, I don't understand!" Max snapped back. "You guys act like you wanna be our friends, and then you just treat us like garbage!"

"That's not true!" Lucas protested. 

He looked at James too, hoping for backup, but found none. James fully agreed with Max and Lucas could tell.

"Yes it is," Max pressed. "You go hide in the AV Club, keeping secrets like we're in second grade or something."

She was genuinely hurt, James could hear it in her voice and that only made anger churn deeper in his chest.

"You know," Max added, "I thought you guys wanted me in your party."

"We do, I do, both of you," Lucas said quickly. "But it's just..."

"What is it again?" James cut in, already tired of whatever excuse was coming.

Lucas sighed. "There... there are just things, things we can't tell you, alright? For your own safety."

Max rolled her eyes. "My safety? Because I'm a girl?"

"What? No—James is right here!" Lucas gestured at him, trying to show it wasn't about that.

Max narrowed her eyes. "Did you keep secrets from El?"

Lucas froze, thrown off by the mention of El.

"H–how do you know about El?"

James answered for Max. "Not the question she asked."

Lucas looked between them, struggling to defend himself. "That was different. Trust me, okay? That was just... different."

Max let out a short, tired breath. "You know what? Forget it, okay? I don't want to be in your stupid party anyway. I'm out. Have a nice life."

She turned and walked off toward the parking lot.

"Max!" Lucas called after her, desperate. Then he looked at James again, hoping for some kind of help but James didn't give him any.

"You messed up," James said flatly. "Big time. Stop acting like jerks. People aren't toys you get to pick up whenever you're bored."

"James... that's not—"

"Bye, Lucas."

James followed his sister, leaving Lucas alone in the courtyard.

As they reached the car, with James close behind Max, Billy stepped away from the driver's side, his eyes locked on someone behind them.

"That kid you were talking to," Billy asked, voice low. "Who is he?"

"He's no one," Max said immediately.

"No one?"

"Just a kid from our class," James answered.

He opened the passenger door, sliding into the backseat while Max climbed in the front. Billy got in too, lighting a cigarette.

"Why was he talking to her?" Billy said, watching James through the rearview mirror.

"It's just about a stupid class assignment," Max replied.

"I asked James." He kept his gaze hard, waiting.

"Class assignment, like she said," James repeated.

"Then why is she upset?"

"I'm not!" Max shot back.

Billy didn't look at her. He stared straight ahead, voice colder.

"Is he causing you trouble?"

"Billy, it's nothing," James said quickly, already recognizing that tone and the danger under it.

"Why do you even care?" Max snapped.

"Because, Max," Billy said, voice quiet but venomous, "you're a piece of shit, but we're family now, whether we like it or not. Meaning I'm stuck looking out for you."

James felt every muscle in his body tense.

"You're not stuck," he muttered. "And I'm looking out for her. Don't worry about it." The way he said worry made it clear he didn't believe Billy was capable of it. Not truly.

Billy turned sharply, eyes burning into his brother. The sudden movement made both James and Max flinch.

"This is serious shit, okay?" Billy growled. "I'm older than you. And one thing you learn is that there are certain types of people you stay away from."

His stare shifted to Max again.

"And that kid is one of them. Stay away from him. You hear me? Stay away."

The car went dead silent.

A familiar cold fear crept up James's spine, paralyzing, suffocating. 

His chest tightened, his heartbeat pounding so hard it almost hurt. He hated how frozen he felt, hated how powerless he was to stand up to Billy.

Hated himself for not protecting Max, again.

- ⏳-

The weekend, finally.

Two days far from school, far from homework, far from secrets whispered behind closed doors.

James had managed to negotiate a trip to the arcade with Max today; he knew it would at least get her mind off the whole fallout with the boys. And for him, it meant a few hours outside the house. 

That alone was a relief.

Billy had been saddled with the task of dropping them off, and he did it with all the enthusiasm of someone being asked to scrub toilets. The car barely came to a stop before he barked:

"If you're not out in an hour—"

"Walking home. Yeah, yeah, I know," Max finished for him, rolling her eyes.

"Hey! Watch that attitude, shitbird."

James shut the passenger door behind Max, and Billy sped off without another word.

Max exhaled hard. "Your brother is such a dick."

James let out a tired breath. "Tell me about it."

They headed toward the glowing arcade sign, the clashing sounds of games greeting them the second they stepped inside, 8-bit music, digital explosions, buttons being hammered.

"But hey," James said as they wove between machines, "no talking about Billy. We're not here for that."

Max nodded. "Yeah, I'm here to destroy my record on—"

Her sentence died when they reached her favorite machine. A paper sign hung crookedly across the screen:

OUT OF ORDER

"You've gotta be kidding me," Max muttered.

The teenager working the arcade noticed her frustration and approached, wiping his hands on his shirt. "Sorry about that, Road Warrior."

Max frowned. "What happened?"

"Short circuit in the motherboard. A real bummer." He brightened suddenly. "But fret not! I've got another machine up and running in the back."

James blinked. "In the back?" He didn't bother hiding the suspicion in his voice.

A teenager offering to take a twelve-year-old girl somewhere out of sight? Absolutely not.

The teen seemed oblivious to James's tension and simply gestured for them to follow. He led them past snack machines and stacks of old cabinets until they reached a narrow door. He pushed it open.

Inside stood Lucas Sinclair, wearing a painfully awkward smile.

Max stared, eyebrows knitting together. Then she turned her glare toward James, accusing.

"What? Don't look at me!" James held up his hands. "I didn't know!"

They stepped inside the small room. The door shut behind them, leaving the three of them in a cramped space cluttered with old monitors, a spare racing game, and the faint smell of dust.

Max rounded on Lucas, irritation already simmering. "What is this, stalker?"

"Sorry," Lucas said quickly. "I just needed a safe place."

James frowned. "A safe place for what?"

This was getting ridiculous. Whatever Lucas was planning, he had dialed the drama way too high.

"Listen," Lucas said, looking between them. "I'm gonna tell you guys the truth about everything that happened last year. But if anyone finds out..." He swallowed. "You could be arrested. Possibly killed."

"Killed?" Max repeated, eyebrows raised so high they nearly disappeared into her hairline. Lucas sounded like he was reciting lines from a spy movie.

"Lucas, it's not funny," James sighed. The kid was just digging himself deeper.

But Lucas ignored them both, completely serious. "I need to know, do you accept the risk?"

"Oh my God," Max muttered. "This... this is so stupid." She rolled her eyes and glanced at James for support.

James took a slow breath. This whole setup was way too dramatic to be believable. None of it made sense.

Lucas looked at both of them again, more intense than before. 

"Do both of you accept the risk?"

"Yeah, sure. Fine," Max said, clearly humoring him.

Lucas then turned to James.

James hesitated. He didn't trust this. 

Not because he thought Lucas would actually put them in danger, but because he didn't want to watch Max get hurt again, emotionally. Another lie, another secret, another stupid excuse.

"Okay," he said finally. "Yes."

"Perfect," Max said, heavily sarcastic as she dropped into one of the chairs. Arms crossed. Eyes fixed on Lucas. "Let's hear it."

James and Lucas sat as well. For a moment, the room hummed with the muffled noise of the arcade outside. Then Lucas drew a slow breath.

"Last year..." he began. "Will didn't get lost in the woods."

He looked at them, letting the tension build.

"He got lost somewhere else."

Thank you so much for reading this far! 🎡

(My sincere apologies if you spot any clumsy grammar; I'm still mastering English.)