TOLD YOU. ZOOMER.

          ❛  i know.  ❜   he looks down at his hands, palms sweaty, trying not to show any sign of weakness.   ❛  i usually don’t  —  i just wish they’d stop, you know?  ❜   she was right. they didn’t need to know anything about him. nothing about what he’d been through.   ❛  it’s just kind of stupid.  ❜

          ❝ you dropped this. ❞   gordon hands her the coca-cola can that dropped from her backpack. it was still full, now a bit shaken and stiff. a welcome opportunity, however, as he’d been keeping an eye on the four hawkins boys that seem to have the biggest link to his current case.   ❝ good that i caught you, would you mind if i asked you a few questions ? ❞

Nancy snorted a very unladylike laugh at Max’s confession, a hand immediately flying to her mouth to stifle it. “Sorry, sorry that’s not funny. It’s just … no one’s ever CARED this much before about what my little brother thinks. Including me.” she was only partially kidding in an attempt to cheer the younger girl up. But the humor was born from truth; it really was strange, meeting someone who seemed genuinely upset that Mike was shutting them out. But upset she was, so Nancy immediately changed her tune from jovial to sympathetic, her eyes softening as she met Max’s gaze. “Look, the thing about Mike is … he LASHES out when he’s angry. Or upset. And he was both for … a long time.” Nancy knew she didn’t need to tell Max what the emotions were about, or why they seemed to have stopped in recent weeks - Max had seen Eleven for herself. 

“I doubt it was personal. He just couldn’t bring himself to scream at the people he already knew, so … you were the unfortunate TARGET.” 

       a  confused  expression  paints  her  features  at  the  older  girl’s  reaction,  brows  knitting  together  as  she  listens  to  her  speak.   max  didn’t  know  whether  nancy  was  attempting  to  be  light  hearted  or  not,  though  what  she  couldn’t  understand  was  how  it  was  supposed  to  be  amusing  ------  maybe  it  was  because  mike  was  her  annoying  younger  brother  or  something,  but  still.   ❛    yeah  but...  i  don’t  think  it’s  such  a  valid  excuse.    ❜   take  it  from  someone  who  knows,  she  wants  to  say,  but  she  holds  her  tongue.   she  had  a  lot  of  pent  up  anger  and  frustrations  herself  and  she  was  never  that  mean  to  anyone  for  no  reason,  even  with  all  the  crap  she  had  to  deal  with  at  home. 

       ❛    why ?   is  it  because  it’s  a,    ❜   a  pause,  fingers  forming  quotation  marks  in  the  air  as  she  continues  with,   ❛    boy  thing  and  i  wouldn’t  get  it  ‘cause  i  don’t  have  a  prostate  gland  like  you  do ?    ❜   her  eyes  bore  into  him  with  a  look  of  expectancy.   she  and  mike  haven’t  been  at  each  other’s  throats  as  intensely  anymore  compared  to  when  they  first  started  hanging  out,  but  the  snide  back  and  forth  wasn’t  something  that  died  down  just  yet  ——  if  it  were  to  ever  die  down,  that  is.

and  besides,  it  was  fun  to  get  him  all  riled  up  sometimes   ❛    you  know,  for  someone  who  kept  another  human  being  down  in  their  basement  for  weeks  without  any  of  the  four  other  people  in  their  house  knowing,  you’re  really  not  getting  any  better  at  being  subtle,  so…  come  on,  michael.    ❜   she  sighs,  arching  an  eyebrow.   ❛    spill.    ❜

       ❛    uh,  it’s  not  that  hard  to  ride  it,  you  know.   maybe  a  little  at  first,  but  you  get  the  hang  of  it  eventually.    ❜   shoulders  lift  in  a  light  shrug  as  she  moves  the  skateboard  back  and  forth  with  one  foot,  looking  at  her  hesitantly.   ❛    i  can  teach  you  if  you  want.    ❜

       ❛    alright,  stop,  stop,  stop.    ❜   her  hand  is  held  up,  signalling  dustin  to  pause  his  (  awfully  confusing  )   explanation.   ❛    you  do  realize  that  i  haven’t  played  dungeons  and  dragons  before,  right ?   i’m  not  gonna  understand  anything  you  say  if  you  don’t  use  all  of  this,    ❜   she  waves  a  finger  around  the  table.   ❛   to  help  me  get  which  part  is  which.    ❜

       ❛    you  new  around  here ?    ❜   she  casts  her  a  quick  side  glance  before  fixing  what’s  inside  her  locker  again.   did  this  school  get  a  new  student  every  year ?   ❛    good  luck  with  that  locker.   the  kid  who  had  it  before  used  to  just  bang  his  fist  to  open  it,  so  i’d  get  the  lock  checked  as  soon  as  possible  if  i  were  you.    ❜

       ❛    hey  ------  watch  out !!    ❜   max  swerves  the  board  just  in  time,  only  centimeters  away  from  nearly  running  over  the  other  girl’s  feet.   so  much  for  the  forewarning.   ❛    sorry,  i  guess.     ❜   she  steps  on  the  edge  of  her  skateboard,  tipping  it  upwards  and  catching  it  with  her  right  hand.   ❛   but,  uh,  you  didn’t  move.     ❜