"Steve! Steve! Steve!" I scream. "God, what?" he asks as he enters my room. "I need money for the arcade," I explain. "Well, I don't have any money, so you can just watch them play," he replies. "Or... I could do this," I smirk, running into our parents' room and stealing their stash of coins. "Are you crazy?" He asks. "Fuck them. They're never here, anyways," I retort. "That doesn't mean you should steal? What's gotten into you?" he asks. "Nothing. Now can you drop me off or not? If not, I'll just have to hitchhike," I groan. "Hitchhike? You barely used to wanna drive in my car. Yeah, I'll drive," he sighs.

time skip

"To slay the dragon, use the magic sword," the game spoke. "Oh, Jesus! I'm in uncharted territory here, guys," Dustin blurt. "Down! Down! Down!" we yelled at him. "I'm going! I'm going! Okay! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Dustin yelled, making us quiet down. "No! No! No! I hate this overpriced bullshit! Son of a bitch! Piece of shit!" Dustin groaned. "You're just not nimble enough. But you'll get there one day. But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine," Lucas bragged. "Whatever. I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug," Dustin retort. "You sure about that?" Keith asked. "Sure about what?" Dustin quizzed. "You're kidding me. No, no, no," Dustin exclaimed as we followed him over to the Dig Dug machine. "751,300 points!" Will exclaimed. "That's impossible," Mike adds. "Who is Mad Max?" Dustin asked. "Better than you," Keith joked. "Is it you?" Will asked as Dustin flipped Keith off. "You know I despise Dig Dug," Keith spoke with his mouthful. "Then who is it?" Lucas asks. "Yeah, spill it, Keith," Dustin demanded. "You want information, then I need something in return," Keith explained, looking at Mike. "No, no, no. No way. You're not getting a date with her!" Mike retorted. "Mike, come on. Just get him the date," Lucas begged. "I'm not prostituting my sister!" Mike rationalized. "Just do it, Mike! You big pussy," I seethe. "It's for a good cause," Lucas defends. "No, don't get him the date. You know what? He's gonna spread his nasty ass rash to your whole family," Dustin seethed. "Acne isn't a rash, and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid," Keith explained. "Oh, I'm a wastoid? She wouldn't wanna go on a date with you. You make, like, what? $2.50 an hour? Gonna make fun of my hair?" Dustin snapped. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Mike walk outside.

time skip

Mr. Clarke told us about the human brain. The five of us sitting in the front. Although, I wasn't paying attention. I was doing bad in school. All my grades dropped from the 90s and 100s to 70s and 60s. I could care less, though.

"Ah, this must be our new student." Mr. Clarke exclaims. "Indeed, it is. All yours," the principal replied, dropping the girl off. "All right. Hold up there. You don't get away that easy. Come on up. Don't be shy. Dustin, drum roll. Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine," Mr. Clarke smiled. "It's Max," the girl mumbles. "Sorry?" Mr. Clarke asks. "Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max," She corrects. "Mad Max," Lucas whispers. We watched as the girl took her seat in the back.

time skip

"There's no way that's Mad Max," Mike exclaimed. "Yeah. Girls don't play video games," Will continued. "Oh, fuck off you sexist shit," I hiss. I could feel the boys contort their faces in confusion. "Sorry... also language," Will apologized. "Anyway, you can't get 750,000 points on Dig Dug. It's impossible," Mike explained. "But her name is Max," Lucas defends. "So what?" I retort. "So, how many Maxes do you know?" Lucas asks. "I don't know, I don't keep track," I sneer. "Zero. That's how many," Lucas replies. "Yeah, and she shows up at school the day after someone with her same name breaks our top score. I mean, you kidding me?" Dustin adds. "Exactly. So she's gotta be Mad Max. She's gotta be," Lucas follows. "And plus she skateboards, so she's pretty awesome," Dustin chuckles. "Awesome? You haven't even spoken a word to her," I scoff. "Hey, I don't have to. I mean, look at her. Shit, I've lost the target," Dustin gasps. "Oh! There," Will exclaims. The boys all run to the trashcan as I trudge behind them, uninterested in this topic. "Who wants to dig in and grab it?" Lucas asks. "Fuck it. I'll do it," I laugh as I reach my hand in and grab the paper, handing it to Dustin. "Stop spying on me, creeps," they all read aloud. "Well, shit," Dustin sighs. "William Byers. Your mother's here," The principle called. "Bye, Will," We wave. "Hey, uh... I'm gonna go take a leak. See you guys later," I wave as I walk inside.

Mike's pov

"You guys think he's okay?" Dustin asks us. "He's always weird when he has to go in," Lucas explains. "I don't know. He's quiet today," I argue. "He's always quiet," Lucas corrects. "And what about y/n?" Dustin adds. "Don't even get me started on her. She's been acting so... careless," Lucas follows. "I don't like it," I add. "She's been like this since Christmas last year. Do you think something happened?" Dustin asks. "I asked Nancy to ask Steve, and he said that he's noticed it, too," I explain. "I feel bad for her," Lucas sighs. We all nod in agreeance.

time skip + y/n's pov

Steve dropped me off and then went out for dinner, leaving me alone. Steve is having a Halloween party here tomorrow night. I already know there's gonna be alcohol, so I figured, what's the harm in one less bottle. I sneak into the kitchen and grab three bottles of beer. I hid one in my dresser and the other in my closet. I get that tomorrow is Halloween, and I promised all of the boys I'd go as a ghost, but what's the point if they're just gonna forget I'm there like they always do. For all I know, I'm being replaced with the red-haired bitch.