𝟎𝟏𝟎 ᵐⁱᵏᵉ ʷʰᵉᵉˡᵉʳ ˣ ᵒᶜ

009

"WHO IS MAD MAX?"

Delilah patiently waited to hear something from El, anything. It had been almost a year since she had mysteriously disappeared and the girl had tried radioing her every day.

"Del, do you copy? Del, do you copy?" Dustin's voice spoke, making Delilah jump. "Yeah. Yeah, I copy" she sighed.

"What are you doing on this channel?" He asked.

"Nothing, just don't worry" she snapped, it made her feel guilty, she felt like she was in a constant bad mood recently.

"Me and Lucas have six bucks total. What's your haul?" He asked.

Delilah reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out her quarters "I've got 4 bucks" she told him.

Joyce parked the car with her two kids inside, in-front of the arcade, everyone else was allowed to bike, but Joyce had been extra protective since the events of the year before.

"Okay. So, I'll pick you up in two hours. That's 9:00 on the dot, okay?" She told her kids, mainly Will.

"Okay" Will nodded impatiently.

"If anything happens, if you need to come home, just ask them to use their phone and call home. Okay Don't..." Joyce continued.

"Don't walk or bike home" Will finished.

"We know" Delilah rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Del, you know the rules, no using your powers unless it's a life or death situation and..."

"Mom, we have to go" Will tapped his leg.

"Have fun" she smiled, letting the two get out of the car.

"I feel like we're not allowed to do anything anymore" Delilah told Will. He nodded "yeah, it kinda sucks".

Dustin kicked the machine angrily "No! No! No! I hate this overpriced bullshit! Son of a bitch! Piece of shit!".

"You're not nimble enough. But you'll get there one day. But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine" Lucas smirked. Dustin rolled his eyes "Whatever. I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug".

"You sure about that?" The greasy arcade guy, Keith, asked.

"Sure about what? You're kidding me. No, no. Move! Move" Dustin dramatically walked to the machine.

"751,300 points!" Delilah laughed at the absurdity of the situation earning a dirty look from Dustin.

"That's impossible" Will chimed in.

"Who is Mad Max?" Dustin asked. Keith laughed "Better than you".

"Is it you?" He asked.

"You know I despise Dig Dug".

"Then who is it?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, spill it, Keith" Delilah crossed her arms.

"You want information, then I need something in return" Keith looked at Mike. He'd been wanting a date with Nancy for as long as any of them could remember.

"No, no, no. No way. You're not getting a date with her" Mike scowled.

"Mike, come on. Just get him the date" Lucas shoved him.

"Wow, that's your view on women? Prostitution?" Delilah eyed Lucas.

"No, that's not.." Lucas panicked.

"I'm just playing" the girl laughed.

"No, don't get him the date. Know what? He's gonna spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family" Dustin sassed.

"Acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid" he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm a wastoid? She wouldn't go on a date with you" Dustin argued.

"Yeah, you make, like, what? $2.50 an hour?" Delilah joined in. "Where are you gonna take her for dinner?".

"Meet the human brain. I know. I know, it doesn't look like much. A little gross even, right?" Mr Clarke speaks.

Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas and Delilah are paying attention until the principal walked in, a girl with red hair at his side. She looked interesting, someone that the girl would want to be friends with.

"Ah, this must be our new student" Mr Clarke smiled. The girl tried to walk away, avoiding any confrontation "All right. Hold up. 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".

"It's Max" the girl frowned.

"Sorry?" Mr Clarke asked.

"Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max" she told him.

"Mad Max" Dustin turned around.

"There's no way that's Mad Max" Will spoke.

They stood watching the girl skateboarding around, Delilah felt like a huge stalker.

"Yeah. Girls don't play video games" Mike agreed.

Delilah knitted her eyebrows "I play video games". Mike shrugged "you're different".

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean" she crossed her arms.

"It doesn't matter, you can't get 750,000 points on Dig Dug. It's impossible" Lucas shrugged.

"But her name is Max. How many Maxes do you know?" Dustin argued.

"I don't know"

"Zero. That's how many" Dustin added "She shows up at school the day after someone with her same name breaks our top score. So she's gotta be Mad Max".

"And plus she skateboards, so she's pretty awesome" Dustin smirked.

"Awesome? You haven't even spoken a word to her" Mike crossed his arms.

They watched as Max dropped a balled up piece of paper in the bin. They rushed over to it and Dustin reached straight in.

"This is pathetic" Delilah shook her head "why don't we just talk to the girl?".

"Got it. There we go" Dustin read it out "Stop spying on me, creeps."

They were distracted by the principal asking for Will "William Byers. Your mother's here".

"You guys think he's okay?" Dustin asked.

"He's always weird when he has to go in" Mike replied.

"I don't know. He's quiet today" Lucas sighed.

"He's always quiet" Delilah looked at the ground, she got her brother back, but she never fully got him back.

Delilah sat in Mikes basement with him, helping him clear out his old toys.

"El, are you there? El?" She held up the walkie-talkie
"It's me. It's Del. It's day 352, 7:40 p.m. I'm still here. If you're out there, say something. Or give me a sign. I won't even say anything. Just... I wanna know if you're okay".

She sighed, slamming it down when there was no response "this is stupid".

Mike sat next to the girl "She's still out there, I know it".

"Mike? Del? Hello, is that you?" Dustin interrupted them over the radio.

"Yeah, it's us" Mike rolled his eyes.

"What're you guys doing on this channel again? I've been trying to reach you all day. We were right. Max is Mad Max" Dustin told them.

"Yeah, we're busy" Mike signed off before Dustin could say another word. He turned to Delilah "They're pissing me off today. All they can go on about is that new girl, why are they so quick to replace El anyway?".

Delilah looked down at her hands "Max, she doesn't seem that bad, it's not like I want to replace El" she paused "promise me we'll never stop looking for her".

Mike nodded and smiled "never".