Disclaimer in opening
It's not the lacking of spine, nor of physical pulse
It's just a feeling of distance akin to a feeling of loss
The deepest sighs, the frankest shadows - Gang of youths
Monday
When Allison woke up on Monday morning to her mother's shouts, she felt a pit in her stomach that made her feel ill. She and her Father had gotten home had dinner and gone straight to bed yesterday. All the nervousness she should have felt last night was swirling around inside, making her doubt if this move had been a good idea.
What were people going to say? She had pretended that a new school wasn't going to bother her, mostly to save face in front of Daniel and in hopes her pretend confidence would turn into real confidence if she kept lying to herself, but she couldn't deny it now she was terrified.
Allison got up and brushed her hair and teeth, leaving her long hair wavily cascading down past her either side of her chest. Allison put on her favourite acid-wash jeans and tucked a white button-down shirt into them, completing the look with a lilac coloured sweater. Her Chucks on her feet, she clutched her new school books and opened her door with a deep breath. It was seven months, friends, or no friends; she could do this.
Daniel left his room at the same time and Allison smiled reassuringly, quickly realising Daniel didn't need it when she saw an excited grin on his face. "I take it I don't need to worry about you today?"
"I'm good. Do I need to worry about you?"
"I'm the oldest, you never have to worry about me."
"You're my sister and this is your senior year. Do I need to worry about you?"
Allison shook her head, ruffling her brother's hair with a smile. "Thanks for worrying, shit-head." Daniel rolls his eyes before fixing his mussed hair.
"You know we were having a really important sibling moment until you called me a shit-head, shit-head." Allison chuckles and heads towards the stairs, adjusting her backpack and she heads down to the kitchen.
"Whatever shit-head."
Daniel snorted, following his sister down and sliding into his seat at the table. "Oh, I forgot to tell you on Saturday night! Dustin nearly beat Dragon's Lair!"
"Really! What happened?"
"He was so close Alli, but Lucas totally distracted him on purpose, so he could be the only one too claim Princess Daphne, which didn't work anyway because I won the game like half an hour later." Their Mother enters the dining room with a smile, placing a bowl of cereal in front of them both before returning with her own. They both bid her good morning before Daniel launches back into his story.
"And then the guy who works at the arcade, Keith, he told Dustin that he should check the games he has a top score in and someone had beat them! His name is MADMAX which I think is pretty cool, but Dustin thinks it's bullshit." Daniel spoke, without taking a breath, his pale cheeks gradually turning red with excitement and lack of oxygen. Allison laughed while Mary dropped her spoon into her bowl with a clatter.
"Daniel Richard Edwards! Language!"
"That's just what he said, Mom!" Daniel exclaimed. Allison turned her head away, so her Mother wouldn't see her snickering, but Daniel gave her away.
Mary swatted her arm before turning toward her son with a finger raised. "I don't care, son. If that's the sort of language the boys here use, I'll pull you out of school and teach you myself, completely unacceptable." Allison was laughing so hard at Daniel's sour expression tears had started to form in her eyes. "Now you!" She pointed her finger towards Allison who was wiping her eyes. "Stop encouraging him. And you." Mary turns her finger back to Daniel. "Eat, you can't be late for your first day." They ate in silence sharing amused glances every few minutes until Mary cleared the bowls and Daniel pounced on his chance to finish the story.
They were gathering their bags from the front door when Daniel got to the best part of the story. "Then Mike was like 'I'm not prostituting my sister!'"
Allison and Daniel both leave the house in a rush after that, giggling while Mary yells "Daniel!" from the doorway, tea-towel in hand.
A carpark sat between Hawkins middle and Hawkins high, it was full of teens her age, leaning on cars and talking or sitting cross-legged on the hood rushing to finish homework from the weekend. Hawkins easily held triple the students her old school held, and a glance Daniel's way saw them realising this wasn't the small-town vibe they knew.
"Seven months, you can do this Alli."
Allison turned back to Daniel with a smile and a nod. "I'm going to be fine, kid. We're both going to be fine." Daniel pointed out Will, standing several cars down beside an older boy with a similar hair-cut. Daniel and Allison grabbed their bags and exited the car, Daniel with excitement, Allison with trepidation. Will waved at Daniel as they approached, and the younger boys instantly launched into conversation.
"I'm Jonathan, Will's older brother. You must be Allison; the boys haven't stopped talking about the new family in town."
Allison's gaze meets the hesitant eyes of Jonathan and she smiles with false confidence. "Hawkins doesn't seem like the sort of town to see many fresh faces."
Jonathan agrees with a nod, pushing his fringe over to one side. "Yeah, Hawkins is a quiet town, nothing really happens here," Jonathan replies averting his gaze and rubbing his arm uncomfortably.
"I'll make sure Daniel gets to class if you like, Allison?" Will speaks softly, a wide grin on his face as the two boys begin to back away from the older children.
"Oh, okay! Have a good day!" She replies, her grip tightens on her books at the fake cheer in her voice. Daniel picked up on it automatically and offered his ring finger for their secret hand-shake. They pull at the same time and they both stumble, the tension leaving Allison's shoulders.
"Bye, Alli!"
"Bye, shit-head." Daniel waves, already walking away with Will. He waves dismissively at Jonathan who tells him not to be late after school. Allison sees Lucas approach the two boys and they all talk animatedly, Daniel laughing loudly at something Will said.
"They're good kids, your brother will be fine."
Allison glances at Jonathan with a grin before facing the high school with a sigh.
"Daniel's a smart kid, it's me I'm a little more worried about currently," Allison says with a laugh. She could feel people's eyes on her, and a quick glance confirmed her feeling. Allison felt a hot flush course through her body, her skin growing clammy; perhaps the lilac sweater had been a poor choice. Jonathan shifted beside her unsure of how to comfort the girl, he placed a hand on her arm lightly and tried to give her a reassuring smile.
"Trust me, the scariest person in there is Carol and the worst she can do it pop her gum." Allison laughs and Jonathan ushers her along with an offer to take her to the office.
They talked about themselves as they went, Allison learned Jonathan liked photography, which leads to a conversation about the lake she had seen yesterday. "My Dad and I ran to the lookout yesterday, I wish I had some semblance of talent with a camera, Hawkins seems like a wonderful place to get lost in." Jonathan cleared his throat and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, It's a special place." Allison senses an uncomfortable silence but doesn't get the chance to question it before Jonathan is speaking again. "Are you going to try out for the track team? I'm sure the coach would accept you if you told him you were interested."
Allison shrugged, it wasn't something she had thought about. Wakeford hadn't had a track team; her running had always been recreational. "I don't know if it's worth it, I've got less than a year left and then I'm off to college."
"I'm told athletics looks great on a college application."
"You're told?"
Allison smirks at Jonathan who shrugs with a small smile. "It's what my Mom says anyway, she wants me to try out for something team orientated in hopes of showing I can work in groups." They reach the office and find Nancy standing beside the door, her bag strapped across her cream sweater. She's adjusting the pink turtle-neck visible underneath her sweater when she spots them, and a bright smile crosses her pretty face.
"Hey, I was hoping to run into you before lunch! I see you've met Jonathan." Her gaze lands on Jonathan and she asks about his weekend.
"Umm, yeah it was fine. Sorry, I didn't call, I was helping Mom most of the weekend. You?"
Nancy glances down the hall, students milled about the eggshell halls, lined with blue lockers, her eyes falling on a tall boy in a blue jacket with a perfectly coiffed mane of brown hair, he turned to look back at Nancy with a grin and Allison noticed a pair of ray-bans covering his eyes. Nancy smiles back before returning her eyes to Jonathan, "That's okay, I assumed. It was good, Mike stole all my money again but, yeah it was nice, quiet actually."
Jonathan's hands slip into his pockets with a nod, Allison thinks he has a strange habit of being awkward at inconvenient times. "Are you ready for your first day? I wish Jonathan and I could be with you all day, were both juniors. We can have lunch together though! And I'll still show you around." Allison smiles at Nancy's excitement, thankful to have the girl on her side.
"I would love to, and that tour will be so helpful, Hawkins High is so much bigger than the school I'm used to." They agree for Allison to stay beside her locker after class and Nancy will find her for lunch. The two younger students have their first class together and go to leave together before Allison's voice stops them. "Thanks for walking me here, it was really cool."
Jonathan waves, a slight blush colouring his pale cheeks. He shrugs his denim covered shoulders and heads down the hall with a smiling Nancy.
Allison's first class was Chemistry and when she walked into the class just as the bell rang, the teacher directed her toward an empty seat two rows from the back, sitting in the seat next to hers was the tall boy Nancy had been watching in the hallway. He nodded at her as she sat down before turning away.
Allison could tell he wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around him, his pencil was tapping out the beat to an unknown song, his head leaned on his other hand and he stared outside, his dark eyes focused on the dense woods that edged the school. Allison got the vibe he wasn't a Chemistry fan. His hair was a being unto itself, the do reminds her of Tom Cruise from Risky Business, the glasses he had been wearing before certainly added to that aura. He dressed well in a blue, members only jacket that had the sleeves pushed up his forearms, a polo, and a fitted pair of jeans, similar in colour to Allison's.
The boy obviously took the time to make sure he looked good. Allison decided she thought he was handsome, she certainly wasn't blind, but she couldn't see herself falling for a boy who dressed better than she did. Allison had always thought 'peacocking' should be left to the birds.
"We have a new student with us today, please make her welcome. We are big fans of partner work in Chemistry, so I've paired you with Mr Harrington, perhaps you can help him with his attention span."
The Teacher, a short man in his mid to late 40's smacks a meter ruler against the chalkboard causing the boy next to her to jump. The teacher; Mr Samuels, her schedule had said, adjusted his brown and mustard argyle sweater, and turned to the board beginning his class. Papers rustled around her, and she followed suit. Taking the cap off her pen, Allison glances at the teen beside her; Harrington. His head down and a hand in his hair as he copies notes.
"Hey, I'm Allison, Allison Edwards."
If this guy was going to be Allison's partner she wanted to start off on the right foot and she hoped he had some notes to steal, his earlier behaviour betrayed that he wasn't the most attentive student but hopefully he cared enough to get the basics. "Steve Harrington." He replies, his voice slightly bored.
"So, we're going to be partners, I was wondering if I could borrow your notes, so I'm caught up?" He nods and scratches his head, his cheeks brightening slightly, much to Allison's surprise.
"Yeah, I'll lend 'em to you. If you can read them go for broke."
Allison's smile turns genuine at Steve's embarrassment and she shrugs. "Don't worry about it, Harrington, My dad's a scientist with handwriting so bad it's practically in another language. I think I can handle it." He huffs a laugh and turns to the board, copying down the day's lesson.
The class passed by quickly after that. Allison was glad to realise she didn't have much catching up to do. She was pretty good at Chemistry and didn't mind partner work, so she thought it would be an easy pass. She was glad to have Steve's notes to fill in any blanks. He did have atrocious handwriting, but she consoled him with a promise that she had seen worse, it was a lie, but it seemed to sate him.
As she walked out the class a girl with orange hair and a blue bomber jacket passed her an orange flier with a smile, "Hey new girl, welcome to Hawkins! Make sure you come and say hello."
Allison accepted the flier 'Come and get sheet-faced' It read, and Allison couldn't help the snort of laughter. "Thanks." She smiled, sliding the orange flier into Steve's Chemistry book. In her rush to find her new locker and unburden her sore arms, Allison turned a corner a little too quickly and found herself helpless to stop a collision with a firm denim-clad figure. Her and Steve's books tumbled to the ground and she bent quickly to collect them.
"I'm so sorry, I'm lost, and I was rushing like a fool." She rushed to apologise not noticing the other person had bent down to assist her with her books. Allison let out a frustrated sigh, her notes and Steve's had become mixed up.
"It's no problem, honestly. I'm a little lost myself." A deep voice replies with a chuckle.
Allison meets the blue eyes of the boy she had run into and smiles brightly, "Are you new as well?" She asks as he hands her the papers that had spilt from her binder and stands with her. A trace of a smirk is visible on his lips and his blue eyes sparkle. He runs a hand through his curled hair, pushing a few strands back into the mullet on his head, boys in this school had insane hair.
"First day, just moved from California. I'm lucky people have been so… accommodating." He glances behind him, spotting three girls watching his every move as he adjusted his double denim outfit, pure lust written in their eyes.
Allison's eyes flicker to the girls than to the boy in front of her who wasn't hiding his love of attention. "It's my first day as well, must be strange for a place like Hawkins to get so many new kids in one day. I'm Allison by the way." He appears not to have heard her, attention still on the girls behind him and she chuckles knowingly, her past life as an 'Elite' meant she had met many a boy like this one. "I'd say new kids should stick together but it would appear you're doing just fine on your own."
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and readjusts the books in her arms with a wide smirk before the blonde boy returns his attention back to her. "Billy Hargrove." Billy holds up the orange flier in his hand before handing it to Allison. "You going to 'get sheet-faced?'" He asks with a grin. Allison smiles politely and shrugs, he had obviously missed the part of the conversation where she had made a stab at his already blooming popularity. Allison side-stepped the blond and moved back into the flow of the hall.
"I don't know. I'm not sure turning up to school hungover on my first week would send the best message."
Billy nods with a single wave and smiles, "Well, if you decide to grace us with your presence, maybe we can get to know each other a little better? New kids should stick together and all that." Allison snorts with a shake of her head.
"I'll be sure to think on it, bye Billy."
"Catch you 'round, Allison."
I sure hope not.
Allison nods, despite her thoughts and turns her foot, thankfully spotting her name on a locker only a few meters away. Unloading her books, Allison couldn't believe she thought Steve Harrington was a peacock! Billy Hargrove was seriously striking, and he obviously knew it. He also seemed to like the sound of his own voice. Billy gave her a weird vibe, he had openly flirted with her but then preened over the attention of three other girls in the span of two minutes. He had an ego, and he obviously didn't have much respect for women, that Allison want to avoid him. Something else about him made her cautious, she couldn't put her finger on what yet.
Lingering before her locker she hears a feminine scream and turns to her left in a fright, spotting Nancy being held off the ground by a laughing Steve, who was wearing his sunglasses again. Jonathan stood with them for only a moment before the couple kissed, Steve pushing Nancy against her locker while she tried to remove his glasses. She pulled away from her boyfriend just in time to see Jonathan walking down the corridor and turning the corner.
Allison couldn't help but wonder about the story behind the three of them, it seemed like an awkward friendship to say the least. Allison looked at the flier in her hand again before shoving it back into Steve's Chemistry notes and in her locker, maybe she would invite Jonathan to tag along on Wednesday if she went.
Allison knew the party was an opportunity to make some friends and he seemed like a nice guy who could also help her fend off Billy Hargrove. Allison liked the idea of them teaming up against their younger brothers and thought so far, of the few people she had met, Jonathan seemed like he had the potential to be a good friend. Besides the future journalist in her was dying to know the story of Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve and what loosens the lips quicker than a little alcohol?
Allison stood by her locker dutifully at lunch, waiting for Nancy to seek her out. She had brought her novel to school and made use of the few quiet moments, leaning against the blue paint while students milled about happily.
"Vonnegut? You and Jonathan are going to be best friends."
Allison peaks up with a smile, Nancy stands before her with her arms crossed. "Well, I'll be in good company then." Allison smiles, throwing the book into her locker.
"The best."
Nancy takes her on a quick tour before ending it in the cafeteria where they line up to get lunch.
"I met your boyfriend, Steve Harrington, right? He's my Chemistry partner." Nancy smiles at her mention of Steve, a faraway look in her eyes.
"He's a great guy."
Allison watches the girl as she thanks the cafeteria lady who serves her a salad and a slice of pizza. "You sound like you're trying to reassure yourself as well."
Nancy stares at the other girl with wide eyes before breaking into a smile when she notices the easy grin on Allison's face. "You're funny," Nancy says with a shake of her head. Allison follows Nancy to an empty table and conversation shifts to their little brothers.
"He breaks into my room every week, I swear. My Mom says I have to take it easier on him after everything that happened with Will last year but sometimes he just drives me mad, you know?"
Allison nods in agreement before her mind runs over her words again. "Sorry, something happened to Will last year?" Nancy averts her gaze but nods in confirmation.
"Yeah, everyone knows in town, sometimes I forget how small Hawkins is. Uh, last year Will disappeared for a week in the woods. They thought he was dead. Jonathan and his Mom, Joyce, they went through Hell."
Allison places her fork on her plate with shock. "Jesus Christ." She certainly hadn't been expecting that. It explained so much about Will's timid disposition and Jonathan's protectiveness. Allison remembered saying to Jonathan that she thought Hawkins was a great place to get lost in, she felt like a grade A asshole. "He's okay now though?"
Nancy nodded with a small smile, "He's okay, he's a tough kid; they all are."
Allison smiled at her new friend returning to her meal just as Steve sat down beside Nancy, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Hello, ladies." He smirks. Allison moves her gaze his brown eyes as he nods toward her "Edwards."
Allison nods back with a small smile, "Harrington."
Steve looks over Allison's shoulder his smirk dropping a touch before his eyes return Allison. "You know that guy? He's been staring at you since I sat down." Steve gestures with his chin, his hand reaching for a fry on Nancy's plate. Allison has a feeling she knows who it is, and her suspicions are confirmed when she finds the blue gaze of Billy Hargrove trained on her from across the cafeteria.
Billy's smirk widens when he sees he's been caught, waving his fingers at her before returning his attention toward the table filled with boisterous guys. Allison turns back to her lunch, her cheeks flushed. "His names Billy, he's a new kid too," Allison says, resting her head in her hand and spearing a piece of lettuce.
"Seems Billy might have taken an interest, you should invite him to the party on Wednesday night!" Nancy exclaims, accidentally shrugging off Steve's arm in her excitement too caught up to notice the discomfort written all over her new friend.
"He's already invited me to go with him… I think." Allison replies with a confused frown, at least she thinks he invited her. The passive-aggressive 'grace us with your presence' thing had made it a little murky for her, and the flirting with other girls' part as well, she supposed. Steve picks up on Allison's discomfort quickly, gesturing toward Billy with a frown.
"Is he bothering you?"
Allison shakes her head looking up at Steve with a reassuring smile. "No, I guess I just got a strange vibe from him." She admits. "I don't know, maybe I shouldn't judge him before I give him a chance."
Steve grunts, staring at Billy, a reserved look in his dark eyes. "Sometimes you need to trust your gut, Edwards, especially in this town. If you want me to talk to him just let me know." Allison rolls her eyes at the manly display but is secretly relieved that she has someone to look out for her already, she's suddenly glad she would have friends in Hawkins.
"It's Hawkins, Indiana, not the mean streets of New York, Officer Krupke," Allison replies with raised brows. Nancy laughs at the reference, but it flew over her boyfriend's perfect hair. "West Side Story? The tale of forbidden love on the rough, dance-filled streets of New York? No?" The boy's frown deepens, glancing at the two girls who are openly laughing at his confusion.
"Okay Macho man," Allison laughs out letting him have his manly display. "I'll be sure to let you know if I need you to protect me." Steve meets her eyes and breaks into a grin when he sees the sarcastic look on her face.
"We still going to the library, Nance?" Steve turns to his girlfriend, stealing another fry.
"I totally forgot, will you be okay, Allison?" Nancy asked, concerned.
Allison waved her worry away and rose from her seat. "I'm fine, Nancy. Thank you for showing me around. I think I'm gonna track down Jonathan, that talk of Vonnegut before has me curious on his thoughts on Slaughterhouse 5. I'll see you both later." They both waved as she walked away, heading to the darkroom Nancy had pointed out during their tour.
Allison knocked on the door when she found the well-shrouded room, she didn't get a reply, so she quickly entered, trying not to let in any light. The room was small, almost the size of a closet and photos hung from wooden clips all around the room. Jonathan was pinning up a photo of Will and a small brunette woman Allison assumed was his Mom. They were both grinning, entwined together in a small, cluttered kitchen.
"They look so happy. It's a really lovely picture." Allison smiles at the teenager, who turns in surprise at her voice. She can see he's embarrassed and apologises for prying.
"You don't need to apologise, they have been through so much, it's good to see them smiling again. People in this town don't make it easy to move on, you know?" Allison nods in agreement, the fact that Jonathan accepted that by now Allison would have been told about Will's disappearance was telling on its own.
She came to stand beside him taking in the pictures around her. "I'm really sorry about what happened to Will, I'm glad he came home safe. I'm, uh, sorry about what I said earlier, the getting lost in the woods thing. I feel like a total asshole."
Jonathan pushes his fringe to the side with a shrug, he had been staring at his feet, but his gaze found the photo that hung above him again. "You couldn't have known, it's all good." They fall into a comfortable silence while Allison takes in the different pictures hung around the room. Most were of Will and his Mom but in the corner, she spotted a beautiful candid of Nancy staring off into the distance, a wide smile on her face. Allison imagines they were sitting on the hood of his car talking when he took the photo, it's a close-up but she can see the forest that lines the school car park.
"Wow, she looks so beautiful."
Jonathan glances over his shoulder and his expression softens. "She looks perfect." He replies, his cheeks darkening at the honesty in his words. Allison smiles at him knowingly before returning to the photo.
"She really does." Allison smiles taking a seat in the corner and watching Jonathan hang another photo. "So, if you don't mind me asking; what happened between you two?" Jonathan turns his head slightly with a frown.
"Between who?"
"Why, you and Veronica of course! Does Betty know? When will you stop playing with these girl's hearts, Archie?" Allison replies, clutching her heart dramatically. Jonathan turns, leaning against the table with a smirk.
"Your references are outdated, Sugar"
"Oh, honey, honey." She sings with a tut. Jonathan rolls his eyes, a smile pulling at his mouth. "Seriously though, you and Nancy?" Allison prods.
"There's nothing to tell."
Allison raises an eyebrow at the teen. She decided at that moment her new friend was a terrible liar. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I mean I get it, you hardly know me." The girl shrugged crossing her legs and resting her hand on her palm. "But I'm a great listener and I offer no judgment."
Jonathan crosses his arms over his chest before dropping them back with a sigh, Allison felt bad for making him uncomfortable and opened her mouth to tell him not to worry when he spoke. "Some stuff happened last year, around the time that Will disappeared, we got close. I thought we had something and I waited for her, she chose Steve." Allison watches the boy before her a sad expression crossing his face. Sensing there was more to the story but feeling guilty for dredging it up, and letting her journalistic curiosity get the better of her; Allison swiftly changes the subject.
"So, you going to this party on Wednesday? I could be persuaded into going if I a cohort…" Jonathan raises an eyebrow at the teen who watched him with amusement. Allison noted the relief on his face at the change in subject. "Whadya say? Wanna be my awkward partner in crime?"
Jonathan chuckled with a shake of his head. "I'm really not a party person but if I didn't have to go trick-or-treating with Will and the kids I would. My Mom doesn't like Will doing things alone cause of… you know."
Allison nods in understanding. "Well, maybe you can swing by afterwards? So far you and Nancy are the only people I've met who I actually like." Jonathan grins briefly and Allison's smile grows in response, she had only seen Jonathan Byers really smile one other time today from something Will had said as she approached them with Daniel this morning; she liked that she had made her new friend smile.
"You don't like Steve? Everyone loves Steve." Jonathan's smile fell to a smirk and Allison returned it.
"Meh, I've seen better." Jonathan chuckled again at her joke, hanging another photo. "So…?" Allison probes, hoping he will consider.
Jonathan watches her with amusement, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you want to do when you leave school?"
Allison frowns, "Journalism maybe Politics, why?"
"You have the gift of persuasion, they are appropriate choices." Allison grinned at Jonathan's quiet words taking that as a maybe.
"So, I heard you're a Vonnegut fan, tell me what your thoughts on Slaughterhouse 5?"
When Allison and Daniel met in the carpark, the older girl wasn't surprised to find her brother surrounded by his new friends. "Hey, Allison!" Dustin waved, noticing her before the others. They were all talking over each other, circled around a note Lucas held. When they noticed Allison, Lucas scrunched up the note, tucking it behind his back. "Hey, Alli! What's going on? How was your first day? We weren't doing anything?" Daniel rushes, his hands clasped at his front attempting to maintain a picture of innocence.
"Uh-huh, sure. It was fine, I take it you all had a good day?" She replies dubiously.
All five boys before her nod in sync and she can't help the grin that slips onto her face.
"Just an average day!" Lucas replied.
"Yep, nothing weird or creepy happening here!" Dustin says loudly, earning an elbow from Mike.
"Right…" Allison utters, her eyes falling between the five of them. Daniel takes this as his opportunity to farewell his friends and jumps in the blue station wagon with a wave. The four boys walk away with goodbyes to the teen and she joins her brother in the car, an eyebrow raised. "So, wanna tell me what that was about?"
Daniel rolls his eyes but can't contain the grin on his face. "We found out who MADMAX was." Allison starts the car and they make their way out of the parking lot. "Really? Is that what you were all whispering about?" Daniel nodded excitedly in confirmation.
"Yeah! Get this, MADMAX is a girl! Her name is Max and she's new just like me, she's like super cool and she rides a skateboard and she caught us spying on her and wrote us a note that we were stalkers." He finished in a rush. Allison laughed, shaking her head.
"Good, don't spy on girls, bud. It's weird."
Daniel huffed with a roll of his eyes, believing he and the others were completely justified in their mission. He turned the tables on his sister, hoping she would forget and leave this conversation out of the recap he was sure their Mother would demand. "How was your first day?"
Allison smiles at the boy beside her genuinely and taps the steering wheel. "It was alright, kid."
"Alright as in Friday the 13th or alright as in Nightmare on Elm Street? Both alright in their own right but for wildly different reasons." Daniel asks sagely, Allison found herself wondering again how her brother had seen those movies without her knowledge.
"Cinematic masterpiece Psycho alright." She teased, knowing he hadn't seen the movie. With a pout in his older sisters direction, the school was forgotten about as the younger boy launched into an obviously well thought out argument in support of a quick and secret viewing of the aforementioned movie.