Notes:

Hello :) I've decided to post this story not only on ao3 but also on here.

This chapter is the first episode, The Hellfire Club. The description tells you everything you need to know.

I hope you enjoy!

Getting up in the morning was hard. It'd been that way for almost a year now. Max would wake up and wish she hadn't. She'd like to sleep forever. It was peaceful there; you know, if you don't count the nightmares.

Yet, her alarm clock still drew her out of bed.

Dressing in a dirty shirt, she'd worn twice this week and a jacket on top, Max headed down the hallway into the living room. At least, that's the best word for it. A shitty trailer is more accurate.

Beer bottles littered the space, but she didn't pick them up. Not this morning; Max didn't have the energy.

Grabbing two Benadryl, she placed them in her mouth before swallowing them down with some water.

Her mother was nowhere in sight, and when Max checked the bedroom, she found it empty. Lord knows where she was at seven in the morning.

She was probably drunk.

Grabbing her red bookbag, Max made her way out the door. She wasn't hungry enough for breakfast. She was never hungry.

Max watched as Eddie Munson sped away in his van, rock music blaring. Too bad she couldn't drive. Instead, Max had to take the bus. At least she had her Walkman and Kate Bush to keep her sane.

Hopping off the crowded bus, Max rolled her eyes as someone called her name. She didn't want to have a conversation this early in the morning.

"Max! Max!" Taking off her headphones and turning around, she realized the voice was of Ms. Kelly. "Where were you yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forgot it was Thursday," Max mumbled.

"Well, I'd like to see you today. Come straight after lunch, okay?"

Nodding, Max walked away, placing her headphones back on her ears.

The assembly was… painful. Not only cringey (specifically Jason's speech) but also very… personal.

Entering the gym, Max wandered toward Mike and Dustin. She instantly huffed as she overheard Dustin and Mike arguing about who has a better girlfriend. Of course they were.

"Look, I'm not saying that my girlfriend is better than yours." Yes, you are, Max thought. "It's just that Suzie's, like, a certified genius."

"You do realize El has saved the world twice, right?" Mike countered.

"And yet you still have a C in Spanish."

The music stopped, and over the microphone, someone screamed, "Let's hear it for our Tigers!"

The crowd cheered, but all Max could pay attention to was Lucas. He stared directly at her as he ran into the middle of the court, and she glanced away. It hurt too much to look at him, even when he waved at her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Max saw him frown.

She hated it.

If Max was going to be honest, she totally zoned out. That was until Billy was brought up.

"Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Billy."

He did not just bring up Billy. Max caught Lucas's sympathetic eyes, and she turned away from his gaze. She couldn't do this.

Max decided to zone off once again. She needed to ignore everything. Before she got hurt again. She paid attention when Dustin and Mike somehow didn't know how a tournament works. How do they not know this basic information? They really are nerds.

After lunch, Max made her way to Ms. Kelly. In the hallway, she caught a glimpse of none other than head cheerleader Chrissy Cuningham heading out of her office. That's… weird. Why was she there? Not only that, but she looked… uncomfortable, upset.

Sitting in a chair across her desk, Max listened to her Walkman. It was the last thing keeping her grounded. Music did that for her.

Ms. Kelly's muffled voice came from outside the music. "Can you remove your headphones, please?"

Taking them off her head and clicking the button, Max responded with, "Sorry."

"A 'C in English and a 'C- in Spanish," she said, clearing her throat.

"Yeah."

"Well that's not normal for you," Ms. Kelly said sadly.

"If you say so…."

"How's your mom holding up?"

Max stared at the floor. "She's fine…." She paused. "I mean, she hates the new place, which is, like, yeah, it's terrible, but… she's fine."

Max wanted anything but to be here. She'd instead be forced to go to Hellfire than have to talk about her emotions. Nevertheless, here she was. She was sharing her feelings and talking about her family life. God, she would give anything in the world to leave.

"Is she still drinking?"

Max swallowed hard. "Like, yeah, a little, but… Well, she's working two jobs. So it's not easy."

"Must not be easy for you either with your stepdad gone."

"It's kind of better, honestly."

"Better how?"

"He was an asshole. So there's less… assholery."

"Are you sleeping better?" the woman asked gently.

"Yeah, fine," she lied.

"So no more headaches?"

Max shook her head.

"Nightmares?"

Max flashed back to the one she had last night; Billy being impaled by the mindflayer, its tentacle deep inside his chest. She remembered her screams as she called his name.

"Nope."

Ms. Kelly looked at the floor. She knew. She knew Max was lying.

"Max. What you've been through, what you're still going through, it's a lot for anyone," she said as Max fumbled with her headphone cord. "And it's okay to not be okay. But I can only help you if you're truthful, if you open up to me."

"Yeah, I… I know. I'm- I'm being open."

Ms. Kelly sighed.

"I'm being open," Max repeated, though her face said otherwise. Jesus, why did she have to be such a bad liar?

She was so relieved when Ms. Kelly finally excused her.

Exiting the office, Max didn't even notice Lucas until he called her name.

"Max, hey."

Goddamnit. She wasn't in the mood to try and hold a conversation with him. "Are you stalking me or something?"

"Oh, no, I- I just wanted to give you this." He handed Max a piece of paper.

"What is this?"

"A ticket to the game."

Max turned her head towards him and rolled her eyes. Then, marching away, she became frustrated as he followed.

"Listen, I know you never want to go to my games, but this one is kind of a big deal," Lucas continued.

"A big deal?" Max scoffed. "Lucas, you really care about this?" she questioned, still walking.

"Yeah- I- I do. Maybe you should find something you care about too."

Max paused. What did he just say? She stopped, spun around, and glared.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Max saw his face turn to 'oh shit' and paused.

"You're just… It's- it's like you're not even here anymore," Lucas responded hesitantly. He looked so nervous. God, all she did was make things worse for other people. "It's… it's like you're a ghost or something."

Looking away, Max felt a wave of guilt and anger wash over her. "A ghost? Really?"

"Max, I know something's wrong," he said.

"...Yeah, right… Yeah, something must be wrong with me because I broke up with you."

Lucas shook his head. "No. That… that's not what I meant."

Max had heard enough. "Lucas, look, people just change, okay? That's it. I've changed. It's that simple." She was so annoyed. So sick of him trying to fix her or something.

Before she entered the bathroom door, Max handed Lucas the ticket back. "Good luck."

She didn't wait to see Lucas's face. As Max hurried in, she quickly pulled out her bottle of Benadryl. She desperately needed them—needed something to calm her.

Max popped down two of them. Suddenly she heard the awful sound of vomit from a stall behind her. Turning around, Max saw a cheerleader's skirt.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah- yes… I'm… I'm fine." Chrissy? Chrissy Cunningham?

"Okay, um… you're sure?"

"Please, just go away." The girl sounded awful. Still, there wasn't anything Max could do for the cheerleader. She wasn't about to snitch on her.

Sighing, Max left the dull restroom, hoping Chrissy was okay.

Max was so glad to leave school. So relieved it was Spring Break.

Earlier that day, Dustin had tried to convince her to play D'n'D with him. Hell no.

As Max climbed onto the bus, she clicked on her Walkman and Running Up That Hill blasted through it. She found it almost therapeutic—an escape.

It blocked out the obnoxious teens who screamed and yelled in the back, which always left her deaf.

Her mom still wasn't back once Max entered her trailer, giving her more time to herself.

Walking into her room, she plopped onto the bed and sighed. Everything seemed so bleak. The single window in Max's room offered little sunlight, leaving her in darkness. It was fitting, though. It's kind of what her world felt like at the moment.

How was she going to make it through this year? Max didn't think she would. Surely something would prevent her at some point. Things weren't looking up for her. They never were.

If Max could take some more pills, she would. But she'd overdosed at school once. Max couldn't walk in a straight line, and her words slurred together. She wasn't sure how she managed not to pass out that day. No one found out about it. Thank god.

Max must've stayed on her bed for hours because the next thing she knew, it was night. Checking her clock, she realized it was eight. Lucas should be done playing his basketball game right now.

Max really didn't want to, but it felt wrong not to listen to the radio and hear the outcome. So she sat up and tuned in. Instantly, she listened to the announcer.

"After a tragic year for our town, the Tigers have brought home the conference title for the first time in twenty-two years." Another man continued, saying, "And what a great game it was, Allen, ending with a dramatic buzzer-beater from benchwarmer Lucas Sinclair!"

Lucas?

Max couldn't listen to the rest. She wasn't about to listen to people talking about him. Turning it off, she sighed, hanging her head.

Outside, a dog started barking. The owners never fed it, so Max had decided to take on that responsibility.

"Alright, alright, I hear you."

Standing up, Max made her way out of her bedroom.

Her mom was passed out on the couch, and Max wondered when she'd arrived. How'd she not notice the sound of the front door opening? Not only that, but how didn't she hear the TV? Whatever.

Cleaning up the empty beer bottles and fetching some chicken, Max strode out the door to the dog.

A second later, Eddie's van sped into the trailer park and halted in front of his house.

He drives like he's being chased or something.

Suddenly, Max spotted none other than Chrissy Cunningham hop out the door and follow Eddie into his trailer.

It took Max a second to fully realize why she was with him, but it all made sense once she did. First, the vomiting went to Ms. Kelly, and now to his house. Chrissy was going through something, so she probably resorted to drugs.

The dog barked once more, so Max continued to feed it. Chrissy and Eddie were none of her business.

When Max finally ran out of chicken, she walked back into her trailer.

That's when something… weird happened.

The lights and TV started to go crazy, and even though she knew it was most likely a coincidence, she couldn't help but wonder… No, it couldn't be. Max didn't want to believe it.

Max heard a scream. Eddie's scream. Sprinting towards the window, she saw him slam open the front door and book it into his van.

She knew he always sped, but this was different. He looked terrified. His driving was more erratic than it usually was too.

Deep down, Max knew something was wrong. She just knew it. Still, it was none of her business. After all, she tended to overthink stuff.

As she slept, nightmares plagued her mind. It'd been nonstop for the past few days. Not only that, but these were different than the usual ones she'd been gifted with after Billy died. These were so realistic, downright terrifying.

Max knew something was wrong.