Tuesday marked the start of the second week of the fair.
The boys had more or less spent the weekend recuperating. They had, in fact, had a movie night. Watching Rogue One (Mikes pick) for probably the hundredth time, followed by Black Panther (Lucas's pick), and then fell asleep watching some weird conspiracy theory documentary Dustin had found in the depths of Netflix. It was a fine weekend, and there was definitely some bittersweetness when they loaded up into Dustin van, early Tuesday morning. Like way early. Like ungodly early. Because Dustin was told he had to open the food cart, and that meant giving the deep fryers enough time to heat up, and giving him enough time to prep the days food.
It was around 6am when Dustin turned on to Maple Street. Mike was still in a pajama shirt, hair sticking up all over his head, and Lucas could feel the dry drool still on his cheek. The sky was just beginning to shift from the deep blue of night, casting everything in a wash of cool grey.
Like every day before, they stopped and got Will, and then filled up on gas and energy drinks at the Loves gas station before heading out. The sun was finally starting to poke through as they passed city limits, and headed into the long stretches of forest and fields that led to the fair.
It was mostly quiet. Everyone too sleepy to be up for much conversation. Will was playing a mixed tape that had a lot of older music on it, and drolled on in the background as they drove. Until Dustin sat up in his seat, and swore under his breath.
"Oh shit! Is that-?" Dustin began, eyes fixed out the windshield at something in the distance.
Lucas and Mike scrambled to see whatever he was looking at, crowded together in front of the two captains chairs in the front. They realized at the same time exactly what Dustin was referring too.
"Max and El." They smiled in unison.
The two girls were standing next to Max's orange range rover. The hood was up, and smoke was seeping out from somewhere deep in the engine. Dustin pulled off onto the shoulder of the highway. A few yards ahead of them. The girls looked up quizzically, if not a little hopelessly, at the parked van.
Lucas and Mike threw the vans large rear doors open, and jumped out, practically beaming despite the frustration coming from the two girls.
"Car trouble?" Lucas asked with a smirk. Max looked ready to punch him, and not in her usual way.
"Yeah, piece of shit overheated on me again!" Max huffed, slamming the hood back into place. "I have to let it cool down before I can drive it, and even then I won't be able to make it all the way to the fairgrounds."
"We could give you a ride." Mike blurted. He probably should have ask Dustin first, but it wasn't really his car, and he always said the van was a 'the more the merrier' type of ride.
"You guys don't have to do that-" El said sheepishly.
"Oh hell yeah! That would be rad!" Max interrupted El. "If we go with you guys, you can drop us off back here on the way home and the car will have had plenty of time to cool down." Max rounded the side of her car and fished out of her bag from the back seat. With a shrug and a grin, El did the same.
Mike slid the vans side door open and poked his head inside. "Hey uh, Dustin? Is it alright if we give the girls a ride to work with us?"
"Totally! The more the merrier." Dustin grinned. "Just don't do anything crazy back there, id like my car to survive."
"Oh yeah, i'm sure us sitting down is going to be a real threat to Steve's precious hotrod." Mike rolled his eyes, moving to sit inside.
"Jeez, you're cranky in the morning." Max sneered from the rear door. El and Lucas were right behind her.
"There aren't any seats back here?" El asked looking nervously at the shag carpet and wood paneling. Max pushed passed her to get inside, Lucas took the space next to her, and El reluctantly followed, slamming the doors shut behind her.
"There used to be, but Steve and I took them out so there was more room. We use this for camping and stuff." Dustin smiled at her in the rearview.
"This thing is so retro." Max ran a hand through the carpet, which was a worn, burnt orange color. The wood panels looks like real wood too, not just cheap strips of vinyl. And each little window had a small, obviously hand made, set of curtains bunched together above them.
"It's a clunker," Dustin said, pulling back onto the highway, "But its my clunker."
The van really was old. If it sat with the windows up for too long it smelled like stale cigarettes and something musky. There were wine and water stains on the carpet from a time when it had apparently had a waterbed in the back. It also didn't have a CD player, or any sort of Aux cord capabilities. Which is why Will had to raid his mom's shed for all of her old tapes. He was pretty good at making mixes that fit the vibe of where the van took them, it was something of a superpower really. And that why when he changed the tape to an old The Mamas and The Papas mix, it fit the interior of the vehicle perfectly. They may as well have been driving to the coast, or to Woodstock, or back in time.
"Oh, here El." Max tossed her curly haired friend a shirt from her bag. The girls, inexplicably, and without warning, started taking off their shirts.
"Wait wait! What are you doing!?" Lucas and Mike both asked, eyes wide and averted.
"Calm down, dorks, we are just changing." Max and El giggled and continued. They did this strange sort of shirt replacement that involved putting on the new shirt without taking the old ones off. It looked like something only a contortionist would be able to do. After only a few minutes, they were both in their uniforms, looking as if nothing had happened.
"How the hell did you do that?" Lucas blanched.
"It's like this special gift that all girls are born with I think. Like wrapping your hair up in a towel or putting on mascara without stabbing yourself." Max tossed her old shirt off to the side and began putting her hair back in a ponytail.
"And we don't have the luxury of just being topless like you guys do." El added, pulling her own hair back into a messy bun.
"I think if I tried to change like that, I would end up choking myself to death." Mike chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck
"That's cause you're so gangly." El giggled, nudging his long legs, that were crumpled at an odd angle in the full space of the back, with her foot.
"Ohh! Turn this up!" Max hollered as 'California Dreamin' came on. She scooted closer to the front seat and started singing along with Will. Will and Max took over the male part of the duet, while El sang the female parts.
They all swayed along, while Dustin drummed on the steering wheel. Max used her fist as a microphone and began some wild dance as the first verse faded in. Singing boldly 'Stopped into a church, I passed along the way, Well, I got down on my knees, And I pretend to pray', while Will perfectly mimicked the haunting backup vocals. Lucas watched her in awe, and wished more than anything he knew the words. Her voice was full of laughter, and when she would smile, it made him feel like his heart was going to burst out of his chest.
She looked like sunshine.
It was all so... cinematic. The song, the van, the group of friends converging, even the broken down car they were speeding away from. It felt like puzzle pieces fitting together in a way that Lucas couldn't explain. He smiled to himself, and smiled even wider when Max sat back down next to him, out of breath and flushed pink.
He nearly screamed when she leaned against his arm.
They arrived at the fair nearly half an hour early, despite the stop they had had to take to pick up the girls. How that had happened was a mystery to anyone. Dustin chalked it up to loud music saying something about 'I don't pay attention to the speed limit when im singing'. Everyone shrugged.
The only other cars on the lot were from some of the carnies, maybe a few belonging to other employees. They walked in together, as a group, laughing and joking with one another. Mike smoothly lifted the security chain for El and they blushed at each other. Lucas and Max made gagging sounds. Dustin, taking Mikes lead, did the same for Will, but he added a 'M' Lord,' and Will fanned himself like a lady in waiting. Lucas and Max just hoped over.
They made their way to the food cart. Dustin patted himself up and down like an odd Macarena, before pulling a small key from his pocket. No one else really wanted to just stand around in the empty fairgrounds, so they all squeezed in. It was a tight fit, most of them awkwardly sitting on boxes and the one massive floor freezer. Max patted her lap for El too sit on, which made Mike look a little jealous, but Lucas thought he would spare him the teasing this time.
"Alright guys," Dustin clapped his hands together in an evil Bond villain sort of way, "It's time to do what we have all been waiting for."
The rest of the group looked at him blankly.
"We are going to play..." He dragged out the words like the host of Family Feud. "Will! It! Deep fry!"
The confusion on their faces must have only intensified because Dustin wiped his face. "We are going to put a bunch of shit in the deep fryer and see if it tastes good."
"Oh, okay." They all agreed in unison. Dustin took a stand near the large fryer while everyone picked something different from the rows of junk food in the storage room. He made himself like a sportscaster, dramatically narrating everyone's movements.
"Will is new to the majors, but the coaches say he has a lot of potential. The only question now, and I know it's on everyone's minds; Muffin, or Brownie?" He began, Will giggle and tossed a wrapped brownie towards him. "An excellent choice from Byers! The crowd goes wild!"
The cart erupted with applause and Will took a small bow before blushing fiercely and sitting back down.
"Next up we have Mike Wheeler. A lot has been said about him in the press, but I have a good feeling he will make a come back." Mike rolled his eyes, adding a chuckled 'shut up' before reaching into the candy case. 'Whats this!? Could it be!? We haven't seen a play like this in years folks! Gummy worms! Incredible!"
Lucas found himself alone in the pantry with Max, who was in a seemingly heavy debate between the aforementioned Muffin and some other pastry. Lucas was going to go for gold here, he pulled out two sugar cones from their box.
"Sugar cones? But they're already hard."
"Deep frying makes everything better. Plus, imagine putting warm ice cream on top of them." Lucas wiggled his eyebrows.
Max groaned. "Jesus Christ that sounds good, I hope it works out, champ."
"Lucas Sinclair steps up to the plate. Everyone back home is routing for him, but he seems to be making some strange plays out there today. Can he recover?" Dustin took the cones from his hand and added them to the basket that sat still propped above the golden, bubbling oil.
Max came back and added her pastry, and all that was left was El. She looked apprehensive to say the least, but then a light flashed in her eyes like fireworks went off in her head.
"I know!" She cheered, reaching down to open her bag. She pulled out a ziplock bag with two cold and sad looking Eggo waffles inside. "This is going to be so good that I might cry."
"Do you always carry around Eggos in your purse?" Lucas asked, already intrigued.
"... Yes?" El looked back at Lucas like he just asked her if the sun was really the center of the galaxy.
"Okay folks, the moment you have all been waiting for." And with that, Dustin sunk the basket of freshly battered goods into the boiling liquid. Everyone crowded around their treats, routing for them like prized Kentucky Derby horses. Dustin carefully scooped them out one by one onto a paper towel to soak off the excess grease. The results were in, and there were clear winners and losers.
Will's brownie completely fell apart. Leaving little charred bits of chocolate swirling around in the grease. Mikes gummy worms looked nice enough, but he bit into one and nearly threw up into the trash can. Max's pastry turned out okay, but it looked like a glob of sugary goo, and it tasted pretty much the same.
Lucas sugar cones, however, were perfect. He rushed to the ice cream bar and scooped out his favorite, rocky road, into one cone, and asked Max's favorite for the other.
"Anything with lots of carmel." She smiled back at him.
"Camel tornado it is." He responded. They shared their tasty treats, groaning and high-fiving as they did. Lucas made a mental note of her favorite ice scream. Cherry Slushies, Caramel ice cream, got it. Check.
All that was left was El's waffle. It was the largest, so it took the longest. When Dustin pulled it out, the gates of heaven themselves may as well have opened up in that food truck. The most perfect and crispy, yet still fluffy, deep fried waffle, fit for a king laid out perfectly on the paper towel. El's already large eyes doubled in size.
"I think we have out winner folks." Dustin patted El on the back.
"Wait, do you have whipped cream?" She asked. Dustin handed her some and she stuck her tongue out in concentration as she applied a generous layer to the top of the waffle. "I think this is the best day of my life."
She took one bite, and her eye rolled back into her head before she passed it to everyone else. Lucas's ice cream cones were good, but this stupid little purse waffle was one of the best damn things any of them had eaten. They sat mostly in silence, which was unheard of for them, until it was all gone.
"Jesus Christ," Dustin lamented. "You guys remember when that waffle was still there? Good times."
"Dustin, I think you might be an evil genius." Max smiled at him with a mouth full of caramel ice cream.
"I do what I can for the people." He replied, putting a hand over his heart and wiping away a fake tear. "Besides, I think the real genius here is El. I mean, Purse Waffles!? That's on another level!"
"There is no better food," El spoke through the last bite, "Than an Eggo, and those are just the facts."
Mike looked at her like a lovesick puppy, obviously making mental notes of his own.
Everyone was lounging around the cart now. Subdued by sugar into a food coma at the ripe hour of 7am. Dustin bustled around the space, prepping food for the day, and everyone chatted together as the sounds of other people arriving outside made them realize it was probably time to get to work.
Will walked with Mike and El to their different stations, waving a friendly goodbye to Dustin and telling him they would be back for lunch.
Lucas and Max decided to race to the Midway which, all things considered, was a pretty dumb thing to do on stomachs full of ice cream. Max did win, but only because Lucas stopped short just a few feet from the finish, laughing out a complain about his stomach.
"Excuses excuses! I told you, Stalker, you can't beat me at anything!" Her face was red from the run, and the early morning sunlight lit her skin like some sort of ethereal being. It physically pained him to walk away from her, back to his booth, but he blamed it on the junk food. Maybe this time the blame was partially rightful. Only partially, however.
It was another busy day. Not exactly as busy as any day the first week had been, but still fairly fast moving. The only down time had come around noon, which meant Lucas got to take a slightly longer than average lunch break. He would be lying if he said he wasn't still queasy from this morning, so he went for some plain fries, and a water instead of his normal chilly dog with a side of soda.
He also head Max complain for about ten minutes about how 'this entire damn fair doesn't have a single option that isn't covered in grease. Can I just get a damn vegetable?' To which he replied 'Well, a potato is a vegetable.' And then Max punched him. The good kind of punch, whatever the hell that means.
Big John came around about an hour before closing, counting the tills as normal while some lacky counted everything on a clipboard. It didn't seem to matter how much money was made each day, because he would always gripe under his breath that it wasn't enough. Frankly Lucas wanted to tell him to get bent, but he was still somewhat terrified of the large southern man.
The permission to take off, led Max and Lucas to go walking around, to see what things they still needed to cross off of her list, and to see if they could rope any friends into the evening.
They found everyone gathered backstage. There was a group of acrobats and contortionist practicing for the big show they would be having on Saturday. About five or so individuals, all in strange garments doing even stranger poses and stretches. Even more strange, was that the entire Party seemed to be joining in on the fun.
Well, joining in was a generous term.
El was mostly just laughing in a half butterfly stretch, while Dustin was trying to touch his toes, and failing horribly.
"I'll get it! Just- Just give me a sec!" His voice was strained and his face was red. To add insult to injury, Mike came and stood next to him, leaning over and putting his palms flat on the floor in front of his feet.
"Not fair! Your arms are ten miles long!" Dustin hollered, before falling over. El laughed so hard that she fell over too.
The only person actually keeping up with the group that was practicing was Will. He was only a few inches away from doing a full split, and a few of the acrobats applauded him. He blushed, but he didnt stop. Progress.
"What I would give for a camera right now. This is perfect blackmail material." Max giggled, joining El on the floor.
"When we were kids, Lucas could put both of his feet behind his ears." Dustin pointed.
"Yeah, but only because you could do that weird double jointed thing, and make your arms go all inverted. I just wanted to keep up." Lucas chuckled.
"Oh! I can still do that!" And so he did. He sat up, and flexed his arms around 180 degrees. There was a hiss from all who were watching.
"Gnarly!" Max breathed.
Thus began a talent show of sorts. Because everyone had that one weird skill that is more or less just a cool party trick. Mike could recite Pi to the 75th decimal, which he did, in agonizing accuracy. El could sing the entire alphabet backwards, without stopping to think about it. Max could roll her eyes all the way into the back of her skull so that only the white showed. Will could think of a song lyric that used any single word you threw at him (and basically do the splits). And Lucas, well, he had to ponder for a long time. Then, suddenly, he shot up from the ground and demanded a rubber band. Will found one in the dressing room and gave it to him, and he found a small pebble on the ground outside. Then he set up an empty soda can on a ledge, and ran to the opposite end of the backstage area. The others patted the ground in a mock drum roll, and he focused, then released. Not only did he hit the can dead center, but it shot backwards so fast that it chipped a bit of paint off of the rear wall.
To quote Dustin, 'The crowd goes wild!'
After the laughing and cheering ended, the group began making plans to go their separate ways for the evening. Mike and El shared a knowing glance with one another before they jumped up, hand in hand, and announced they were going to go ride the ferris wheel again. The remaining group snickered, but waved them off.
"Is it lame that I want to kiss someone on top of a ferris wheel?" Will sighed.
"I'll kiss you, Will, no worries." Dustin chuckled, standing up and extending his hand to the smaller boy. "Actually, let's go after them and be one car higher so we can throw popcorn at them."
"God, i'll pass on both thank you very much." Will teased, but his cheeks were tinged just a bit pink as he pulled himself up with Dustin's help.
"Well," Max began, making a move to get up. "We should get out there, Stalker, day lights burning."
He smiled and nodded in agreement. They all made a plan to meet up at the entry gate like normal, and they set off.
They had about an hour to spend doing whatever they wanted. The decided to skip out on the scrambler this time around, and instead made a beeline for the 'Rockin Racers' ride. Which was essentially just sitting in a small fake racecar that spun really fast on a track while old 80's pop songs played over the crackling speakers. Instead of sharing one car, they chose to each take their own. Max spent the majority of the ride turned around in her seat, and her and Lucas played a somewhat childish game of cops and robbers. By the time they got off, they were both pink faced with laughter.
"You are the world's biggest dork, did you know that?" Max elbowed him as they walked.
"Actually, you are the first to ever tell me, congrats Madmax." Lucas replied sarcastically, feeling bold enough to elbow her back. Because the fact of the matter was that he got made fun of for being a dork everyday of his damn life. However, if those words had come from Max, and not some half-witted bully, then he may not have minded as much.
"Oh shut up," She giggled. "What do you want to do next?"
"What's still on the list?"
Max reached into her pocket and pulled out the crumpled flyer that she had been using as a way of keeping track of what they had and had not been on. There was also a running tally of how many times they went on each ride. She joked that they were going for a world record.
"Well, I wanna save the roller coaster for next week. We could do the Pirate ship ride. The one that swings you back and forth like a pendulum? Or those swings that spin you out all crazy. Or... the fun house? We haven't done anything in that section of the park yet." She bit her lip as she looked over the paper.
"The fun house sounds... fun." Lucas chuckled at his own joke. Max rolled her eyes but turned and began heading that way.
The funhouse was probably the most elaborate section of the entire fair. Not only was it huge and ornately themed, but it was one of the original attractions from when the park first opened back in the 50's. Lucas remembered his mom saying something to him about how this exact attraction was the first place his father and her every shared a kiss. Suddenly Lucas's mouth felt dry, and he swallowed.
"What, you aren't scared of clowns are you?" Max teased, looking up at the massive clown cutouts that made up the majority of the exterior of the funhouse.
Blinking lights lined the entire structure, all twinkling in and out of time of the music that came from inside. The only opening to the building was a clowns gaping mouth. Every now and then in the music, a maniacal laugh would cut in, followed by a thrilled shriek from whoever was already inside.
"Hell no." Lucas scoffed. He was not, in fact, scared of clowns. His fear was focused solely on the dark narrow corridors inside, and being alone in them with Max. Just waiting for him to step in, and make a damn fool of himself.
"Oh. Well then... after you." Max's voice carried that signature layer of playfulness, but underneath Lucas could hear her nerves. Was she scared? Couldn't be. Not possible.
Lucas stepped up first, another howling fit of laughter echoed through the dark hallway. Lucas felt Max grab his hand as she followed slowly behind. Less in a romantic way, and much more in a 'im using you as a human shield' sort of way. But that didn't stop Lucas from sweating, or his heart from racing.
The first thing, once inside, was pretty tame, all things considered. Just a long hallway with purposefully flickering lights, with some cheesy sound effects playing from speakers. Along one side of the hall, wavy distortion mirrors sat. Making the pair look like they had long thin legs, then making them look 3ft tall, then making them look like they had massive heads on tiny bodies. This seemed to calm them both down. They were laughing and pointing at each others distorted faces and bodies. Max kept a tight hold of his hand, though.
After a bit of walking through dark corridors next to paintings of clowns and other nonsense, they reached a large cylindrical hallway with a sign above labeled 'Tunnel of Love'. Lucas scrunched his face in confusion, but put one foot inside. The purpose of this hallway was clear as soon as the hallway spun out from under him, sending him tumbling inside, and pulling Max with him. They were both in a dizzy heap, laughing and groaning on the floor of the tunnel as it spun back and forth, making them roll around and collide into one another.
"God, get off me Stalker!" Max hollered through a chuckle.
"I will if you get your knee out of my ribcage!" Lucas shoved her playfully, making the entire hallway roll again. Needless to say it took some time to scramble out and get their wits about them. Lucas was pretty sure he was going to have knee shaped bruise on his side, but he didn't mind too terribly much.
Max's ponytail had slipped from its high point on her head, and they paused while she fixed it in another distorted mirror. This one pinched your waist in dramatically, and made your legs look huge. Max was nearly done with her hair when she doubled over with laughter.
"What? What happened?" Lucas looked around to see if he missed a gag of somesort.
"I j-just," She spoke through deep bellied laughter. "I l-look thick as hell!"
Now it was Lucas turn to keel over. Soon both were literally rolling on the floor, gasping for breath, and crying with laughter.
And that was the best thing about Max. Everything she did, everything she said, made him feel like he was walking on sunshine. No one made him laugh as hard, or think as deeply, or opened his mind up to new experiences. Lucas wasn't a stick in the mud, but he was an orderly person who had a comfortable routine, and didn't stray far from it. But Max, she made him feel comfortable with the idea of spontaneousness, and it was an amazing feeling. She was an amazing feeling.
It took them a few minutes to regain their composure. Her face was bright red, her hair was no better than it was before. Both of their shirts were wrinkled from their tumble in the last hallway, but neither of them seemed to care. Max didn't look nervous anymore, and they headed back on the path to continue their trip through the fun house.
A narrow spiral staircase took them upstairs where a bunch of swinging mannequins dressed as clowns hung from the ceiling. It was pretty low budget, but no less unsettling. To make matters worse, random jets of air would shoot up from the floor. Making the clowns swing wildly into you, and also scare the crap out of you as you walked over the top of them.
But the energy of the situation had changed. They were not nervous anymore, and they took this hall in stride. Pushing mannequins at one another and jumping over the air jets and cackling in time with the spooky music. Lucas couldn't help but notice how close they were. Running around in the small space, shoulders brushing. His face felt hot, and he was glad the lighting was dim enough that Max probably wouldn't notice.
The next obstacle appears to be the infamous 'Hall of Mirrors'. Hundreds of floor to ceiling mirrors lined an intricate maze of false exits, and cramped corners. Lucas and Max took it in stride. Feeling around as they walked. The path was narrow and often branched off in several different directions, meaning they had to walk one behind the other, and retrace their steps over and over again. They essentially spent the entire first 10 minutes bumping into each other, and into walls. Lucas would get confident he had found the exit, only to run into a wall, and send Max crashing into his back.
The clown laughter was much louder in this part of the fun house. And random clown masks would be positioned to reflect in mirrors, making them both scream.
"You scream like a little girl, you know that?" Max smirked, backtracking away from one such mask.
"Well so do you!" He teased, biting back a huge smile.
Finally, they came to a path that felt just right. It was longer than the others, and instead of branching off, it wound deeper and deeper into the maze, hopefully towards the exit. They both got so excited that their fast walk turned into a bit of a jog. Breathing heavy and smiling wide, until Lucas crashed hard against yet another dead end.
He had apparently been a few paces ahead of Max, because he had enough time to turn around, holding his forehead from where he had smacked it against the wall, before she crashed full speed into his chest. It knocked the wind out of both of them, and Lucas threw his arms out instinctively, more or less holding her in place against him.
"Shit i'm sorry!" Max was still chuckling, both of them were panting slightly from the run, and the collision. She had put her own hands up, bracing for impact, and now her palms rested on his chest. It seemed to occur to both of them in that second exactly how awkward this really was.
Because not only were they at the dead end of an elaborate scary maze, but they were essentially holding each other in a loving embrace.
They jumped apart.
"No, shit um, i'm sorry I didn't-" Lucas stuttered, his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.
Max did not respond. Her eyes were wide and she looked him up and down quizzically. Her face was scrunched together the same way it was whenever she was stuck on something in class. Reading and rereading. That's how it felt, like she was reading him. She took a hesitant step closer, finally looking him in the eye. There was a glint of something he didn't quite understand.
And then she leaned forward, and all at once he understood far too much.
She reached up, placing a careful hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down to meet her. If this had been any other time, with any other person, Lucas probably would have panicked and backed away. But instead, he let himself be pulled, feeling the racing in his chest and the buzzing in his brain.
They were only inches apart now. He could feel her heavy breath on his lips. Her eyes were trained on his before they flickered shut. He moved to close the gap. Here it was, the moment he had been waiting for for over a year, at the end of a mirror maze at the damn county fair. Surely this was a dream, a hallucination. Surly he had hit his head so hard on the wall that he was actually in a coma.
But it wasn't a dream. And they also didn't kiss.
Because just as their lips were going to meet, an animatronic clown jumped out from a cut-away in the wall beside them, shrieking in their ears.
The pair jumped apart, both screaming in surprise.
"I- um..." Max mumbled as soon as their screams stopped.
"Let's just get out of here." Lucas nodded.
They found the real exit a few minutes later. A gap in the wall that they hadn't noticed took them outside and to the opening of another clowns gaping mouth. This mouth tunnel led to a massive twisted slide, that sent them both out onto the ground below.
Neither of them laughed, and neither of them cheered. There was an aura of awkward silence. Lucas didn't know why exactly Max was quiet, but if she was feeling any of the things that he was, then he had a pretty good idea. He felt simultaneously on top of the world, and like the world's biggest idiot. A million questions ran through his head. Why had she done that? Did she really want to kiss him? Should he have said no? But he didn't want to say no! Was she embarrassed?
They walked back in silence, unnaturally far apart from one another, towards their friends who were waiting for them at the gate like promised. El and Dustin were sharing cotton candy, Mike and Will were joking with each other about something or other. But rather than joining in on the fun, they just walked past the others into the parking lot.
Dustin shot Lucas a confused expression, and El did the same at Max, but both responded with a look that could only mean 'If you say anything, i'm going to kill you.'
The ride back to Max's car, which was still stranded on the side of the highway, was tense. Max sat next to El, biting her fingers and not saying much of anything. Lucas sat next to Mike, who was blabbing away like normal. Will played a mixed tape that had a lot of Morrissey and The Cure on it. It was, as usual, very fitting. Morose.
The boys dropped Max and El off at the little orange Range Rover. They waited to make sure it would start, and it did, and then waved them off before getting back onto the highway. Then the questions started.
"Soooo what the hell happened?" Mike was the first to speak up.
"Nothing." Lucas attempted to be casual, and failed.
"Uh huh. That's why you and Max were acting like you just saw a ghost."
"What? Did she turn down your proposal?" Dustin asked from the driver's seat. Lucas didn't have to see his face to know he was smirking.
"No. Can we drop it?"
"Lucas, I think you know they won't drop it." Will sighed, turning to face him and giving him a sympathetic look. Will was right, and short of ignoring them all forever, he figured he would have to speak up at some point.
"Max tried to kiss me." Lucas muttered. He was playing with a loose strand of shag carpet under his fingers.
"WHAT!? REALLY!? DUDE!" Dustin voice boomed through the mostly quiet car. Lucas flinched.
"What do you mean 'tried'?" Mike interjected.
"Well, she was going to kiss me, and then we got jumpscared by a stupid clown, and then we didn't talk to each other after that. You guys saw her, she is totally freaked out. What if she never wants to talk to me again?" Lucas was just short of whining. He felt like whining.
"Well dude... did you ask her why she got weirded out?" Dustin asked passively. No, Lucas hadn't asked her, but to be fair, he was weirded out too. He wiped his face. He more or less just wanted to forget that any of this had happened. It made his guts twist in a way that was painful, and it made his heart swoop like he had arrhythmia.
"I'll talk to her." He replied somewhat glumly. "So, Mike, how was the ferris wheel?"
Mike's blushing face and Dustin already jumping in on the Mike Wheeler attack train gave Lucas the out he wanted. He spent the rest of the car ride in silence, watching Mike gush and talk emphatically like the lovesick puppy he was. He let Dustin do the ribbing, and Will do the supporting, and he didn't speak again until he waved goodbye at home.
He was thankful to find the house quiet and dark.
He went through his nightly routine, feeling like a complete loser, and not in the normal sense. Why on earth had he let himself get so bent out of shape? Why had Max? Why did any of this happen? He wanted to kick himself. He wanted Max to punch him, but actually knock him out this time. Everything felt like it had gone to shit in a split second.
It wasn't until he checked his phone, laying in bed, that things started feel just a tad better.
Madmax: Hey Stalker... I'm sorry about not saying anything after we left the fun house.
Madmax: I guess i'm not good at this.
Madmax: But I guess you aren't either, because if you were, you would have just kissed me.
Madmax: I'll see you tomorrow :)
It occurred to him in that moment, that he might be a bit of a drama queen. He was still jumping to conclusions, but these conclusions were far happier than the ones before, and they made him fall asleep with a smile plastered across his face.