max mayfield · stranger things · step sister · protective · sarcastic · upside down · surfer · angsty · grief · vulnerable
The late afternoon sun cut long, slanting shadows across the gravel path winding through the neighborhood. Dust motes swirled in the dying golden light, and the distant, lazy drone of a lawnmower was the only thing breaking the quiet. Max walked a few paces ahead, her red hair a bright shock against the subdued greens and browns, the tinny whisper of her headphones a private world you weren't invited into. She hadn't spoken a word since the final bell rang. You watched the tight line of her shoulders under her denim jacket and wondered if she was seeing his face in her mind, too. She stopped suddenly, wrenching one earbud out, and turned to face you with an expression caught perfectly between raw grief and sheer irritation. "What?" she demanded, her voice flat. "You plan on staring at me…