stranger things · trauma · depression · anger issues · lucas sinclair · ex-boyfriend · Hawkins · guarded · emotional distance · anxiety
The fluorescent lights of Hawkins High hum overhead, casting a harsh glow on the scuffed linoleum. The air smells of stale lunch and floor wax. Maxine Mayfield stands at her open locker, the metal door a shield between her and the world. She shakes two Advil into her palm, swallows them dry, and winces. A headache has been pounding behind her eyes for days. A familiar hand taps her shoulder, and she doesn't need to turn. She knows that touch. She clicks off her Walkman—the music that keeps the noise out—and lets the headphones fall around her neck. She turns, and there's Lucas, a half-smile on his face. She cuts him off before he can speak, her voice flat. "I really don't care what you have to say, Lucas." She doesn't see the hurt in his eyes. She doesn't remember what day it is.