Chapter 7

003

• 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 •

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

☄. *. ⋆ After class that day, Dustin and Lucas explained what happened at the arcade the night before. Apparently, someone had taken Dustin’s high score on Dig Dug, and their username was ‘MADMAX.’

So, the boys’s- really just Dustin’s and Lucas’s -working theory is that the Max at their school is the one who took his high score. So, at lunch, the four boys all dragged Stella along with them to be creepy weirdos and spy on Max, who was skateboarding.

“There’s no way that’s Mad Max,” Mike spoke up. Getting Will’s agreement. “Yeah, girls don’t play video games.”

“Hello?” Stella asked, showing her disbelief, trying to get Will to acknowledge her and realize what he said.

“I- I mean, some do,” Will stammered.

“Even if they did, you can’t get 750,000 points on Dig Dug. It’s impossible!” Mike added, causing Stella’s eyes to widen, eyebrows raising. “She got 750,000 points?” She asked incredulously.

“751,300,” Dustin butted in, leading Stella to raise her eyebrows again.

Lucas piped up. “But her name is Max.”

“So?”

“So, how many Maxes do you know?” Lucas asked him.

Mike furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Zero,” Dustin answered for him. “That’s how many.”

“Exactly,” Lucas nodded. “So she’s gotta be Mad Max.” He insisted. “She’s gotta be.”

“Plus, she skateboards,” Dustin added. “So, she’s pretty awesome.”

“Agreed,” Stella commented.

“Awesome?” Mike asked in disbelief. “You haven’t even spoken a word to her! And Stella, you just have a crush on her. So do you two!” Mike looked to Dustin and Lucas.

“I actually have talked to her, so…” Stella trailed off, ignoring the “crush” comment and her red face. She couldn’t have a crush on her, she barely knew her.

“And I don’t have to, I mean, look at her,” Dustin turned back to the redhead, only to find she was gone. “Shit, I’ve lost the target.”

“Over there,” Will spoke up, now facing another direction as he pointed. Everyone turned to the boy, and Stella immediately made her way over to the redhead, meeting her at the bottom of the staircase. “Hey, California.”

“Hey, stalker,” the redhead greeted, looking at Stella as they walked up the stairs. Stella laughed a bit and looked at her friends, who were staring at the two. “Hey, they dragged me along with them. It’s ’cause you’re the one who beat his high score in Dig Dug. Unless there’s some other person named Max who just randomly showed up on the leaderboard.”

Max chuckled as she pulled a crumpled-up paper out of her pocket. “Well,” the redhead started, opening up the paper. “Let’s see if they get the memo now.”

Stella looked at the paper. It read, “Stop Spying on me CREEPS!” With the word “CREEPS” underlined.

The brunette chuckled at the message and watched Max crumple it back up and throw it in the trash can below them. And just like that, both girls were inside the building.

“It didn’t apply to you,” Max spoke. “The note.”

Stella smiled. “Good to know.”

–

☄. *. ⋆ After their last classes, Stella and Max were at their lockers. “Do you think they ever saw the note?” Stella grinned. Max understood what she was talking about after a second. “I hope so,” she chuckled. Stella laughed a bit before grabbing her basketball from her locker and held it under her arm while she swung her backpack around her shoulder.

“You play basketball?” Max asked, shutting her locker.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” the brunette moved the ball from under her arm to spin it on one of her fingers as they started walking. That was one thing she and Steve had in common, their liking for basketball. “I have a ball in my locker ’cause I like to practice at lunch or during P.E. sometimes.

“Oh, cool.”

“I actually have a game today, you should come watch,” she told the redhead before she tossing the ball up as if she were shooting it, making a little ‘whoosh’ sound with her mouth.

“Alright,” the girl accepted the offer. “But then, we’re going to the arcade.”

I was gonna study, Stella thought.

“Deal,” the brunette smiled regardless.

–

☄. *. ⋆ Max sat on the bleachers, looking out on the court at Stella.

She stood as a part of a circle around number 10: Raegan Rivett. A 5’7 center, the tallest on their team. She had an arm up, ready for the jump ball.

Behind Raegen, number 42: Brooke Hanson. A forward with amazing defense but not great ball control. Getting it to her would be easy but not the smartest.

In front of Raegan, number 7: Chloe Smalls. A guard who almost never dropped the ball. She’d be their best shooter if Stella weren’t. It’d be hard to get it to her, though.

To the right of Raegan, Katelyn Ferris: a forward who was incredibly fast. The girl defending her was much taller than her, though. It’d be risky to pass it to Kate.

Finally, to Raegan’s left, number 23: Stella Harrington.

A versatile player but mostly a guard, captain of the team, and an insane amount of skill.

The green numbers stood out against their white jerseys that Stella was particularly a fan of. It looked way better than their opponents’ jerseys, which were a deep yellow with white numbers. White on yellow? Come on. At least the yellow was dark, it made the numbers visible enough.

But anyway, Raegan needed to get the ball to Stella.

Raegan jumped as high as she could the moment the basketball began to drop, trying her best to hit it to Stella.

It came Stella’s way, a girl on the opposing team trying to get a hold but not before Stella could.

The Harrington bolted away, planning to take it to the basket, but noticing Chloe was open with a clear shot. “Chlo!” Stella called before sending a quick bounce pass to the curly-haired girl.

Chloe caught the ball firmly, shooting it before anyone could catch up to block her.

The others on the team went for the rebound, Stella hurrying to defend as she was sure it’d go in.

The ball slid through the net– a rather clean shot from Chloe. Stella gave a quick glance to the scoreboard, watching the number move up.

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘

𝟚

𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧

𝟘

A grin reached her face as she kept one arm on the girl behind her, her eyes on the ball. “I got twelve!”

“Get the hell off!” She heard after a moment, followed by a shove from the girl, making her fall forward. Her face hit the ground as she heard the ref blow his whistle, calling the foul.

Max’s eyes widened as she and the rest of the crowd gasped, leaning forward.

Stella pushed herself up, moving to her feet before turning around and glaring at the girl who pushed her. She licked her lips, tasting the blood leaking from them, then bringing her hand up to feel it. She looked at the scarlet liquid, then up at 12– the girl who pushed her. “What the fuck, dude!?” She cursed, moving forward and pushing the girl back. She stumbled back, and Stella was just about ready to hit her, but the ref intervened. “Time out!”

He looked to Stella. “You alright?”

Stella nodded, wiping the blood as she glared daggers at number 12.

Stella walked to the bench, finding her coach and the rest of her team, who crowded around her. “Hey, you alright, Stel?”

“You okay?”

“Stella, are you alright?”

She was immediately bombarded with the “are you okay” questions despite nodding each time. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine.”

The athletic trainer made her way over to Stella, and the Harrington immediately shook her head. Normally when the trainer has to attend to someone, they don’t end up back in the game. “I’m fine.”

“Let me see,” the trainer turned Stella’s head, but she pulled away. “I’m okay!” She looked to her coach. “Coach, I can go back in, I promise.”

The coach hesitated for a moment, but the time for the time-out ended before he could make his decision. He looked up, “I’m gonna have you rest for the rest of the quarter, okay?” He rushed out. “But if you feel okay by then, you can go back in.” He turned around, “Payton, sub for Stella after her free throw.”

Number 15: Payton Claris. A guard with an insane amount of stamina and occasional ball-hogging. They were working with her on that though.

Stella approached the free throw line after wiping the blood from her face, taking a deep breath as she drowned out the taunting sounds from around her.

She took the shot, which bounced off the backboard, then the rim, missing the net. She sighed in frustration as the ball was returned to her for one more shot.

“You got this, Ess!”

The voice stood out to Stella, and she glanced to the redhead on the bleachers, a smile reaching her face.

After one more deep breath, she shot the ball, which made a perfect swish sound as it slipped through the net, earning their team an extra point.

–

☄. *. ⋆ Stella was eyeing her teammate, who was struggling to get away from another girl’s guard.

“Come on, Kate! You’re quick! Use it!” Stella shouted from the bench. Soon after, Kate spun away from the girl’s guard, taking the ball to the basket and laying it up. It bounced off the backboard before sinking into the hoop, making Stella grin as she glanced at the scoreboard.

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘

𝟟

𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧
𝟠

Max jumped as the buzzer went off, marking the end of the first quarter.

The five on the court made their way over, panting and sweating. Stella leaned over to grab her teammate’s waterbottle and hand it to her.

“Thanks,” Payton huffed, grabbing the bottle from Stella, who nodded.

The coach eyed Stella in consideration, Stella biting her lip in nervousness.

“Stella, I’m gonna have you go in for Chloe.”

“Wait, no, Coach, I need to sub for Payton,” Stella stood. “We need shooters right now,” the girl reasoned. “With me and Chloe both in, we’ll rack up points like nothing. It’ll get us ahead early, we’ll be set.”

The coach took a moment before looking to Chloe, who nodded as she chugged her water.

“Let Stella go in,” Payton piped up. “She’s right, and I’m tired anyways.”

That was a lie. It took Payton at least a full quarter to get tired, and Stella knew that.

It made the Harrington smile a bit. Payton knew it’d be better for Stella to go in. She returned the smile.

Max watched the exchange, her gaze rather fixated on both girls’ expressions as they smiled at each other.

For a reason Max couldn’t quite figure out, it put a slight ache in her heart.

“Okay, then,” their coach agreed. “Stella, you’re in for Payton.”

Stella grinned as the coach named the other players going in.

“Bailey, you’re in for Raegan.”

Number 6: Bailey Valentine. A 5’6 center with quick passes and a tendency to foul.

“Nikki, sub for Kate.”

Number 9: Nicole Rocket. A versatile player– usually a forward –with great dribbling skills.

“Everyone else, I’m gonna keep you in,” coach told them as the buzzer went off. “Go.”

Stella hurried onto the court, Max sitting up now that Stella had returned.

–

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘
𝟛𝟠

𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧
𝟛𝟠

Last quarter.

45 seconds left.

“Stella, you’re in.”

“Chloe, you too.”

“Nikki, in.”

The buzzer went off.

“Tilly and Jules. In.”

Number 36: Matilda Reed. A forward with shots at insanely long distances.

Number 14: Juliette Haven. A center with impressive speed and close range shots.

All their best shooters, and for good reason. They were tied with mere seconds.

When the game started back up, it was their ball. Stella passed it to Chloe, who passed it back, and they both began to pick up their pace.

“Boomerang!” Stella shouted, calling the play they would do.

Boomerang was a play where they passed it to each other, each person keeping the ball for the shortest amount of time possible. The point was to throw the other team off while keeping it away from them. Eventually, you’re supposed to return it to the person who started with the ball– almost always Stella. The person it got back to would shoot the ball, and they often used the play during close games like this one.

Stella passed it to Nikki, then Nikki to Chloe, then to Tilly, then to Jules, then back to Tilly, then to Nikki.

Stella glanced up at the timer, seeing there was twenty seconds left. Nikki started to struggle to find someone.

“Julie! Nikki, Get it to Jules!” Stella shouted, seeing the girl was open. Nikki looked to Jules, passing it to the girl who then passed it to Chloe.

“We’re at twelve seconds, Stel!” The Harrington heard Matilda tell her. She bit her lip in thought. “Keep going.”

Her teammates looked at one another, unsure, but continuing regardless.

Chloe passed it to Matilda, who passed it to Nikki as Stella looked up. Five seconds. One more pass.

“Stella!” Chloe shouted unsurely, and Stella shook her head. “One more.”

Nikki passed it to Jules, Stella’s eyes glued to the timer.

Then the timer hit three seconds. “Here, Jules!”

Juliette immediately passed the ball to Stella, a quick pass with a firm catch. The opposing team hurried to guard Stella, but not before she sent the ball in the air, attempting a three-point shot.

The buzzer went off just as the basketball slipped flawlessly through the net. Stella immediately darted her eyes to the scoreboard, watching it move up.

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘
𝟜𝟙

𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧
𝟛𝟠

Cheers filled the gym, Stella getting tackled with hugs by her teammates, who all rushed onto the court, beaming.

Max watched the brunette’s chest rise and fall as she panted from the activity.

After they had broken apart, they all lined up to high five the other team, saying “good game” to each player.

Number twelve passed by Stella, and as she high-fived her, Stella slipped her foot under the other girl’s, making her trip and fall.

Stella snickered as twelve’s teammates helped her up, and the Hawkins team met in the weight room to talk about the game and celebrate.

When Stella left the weight room, she was startled by a slightly shorter body wrapping its arms around her.

She quickly realized who it was, and hugged Max back, a smile on her heating face.

“That was insane!” Max exclaimed in amazement. “Holy shit!”

Stella laughed, a mix of a giggle and a chuckle. “Thanks. Arcade?”

“Yeah,” Max nodded with a smile. Stella nodded in return. “‘Kay, just let me change and rinse off, I’ll be right back,” the brunette told her, putting her water bottle down. It was then that Stacy made her way over to Stella, beaming about what was probably some boy she liked. She wasn’t in basketball, she just knew Stella would be there. Stacy grabbed the Harrington’s arm, getting her attention before she started to drag her away, going on about some boy.

Stella sighed a bit, going unnoticed by Stacy as she looked back to Max. “I’ll be back,” the girl mouthed with an annoyed eye roll before looking back to Stacy.

As she walked with Stacy, Stella managed to slip away, telling the girl that she had to change and she’d talk to her tomorrow.

–

☄. *. ⋆ Stella and Max arrived at the arcade, and since it wasn’t too far from school, Stella biked while Max skateboarded alongside her.

Max flicked up her skateboard while Stella parked her bike, and the two headed inside.

“Okay, this is gonna be, like, kinda weird, but I feel eyes on me,” Stella said when they entered the arcade. “Like… someone’s, like, watching us.”

“You say ‘like’ a lot, don’t you?” Max observed. Max’s observation kind of made Stella happy to know she was really listening. It also turned her face slightly pink. The brunette shook the feeling off and grimaced. “Bad habit.”

“Mhm,” Max nodded, smiling as she put some coins in the arcade machine. “But I see what you mean.”

Stella was starting to notice small things on Max’s face as she played. Her eyes were so blue, they were like little skies in her face. And she had freckles, scattered around her whole body. Her hair was always noticable, probably the first thing one would observe about the girl, but not only because of its color in Stella’s case. It was silky and wavy, and honestly, just pretty in Stella’s opinion.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Your turn,” Max said, pulling Stella out of her thoughts. She wasn’t even really focused on the game, but she took Max’s place in front of the machine and inserted a couple quarters before starting the game. “Okay, fair warning, I suck at Dig Dug. I’m definitely more of a Pac-Man kind of girl.”

Stella hurriedly jerked the game joystick, being sure to turn at the right times, completely unaware of Max’s eyes being glued to her rather than the game. She didn’t expect to beat Max’s score, and she didn’t.

She actually lost to Max by around three thousand.

“Told you,” Stella nodded as she got set back to the leaderboard. “Okay, now I’m gonna kick your ass in Pac-Man,” the brunette smiled. She grabbed Max’s hand and led her to the Pac-Man game.

They made it to the machine, and Max pulled out two quarters as she spoke. “Ready to be proven wrong?”

Stella grinned. “Is that a challenge?”

Max shrugged. “Could be,” she said before inserting the coins into the machine and taking ahold of the joysticks. She adjusted her grip on them, readying herself.

Max, in fact, didn’t end up beating Stella, and Stella made sure to remind the redhead of what she said before. “So, what was that about proving me wrong?” She asked teasingly, making Max roll her eyes. “Okay, well, I still beat you in Dig Dug, so…”

“But did I ever challenge you to that?” Stella asked, exaggerating faux confusion, and Max rolled her eyes again. “Whatever.”

Max’s smile switched to an expression of realization. “Shit, what time is it?” She asked before checking her watch. “Come on,” the redhead took Stella’s hand and led her out of the arcade.

And they were off.

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

things i almost did pt 2: i had originally written stella’s sport to be softball, but i randomly decided to rewrite pretty much the entire chapter, also because i know a lot more about basketball so im able to write about it more accurately

what did you think about this chapter? 🙂

as always, ty for reading 🙂