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Fourteen-year-old Max Mayfield hated the fact that her mother had gotten her a babysitter for the week. She was old enough to take care of herself. She wasn’t a little kid. She was fourteen, for crying out loud. Max could cook her own meals, and do her homework without prompting. She had been doing her own laundry for years, and could easily keep up with her chores – doing dishes, checking the mail, and taking out the garbage on the right day.
Max had had to step up considerably in the past few months, because her mother wasn’t coping very well after Billy died. Which was why she knew that she could look after herself, because she’d already been doing it for some time. And Max knew that when school started up after the Christmas holidays, she could definitely get herself up on time, and on the bus for school. And in the extreme case that something bad did happen to her, Max could go to one of her neighbours and ask for a ride to the hospital. And she always had her bike, to get to and from the grocery store if need be.
Max was fiercely independent. She didn’t need to have a babysitter, because she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. But Susan Mayfield was even more stubborn than her daughter. And she’d insisted that there was no way in hell she was leaving Max alone for that long. She had hired a babysitter, and there was nothing Max could do or say to convince her otherwise.
Ever since Billy had died in the Starcourt Mall, things had changed in their household. Her mother had been overtaken by grief. Even though Susan Mayfield wasn’t Billy’s biological mother, she had taken him on as her stepson – and had raised him as her own child for years. Losing Billy had changed everything. She’d begun drinking more heavily, and had emotionally checked out. And Neil hadn’t taken it any better. Even though Neil had treated Billy poorly quite often when he was alive, he had been devastated by the loss of his son. He’d thrown himself into funeral arrangements for Billy, and then had thrown himself even harder into his work. Neil and Susan had both been so lost, and distraught at losing Billy. Max had withdrawn, not really able to turn to either of her parents. The future was so uncertain.
Everything was up in the air, and Max didn’t know how to handle the stress. For the past two months, Susan and Neil had been going through a pretty nasty divorce. They’d tried going to couples therapy, and a marriage counselor, and had even tried going to some couples retreat that Susan’s coworker had insisted would solve all their marital problems. None of it had worked. They were both so bitter, and angry for a variety of reasons. Even before Billy’s death, they had been struggling to make things work. But the grief of losing Billy had worn away their relationship, to the point where there was very little left for them to fight for anymore. Their divorce had been finalized two weeks ago, and Neil had already made plans to move on. He’d asked for a transfer at work, and was all set to start to start working at his new job in Minneapolis.
Once Billy had died, Max had known deep down that her mother and stepfather’s relationship was doomed. They just weren’t meant to last. Max was used to people only staying a short while in her life, because in her experience, most people were only temporary. Her dad was absent, just like Billy’s mother had not been in her child’s life. She’d lost all her friends when she’d moved from California, to Indiana. Billy had died. The Byers family had left. And now, Neil was leaving. So, Max and her mother were going to welcome the new year with just the two of them.
That morning, Susan had gone into her daughter’s bedroom, and reminded her that she needed to pack her bag. Max needed to bring enough clothes for a week, because that was how long she’d be staying at Steve’s house while her mother was out of town. Susan and Neil would be leaving that afternoon, to drive Neil’s U-Haul full of belongings to his new apartment. Susan would help get him settled, then she’d take the bus back to Hawkins afterwards.
Her mother had promised that she’d be back home in time for New Year’s Eve, so they could celebrate it together. At least Mom had been there for Christmas, even if it had been kind of a small event. They’d put up a plastic Christmas tree, and had a small turkey. Mom had given her a few presents – a new Kate Bush cassette, some candy in her stocking, a gift card, and a few books. It had been nice, just the two of them.
Max was annoyed that her mother would be gone for so long, but she was also relieved that she didn’t have to go with them. She was pissed at Neil, her ex-stepfather. He had a terrible temper, and she wasn’t sad to see him go. She’d never really gotten along with Neil. But Max was sad that her family had been torn apart after Billy’s death, and her emotions were kind of all over the place. She was moody, and cranky, and everything sucked. Max didn’t want to spend the last few days of her Christmas break trapped in between her Mom, and Neil, as they argued over everything on the long drive up.
When she was four, and it had been just her and her mother, Max used to get babysat by an old woman that always smelled like breath mints, and had an unhealthy obsession with the Shopping Channel. That babysitter would sit in her armchair, her knitting needles clacking softly together, as she worked on her latest project. She had been nice enough, but horrifyingly boring. The woman used to babysit Max often, because Susan had to work a lot. The babysitter after that had not been nearly as nice. The woman had four kids of her own – hellish little brats, that had screamed a lot, and kept messing with Max’s things. Max had had a lot of babysitters when she was a kid, and most of them were pretty bad.
At least, Max thought to herself, as they drove to Steve’s house, she wasn’t going to stay with some crusty old neighbour for the week, or someone with a lot of screaming kids. Mom had called around to a few of her friends, asking if they could take Max in for the week. Some of them had declined, and some of them had been out of town for the holidays. When her mother had called Steve, he’d immediately agreed to take her in. Steve’s house was a hell of a lot bigger than the tiny single-wide trailer Max shared with her mother. And he had a pool, and cable TV, and everything. She was okay with the arrangements, though she definitely wanted to stay on her own.
If it had been up to Max, she would’ve preferred to have flown out to California, and hung out with El, and her brothers for the week. She hadn’t seen El since they’d moved away just before the schoolyear started. Starting high school without El was hard as hell. Hanging out with Lucas, Mike, and Dustin was fine and all, but Max missed Eleven. They had bonded so well, and it had been really good to have another female friend to hang out with.
Max had tentatively put the idea forward to her mother about going to visit Eleven, hoping that she would agree to it. But flying out to Lenora Hills was incredibly expensive, and their finances were super tight now that Max and her mother were renting out the crappy trailer in Forest Hills trailer park. And so, she would stay at Steve’s, until her mother came back into town.
“Alright, we’re here.” Susan parked the U-Haul in the Harrington driveway. She turned to her daughter, and gave her a weary smile. She looked exhausted. Susan had been up since the crack of dawn, packing all the boxes into the U-Haul, making sure that all of Neil’s belongings fit. They’d managed to fit nearly everything in the small truck, save for a few small pieces of furniture that Neil decided to leave behind.
“You’re going to be okay here, right? I think Steve’s a good guy. I want to make sure that you’re comfortable here, before I head out. You can still come with us, if you want. This is your last chance, ‘cause we have to leave town soon.”
“No. I absolutely do not want to be trapped in that U-Haul with Neil,” Max said, hotly. “I’ll be fine with Steve. Call when you guys get there, to let me know you made it safe. And make sure that Neil drives slow, ‘cause the roads are bad.”
“I’ll call you,” Susan promised. “And I’ll tell him.”
Max grabbed her bag, and they got out of the truck. When Steve answered the door, he let them in. Susan and Steve talked for a few minutes, then she quickly hugged her daughter, and rushed back to the vehicle. Max watched her mother drive off, then she turned to Steve.
“Thanks for letting me stay here.” She truly meant it. Max was grateful. She wanted to smile at him, but she was too stressed out. It was good to know that Neil would be out of their lives for good. Max had no plans on staying in contact with him, and she had no plans on ever visiting Minneapolis. Good riddance, Neil. But Max kept thinking about how icy the roads were on the way from the trailer park, to the Harrington residence. The drive from Hawkins up to Minneapolis was much longer, and she could only hope that they would get there in one piece. Max knew that she would fall apart, if she lost her mother. She was all she had left.
“No problem, Max.” Steve smiled. “Your mom sounded really stressed out when she called me. I’m just glad to help. She said it’d be about five days at most. But honestly, you can stay here as long as you need to.”
“Thanks.”
“Okay, so,” Steve said, grabbing her bag. “I’ll show you to the guest bedroom. It’s just down the hall from my room, so in case you need anything, you can easily find me.”
Once Max got settled in the guest room, she went downstairs checked to see what Steve was up to. She found him in the kitchen, making spaghetti and meatballs. It smelled amazing. She was starving. They spent a quiet night in front of the TV, watching holiday specials as they ate their dinner on little TV trays. Steve still had all his Christmas decorations up, the large tree in the corner of the room, decorated with strings of lights, and silver tinsel. It was very beautiful.
When the phone rang around ten that night, it was Susan calling to talk to her daughter. Max spoke to her for about ten minutes. When she got off the phone, she told Steve that her mother hadn’t gotten all the way to Minneapolis. The roads had been really bad, so they’d decided to stay in a motel overnight, then drive the last leg of the journey in the morning.
That night, Steve was fast asleep, when he heard Max stumbling around in the hallway. At first, the sudden noise outside his bedroom door had startled him. He was so accustomed to the quiet house, as it was usually just him. His parents were gone a lot. But once he’d fully woken up, Steve recalled that Max was staying over. He listened to her heavy footsteps, as she dragged her feet on the carpet. Steve thought that she was going down the hallway to the bathroom. Steve rolled over, closing his eyes. The bathroom light switched on. He wasn’t used to having others living in his house, but he was glad to step up for his friend when she needed a place to stay. As Steve lay there, half-asleep, Steve heard something that made him open his eyes. Max was crying.
Steve hesitated, wondering if he should pretend he hadn’t heard her crying, and just go back to sleep. It was the middle of the night. He wanted to check up on her, see if she was alright. But sometimes, people got embarrassed when other people saw them cry. He didn’t know if it would upset her, to go check up on her. Steve thought that Max would go back to sleep, and they could talk about things in the morning, if she wanted to open up to him. Maybe she was just feeling homesick. It was probably hard, the first night away from her mother. She would probably stop crying soon, and go back to bed. But Max didn’t stop crying. If anything, it got worse. Soft crying had turned to sobbing.
Steve finally got up, and went into the hallway to check on her. He couldn’t just let her cry so much, without even checking up on her. Max sounded really upset. When he walked over to bathroom, Steve saw that Max was standing at the bathroom mirror, tears streaming down her face. She looked miserable. He called out to her, but she didn’t respond.
“Max, are you okay?” Steve said. “Hey, look at me for a second.”
Max didn’t look at him. She was staring at her reflection in the mirror, with the blankest of expressions. It was spooky, actually. Steve waved his hand in front of her face, thinking that she would snap out of it. But Max didn’t say anything, and she didn’t look in his direction. It was like she was a shell of herself. Steve put a hand on her shoulder, and gently shook her. “Max?”
Steve jumped nearly out of his skin when Max turned towards him, letting out a bloodcurdling scream. He jumped back, eyes wide. He watched as Max looked around her surroundings, and she looked confused.
“W-What’s going on?” Max asked, her voice rising in fear. “Where am I?”
“You’re staying at my house, remember? I heard you in the bathroom, so I went to go check up on you,” Steve said. “Max, I think you were sleepwalking.”
Max frowned. She hadn’t realized she still sleepwalked. It was something that she’d done often as a kid, but not recently. At least, not to her knowledge. She thought that maybe it was because she was so stressed out. These past few weeks had been extremely tough.
“Are you okay, Max?” Steve asked, concerned. “What were you dreaming about? You’re crying.”
Max frowned, then reached up to touch her face. Oh. Steve was right; she was crying. She quickly started wiping her tears off her face. God, this was embarrassing as hell. She hadn’t realized that she’d been crying until Steve pointed it out.
“I’m okay,” Max said, entirely unconvincing. “I’m fine, Steve.”
Max knew that she was going to be okay. She could see that Steve was still really concerned about her, and she didn’t know what to say to him. Max wished that she had been able to stay alone at the trailer, so nobody would’ve witnessed her sleepwalking, or crying in the middle of the night. But it was too late for that.
Max’s nightmare had been pretty horrific. She could clearly recall what she had been dreaming about. Max had been dreaming that she was at home, and that Billy was blasting one of his heavy metal tapes while he worked out. She was trying to talk to him, trying to ask him to turn down the music because it was too loud. But he was ignoring her. When her brother turned around, she was horrified to see that he was corpse blue, blood dripping down the front of his white muscle shirt. His mouth gaped open, dark blood gushing out. Billy started screaming, roaring at her to get away, to leave him alone. And then, he had collapsed on the floor, blood seeping out his mouth and nose.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Max said. She gave Steve an awkward look, then quickly slid past him. “I’m sorry I woke you up. I’m fine, and I’m going back to bed.” Steve wanted to talk to her more, because he could tell that she was really upset. But he let it drop for now. Max went back into the guest room, and closed the door. Steve went back to bed, but he didn’t get much sleep. He lay there, staring up at the ceiling, concerned about Max.
The next morning, Steve got up early, and made breakfast for him and Max. Instead of his usual bagel with cream cheese, or a strawberry poptart, Steve decided to go all out. He made pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast. He even made a pitcher of concentrated orange juice. By the time Max came downstairs, everything was laid out on the table.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Steve said, giving her a broad smile. He swept his hand toward the table of food. “I made enough for an army.”
“Is Robin coming over, or something?” Max asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “Why’d you make so much food?”
“Nope. Robin’s visiting her grandparents in Fort Wayne, for the holidays. This breakfast is just for us.”
“Huh, okay.” Max sat down, and started to fill her plate. She poured a generous amount of syrup on her pancakes, then dug in. “It tastes good. Thanks.”
Steve started to eat his eggs, glancing up at her occasionally. He wanted to bring up the sleepwalking from last night, and Max’s nightmare. He waited until she had nearly finished her breakfast before broaching the subject. Max looked more awake, alert.
“So, last night – “ Steve said.
“No.”
“Max,” Steve said, giving the redheaded girl a firm look. “You were clearly upset. You were crying.”
“I had a nightmare,” Max said. “It sucked, but it happened. Can we just move on?”
“Something was bothering you,” Steve said. “It helps to talk about it.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Max slouched down in her chair, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She glared at Steve with a fierce expression. “I don’t want to get into it.” “Is this because of your parents’ divorce?” Steve asked. “Are you upset that your dad’s leaving?”
“Ex-stepfather,” Max retorted. “Neil is not my dad.”
“Sorry.” Steve set his fork down. “I’m just really concerned about you. And I do believe that talking helps. So, if you need someone to talk to, I’m here. Not just as your babysitter, but as your friend. I care about you, Max.”
“I get that you’re trying to be helpful,” Max said, her voice clipped. She shot him an annoyed look. “I’m just stressed, okay? Not just about my mom’s divorce, but about everything. Billy died. And ever since then, Mom and Neil have been fighting, and drinking like crazy, and looking for ways to cope. I’m glad he’s leaving. But I’m pissed off because I had to move. And high school is harder than I thought it would be. And I miss Eleven, and Will. Everything sucks.”
Well, that was finally a bit of progress. Steve was glad that she was opening up to him. But Max was clearly upset about a whole lot of things. Most of it was stuff that he couldn’t fix for her. He couldn’t bring back her dead brother, or get her parents to stay together. But he could listen to her, and be there for her. And that was exactly what Steve did. He asked her a few questions, and then let her talk. And Max had a lot to say once she got started. They sat at the table, slowly working on their food, until their plates were empty.
“Max, do you sleepwalk often?”
“Only when I’m under an extreme amount of stress,” Max said. “And last night, I was really stressed out. And that’s probably why I was having nightmares about Billy dying.”
“Yeah.”
When Max was done talking to Steve, she seemed to feel a lot better. Max quietly drank her orange juice, and they talked about what they wanted to do in the next few days. Steve jotted down a few ideas, so that they could do a few fun things together while she stayed over. Rent some movies, drive around and look at Christmas lights, binge on pie and ice cream, that kind of thing.
Max seemed a way less stressed, especially after her mother had called back that morning after breakfast, to let her daughter know that her and Neil had arrived safely in Minneapolis. It was a great relief, to know that her mother had arrived safely. Neil had signed the paperwork for his new apartment, and had gotten the keys. Susan would call each day to update her daughter on their progress, about how they’d unloaded the furniture and boxes from the U-Haul, and were unpacking everything. Soon, she would be able to take the bus back home.
Max didn’t sleepwalk on her second night, or the next one. Every night when they went to bed, Steve would be on high alert, listening for any little sound. He was terrified that Max might sleepwalk, and fall down the stairs, or hurt herself in some way. Steve felt like he needed to stay hypervigilant. But Max slept peacefully through the nights, and she woke up well-rested.
By the fourth night, Steve had let his guard down, and he was pretty deep asleep. That is, until he heard Max shuffling down the hallway, with the same heavy footsteps that he’d heard that first night. The sound immediately woke him up, and he was on high alert. Steve jumped out of bed, and went to go check on her. He found Max at the end of the hallway, almost at the top of the stairs. Steve quickly reached her, putting his hand on Max’s arm to stop her from moving forward. He was so scared that she would fall forward, pitching down the flight of stairs.
“Max, hey,” Steve said, quietly. “Are you awake?”
When he turned her towards him, Steve could see the blank look on her face. Yeah, she was definitely sleepwalking again. This time, instead of trying to wake her up, Steve gently guided her back to bed. He walked her down the hallway, back to the guest room. Max stayed asleep the entire time, as he pulled back the blankets. Steve tucked her in, then switched off the light. Susan was going to be back in Hawkins in a few hours’ time, and he was sure that Max would be thrilled to be reunited with her again.