The last bell rings, sending students excitedly into the hallway prepared to begin their trick or treating within the next few hours of the day.

Max and Marigold exit their classroom, both hurrying to their lockers.

Max's locker is on the opposite side of the hallway, so Marigold tries to be quick about shoving her things into it. However, as she's organizing her items, she glances over to see Max in a conversation with two of the four boys from earlier. She still hasn't learned their names, aside from Dustin who is often called on.

She turns away, deciding to give Max her moment on the spotlight.

Just as she gathers her pens and closes her locker, she comes face to face with the tall one she had previously deemed cute. He probably wasn't expect her to jump in surprise and drop all of her pens.

Imagine being uncomfortable with males and then being snuck up on by one?

"Jesus, sorry," Mike fumbles to help her pick up her pens.

He originally came with the intent to insult her and tell her to stay away, but he didn't expect her to be so jumpy about him coming up behind her.

"It's okay," she states, taking the pens from him and smiling. "I've always been a little jumpy around attractive people."

That sentence sends Mike back into jerk mode.

"Yeah, well you should watch where you're going next time," he grumbles, beginning to walk off.

She stares at him confusedly.

"But you came up to me?" She mumbles.

His eyes widen in realization, and he blushes in embarrassment by is mistake.

"Right," he nods. "I came to tell you that you should stay far away from me and my friends. We don't want anything to do with you, and we don't need girls coming into our group and ruining everything we just fixed."

This confused Marigold even more.

"Okay, first of all, you guys are the ones always following us. Second of all, I don't care what you say, I know for a fact that your other friends want to be my friend. Whether you like it or not," she grins, "we will somehow be friends."

Mike squints his eyes into a glare, towering over her.

"Over my dead body," he mumbles.

With a smile, Goldie walks around the boy and trots to Max who already heading towards her and the exit.

"C'mon, Goldie!" The red head sings, not even noticing Mike Wheelers presence.

With one last cheeky smile, Marigold winks towards Mike and exits the school with more confidence than she's ever had in her entire life. Max assumes it's the Halloween spirit, but honestly, it was more like puppy love.

"Are we getting ready together?" Max hums, walking towards her step-brothers vehicle.

"Um, yeah, I was gonna ask Billy if—"

"Don't," she advises. "He'll say no."

Goldie cracks a smile.

"I was just gonna ask if he'd lend me his old scissor hand gloves!" She giggles. "I think he'll say yes! You don't think he'll say yes?"

Max rolls her eyes.

"Maybe," she shrugs, "just because he likes you."

As soon as the two approach Billy's car, Marigold seems to become smaller. She can tell he's upset, and he could be a serious jerk when he was upset.

She already had issues with men, but angry men were a whole other set of problems.

"You're late, again," Billy states, a straight face.

"Yeah, I had to get catch-up homework," Max explains, letting Marigold into the vehicle first.

"Jesus, I don't care. You're late again, and you're skating home, do you hear me?" he threatens, which honestly sound better to Max than riding with a complete lunatic.

In the car, Wango Tango by Ted Nugent blasts and Goldie sinks into the backs seat.

As they pull out of the school, it seem very clear to Marigold that Billy is going way past the speed limit, and it frightens her into silence. She is dead silent, and praying to be home quickly.

"God, this place is such a shithole," Billy closes his eyes in frustration.

"It's not that bad," Max tries.

"No?" Billy rolls down the window, inhaling deeply. "Mmm! You smell that, Max? That's actually shit. Cow shit."

"I don't see any cows," Max grumbles.

"Do the high school girls count?" Goldie mutters under her breath with a soft smile.

Billy is lucky enough to pick up on her statement, smiling widely, and turning his head to look at her. She smiles and glances off, pretending she didn't say anything, but he knows better.

"So what, you like it here now?" Billy scoffs, turning back to Max.

"No," she shakes her head.

"Then why are you defending it?"

"I'm not," she states.

"It sure sounds like it," he hums.

"It's just were stuck here, so..." Max trails, glancing into the rear view mirror at Marigold who is shifting awkwardly in her seat.

"Hmm. You're right. We're stuck here. And who's fault is that?" He grumbles.

"Yours," the redhead mumbles under her breath.

"What'd you say?" Billy raises a brow, clearly getting worked up.

"Nothing."

Marigold looks between the two, praying to some God that the next few things that might happen don't. It's too bad she doesn't believe enough.

"Did you say its my fault?" He questions, a sinister tone lingering in his voice.

"No," Max lies.

"You know whose fault it is," Billy states, pressing his foot to the gas and speeding up the car. "Say it."

Goldie is fearful of what become of them if he doesn't slow down the damn car.

Max doesn't say anything.

"Max..." Billy hums in a sing-song voice, "say it."

When she remains silent, Billy snaps into her face.

"Say it!" He shouts, clearly enraged by her silence.

Marigold flinches at his sudden movement and loud tone, sinking even further into herself if that's possible. She has no sense of security, putting her full faith in Max letting go of her pride for their safety.

Max never says anything.

Billy shifts back into his seat, sending the car bolting even faster down the street as three figures come into view.

Wait a second, they recognize those figures.

"Billy," Goldie mumbles, her voice shaking. "Billy, slow down!"

Max joins her pleads, looking back and forth from the road to her step-brother as they grow closer and closer to the three boys on their bikes.

"Billy, slow down!" Max begs.

"Oh, these your new hick friends?" Billy grins.

"No! I don't know them," Max lies.

"I guess you won't care if I hit 'me, then? I get bonus points if I get 'me all in one go?"

"No, Billy, stop! It's not funny," Max growls, suddenly serious and facing him.

Billy doesn't seem to care though, dancing around like a maniac and speeding up on the boys without even a shadow of a doubt. Goldie recognizes her father in him, and her lip begins to quiver.

Max turns to face her, her eyes grow wide at the sight of Goldie's eyes beginning to water.

"I swear, kids have grown so soft!" Neil chuckles.

"Goldie doesn't really cry," Hester, chuckles to the Hargrove's, hugging her daughter close. "She's tough, unlike most kids. However, when she does cry, she's got the prettiest face."

The older woman reaches over and pinches the golden girl's cheeks.

"Mom, stop," She flinches away, avoiding her touch.

"Oh?" Susan gives a confused look. "What does that mean?"

"It's a curse, I think," Hester dramatically states. "It's like she's so pretty when she cries, you want to admire her, but you can't because you feel so bad that she's crying. I mean, you really have to do something terrible to jerk a tear from her!"

Neil sips his coffee, "Hmm, never heard of people who cry and are still pretty. I'm sure she's had to have one ugly cry."

"Nope, not her," Hester insists, sipping her own coffee, "Keith Haring once asked to paint her crying. You'll just have to see for yourself."

"Billy! Stop!" Max begs, "you're making Goldie cry!"

For a second, it almost seems like Billy hesitates, but then he steps on the gas, and keeps dancing. He turns to Goldie with the most evil smile, and looks her straight in the eye.

"Then, I guess I'll finally be able to see the famous pretty cry everyone talks so much about."

Max stares in disgust, hating the idea of Marigold crying.

So, she does the only than she can think to do. She pulls the steering wheel and yanks the car into the opposite lane, saving the boys from collision just in time.

"Yeah! That was a close one, huh?" Billy screams, red faced and full of adrenaline.

Marigold never does allow herself to cry. She sucks it up and keeps quiet, not wanting to give Billy the pleasure of witnessing her tears.

Max knows she'll have to make it up to Marigold and the boys for what happened.

As the car is parked at the house, Max rushes off and watches in surprise as Marigold trips out of the vehicle in a rush. Yes, she knew she was afraid, but she didn't realize she was that afraid.

"Marigold, wait—" Max tries to catch up.

"No, I'm fine," Goldie states, refusing to turn back and look at her, "I'll meet you out here at 5:30, okay?"

Billy watches the interaction, pretending not to be interested. In reality, he's extremely guilty. Not for scaring Max, but for scaring Goldie.

"But," a frown grazes Max's cheeks, "I thought we were gonna get ready together?"

Goldie stops in front of her door, but she never turns to look at Max.

"I think I...I have some chores to finish and- and, um," She tries to come up with a good excuse, but can't seem to think of anything. "Look, I'll just see you out here at 5:30, okay?"

Max stares down at her feet with disappointment, "Yeah, okay."

With that, Marigold rushes into the house and slides down the door as soon as it closes. She a soft sob leaves her lips as she exhales. She's crying for a second, but stops when the shutter of a camera goes off. She looks up to see her mom stood over her fanning a Polaroid picture.

"What're you doing?!" Marigold blinks, staring confusedly at her mother.

"Well, I just—" her mom shifts around, "You're so pretty when you cry..I just wanted to capture the moment. I'm done with that now, are you alright?"

She stares at her mom with pure disgust, rushing back to her feet and pushing past the women up the stares.

"Leave me alone, you- you weirdo," Goldie shouts, slamming her door.

Hester stands there with her Polaroid picture, feeling guilty for her selfish actions. She can't help herself sometimes, and she wishes she could just be a better mother. She's trying, and she's been trying for so long, but it seems that no matter what she does, she'll never be able to fix their broken past.

"What is wrong with me?" The woman mutters, watching as the picture goes from dark to developed.

The photo is stunning, seeing as Marigold really was so beautiful when she cried. Yet, it doesn't make anyone feel better.

Despite her beauty, seeing Marigold cry was like watching your family burn and not being able to save them.