𝙴𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗 ~ 𝙴𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚡

《𝟶𝟷𝟷》

August 23, 1985
3:35 PM

~ "Do you like her?" Lucas finally asked. Max's eyes widened the slightest bit as she was still looking down, arms crossed on her chest. Right now, she wanted to be anywhere but here. She blinked a few times to clear her vision a bit and let a tear escape. She felt fear and anxiety building up in her chest, which quickly got her in a defensive mode. Her head shot up as she looked at Lucas.

~ "Her? Who her?!" She raised an eyebrow, fear mixed with anger visible in her eyes. She's had enough dealing with this. And now that Lucas started pushing on this topic too, she just...needed to let it all out.

~ "Who do you think?! Eleven!" Lucas raised his voice a little, tired of this too.

~ "Are you saying that you think I'm into girls?!"

~ "I don't think, I know that! Do you really think I didn't notice how you look at her?!" Lucas said and Max felt a sting in her chest area, swallowing the sob that tried to push it's way out. Her body was all tensed, trying to resist the urge to somehow make the boy regret ever coming here.

~ "I think you should go..." Max said with a low voice.

~ "No. I'm not mad at you, Max. All I want from you is to say it. Just tell me the truth finally. Don't you think I deserve at least that?" Lucas kept pushing and pushing, and the blood started boiling in Max. But she bottled the anger up, not wanting to ruin her friendship with Lucas even more than it is.

~ "..." She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it immediately after. What if Lucas told the party? And...what if it somehow got to Neil? That would be the end. She can't tell anyone about this. Unless she says it, Lucas can't be 100% sure. Even though she's being pretty obvious right now...no. Lucas's right. He deserves to know this. She's just overthinking. He wouldn't tell anyone, right? He's Lucas.

~ "...Please...just-just don't tell anyone...please, Lucas if-...if anyone found out..." She started rambling, slowly going from defensive to panic mode. She just outed herself to Lucas. This is gonna be bad. She would do anything to take it back now. She can't. Tears came back and in a while, they started sliding down her cheeks in a stream. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to not have to worry about any of this. She knew what her family and really anyone normal thought of someone who felt romantically attached to a person of a same gender, and hated it. Hated them, and herself too. Lucas stared at her for a second, happy his theory turned out to be true, but wanting to calm the girl down somehow. He wasn't mad at her. Maybe upset, but not mad. He wasn't that type of person. He was actually impressed that she really told him.

~ "...Max? I won't tell anyone okay? I promise. Don't worry about this." He said, and Max looked at him with eyes full of mixed emotions.

~ "You-you won't tell? You're not mad?" She asked, wiping one of her cheeks with a sniffle. This was one of the very few times Lucas saw her show vulnerability. She didn't do that often and that told him that she's really afraid right now.

~ "I'm not mad. I'd be a douche if I was mad at you for this...I mean...girls are rad." He attempted to make Max feel better with a joke. The redhead let out a watery laugh, wiping her other cheek now.

~ "...Thank you...I'm-I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I was just...I didn't know what was happening myself at first. I guess I just needed time to...figure things out? You know?" She explained to the boy, who just nodded.

~ "It's okay. You're forgiven. Wait...does she know?" There was hudreds of questions running around in Lucas's head right now. Max looked towards the cabin, then back at the boy before shaking her head no. Lucas was still uspet about the truth but...he was happy he finally knows it. He wasn't about to show any kind of negativity towards Max or El.

~ "And...are you gonna tell her?" Lucas asked yet another question while Max wanted to go back to the girl and make sure she's okay.

~ "I...I don't think so. She's now upset about the breakup with Mike..." Max shrugged, shuffling with her feet on the ground impatiently. She didn't get why the couple suddenly broke up. They seemed happy together. But as selfish as it might sound, deep down she was actually feeling a bit of hope with knowing this new information.

~ "And after that? Like...I know it might take a while but-" Lucas continued, but was soon cut off by the redhead.

~ "Uhmm...Lucas? El's feeling sick right now and...I think I should go back and...just..." She didn't know how to tell him that she simply wanted to go back, not wanting him to feel like a third-wheel.

~ "Oh...is it because of me? I'm sorry for earlier...I didn't know she would...react like that." He apologised, scratching the back of his neck with his eyebrows pinched together.

~ "Well...I think that you should apologise to her...once she's better." Max answered, happy for hearing that from Lucas though.

~ "Yeah. Okay. I...I'm just gonna go now. Thank you for...being honest with me." Lucas sent the girl a light smile before stepping closer and wrapping his arms around her. Max was surprised, but gladly accepted the hug with a smile growing on her face too.

~ "...Thanks, Stalker." Was all she said, grateful for a friend like he is. She never thought that he'd be accepting of this. But now that she thought about it, it made sense. He knows what it's like to be judged for what you are. Racism was a pretty common thing in Hawkins. Lucas nodded and broke the hug, going over to his bike and picking it up.

~ "See you." He said, Max waving him goodbye with a nod.

~ "See you." She repeated, watching Lucas ride away for a second before turning around and making her way towards the cabin with a feeling of relief.

~ "El?" Max peeked inside the brunette's room, seeing her asleep on her bed. She looked so peaceful. The redhead then realised she's probably staring for too long and scolded herself for it. She went closer to the bed and sat on it, starting to wonder what it would be like to be able to hold the brunette's hand in her's for a minute or two. To be able to lay with her and tell her everything that's so special about her and more. She didn't know where these thoughts suddenly came from. But she felt her heart beating faster just at imagining them. She sighed and looked down into her lap, fiddling with the hem of her shorts. Soon, the calmness in the cabin got to her and she felt her eyes slowly closing against her will. She looked back at El who was still in a deep sleep and laid as close to the edge of the bed as possible, wanting to give the girl space. Her eyes kept looking at the brunette in front of her, before slowly closing as Max fell asleep.