𝙴𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗 ~ 𝙴𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚡

《𝟸𝟸》

August 26, 1985
8:25 AM

El was walking towards the track field together with all of her new classmates and of course, as close to Max's side as possible without making it look like she's desperate for someone familiar too much, which in reality, she was. To be honest, she was feeling quite anxious about the whole thing. The last time she felt like this was the day she first stepped outside the lab. The fear of the unknown was terrifying to her. Especially when the 'unknown' included new people. It wasn't really easy for her to trust someone. And that's why she was following Max wherever she went, fearing the moment they had to split for another class. And while the redhead was explaining her what they're about to do, El saw another eyes watching her in the corner of her eye. She looked to the side and saw a pair of dark brown orbits, that belonged to noone other than Troy, watching her from afar. He noticed that she's looking at him back now and quickly focused his gaze back on his group of friends. But it was obvious to El that he was just trying to fool her. The brunette furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, looking back at Max, who was still talking to her. She had no idea what she was talking about for the past few seconds though. She needed to get used to suddenly being around so many people. El then turned to look at Jasmine who was now talking to another girl with short hair that had the same colour as Max's. El really liked that colour. It reminded her of the sunset, when the sky around the Sun turns that rusty orange. It made her smile.

~ "El? Are you even listening?" Asked Max after she noticed that the other had zoned out a bit. El's head quickly turned back to her with an apologetic smile.

~ "Sorry. It's just..too many people." She admitted, making Max nod.

~ "You'll get used to it. It's hard when you're here for the first time. But the party's here to help you. If you need anything, you know you can come to any of us, right?" She made sure El knew, remembering her own first few days in Hawkins. They were the strangest of her life. But despite everything, she felt like it had been worth it finally. After El was forced to leave the Mayfield house by Max's mother the previous day, the redhead recieved great news. At least in her opinion. Apparently, Neil left. He wasn't on a business trip which was the excuse the redhead's mother used in hopes he'd come back after a while. He never did. And while Susan was weeping over her ex-boyfriend, Max had never felt so happy. She felt free. And no, she didn't think she was selfish. Neil made her life a living hell the day he barged into their lives. And Susan was the one who got her into all this mess afterall. So no, she was not feeling selfish for feeling happy. He can't hurt her anymore...she's safe.
The brunette nodded with a smile, appreciating Max's concern and wondering where the teacher is. He left the whole class by the side of the track and then walked back into school. The girl thought a lot this morning and wanted to talk to Max about the whole crush thing because apparently, crush wasn't just a best friend. But before El could start speaking, she heard a voice next to her. She turned her head towards it and saw the short-haired girl she was looking at few seconds ago with Jasmine by her side too.

~ "Hey." The smaller redhead said with a wave of her hand and a contagious, beaming smile that literally forced the corners of El's lips to turn upwards and reciprocate it. The thing she didn't realise was that now was her turn to answer and she kept standing on the spot, observing the new girl before Jasmine's hand snapped her out of her daze.

~ "You're the newbie this year, huh?" The girl continued, not really affected by El's unresponsivness. The brunette blinked a few times, before nodding. She felt nervous but also calm. It was this unusual vibe the girl carried with her.

~ "Yeah...Iam. My name is Jane." El suddenly remembered how to speak. The other girl nodded.

~ "Yeah, I see." The redhead chuckled, pointing at the sticker that was clung to El's shirt.