𝙴𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗 ~ 𝙴𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚡

《𝟹𝟹》

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A/N: hi, i'm sorry for not updating for more than two years and i want to say thank you to all the readers who are still here and keeping this book alive with their comments. i appreciate and read every single one <3.
i haven't really had the motivation to write anything, even though many times i wanted to. i tried and then stopped 5 minutes later because i just didn't have THAT feeling when i just want to write my soul out that i used to have and i'm sorry. i'm not gonna promise anything, but i'll say i'll try to update more often than one time a year lol. okay, enough of my rant, enjoy the chapter now!

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August 27, 1985
2:40 PM

~ "...Maybe he just forgot." El said, her eyes ticking over the parking lot, waiting for Hopper's car to show up as her and Max stood in front of the high school. Max's eyebrows scrunched up a little.

~ "Him telling you he's picking you up ten minutes after school on the dot is like his mantra by now. He's gonna show up." she said, seeing the slight dimple above one of El's eyebrow that showed up every time she was worried. They've been standing there for over an hour now, mostly in silence. Neither of them knew what to say even though they were both aware that they should talk.

~ "But...the McCorgle's farm-" El said, shuffling her legs a little.

~ "Oh well...screw it. The pay isn't good anyway. I just thought that it could be fun. Something to do, you know?" Max said, looking at the piece of paper she got from the pin board earlier that day and crumpled it up, throwing it into the nearest bin after. El watched her, shaking her head.

~ "No- you should go. I can wait for him myself." she said, giving the girl a slight smile. But max insisted.

~ "It's fine, I'll wait with you."

~ "But Max-"

~ "I only wanted to try cause you wanted to go too-" The redhead admitted. That was when El stopped talking, just looking at Max for a second longer than she probably should've before one corner of her lips twitched up into a light smile and she quickly turned her head to hide it, not being able to stop it.
Max saw that and it made her smile too. She wasn't trying to hide it though. She thought that this would be a good moment to talk.

~ "Hey- um....last night was- really nice... and- you know, I was thinking that maybe, if you want, we could do that again sometime?" She asked carefully, not sure how to start the conversation. El turned her head to look at her again then, her eyes not goving out any emotion until she smiled a little, nodding her head.

~ "...I'd like that. When?" she asked, now turning her whole body to face Max, who's eyes sparkled a little. She was about to say something when she heard a car honk. El jumped at the sound a little and turned around, thinking they missed Hopper's car stopping nearby. She saw Joyce waving at her from her car as if she wanted to call her over so she looked at Max and started walking to the car with her. Joyce got out of the car in the meantime and looked at the two. She seemed a bit confused

~ "Hey you two- what are you still doing here?" she asked, seeing the redhead shrug.

~ "Waiting for Hopper. He's late." El said, holding her school bag to her chest. For some reason, she always carried it in her hands somehow instead of the usual way. Joyce frowned a little.

~ "He is? That's strange...well, I can take you and we can call him if you want?" the woman asked, seeing El nod.

~ "Can Max come too?" the girl asked, looking at the redhead who suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable. Joyce noticed that and gave Max a sweet smile.

~ "It's okay honey, come on. You two get in, we're just waiting for Will to get back from the D&D club. Buckle up." she reminded them, seeing the two get in as she lit a cigarette, waiting outside for now.

Once El and Max got in, the brunette looked at the other with curious eyes.

~ "What were you gonna say before?" she asked, seeing Max frown a little in confusion.

~ "About? Oh- oh uhm- well... I don't know, we could go whenever you want. We should actually get some sleep tonight though. How about wednesday?" Max asked, seeing El think.

~ "Um...Beverly invited me to join her for her truck and field practice that day-" El said, obviously a bit sad about it now though. When Max heard about Beverly, El could could see the girl's face scrunch up in annoyance. She let out a light chuckle after though.

~ "You mean track and field?" the redhead asked, seeing El nod.

~ "Yeah- she said it would be good for me if I want to tryout for the team on friday." the brunette added. Max raised her eyebrows.

~ "Do you want to?" Max asked and El shrugged.

~ "Beverly said I have a good chance."

~ "But do you want to?" Max asked again.

~ "It seems fun. I wanted to ask you if...uhm...would you want to watch on friday? They said I can bring whoever I want-" El asked, hoping for a yes. Max couldn't help but smile at that.

~ "Bet. I'll be there. What time?"

~ "At two three zero." El said and Max barely swallowed another chuckle.

~ "E- that's two thirty-" she said, seeing the brunette sigh and cross her arms on her chest. It was still a mystery to Max how this girl could be great at math but not get how the clock works.

A few minutes later, they saw a familiar group of boys walk out of the high school. While the other three boys waved and walked further to get their bikes, Will walked up to the car, his face changing from a relaxed one to slightly uncomfortable when he saw El and Max in the car. El saw this and wondered if she did something wrong. The last time she recalled seeing Will was at the quarry with the entire group. She didn't even talk to Will then though. She was confused and her brain started running in circles, trying to find a reason. She didn't even know why this felt so off to her. Maybe because today just felt off.

When Joyce pulled up by Hopper's cabin and didn't see his car, she turned around and drove to her house to call to the police station to see if he's still there.

~ "Okay...okay, thank you." Joyce said before hanging up and turning to see Max and El sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for her to speak.

~ "Flo said Hopper left the office a little bit after two." Joyce said, seeing El's face turn into worried one.

~ "He was supposed to pick me up after-" El said, turning to look at Max. The redhead gave her a light frown, sensing that something wasn't right here before looking at Joyce.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Joyce turned around and opened, hoping to see the chief. But instead, there was a petite woman, barely taller than Joyce herself. Her blonde hair was tied into a bun and her overall look was very fancy. She held up  a card in her left hand.

~ "Sally Valdmann. Child protective services." the woman said, taking a look past Joyce at El.