~ My Brothers Best Friend ~

~ Max Mayfield ~

Max. Redhead. Strong Willed. Part of the Nerds but didn't like that title. Lucas's Girlfriend. 

She didn't have any girlfriends. Constantly stuck in a cycle of Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Will. She was hopeful when Will told her about his soon to be sister. But all that changed when Jennifer grabbed her that day and took her to the dark side. 

Her and El had smile nice conversations in passing, but nothing great. Max new what it was like to be new to the party. Mike hated her too at one point. He still isn't crazy about her, but it seemed like all his hatred went at El the moment she got to Hawkins. 

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"Fuck you Lucas!!" Max screamed on the phone. 

Max and Lucas had been fighting non-stop lately. He had recently joined the basketball team and it felt like he had no time for you but yet would go out partying with cheerleaders. 

She had no one. If she didn't have Lucas, she had no one. Mike, Dustin, and Will would obviously have his back. 

El. She thought. She knew its a long shoot but she needed someone. 

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A loud knock came from the Byers/Hopper household.

Will got up and answered the door seeing a crying Max. 

"Max?" He asked shocked. He knew they recently broke up but didn't know why she would show up. "Lucas isn't here" He commented. 

"I--I know... But.. Is El home?" She whispered.

"Umm... Yeah she's upstairs but i don't know if she is up to talking" 

Max flew by him after he said she was home. She didn't listen to anything else he had to say. 

She approached Els room hearing a soft playing of her radio. She knocked. 

"Yup! Come in!" She yelled expecting it to be her dad or Will.

Max pushed open the door with a shocking picture in front of her. 

Eleanor Hopper, the girl usually in dresses and makeup, was now laying on her bed in some old flannels and sweatpants reading a comic of all things. The was a loud silence so El looked up. 

"M--Max?" She asked confused sitting up. 

"uhh-- Yeah Hi? umm-- I-- I was wondering if.. we could talk?" She stuttered. 

El nodded gesturing to the bed. 

Max slightly smiled and sat on the edge of her bed after closing the door. 

They spent the next hour of Max explaining everything with crying and anger and jealously. 

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"Okay that's it!" El yelled. 

Max looked up confused. "What?"

El smiled getting up.

"We're going shopping! Break ups equals shopping" El exclaimed. 

"Oh-- El... I-- I don't know..." Max tried saying while El was already changing into a dress. 

El grabbed Max's hand practically dragging her out of the house and to the mall. 

El wasn't one to care what people thinked. Yes she was popular, and was told not to hang out with nerds, but she use to be a nerd, she knew what it was like to feel like you didn't have friends. 

"This one!" El yelled finding a pair of red sunglasses handing them to max. 

Max smiled putting them on "Perfect!" She yelled looking in the mirror. 

They continued the day shopping, walking arm in arm. 

Over the past few hours they had grown closer, El really enjoyed her time. More then she ever did with Jennifer. They talked about Els past quite a bit, how nerdy she really was, they talked about comics and superhero's. They talked about boys and how much of an ass Mike was. 

What they hadn't noticed their few hours in the mall was someone taking photos of them no other then Stacey. Stacey was always jealous of her, her popularity without trying, her relationship with Troy. 

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The weekend flew by, Lucas and Max ended up patching things up Sunday night. Max and El spent practically all weekend together since Troy was busy with his boys apparently. 

El walked into school alone just excited to see her other friends and Troy. She walked up to Jennifer before classes started. 

"Hey Jenn!" El yelled as her happy self. Jennifer looked at her and just starred and rolled her eyes.

"What's going on?" El asked as everyone was whispering around her. 

"Your pathetic you know that?!" Jennifer yelled.

"W-W--What?" She whispered starting to feel nervous. 

"You! Hanging out with that fucking red headed nerd! Max?! What the hell El?"

"I-- I-- She needed help, a friend.. I-- I-- was being nice."  El whispered.

"No! Popular girls aren't nice to the nerds. we are at the top. they are at the bottom. Its either them or us." She stated. 

El shook her head and walked away from the whispers. Every wall she walked by had pictures of her and Max plastered all over school. 'Beauty and the Nerd' Labeled everywhere. Shit.. she thought. Troy was gonna be livid. 

All of a sudden she looked up seeing Max walk towards her. 

"Max..." El whispered. 

"Look! If you don't want to be my friend fine. I can tell Jennifer I blackmailed you or soemthing to hang out with me." Max sighed. She really liked El. But she didn't wanna be the reason El lost all her friends and basically her whole life she had built. 

"Max.. No... I loved our weekend hanging out. Jennifer will either accept it or I guess I'll just be a nerd then" El smiled at her. 

Max smiled grabbing her hand dragging her off to their Science class. 

This was going to be the start of an amazing friendship El thought.