Strange as IT Seems

Chapter 41: Weirdos

Both Eleven and Bev stand there stunned. While one of the girls had known Max was coming over, the other had not and was still trying to process what just happened. First, the door opened on its own and now her classmate just lashed out like that. What did Maxine have against her anyway? She'd never done anything to her. They'd barely even talked to each other except for a handful of times. Whenever they sat in science class or walked through the halls or ate in the cafeteria... or that time at the mall... it was always being glared at with daggers. If looks could kill.

Without another word, Eleven runs to the door, wrenches it open and goes after her best friend.

"Max! Max wait!" Eleven calls out from the front porch.

The redhead ignores her best friend and keeps walking through the woods back toward the road. Eleven jumps from the wooden steps and runs towards her.

"MAX!"

Still no response.

Eleven is tempted to pull Max's bag or skateboard from her arms with her powers to make her stay, but with Beverly around, it's too risky. She just keeps running until she grabs her friend's shoulder.

Immediately, the redhead turns and pushes her friend off.

"Go away El."

"Max please talk to me..."

"I don't have anything to say to you. It's clear you already had other plans."

"No Max... it's not like that."

"Then what is it like?"

"She just... she just came over..."

"Yeah, sure. As soon as you find new friends you forget your old ones."

"It wasn't her fault" a voice calls out. Both girls turn to see Beverly Marsh jogging to catch up. She stops short of the two Hawkins kids but wants to say her piece. "She didn't know I was coming over," Beverly chimes in, trying to help Jane out a little. "I kind of just showed up. Jane and I ran into each other a couple of weeks ago and we hung out at her place. I wanted to see if I could find her again so asked Bill's cousin Mia for directions. She said that she was Jane's tutor."

"Yeah," Max retorts sarcastically. "Not creepy at all. So, you were like stalking her then?"

"No... look... my friends and I are not... we're not really speaking to each other a lot and I just needed someone else to talk to or hang out with. I've also never really had any friends who are girls before... come to think of it I've never had any friends before..."

"Really?" Eleven asks sympathetically.

"All the girls in my school were stuck-up bitches who were just always against me. I was a loser in my old school and now... I just want friends."

"You already have some. The group that follows you wherever you go" is the snide response.

"Didn't you hear what I said? None of us are speaking anymore so excuse me for trying to meet new people and be normal."

"Yeah, people who live in isolated cabins in the middle of the woods."

"I WASN'T STALKING HER!" Bev yells back, annoyed with Max. "What is wrong with you? I don't know what your problem is with me?!

"You shouldn't take it personally," Max says. "I have problems with lots of people and this, in turn, means that I don't like a lot of them."

"But I do take it personally. I mean what did I ever do to you?"

"You showed up..." is the reply.

"I couldn't exactly help that."

"No, I know... it's just... it's always the same..."

"What's always the same?" Bev asks.

Eleven looks over as well, very confused by the whole situation and just wants to keep her best friend here.

"New kids come to town, and everyone wants to be their friend."

"That doesn't happen... it rarely happens," Beverly says. She remembers Ben's experience being the new kid in school and no one was friends with him. She was probably one of the few students to approach him to be nice, rather than steal his lunch or punch him in the back of the head.

"I've gone through this before. It seems really stupid now and maybe I should be in therapy or something, but I had a few friends back in California. We used to hang out... skateboard, go to the beach, and all that stuff. Then one day some new asshole showed up with the newest board and the latest tricks and then suddenly nobody gave a shit anymore. I was left by myself and sure I was sad at the time, but I learned that no one is really your friend and nothing can ever really stay the same."

"That's not true," Eleven firmly, fighting tears at all of this.

"So, you were worried that it would happen with Jane?" Bev asks.

"Yeah, I mean why wouldn't it?"

"Max..." Eleven steps forward. "I would never do that to my best friend."

"Sure, you wouldn't..."

"MAX!" Eleven says firmly, taking her friend's hand and looking her directly in the eyes. "Friends don't lie!"

The two girls look at each other.

"And friends also don't leave each other like that."

Max finally looks into El's eyes. The redhead is doing her best not to cry. She swallows her sadness as best she can.

"I'm sorry..." she whispers.

"It's okay," El says, comforting her friend.

"I just... It just sucks to make friends and then have them ditch you."

"It does suck, but that doesn't it's going to happen to you every time. They were just crappy friends," Beverly chimes in. "It's not worth it."

"Mouth breathers," Eleven agrees. "You are my best friend, Max, that is never going to change."

The two girls hug each other tightly. Max is still battling tears, wishing that she wasn't such a shitty person and actually being nice to people. Maybe she could make more friends that way... At the same time, she liked the ones she had now. Dustin the goofball, Will the smarty pants, Mike the bossy leader, Lucas the boyfriend and El the weirdo... Well, they were all weirdos, but they had been through hell and back together, allowing them to become even closer. Her friends were her solace and safe place, considering her asshole dad and brother at home, and they gave her a reason to like Hawkins. They made life better than it could be, and she was and still is grateful for them.

When the two break apart, they look over at Beverly, standing there awkwardly. One more friend in their circle couldn't be a bad thing. Max decided she didn't want to be like Mike had been to her when she first moved here any longer and welcomed someone new to their group.

"Look, I'm sorry for how I've been acting. Can we just start over?"

"Sure," Beverly says. She holds out her hand with a smile. "I'm Beverly Marsh, but you can call me Bev."

"I'm Maxine Mayfield," the redhead says, shaking her hand. "But call me Max."

"I'm Jane Hopper..." Eleven adds. "But call me El."

The three girls laugh at each other as they shake one another's hands like they are in a random business meeting.

"Are you sure you want to hang out with us?" Max asks. "Because we are a little weird. Weird stuff tends to happen to us a lot too."

Jane/El nods in agreement.

"Coming from someone who was part of a group of friends called the 'Loser's Club' and has more than a fair share of weird experiences too, I think I'm okay with that."

"Cool," Max nods. "Now let's head back inside."

A/N: Please follow and review. I know Max's reasons for hating Bev are a bit cliche, but considering the life that Max has and her experiences from moving around and everything, her trust is broken and she will get defensive to keep the friends that she has. Thank you for being patient as I updated.