Max dances and signs along with the song Angel. Eleven bops her head to the music while looking at a couple of Max's magazines. She opens the page up to a Ralph Maccio picture, and I smile.
"I've always been a William Zabka girl," I laugh.
"Who is that?" El asks.
I tilt my head in confusion and chuckle.
"Johnny Lawrence? Have you ever seen The Karate Kid? Do you even know who that guy is?" I ask pointing to the magazine.
"No, who is he?"
"That's Ralph Macchio!" I gasp in disbelief.
"Yeah, he's the karate kid," Max says. "Hai-yah!"
Max does a karate chop in the air, and El and I laugh.
"He's so hot, right? I bet he's an amazing kisser too," Max smiles.
I laugh and nudge her on the shoulder.
"Hey, is Mike a good kisser?" she asks El, sitting up on the bed.
"I don't know," El smiles. "He's my first boyfriend."
"Ex-boyfriend," Max corrects.
El looks down in sadness, and Max puts her hand on El's shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Okay? He'll come crawling back to you in no time, begging for forgiveness," Max starts.
A smile cracks on El's face, and I'm proud of Max for helping her new friend out.
"I guarantee you, him and Lucas are, like, totally wallowing in self-pity and misery right now," she chuckles.
El slightly laughs.
"They're like, 'Oh, I hope they take us back,'" Max mocks.
They laugh, and I giggle at their ridiculousness.
"God, what I would give to see their stupid faces."
El looks down, and Max tilts her head.
"What is it?" I ask.
El puts on a mischievous smile, and I already catch her drift.
"We can," she smirks.
___
On the radio, we put on static sounds and El blindfolds herself while sitting crisscross on the ground.
"Is this really going to work?" Max asks, taking a seat on the bed.
El nods, and Max smiles.
"Holy shit, this is insane!" Max beams.
"Max," El warns.
"Yeah, quiet. I'm sorry," Max says.
El takes a couple of deep breaths and then stops. I assume she's already done it and seeing them.
"I see them," El states.
Max sits on the floor next to El and I lean in out of curiosity.
"What are they doing?" Max asks.
"Eating."
Max and I look at each other and wait in silence for her to speak again.
"They say we are 'species,'" she scoffs.
"What?" Max questions.
"Emotion, not logic," El states.
"What?" Max questions, more angrily.
YOU ARE READING
Radical | A stranger things story
Fantasi*Starts in season 2* "That was pretty Radical and you know it." Billy Hargrove
