Daisies || Max Mayfield

27: The Talk

Mike and El left a little later, without even eating breakfast, leaving us alone in his house.

"We should go to mine," Will said quietly, still wearing Mike's blanket. "I have this campaign I wanted to try for a little bit."

"Maybe later, Will." Lucas found Max, grabbing her hand. 

Max glanced at me, smiling. "Should we go do something?"

"We're already going to the movie tonight," Lucas added. "Let's take the day to ourselves, everyone."

Will's face fell as he nodded?

"Will, do you wanna hang out?" I asked.

"Sure."

"Okay, cool." Lucas grinned. "Meet at the mall at eight."

"Twelve hours from now," Max added, following Lucas upstairs and out of the house.

"Ugh." Will scoffed. "No one wants to play anymore."

"Can you play with two people?" I asked.

"It's not fun that way."

"Oh." I glanced back at the stairs. "Let's catch a ride with Jonathan before he leaves."

"Okay."

"Are you guys gonna be okay home alone?" Jonathan asked in the car. 

"We'll be fine, we're just gonna hang out or something," Will replied. "When's mom getting home?"

"Five."

"Thanks for the ride," I said, standing next to Will. He was only a few inches shorter than me now.

"No problem." Jonathan waved.

Nancy found my eyes in the passenger seat and winked. "Have fun."

"Thanks." Will turned to his house, opening the door. "What do you want to do?"

"I dunno."

It was 4:45. We had played board games for a while, then wandered around to castle byers.

It was a small shack made of sticks, plywood, and a tarp on the roof. It had a few different drawings taped on the walls, all of Mike.

Will had taken a particular interest in Mike in the past year. He'd always stare at him, and he realized I noticed, he didn't stop.

Will was shuffling through a bin of comics when I spoke.

"You're gay, right?"

He froze, turning a dark red and looking up. "What?"

"Are you gay?"

"Uhh, why are you asking?" His voice was higher than usual.

"I just assumed, because of Mike."

"What about Mike?"

"You're always staring at him. And you smile whenever he talks to you. I thought you liked him."

"Oh." He looked down. "It's-"

"I don't care, by the way." I quickly added. "If you're gay or not."

"Oh." His voice was quiet, and his face was returning to its normal color. "Please don't tell anyone."

"I won't." I smiled. "Who else knows?"

He shrugged. "Mike, Lucas, and Dustin. I think my mom and Jonathan do, but I didn't tell them."

"Cool." I nodded again. 

He copied the nod.

"I think I might too," I whispered. "A little, at least."

"What?" He frowned. "You like Mike too?"

"No-" I laughed. "No. I think I might be... a lesbian?"

"Oh." 

I didn't add anything else. I just sat there, thinking. Will is the first person to know that. I shouldn't have said it. It was impulsive and now he-

"Do you like Max?"

Do you like Max?

"No, of course not." I shook my head.

"Okay." He nodded. "I won't tell anyone."

"Cool."

He smiled. "Cool."

We didn't talk about it the rest of the night. I would've told someone about it, but I couldn't. Max was the person I went to talk about things with, and I kind of distanced myself from everyone else. Sure, we were friends, but I never started conversations with them. I waited for them to talk, and if they didn't, I wouldn't.

I ate dinner with the Byers, and Joyce drove us to the mall at eight.

Max and Lucas were already there, but Mike was nowhere in sight.

"I bet he's making out with El," Max muttered, walking over to me. She had a hickey on her collarbone, peeking out from her shirt collar.

I nodded, turning around. The new mayor put Starcourt Mall into the town, and it was a huge hit. Sure, people hate the guy, but they love the mall. 

We waited around for a while longer, until the familiar biking figure arrived.

"You're late," Lucas said, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry I was busy."

"Yeah, busy making out with your girlfriend." Lucas led us through the double doors and into the busy mall. "Oh El, I love you El! I wanna make out with you forever Eleven!"

Will giggled.

"Shut up, it's not funny."

"Will thinks it's funny, don't ya Will?"

Will grinned at Mike.

"Come one, we're gonna be late." Max walked by, grabbing my hand with her left, and Lucas with her right.

"Jesus Max!" Mike complained, grabbing Will and running after us.

Mike cut in front of us and walked up to the scoops counter, repeatedly hitting the bell.

Robin stared at him. "Hey dingus, your children are here!"

"Again, seriously?" He slid the window open, staring at us.

Mike smirked, hitting the bell again.

"Come on." He groaned, holding open the door for us in the back. "And remember, if you tell anyone about this-"

"We're dead!" We all repeated.

Mike led us down the hall, competing to be the first at the theater. We were seeing Day of the Dead, a new horror movie.

Mike poked his head out the front of the right door, then waved us all in.

"The coast is clear." He whispered. "Come on!"