Salt To The Wound (A Stranger Things Story)

Season 5-Chapter 22: Valedictorian (Max's POV

Recently, Max's hallucinations of Lucas haven't been so apparent. The pills seemed to have worked and now she could focus on school better.

Max wanted to be valedictorian for her class, and she had the perfect speech for it, but she wasn't the only one that wanted to. She had a competition, and her grades were perfect like some of the competitions were. But Max didn't want to give up, and maybe she would be able to beat them.

"Hey El," Max said sitting next to her and she smiled at her. "What's up?" El asked looking up at her. "Wanna help me with something?" Max asked and El eyed her. "I need you to help me eliminate my competition," Max said and Els's eyes widened. "Not like that, just get them out the running, I need to be valedictorian," Max said and El exhaled. "Well, why the hell did you phrase it like that, and isn't there like 50 plus people that want it?" El asked and Max nodded. "I could, but what do I get out of it?" She asked and Max rolled her eyes. "Just do it please," she said and El nodded.

Max didn't want to cheat her way to victory, but she knew that she'd be the best option for valedictorian. Her speech was amazing and she knew that she was better equipped for it.

The group was extremely close right now, probably closer than they ever were before, they hung out all the time. They were inseparable as of now, but they all knew that was going to change sooner rather than later.

"The ones that were actual competition are out now," El said walking with Max and Max smiled. "Great, thank you so much," Max said and El nodded. "So why do you wanna be valedictorian so bad?" El asked and Max shrugged. "I just have so much I wanna say to everyone, and that's the only way to say it," Max said, and El nodded. "I see," El said. "You could've probably made it without cheating, considering your popularity status and your grades," El said and Max shrugged. "The higher my chances, the better," Max said, taking out her pencil.

The pills helped, but they didn't stop him from coming. They mostly stopped how intense he was, now when Max saw him, it was usually through windows. The pills stopped him from actually appearing next to her as he used to, which was a good thing in itself, but it seemed as if the issue was too serious for him to stop appearing entirely. She accepted that this would probably be a part of her for her entire life, and she couldn't change that.

She went inside her bathroom and looked into the mirror to see the reflection of Lucas looking back at her. "What do you want now Lucas?" She said, ironing her hair. "Miss me?" Lucas asked and she looked at him through the mirror. "Of course, but I've learned to let go, considering how many times it's happened," she said. "Crazy to think that you're going to see me for the rest of your life," Lucas said and she smiled. "I could just avoid mirrors," she said and he smiled. "Now you know that's impossible," Lucas said and Max rolled her eyes. "Bye Lucas," she said, leaving the bathroom, and shutting the door behind her.

She walked down the hallway to her class, before Karen approached her. "I hear you want to be valedictorian," she said and Max nodded. "What's it to you?" She asked, looking at Karen up and down a couple of times. "I'm the principal, so I pick who it is, maybe we could work something out," Karen said and Max raised an eyebrow. "What do you want from me?" She asked and Karen smiled. "Well for one, I'd appreciate it if you didn't hate me so damn much, secondly, make Mike want me in his life again," she said and Max scoffed. "You were a bitch, like an entire asshole to him, why the hell would he want you back, he even tried to let you back I'm before you fucked it up again," Max said and Karen shrugged. "Well looks like I'm just going to have to go with Ethan," she said. "Wait, I'll do it," Max said and Karen smirked. "There's two months of school left, so hurry," Karen said and Msx nodded.