Weirdo //Elmax //

Chapter 6

"Dustin!"
Max shouted into the walkie-talkie, causing the curly-haired boy to fall out of his bed where he had been sleeping peacefully.
"Dustin! Answer me!"

The boy slowly got up, rubbing his head to make sure he hadn't hurt himself. He walked over to the device that was broadcasting his friend's voice.

"Yeah, Max, what's going on?" he replied, sounding tired. He glanced at the clock in his room. It was barely 7:40 AM. Max never called him at this hour. She usually slept in on weekends. "You're up early."

"Shut up, Dustin, this is very important, okay? It's a code red," Max declared.

The boy snapped awake. When they were kids, Max and he had invented color codes based on the seriousness of the situation they were about to announce. Red was the most serious color.

"What? What's going on? Is your mom hurt? Did Billy beat you up? What's happening?!"
Max rolled her eyes. It wasn't as serious as that, but it was very important. She hadn't slept a wink for almost a week, obsessed with the idea that she might have a crush on Jane.

"No, Dustin, calm down. It's not that," Max sighed into the walkie-talkie. "But I can come over to your place right away. It's still serious."
Dustin, who really didn't understand what was going on, nodded without asking any questions. He heard Max cut off the walkie-talkie.

"Oh god, what could it be?"
He looked out of his window, and within minutes, he saw his friend's head speeding toward him on her bike. She stopped abruptly in front of the Hendersons' house, not bothering to lock her bike, simply tossing it to the ground before ringing the doorbell.

"Dustin, sweetheart, Max is here!" The boy stepped out of his room and descended the stairs to find himself face to face with the redhead. She had enormous bags under her eyes, and her usually rosy complexion had turned pale. "Hey, Ma..." The girl cut him off, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him toward the stairs. "Hurry up, we don't have all day."

When they entered the curly-haired boy's room, Max quickly closed the door and made sure it was securely locked. "Wow, Max, what's going on?"

The girl turned her head and grasped her friend's shoulders, sitting down on the floor. Dustin followed suit. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before the boys took the risk of breaking the silence that had settled. "So... what's happening?"

Max quickly peeled a piece of skin from her upper lip, causing Dustin to grimace.
"You will bleed."
"I don't care, Dustin. don't care."

The silence resumed, and a few seconds later, the redhead took a deep breath and began. "Dustin." The boy nodded to indicate that he was listening. "You... you've been in love before."

The boy's eyes widened, and he started to smile. He leaned toward the girl and placed his hands on her shoulders."You're in love!" The redhead's eyes widened even more, and she blushed, which made Dustin smile even wider. "My friend is in lo..."

Max glanced toward the door, then quickly covered Dustin's mouth with her hand.
"Shut up! I'm not in love, okay! I'm not in love." The girl spelled out each letter of the last word one by one.

The boy nodded and mumbled a sentence muffled by the redhead's hand.

After a few seconds, the girl removed her hand and rubbed it against the carpet where she was sitting. "Your breath is moist, it's disgusting."
The boy rolled his eyes at the girl's disgusted face.

"Well, who's the lucky boy who holds your heart?" The boy raised an eyebrow, but the girl looked even more disgusted.
"I'm not in love, I just want to know what it feels like. You, for example, what did you feel when you fell in love with Suzie?"

Dustin's face became serious, and he started to think. "Well... I've been in love before Suzie, so I knew what it felt like."

"Yes, well, I don't care. What did you feel?" The girl ran her hand through her hair, a sign that she was starting to stress. Dustin noticed her agitation and understood that his answer must be important to her.
"Well, first of all, I thought about Suzie all the time. All the time!" Max nodded, leaning closer to her friend.

"Then, I wanted to spend every moment with her. My heart raced, and I felt butterflies in my stomach every time I was a little too close to her. I blushed for no reason."

"You always blush for no reason, Dustin," Max sighed.
Dustin chuckled in agreement before continuing his story. "And most importantly, I constantly wanted to be very close to her. And of course, I wanted to kiss her."

During the curly-haired boy's narration, Max had placed her hands on her head. It couldn't be true. She felt everything Dustin was describing. But it wasn't for a boy that she felt this way. It was for Jane. Jane was a girl, not a boy.

There was silence in the room, filled by the song that Dustin's mother was listening to downstairs. Dustin observed his friend, who had completely hidden her face in her hands. Something was wrong. He had known her since they were little, and he could tell when the redhead wasn't okay. He didn't risk speaking, afraid that Max would shut down and stop talking altogether.

After a few seconds, Max exhaled sharply and abruptly lay down on the floor. Dustin looked at her without saying anything. He waited for her to open up, even if it was just a few words.
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"We have a problem Dustin..." Max closed her eyes, fearing that her friend would ask a thousand questions, but he remained silent. He sat down next to her and lay down, mirroring her position.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered.
Max thought for a moment. She knew Dustin was open-minded, but she was afraid he might slip up and repeat everything she told him to her mom or Suzie.
She shook her head in response.

"Okay... well, let's not talk about it. Do you want to bake some cookies? My mom bought flour."

The girl chuckled slightly and sat up. "Alright, let's bake some cookies." The boy smiled and got up. He wanted his friend to feel better, and if that meant pretending he didn't know she was falling in love, then he wouldn't mention love at all during the day ahead.