Mike's steps became more hesitant. The young boy shivered slightly from the December cold, his feet sinking into the thick layer of snow covering the ground. The wind tousled his black hair in the air, with a few snowflakes getting lost in it. He now stood in front of a mobile home. He slowly approached the door and paused for a moment before knocking on it. He waited a few seconds before hearing footsteps approaching. A woman opened the door, her red hair and a bottle of beer in hand. Her wrinkles and husky voice testified to her age.
"Who are you?" she asked, squinting. Mike had a moment of reflection. Was he really going to do what he had planned for weeks? He could simply tell this lady that he had the wrong mobile home and run off into the snowy night. Yet he remained there and cleared his throat before speaking. "I'm a friend of Max, is she here?"
The woman's stern face softened slightly upon hearing the girl's name coming from Mike's mouth. She smiled at him and turned around. "Maxine, sweetheart, one of your friends is here!" she called out. Mike suddenly felt a bit awkward. What if Max didn't want to see him? It's not like they were the best of friends; they talked occasionally, but if their mutual friends weren't around, they didn't have much to say to each other. After a moment of deep thought, Mike saw Max's face appear in the distance. She had a furrowed brow, surely wondering why the boy was at her doorstep at nearly midnight. He waved to her, and she returned the gesture, looking perplexed. "What are you doing here, Mike?" she asked, now standing at her mother's side.
"Um, I came to talk to you," the boy replied, running a hand through his hair, his response more of a question. Max's mother and Max exchanged a glance before the older woman nodded.
"Okay, come in." Max invited Mike inside. The boy carefully wiped his shoes on the doormat while glancing around the interior of the mobile home. It wasn't as luxurious as his own place; the wallpaper and tiles seemed rather old and damaged, and a few bottles of alcohol were scattered on the coffee table.
"Come on, follow me," Max said as she walked. Mike hurried to catch up, stumbling slightly on his laces, which made the redhead chuckle. After a few steps, she opened a door.
"This is the first time you've seen this room, right?" Mike didn't answer his friend's question, carefully examining the walls filled with metal band posters. The boy had always resented Max for introducing El to his love for this kind of music. Since then, the brunette had only played bands that screamed during their hangouts, which annoyed Mike more than anything, even though he found those singers kind of cool deep down.
His brown eyes shifted towards Max's desk. There were lots of books and notebooks, probably from school. But something caught his eye. On the desk, set apart, were small photos likely taken with a Polaroid. In them were Max and El, pulling faces and grinning widely. The boy smiled and reached for the photos to get a closer look, but they were snatched from his hands. He looked up and saw Max's face. It was much different from the photos. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles, her hair much less silky, and her smile replaced with a neutral expression.
"What do you want?" she asked more cautiously, causing the black-haired boy to step back slightly and bump into the desk. "Well, how should I put it..." "I don't like beating around the bush, Mike. Spit it out, I need to study for my math exams," Max interrupted.
Mike stood still for a moment, unsure of how to articulate what he wanted to say. Yet, he had spent evenings pacing around his room, rehearsing the lines over and over again. After a moment of heavy silence, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Max, El is in love with you." The boy kept his eyes closed, afraid of the redhead's reaction. After a moment, he opened them slightly and caught sight of Max's face. It was indescribable, a mix of anger and... joy? Mike furrowed his brow, pondering this reaction, and was about to continue when the girl once again cut him off.
"If this is another one of those stupid dares, you better get out of here." "What! No, no, it's not a dare, I swear." Max didn't respond and turned her back on him, walking over to her bed and sitting down on it. The boy didn't know how to react and stayed in the corner of the room, afraid of invading his friend's personal space.
"El doesn't love me like that, Mike," Max said, shaking her head. The taller boy hesitated for a moment, then gathered his courage and sat down next to the redhead, still keeping some distance between them.
"Listen, she didn't really tell me but... it's obvious." Max looked up, tears welling in her eyes. "How is it obvious?" she whispered before burying her face in her hands.
"Well, I don't know, it just is. The way she looks at you, how her eyes light up when your name is mentioned." Mike paused for a moment, recalling the words he had rehearsed to himself.
"She only talks about you, Max, like all the time. And then, she does things with you that she doesn't do with anyone else." The black-haired boy glanced at the photos he had seen on the desk. "She never wanted to be photographed, I think flashes scare her... but in the photos you have, she looks so happy and so herself." Mike turned his head back to his friend who had lifted her head, and they exchanged a look that brought more tears from Max.
"She has never been more herself with anyone else than with you, and even though I've tried my hardest to make her feel that way with me, I could never make her feel what she feels for you."
"Shut up, Mike," Max sobbed, turning her head away. Mike looked at her for a moment, Max also loved El, it was logical. Since Billy's death, the redhead had hardly ever smiled, whether it was at Dustin's jokes or Lucas' kisses. Yet, as soon as El came into her line of sight, her dull blue eyes would light up just a little bit. Mike saw it, Lucas saw it, everyone saw it, and Mike knew that the two girls saw it too, because this attraction between them could not be ignored.
"I don't deserve El," Max's voice was muffled by her sobs and Mike panicked as he saw her crying becoming louder. He tried to put a hand on the girl's shoulder but she pushed him away.
"No, Max, don't say that" "Yes. She deserves you. You're smart, you have a future and you're a boy. I'm just a girl who's sad that her jerk of a stepbrother is dead, and my future, let's not even talk about it. She deserves so much better than that, she deserves so much better than anything in the world." Mike rolled his eyes at this statement and chuckled, earning an inquisitive look from the redhead.
"If you think I'm better than you... my dad and mom can barely stand me and the older I get, the more I ruin my relationships with the people who matter to me. If that's what El deserves then it would be an insult." Max had a mix of chuckles and sobs, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her t-shirt.
"You're not wrong about that." Mike was reassured by his friend's sarcasm and gave her a light shoulder bump. "Listen, I want the best for El, and if the best is to be with a girl who's always sarcastic and prefers listening to people shout rather than sing, then so be it." Max looked up at Mike in surprise at what he thought of her.
"Yeah, that's very condescending, Wheeler." "I know, Mayfield, I know." The two looked at each other for a moment. Mike was happy, because Max looked a little happier than usual and if Max is happy, then El will be over the moon, and Mike wanted nothing more than the best for these two girls.
( I like the fact that Mike and Max care about each other but don't want to show it. )
