TWIST OF FATE {stranger things • lumax}

𝕒 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

Max awoke the next morning to the phone ringing madly. She peeled one eye open, unsticking the side of her face from the pillow. As she debated whether to go back to sleep or not, the phone stopped, and she dropped her head down with a sigh. Orange daylight streamed into Max's room, and little flecks of technicolor shone through pearly shells hanging from the window latch. It was, peaceful. Until the ringing started up once more.

Max groaned. Mom and Dad must've left for work already. Jeez, what time was it? She slid off the side of her bed, and stalked out towards the kitchen.

"Mayfields," she muttered into the phone.

"Max, finally! How're you feeling?" El chirped on the other side.

"Oh just peachy, El!" She mimicked. "How about yourself?"

She hummed in response. "Slept like a baby, what can I say?"

"Do you not remember what happened last night? I mean, you were completely wasted." Max grimaced. Yet again, she's managed to embarrass herself beyond repair.

"Oh whatever, so we got drunk. It happens, Max! Are we gonna doing something fun today or what?"

"Huh?" Max responded incredulously.

"Come on! Let's go to the mall or something! We can't waste a precious Saturday just because we got knocked on our asses yesterday," El insisted. "I'll pick you up in twenty?"

El had a point, and besides, her head didn't hurt that much anymore.

"Make it thirty. I've gotta do something with this hair," Max responded, looking to a matted strand between her fingers.

"Deal! See ya soon!"

Max went to say something but El had already ended the call. She blinked a few times, but then just shrugged and opened up the fridge. Her eyes landed on a plate of eggs and sausage covered in plastic wrap, a square note sitting on top.

Didn't hear you come in last night! Hope you had fun baby! Your dad and I both picked up shifts this morning - we know how much you want to go to UC San Diego! Love you bunches. Xoxo, Mom

The corner of Max's mouth rose. Yes, she dreamed nearly every night about going back to California. By the time Max started high school, the cost of living had risen to be simply too much for her parents to keep up with, so her dad ended up finding a "once in a lifetime" nuclear engineering job with the Indiana National Laboratory, located on the outskirts of tiny Hawkins. Once the decision was made, it wasn't difficult for her mom to find another librarian position. Although she would never admit it, Max was in fact raised by complete nerds. That might've been the initial fuel for her pre-teen rebellion - the constant skateboarding, mouthing off, and bad grades - or maybe it was the fiery red hair that her peers relentlessly teased her over. Either way, Max was different than the other kids when she arrived at Hawkins High. Thankfully, so was El.

As the, well, whimsical daughter of the police chief, kids weren't exactly lining up to be her friend. She and Max were seated next to each other in Mrs. Click's sophomore history class, and the rest was history. They made each other laugh, seeing who could pretend to snore the loudest through a war film without getting scolded, or putting on an atrocious impression of what Napoleon might've sounded like. Max and El were opposites that made a whole. Max was tomboyish, hot-headed, yet reclusive. El on the other hand, was girly, tender-hearted, and curious.

Max was perfectly content with having one, singular friend. It meant no unnecessary drama, or an overwhelming social life. It meant she and her would walk to classes together, she and her would have lunch under the big oak tree, she and her would watch movies every Friday night. That was, until boys came into the picture.

Mike Wheeler had started to give hints that he was into El after their first Christmas break of being friends. Max obviously didn't approve. Mike was so... aggravating. The two couldn't be around each other for more than thirty seconds without picking a fight. Thankfully, El was a loyal friend and didn't leave her in the dust for the dork, but instead welcomed in his other dork friend to join their group and make the numbers even. Max could tell Dustin had a good heart, but he could also get annoying, blabbering on flaunty physics rants for attention as Mike and El made googly eyes at each other.

Max pretended to gag every time they did this, which was often. She'd never been the romantic type, although her parents seemed to be well in love, but Max simply found more interest and appetite in things like listening to her Walkman and collecting stickers for her board.

That was, until Lucas came into the picture.

She found herself hopelessly attracted to the guy after that one meeting in the hallway. As she'd started to observe him lately, Max noticed that although a "jock", Lucas was genuinely kind, self-assured, and incredibly devoted to his own sport.

But Max had messed it all up, at least that's what she convinced herself of. Within one week, she'd managed to make a massive fool of herself in front of him. That's twice!

So yeah, maybe El was right. They needed to turn this weekend around, and Starcourt Mall was calling their name.

~

El arrived thirty minutes later, on the dot. She sailed through the sleepy streets of Hawkins until they reached the towering, multi-colored mall.

She had a giant smile plastered across her face, and led Max by the wrist into the thrilling expanse of the building. Madonna blared over the speakers and the smell of funnel cakes lingered sweetly in the air.

"So, are you looking for anything specific?" Max asked.

"Oh, you know, maybe a new pair of overalls since Fall is on the way, and some more of those jangly bracelets..." El answered loftily, looking anywhere but her friend.

Max frowned and grabbed her by the shoulder. "What are you... hiding, El?"

El's eyes widened but tried to turn away incase Max saw. "W-what! I'm not hiding anything!" she spluttered out, continuing to search aimlessly towards the storefronts.

Max raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, fine! I just thought, maybe it would be fun to check out Mira Bella..." El said timidly.

"The ridiculously expensive dress shop? And what would we need to do that for?" Max demanded.

"For fun."

Max knew what this was about. She just didn't really think El would go there. She took a deep breath in. "El, I told you. I specifically said that I'd—"

"That you'd never ever, under any circumstance, go to a school dance, not even our senior Homecoming. Yes, yes, I remember Max! I just thought maybe you'd reconsider, especially since you could totally go with—"

Max stopped her once again. "Don't you dare say Sinclair or I'm leaving."

El groaned. "Ok, whatever Max. But just because you don't want to doesn't mean I can't look at dresses. Come on," she insisted, motioning to grab Max's hand again. But she swatted it away, crossing her arms instead and following behind at a small distance.

So much for a nice Saturday.