ACROSS THE STARS {stranger things • lumax}

ִ ࣪𖤐 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢

believe it or not, mike has been paying attention.

december '86

~

Lucas scoffed and slammed his fist against his locker.

"Stupid freaking piece of garbage. Gets jammed every five seconds..." he muttered to himself.

Erica had made him late to school looking for her pencil case, Max gave him that mopey look again in the hallway, and now this... today had been one of those days.

Lucas leaned forward on his arms and dropped his head against the cool metal with bang of frustration. A hand on his shoulder stopped him from going in for another.

"Woah, hey! Lucas, what's going on?"

Lucas rolled his eyes and swiveled around to meet Mike's concerned expression.

"You ok dude?" Mike asked. Lucas took in a deep breath, mouth pursing into a hard line.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just ready for this day to be over." He gave one last jolt to his locker, swinging it open and stuffing folders and notebooks into his bag. Mike watched amusedly as Lucas adjusted the backpack on his shoulder and went to walk away.

"Wait, Lucas, aren't you coming to Hellfire? It's the monthly pitch meeting."

Lucas paused mid-stride, pinching his eyes closed. "Crap," he mouthed. He spun around to face Mike. "Uh, yeah sure. I might've forgot to plan something though."

Mike just shrugged, "That's alright, Gareth will probably take up all the time anyways. Come on," he said, gesturing for Lucas to follow.

——————————————————————

"It'll take a nineteen to infiltrate the cult lair and pulverize the hobgoblins!" announced Gareth.

"Vanquish the little menaces!" Jeff shouted at Lucas.

He fought to not make a face, shaking the dice around between his cupped hands. He threw it down onto the board, everyone's eyes searching eagerly, only for a six to stare pitifully back up at them. Lucas' shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Good try, Sinclair," Eddie sing-songed, sitting back against his ridiculous throne, tapping his fingers together in a menacing rhythm. "And not a bad idea overall, Gareth."

Dustin clapped Lucas on the back while he looked down desperately at his watch, then speaking up with a hint of drama, "Well, it's about that time ladies, sleep tight." Lucas quickly gathered up his things and rushed towards the door. He made it a couple feet from the school's exit, when a bony hand clamped around his forearm.

"Yeesh! Ugh, Mike, what's up with you today? Grabbing me all crazy," Lucas snarked impatiently.

Mike scoffed. "Hardly! You've been the one with an attitude. Seriously, what's going on?"

Lucas struggled with his words. "N-nothing! I need to go home, it's getting late." The sun was setting through autumn leaves behind them.

"No, just hold on! Just give me one second, gosh," Mike insisted, spinning around Lucas to block the exit.

He gulped, then said what he really meant. "Is it... about Max? Lucas, we all know things aren't ok between you two."

Lucas stared, mouth hanging open. "What? No!" he almost yelled. "Everything's fine, Mike. Not like it's any of your business anyways."

"Lucas, come on!" Mike shot back. "Bet you haven't talked to Max in weeks! She's gone completely AWOL - totally silent in class, disappears at lunch, and cancels on everything we try. Look me in the eyes and tell me again that everything's fine."

The thing is, Lucas didn't say anything.

So Mike stepped closer to his friend, and lowered his voice. "Lucas, something's obviously going on with Max, it's like-like I can see it in her eyes." He gestured towards his face. "You see how many times she goes to the nurses office, right? And that rattling in her jacket pocket? Dude, she's totally popping pills like candy!"

Lucas groaned, breaking his silence. "Come on, don't say stuff like that! That's super insensitive of Max. She gets headaches, like, all the time. And what am I supposed to do? Yeah, she won't even talk to me! I ride all the way out to her trailer and she won't even open the door!"

"Wait, trailer?" Mike interrupted.

"Yeah, she and her mom moved there a few weeks ago. Those ones off Kerley?"

"Oh." Finally Mike stopped talking for a second.

"Yeah." Lucas tried to slow his breathing, folding his arms and walking around in a circle.

Mike finished with one final piece of advice, his expression completely serious. "Look, just... you can't let her drift away, Lucas. If she's really that important to you, there's got to be something you can do. There's gotta be."

Lucas blinked at the ground for a few moments, then shook his head. "Yeah... whatever. Later Mike," ending the conversation with a mumble.

As much as Lucas wanted to see Max smile at him again, to laugh at his stupid jokes and squeal like a little girl when he poked at her sides - as much as Lucas wanted Max - he just couldn't see a way. This was a problem Lucas just couldn't solve.

And that terrified him.