✓ LET ME IN, elmax

TWO: SCRAPED KNEES

CHAPTER TWO
( scraped knees! )

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   THE FOLLOWING DAY AT SCHOOL, MAX HAD OTHER THINGS ON HER MIND. during lunch, max sat down to her usual table by herself and pulled out a book. her mind started wandering, however, and all she could think about was the rubix cube girl. no matter how hard max tries to focus on the novel in front of her, she can't stop thinking of what the unnamed girl was doing.

max knew that the other girl wasn't thinking of her, and she knew that she's not that important to her — just another person that the girl meets in a day-to-day life — but max can't help but hope that she's on her mind. is this what longing for a friend is?

   suddenly, a group of people stand next to her. max looks up and notices each person looking at her. "can we sit here?" the chubby boy with curly hair asks her. max hesitates to say yes at first, but ultimately nods, and they sit down.

   it's four boys who sit to her left. one is the previously mentioned chubby boy. he has a gray shirt on and blue jeans, a basic but suiting outfit. the next one is a boy with a buzzcut and dark eyes. he has a bandana tied around his head and wears a red baseball tee and some blue jeans with rips at the knees. max wasn't sure if a bandana is against dress code, since it's similar to a hat. it looks nice, though. the third boy has a bit of a baby face and a bowl cut. he has a long sleeved blue shirt and gray sweatpants that compliment his small frame. he seems to be the most quiet on out of the four, mostly talking to the final boy on the far left. he has raven colored hair and wears black jeans and a matching black shirt.

they make max feel a bit overdressed.

she always dresses a bit more formal for school because her mother said everybody loves a girl who can dress. she wears a long sleeved forest green dress that goes down to her knees. max had some black shorts underneath, because no matter how formal she dresses, she will still always love to run and climb. she had black, translucent socks on up to her knees and dirty white shoes. sure, she wasn't that overdressed, but it wasn't quite casual, either.

   the boys' keep trying to add her to their conversations, but max will mostly just pitch in with a nod or false smile. the bandana boy begins to talk directly to her. "what's your name?"

"oh. it's max." she replies quickly, sending them a quick smile. "max mayfield."

"mayfield, huh? i think my mom is in your mom's book club." the bandana boy laughs. "i'm lucas sinclair."

sinclair. that does sound familiar. "so are these idiots." lucas continues. the raven haired boy fakes a gasp and places his hand on his chest. "this is dustin henderson," he points to the chubby boy, "will byers, and mike wheeler." the bowl cut boy nods his head first, and then the raven haired boy nods slightly with a smile.

"yeah, your names sound familiar." max replies. at that moment, she begins to regret telling her mom she doesn't want to meet these kids. they seem nice, and they seem to like her enough.

   the bell rings, and the four boys get up and head to class. max picks up her book and heads to her next class.

after school, max heads home and changes into a pink sweater and black sweatpants, throws on her green hat (which doesn't match her outfit, but she truthfully does not care) and heads out after giving her mom a quick kiss on the cheek.

max notices that most of the snow is melted, so the mulch under the climbing set is now visible. she sits down on the low bar and waits for the unnamed girl. she waits. and waits. and waits.

   finally, the girl seems to appear out of nowhere, finished rubix cube in hand. max notices that her hair is styled a bit different, with a yellow bow in her hair. she has a matching yellow t-shirt on with a gray windbreaker over it. she also has some black ripped jeans on, however they look a bit too big for her, so she wears a black belt that only shows because her shirt is tucked in. it's so pretty on her, max can't help but stare for a bit until the girl speaks.

   "i did it." the girl smiles and presents the rubix cube. she then sits next to max and places the cube on the red haired girl's lap. "it took two hours, though."

   "wow," max says, "i could never do that. by the way, you never did tell me your name." she gives her a hopeful smile and nudges her with her shoulder.

   "jane." she says. "hopper."

"jane. i like that." jane's face begins to redden, as well as her ears. max, however, just assumes it is because it's cold and windy. max sets down the rubix cube onto the wood next to the climbing set and stands up. "do you wanna climb, maybe? i have always enjoyed this thing."

jane nods and stands up as well. she hesitates at first, but she finally follows max to the top of the spider web-like climbing set and sits down next to her.

   "so," max starts, "where do you go to school?"

   "i'm homeschooled. by my uncle." jane answers.

   max begins to start a new conversation, but she starts to lose her balance and falls. it wasn't too dangerous, just two or three feet above the ground, but max scraped her knee. she lifts up her pant leg to see a bit of blood oozing from a slight cut. she hisses through her teeth and stands up, ignoring the small burning sensation in her knee.

   "i gotta go. i'll see you tomorrow?" jane says, panicked. maybe she just hates the sight of blood? doesn't matter. max picks up the rubix cube and heads inside, then to the bathroom to clean and cover the cut.

( author's note! )

it's going kinda slow, but next chapter is gonna actually introduce some plot and creep factor