𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑, elmax [ discontinued ]

ch. 10

Recently, El had started walking around Hawkins alone. Going to stores and cafes where she would usually bring her friends. Socialising these days could easily get too much for her, so strolling around on her own was pretty stress relieving.

Today El had headed to the record store. The store in which she couldn't buy anything, due to the rules at home, yet it still being her favourite. She enjoyed looking at the colourful album covers, while listening to the gentle music playing from the speakers.
It was the only place she got to listen music, now that Max and El didn't see each other much anymore.

The girl wandered through the store, trying to hum along to the song currently playing, filling the aisles of the shop. She was all caught up in her own thoughts, so she didn't notice the sound of someone entering the store.
Usually she would always look up to see who had walked in the door, due to her slight anxiousness, but this time she didn't bother to take note of it.

When she finished browsing through her beloved CDs, she finally lifted her head to see a familiar redhead, standing across the store by a vinyl shelf.
Beverly.

After just a few seconds, almost as if the girl could sense someone looking at her, Beverly moved her gaze from the David Bowie record she was holding.
The two girls' eyes met, and to Eleven's surprise, Bev immediately sent her a smile.

Beverly put the record back down, as she slowly walked towards the CD stand.

"You're into that kinda fancy stuff, huh?" she nodded towards the newly invented CDs, with a grin.

El put down the CD, she realised she was still holding, as she shrugged softly.
"I don't own a player for them, but they seem pretty cool."

Beverly slowly nodded as she picked up a random CD in each hand, admiring them front and back.
"Right. If I had the money, I'd buy one just to try them out."

El couldn't help it but let a little smile show on her face. She had wanted to be alone all day, but she enjoyed Beverly's company. She always seemed so calm and positive, opposite many others in this world.

"It's cool talking to you again. How are you?" Bev asked after a little while.

"Good," El blurted out automatically, without even thinking about if it was true or not.
She realised it wasn't. She wasn't feeling very good, if she'd have to be honest.

"Actually, no... not so good," she corrected, trying not to make her smile fade too much.
She had only met Bev twice, yet she felt somewhat comfortable telling her about her feelings.

Bev's lit face, quickly turned into a concerned frown.
"Yeah? How come?"

The way Beverly seemed genuinely interested in what El was saying, made her entire mood light up a little.

"Everything's just... a lot," El said silently, rubbing her eyes. She hesitated for a bit, considering if she should keep telling this girl she hardly knew, about her personal issues.
She decided to go on. She could feel how much she needed to let it all out.

"There's this girl... she's my best friends. Or were? I don't even know anymore. She's mad at me, but I definitely asked for it."

El looked back up at the redhead, who looked back at her with a curious face.
"What did you do?"

El shook her head lightly, her short curls waving around her face.
"I might have ignored her for nearly a month by now," she said sarcastically with a weak smile. Saying this sentence out loud made her realise how rude she had been for the past weeks.
"And tomorrow I'm having two hours of detention with her. So that's gonna be difficult."

Bev glanced sympathetically into El's eyes, before going:
"When do you get off detention tomorrow? We could meet at the diner, grab a milkshake, talk things out?" she flashed her a small smile, "I know we don't know each other very well, but you seem really good talking to... and I have a lot to get off my chest myself."

Eleven didn't even hesitate to nod, with a smile slowly forming across her face.
Beverly was great talking to, even if they had only spoken twice.

"Sure. See you there at 4?"

a/n
ty for 500 reads! you deserve better than this bad chapter with wack ass dialogue, i'm so sorry