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the next day, el woke up to her room coated in the morning sun inching its way through the top of her curtains. she rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed, running her fingers through her knotty hair. the events of the day before ran through her head. had it been a dream? no. she remembered max's lips on hers, the smell of her hair and the feeling of their hands clutching each other. what had felt too good to be true the day before suddenly came with a sea of questions that she wasn't sure she knew how to answer. girls weren't supposed to kiss girls. she knew that from the kids at school. el had no idea what she was doing. part of her wanted to ring max but part dreaded the thought of speaking to the redhead without understanding how she really felt. suddenly nothing seemed as crystal clear any more.
she climbed out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find hopper on the couch, watching the tv.
"morning kid." he said, cigar hanging from his mouth. el smiled and sat down at the kitchen table. she didn't really feel like speaking. "you okay?" hopper asked. el nodded.
"mmhm." she mumbled.
hopper looked at her, confused, before picking up his hat and putting out his cigar.
"well," he said, grabbing his car keys from the table. "i gotta get to work. ring the office if you need anything." he ruffled el's hair playfully, making her grin. he waved as he walked out of the door, shutting it behind him.
el ate some cereal and got dressed before wondering what to do. she didn't feel like staying home. she wanted to ring max, but she also didn't . in the end, she decided she'd go walk around the mall. ever since the first day she went there, she had loved it. the bright colors, all the people with their eccentric clothes and wacky hair, talking with friends about their lives. it made her feel free, full of the life that she had been deprived of for so long.
she arrived at the mall with $5 and a small smile on her face. she wanted ice cream. maybe she'd see dustin, or someone she knew there. hopefully not max. or maybe she did want to see her. she didn't know.
she walked into scoops ahoy and sat down in a bright red booth. she watched the people around her in fascination. people had always fascinated her, the fact they were all so different, yet all so the same. she loved it.
after a while, she began to remember all the times she'd spent here with max. as friends. friends who didn't kiss each other because friends aren't supposed to kiss each other, especially if they're both girls.
the smile dropped from el's face as she played with her fingers, wondering if she'd messed everything up. what if their friendship was never the same?
at the counter, robin looked at the young girl sat alone, watching the lost look in her deep brown eyes. "steve, who's that?" she asked, pointing at el.
"eleven." steve replied, briefly looking over at el before turning back to robin. "why?"
"do you think she's ok?" robin asked.
steve shrugged. "i don't know. does she look it?"
robin studied the girl for a few more seconds, before hopping down from the counter and walking over to el's booth.
a/n: IM BACK ! i'm sorry i took so long to update, i just couldn't really find the motivation but then season 3 came out and i am living elmax atm, so imma write a load of drafts then publish them across the next few weeks. how did y'all feel about s3? i LOVED IT and there's so much i wanna talk about sksksk, anyway sorry there's not much elmax in this but i loveDD robins charactr and wanted to include her in the story .
also basically i just deleted the last part because i completely fucked up and i'm lazy so
