𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐂𝐓, elmax

ch. 4 ✧ the deal

Eleven's eyes went wide and her mouth gaped open.
"W-what?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but let me explain-"

"Then go on and explain!" El let out, sounding a little more aggressive than intended.

"Okay okay," Max started, "I want Lucas to be jealous. I want to see the look on his face when he thinks I'm actually a lesbian. I wanna proof to him that I'm not scared of him. Not scared of what he will think of me."

El thought about it for a second. It made sense.
Max interrupted El's thoughts, as she added:
"But obviously it's just an act."

The brunette nodded understanding. She understood Max' idea, but so many things could go wrong.
First off, it was 1986. Them acting like homosexuals, would get them totally outcasted by society.
And what about their friends? Would they push them away too?

But most importantly, she couldn't let Mike think she was dating a girl. She couldn't let him think she was dating anyone at all. It would ruin her chances with him, and he would probably never talk to her again if he thought she was gay.

"But what if our friends leave us?" El spoke quietly.

The red-haired girl furrowed her brows.
"Why would they do that?"

"Because," El started as if it was obvious, "being lesbian is weird... it's not normal."
She lowered her voice at the last part, even though nobody would hear them from outside the AV room.

Max shrugged.
"I... I didn't really think about that," she scratched the back of her head, "but I don't think they will."

Eleven sighed in disbelief.
"Whatever," she decided to forget the cons of the plan, and actually think of how they could make it work.
"they probably won't even suspect that we are together if we show up, acting like a couple. We hug and hold hands all the time already."

"Pet names," Max said simply.

El scoffed with a chuckle.
"What do you want me to call you? Babe?" she teased sarcastically.

"I don't hate that," Max smirked, flipping her red hair behind her shoulder, "Darling."

The other girl rolled her eyes, still smiling.
This is ridiculous, she thought, yet she didn't hate it either. It was kind of fun.

"Okay. Here's the rules," Max started, clapping her hand together.
"Of course we don't have to act all gay and in love, when we're in private," the redhead pointed a strict finger at El, "But in public we need to be convincing. Meaning there's no talking about this relationship being fake, when others are around, at all!"

El thought the plan through in her head, before reaching her hand out, for Max to take it.
"Deal."

Max chuckled, taking her now officially fake girlfriend's hand.
"Deal."

Max lightly shook the other girl's hand, before pulling her into a hug.
"Thank you for doing this," she held tightly around El's waist, as El put her arms around Max' neck, "you're the best. You always back up my stupid ideas."

"This idea isn't stupid, though," El pulled her head away to look Max in the eyes, her arms resting on her friend's shoulders.
"You're smart. You know how to get your revenge."

Max smiled softly, looking down at her feet.
"Thank you, El."

El giggled sweetly at the sight of her vulnerable-looking best friend. It wasn't often Max went soft, but she sure looked adorable whenever she did.
"So when do we start?" El put a red lock of hair behind the other girl's ear.

The girls were startled, shocked jumping out of each other's grip, by the sound of the school bell ringing above them.
"Tomorrow?" Max suggested.

The girls slowly walked towards the door, getting ready to go to class.
"Sure."

As the two was about to split, heading to different classes Max spun around, facing the brunette.

"So, everything's clear?" Max made sure they agreed on all the parts of the plan.

El nodded, even though she knew she had one more rule, that Max didn't know about: Mike couldn't know.
She needed to make sure Mike didn't think she had a relationship going with Max.
El hadn't thought of how difficult that might end up being, before this moment.
But she'd figure something out. She had to.

"Yeah. All clear."

✧ ✧ ✧

a/n
thank you so much for the love on this book ily!
💗💕💝
i don't really like this chapter yikeyike