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Newbie

Newbie

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When she joins the group, it’s not because she wants to, it’s because she doesn’t understand why she can’t. 

He’s the leader, they say, the ruler. Mike Wheeler with his horrible glares and casual rudeness. Assertive wit and sardonic bark that’s often harsher than the bite. Always has something to complain over, to fuss about. Always running his mouth, butting in, providing his dictation even when it sorely has no benefit. Mike, with his indirect facade of constant irritability, annoyed tongue, low, unimpressed eyelids and grimacing lips. 

He supports all of them with his put off attitude, treats them like he’s delaying the Queen of England to be with them, like he’s wearing wet clothes in january, but she gets the worst of it before she’s even officially in. And she’s not sure how she became apart of it or if she ever did, but she knows she wasn’t something he permitted. Not willingly. 

It was a case of being outnumbered. He doesn’t want her here. In the group–the party , the school, the town. “ Go back to california.”  

She doesn’t mind, really, Dustin says don’t worry, he was born an ass, Lucas says that’s how he is, Eleven doesn’t take it seriously often, is rarely around to, and Will watches and sometimes tries to pretend like he's got room to care. She wonders why they spend so much time with Mike if they don’t enjoy it. 

Once, she’s vocal about it. 

“Why do you hang out with him then?”  

They look at her, then at one another. Dustin asks, “ What? ” and she lets it be. 

She thinks it might be her. He’s a boxer and sees her as more of a bag, in spite of what she really is. But how he is to her isn’t how he is to everybody. 

People have tones for each person they come around. She does. She’s different to Billy than she is to her mother. She’s harder and sharper to him because he’s the bigger dog and the instinct to defend herself will linger as long as they’re both there. She’ll refuse to respect him, she’ll snarl, but she knows who will win, so that’s all she does. 

She’s kind to Eleven, she’s annoyed to Dustin and Lucas, she’s unsure around Will, and she’s guarded to Mike. 

She’s soft to Eleven because Eleven knows how to distinguish all of three emotions in another person and two of them Max isn’t. Eleven isn’t normal and she’ll never be, and Max doesn’t know how to handle the sympathy she feels in regard to that, so she’s naturally sweet to her. She’s strong willed to Dustin and Lucas because she’s actively aware of the way they still behave specifically fondly to her. She can’t decide if she is revered or embarrassed–she doesn’t think she should be either, but she has poor knowledge of how to accept praise. She’s shifty and hesitant to Will for ways similar to Eleven’s, but he’s so awfully unapproachable, much more than Mike, and she feels he should always be the first to talk, but he never does. He’s right there, but constantly somewhere else, barely looks at her, and if he does it’s like she’s the most uninteresting thing in the world. She’s taut to Mike because anything that comes from his mouth concerning her is something she could certainly do without, and she feels no need to pursue his endorsement because he clearly is not gracious with it.