in which an unlikely relationship forms between two girls over the summer of '85...
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ever since andy harrington and max mayfield met in the fall of 1984, there...
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"You do realize we can still hear everything you're saying, right?"
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Quick A/N: Today's chapter is a bit short so I apologize if it seems rushed. But I hope you enjoy<3
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"SEE THAT WASN'T SO bad, was it?" Max wiped the excess alcohol from Andy Harrington's cheek with her finger and carefully placed a bandage on her cut. A sigh escaped from Andy's lips as she peered at herself in the mirror, examining the spot on her cheek that was now plastered with a large brown bandage.
"I look stupid, Max. Is this really necessary?"
Max chuckled and placed a hand on Andy's shoulder. "Hey, at least when it comes off, you'll have a badass scar." She replied, attempting to cheer Andy up. Andy turned her head to the side.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Andy smiled looking at Max's reflection in the mirror. Suddenly, the bathroom door swung open, revealing Mike Wheeler. The girls shared similar looks of annoyance. "What the hell do you want now, Wheeler?" Max rolled her eyes at the boy in front of her. In less than a minute, Mike had opened the door a second time.
"Yeah, don't you know how to knock?" Andy added, crossing her arms, to which Mike groaned impatiently.
"El found Hopper in the void. Now come on." Mike ignored their remarks. "Seriously, why do girls take so long in the bathroom?" They heard him groan as they grabbed the alcohol and bandage box from the sink. They turned the bathroom light off and walked over to the basement couch where the rest of the kids were sitting, watching El with a colorful blindfold over her eyes.
"Where is he?" Max asked as they sat in front of Will on the floor.
Blood dripping from her nose, she replied, "woods."
After that, it was quiet in the room other than the static noise coming from the television in the distance. Their eyes were fixed on El as they waited for an update on what she saw.
After receiving none, after a few minutes Andy, who was very bored, broke the silence. "Why is he in the woods?"
"He's with Will's mom," El responded moments later. The gang looked at Will, who leaned in toward El in confusion. "My mom?"
El nodded. The blood from her nose was now dripping onto her shirt.
"What are they doing?" Max asked, her eyes narrowing to crinkled slits.
"Ill-annoy."
Andy scrunched her face. "What?"
"They're going to Ill-annoy."
Suddenly, Mike's mom knocked on the basement door, filling the quiet room. "Mike! Breakfast!"
The boy rolled his eyes. "Not now, Mom!" He said, used to his mom interrupting everything. El sighed and lifted the blindfold from her eyes.
"Illinois?" Mike asked, turning his attention back to El. "Illinois, like the state?"
"Ill-annoy," El repeated, shrugging her shoulders.
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Max ran a tan cloth under the sink water before wiping the blood from El's nose. But she stopped when she noticed a large bruise on Els' neck that Billy had left.
"Does it still hurt?" Andy asked her as she looked at Els' reflection in the mirror.
"Only when I talk." El sighed. She caressed the bruise with her fingers.
"Well, it's a good thing you're not Mike, then." Max shrugged. "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you'd be in constant pain." El and Andy chuckled at her joke and Max continued wiping blood from her nose. The bathroom was now quiet enough to hear their blood flowing.
"What are they still doing in there?" Mike's annoying voice echoed from behind the closed bathroom door. Andy found it funny that the boys thought they couldn't hear them.
"I don't know," Lucas replied with a mouthful of Cocoa Puffs. "Girls just like hanging out in bathrooms."
"Why?" Mike rolled his eyes.
"I mean, I don't know." Lucas shrugged.
Mike crossed his arms. "I think something's going on between Max and Andy. Or they're conspiring against me."
"That's what you're concerned about right now?" Will whispered, punching him in the arm.
"It's not my main concern, it's just my—sub concern," Mike whispered back.
"I thought it was already over?"
"It's not over, okay?" Mike rolled his eyes. "We're just taking a break—"
"She said she dumped your ass." Will cut him off. "That doesn't sound like a break."
"It wasn't!" Max yelled from the bathroom, to which both of them immediately fell quiet. "You do realize we can still hear everything you're saying, right?" The girls giggled loudly, making Lucas facepalm.
"Told you," Mike whispered to Will. "Conspiring."
Will rolled his eyes and expressed his annoyance with a loud groan. Suddenly there was another loud knock on the basement door. Being used to it, Mike thought it was another attempt by his mom to get him to eat breakfast.
