Stranger Things x Female Reader (Season 2!)

Will the Wise (Part 2)

"Oh, it's nothing." Hopper said, flipping through the drawings. "It's just scribbles."

"Wait." Joyce said, pointing at one of them. "Wait, these black lines. See?"

She held up the papers together to connect them. "What?"

"Look, they connect." She said. Hopper continued to stare at them. "They connect."

Hopper pushed the table away along with the T.V so they could sprawl the other drawings out onto the floor. One by one, they put the puzzle together. Will was still scribbling in his room. Once Joyce connected the pieces of paper together, Hopper sat upright to see that she solved it. They ended up taping it to the floor. It was a weird tube-like structure.

"Does this mean anything to you?" Hopper asked.

"No." She said, annoyed. "I mean, is it some sort of maze or road? It's sort of forking and branching like...like lightning."

"You think it's that storm?"

"No, the storm he drew was completely different." She said. "He used red. And this is all blue and it has some weird dirt color. I mean, maybe it's roots. 'Cause remember, he was saying it was spreading and-"

"Killing." Hopper said, and she looked up at him in confusion. "He said they were killing. Vines. He's drawing vines." Hopper walked away, put his hat back on and walked out with no other explanation that left Joyce speechless.

~~~

"Hey, Max!" Lucas said, walking up to her at her locker. "Have you seen Dustin? We're supposed to meet after class."

Max grabbed her skateboard and slammed her locker shut. She walked away without saying anything.

"Max!" Lucas called out to her and followed her out the school. "Hey, Max! Hey, where you going? Come on! We've gotta go look for Dart."

"Yeah, good luck with that." She said swiftly.

Lucas was surprised by her attitude and followed after her again. "What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me?" Max asked. "What's wrong with you?" She threw a hair strand away from her face.

"I don't understand! This is like talking to (Y/n) when she's mad at me." Lucas said. "But you both don't want to tell me what's wrong."

"No, we don't understand." She whirled around. "I don't understand! You guys act like you want me to be your friend, but then you treat me like garbage!"

"That's not true!" Lucas said.

"Yes it is! You go and hide in the AV club, keeping secrets like we're in second grade or something. You know, I thought you guys wanted me in your party."

"We do, but it's-"

"But what?"

Lucas tried to find the words to say, but even he was stumped. "There...there are just things." He sighed. "Things we can't tell you, all right? For your own safety."

Max was not thrilled to hear that. "My own safety?" She retorted.

"Yes!" Lucas said.

"Because I'm a girl?" She asked. "(Y/n)'s a girl, but you don't have any problems keeping her in the party."

"That's because she's been with us for four years now. She's Dustin's brother and Mike's girlfriend!"

"Did you keep secrets from (Y/n)? And El?"

"How do you know about El?" Lucas asked.

"Did you?" She asked again.

"That was different." Lucas tried to say. "Trust me. Okay? That was just...just different."

Max shook her head in disbelief. "Okay. You know what? Forget it, okay? I don't want to be in your stupid party anyway. I'm out. Have a nice life..."

She walked away, leaving Lucas on his own. "Max!" He held up his arms in the air in exasperation.

"You still stink, by the way!" She called back.

Lucas raised his arm up to his nose so he could take a whiff and boy, did he reek. "Oh, shit!" He grumbled, hating to take several showers that night.

Max was skating to her brother's car, who clearly was listening to their conversation. Max thought, 'Uh oh.'

"That kid you were talking to," Billy said to her as he climbed in the car. "Who is he?"

"He's no one." She said with her hand on the car handle.

"No one?"

"This kid from my class."

Billy pulled out a lighter to light his cigarette. His arm was out the window. "Why was he talking to you?" Billy asked.

"It was just about a stupid class assignment." Max mumbled quietly. She didn't want Billy to know what was actually going on.

"Then why're you so upset?" He asked.

"I'm not!" Her voice trembled.

"He causing you trouble?"

She turned around to face Billy. "Why do you care?"

"Because, Max," Billy sighed. "You're a piece of shit, but we're family now whether we like it or not, meaning I'm stuck looking out for you."

She threw her arms up and flung it around. "What would I ever do without-."

Billy snatched one of her arms towards him. "Hey!" He shouted, making her whimper. "This is serious shit, okay? I'm older than you. And something you learn is that there are a certain type of people in this world that you stay away from, and that kid, Max...That kid is one of them." She tried to pull her arm back, but he held onto it tight. "You stay away from him, you hear me? Stay away."

Tears formed into Max's eyes as she pulled her arm back free. She hated this. She hated the way Billy treated her, and more importantly, she hated the way he tried to threaten Lucas.