Stranger Things Imagines

MADMAX

"Hey." I greet the girl as her game comes to an end.

"Uh, hi." She responds, unsure why I'm talking to her.

"I'm Y/N." I introduce myself.

"I'm Max." She keeps her confused tone.

"Nice to meet you. You're really good at Dig Dug." I gesture to the machine as the leader board flashes on screen. "Are you the one who set the high score?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, thank god." A wave of relief washes over me.

"Does this have something to do with why you and your friends have been spying on me?" Max questions, clearly knowing of their antics.

"Oh, I wasn't spying on you. It was just those weirdos. I just happened to be with them because I don't have any other friends, and we lost the only other girl in the group a few months ago." I defend myself.

"Right..."

"I was only asking about the game because my friend Dustin, the one with the curly hair, he set the high score not long before you did, and it's been seriously bugging him trying to figure out who beat him." I explain the situation.

"Seriously?" She laughs slightly, almost scoffing at the pettiness.

"Yeah, it's been really annoying hearing him ramble on about it every day. Got old real quick."

"Boys." She rolls her eyes.

"I know, right." I think she's warming up to me a little. "Hey, morons! Come here!" I grab their attention and call them over.

"Y/N, what are you doing?" Dustin freaks out.

"Pipe down, Henderson. I want you guys to meet my new friend."

"I wouldn't say we're friends. We just met." Max awkwardly shuts me down.

"Guys, this is Max. She's the one who beat Dustin's high score." I direct my gaze to Dustin with a smirk, revelling in the reveal.

"Wait, you're MADMAX?" Lucas somehow seems more in love with a girl he's never spoken to before.

"Yep. That's me." Max accepts that she's now part of this.

"Wow. I worked pretty hard for that high score. Well done." Dustin's frustration turns to awe.

"Wasn't much of a challenge, but thanks."

"You've gotta be kidding me. All that ranting, but as soon as you find out it was Max, you're fine with it?" I glare at him in disbelief - I shouldn't be surprised.

"What? I'm impressed." He shrugs as he replies with a high-pitch.

"You're unbelievable." I turn back to Max. "I haven't seen you hanging out with anyone. I know these idiots are a handful, but they are good people." I vouch for them. "Plus, it'd be awesome to have another girl in the party again. What I'm saying is you're more than welcome to join the group." I extend the offer.

"Yeah." The world's worst spies agree.

"Absolutely not!" Mike yells after remaining silent this entire time.

"Why not?" Lucas shares our confusion.

"Yeah, what's the deal, Wheeler?" I prepare to stand by my offer.

"Because El's gone, and you wanna replace her just like that!" Mike rages.

"Mike, it's been months." Dustin begins our pointless attempt at making Mike see sense.

"We're not replacing anyone." Lucas keeps it going.

"Yes, you are!"

"I was in the group before El. She didn't replace me, did she?" I chime in with my logic. "You were so insistent that we accepted El. Why can't you just accept Max?"

"It's not the same thing!" We stand and stare as he tries to figure out what to say next. "Am I the only one who misses her?"

"Of course we miss her." Dustin reassures him. "But we have to move on eventually."

Mike scoffs at Dustin's comment before looking at each of us in disgust. In our eyes, he sees him against the world. Without another word, he storms off.

"What was that about? Is El an ex-girlfriend or something?" Max may be more confused than ever.

"Something like that." Dustin is quick and brief to avoid letting slip the horrors we've dealt with.

"Don't take anything he says to heart. He's still hung up on everything. He'll come around." I try to salvage what potential friendship may have started forming.

"Sure. I should go. But, uh, I'll see you around."

"Yeah, totally. " I have a feeling that we've freaked her out.

"See ya."

I stand in thought for a moment in an attempt to process what just happened. I genuinely like Max, so I hope the spying and Mike's outburst haven't ruined my chances of being her friend. At least now the boys will hopefully stop following her, and I won't have to hear about the monster who ruined the record.

Snapping out of it, we decide to leave and finally spend our time doing something else. Amidst the chaos, I hadn't realised that Will is also absent. A quick search later, we see him waiting outside.

"Will!" I call out to him but receive no answer. "Will?" He soon comes back to reality, but he doesn't seem himself. "You okay?" I check on him as I reach his side.

"Uh, yeah."

"You sure?" He just nods timidly.  I don't believe him but don't want to pry. "Mike needs to cool off, but the rest of us are up for a one-shot if you have one."

"Cool." He seems distracted still, but we head to my house nonetheless.

Finally, the mystery of MADMAX has been solved - and those morons finally spoke to Max instead of poorly lurking in the shadows. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.