𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 ; 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑥 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑥 𝑚𝑎𝑥

steve harrington's advice

"sorry about that, road warrior." keith approaches me.

"what happened?" i turn to him.

"short circuit in the motherboard. a real bummer." he pats the machine. "but fret not. i got another machine up and running in the back."

he leads me into the back room.

"hold these." he passes me his packet of cheetos and unlocks the back door.

he takes his crisps back as the door opens and inside is y/n awkwardly smiling at me.

i sigh and walk in.

"you better get me that date now, harrington." keith says popping a crisp into his mouth.

"i told you i would-" y/n is cut off by keith making some extremely weird noises.

"and keep things pg in here, alright?" keith says closing the door, winking at me in the process.

"what the hell, y/n? what is your plan?" i turn to face her.

"i don't have a plan, i'm just winging it." she stands up in front of me.

"winging it?" i scoff

y/n's p.o.v

"listen. i'm gonna tell you the truth about everything that happened last year." i cross my arms.

is this really a good idea? fuck it.

"this is going to sound insane and you're most certainly going to think i'm crazy, but i need to tell you this before i lose you. i don't want you to think that i'm an asshole for the rest of your life." i look up at max as she nods her head.

max puts her skateboard down and sits on a red chair as i lean against an arcade machine.

"lets hear it." max slightly slouches.

"last year... will didn't get lost in the woods. he got lost somewhere else..."

. . . 

max's p.o.v

i stayed quiet through the whole of the story.

did i think that the story was crazy? abso-fucking-lutely.

but do i believe the story? definitely.

"and that was the last we ever saw of her." y/n looked sad- no, devastated. "after that, she was just - gone. i can't believe it's been that long. feels like yesterday." y/n lightly chuckles.

"yeah, i mean, i bet. wow." i was at a loss for words.

"yeah." y/n quietly responds.

"did you love eleven?" i ask.

"i think so. she was the first person to like me, for me.  she didn't judge me based on my gender or anything. it felt perfect in a really weird, imperfect way." a small smile appeared on her face.

"she sounds quite cool." i bite my lower lip.

"now that's an understatement." y/n brushes some hair out of her face.

now isn't the time to be jealous.

i looks down at my watch.

"shit." i stand up and grab my skateboard.

"what's wrong?" y/n stands up too.

"billy's hear to pick me up." just as i'm about to open the door, y/n stops me.

"are we cool now?" i turn to look at her as i nod. "so, the date?"

"i'll tell you when i'm free." i smile as i grab the handle again.

"one last thing." 

"what?!" y/n places her hand on my face and kisses me.

"just that." y/n has the cheekiest smile on her face, but she looked absolutely adorable.

 i began to get lost in her eyes before y/n opened the door.

"r-right! billy! yeah, i need to go!" i ran out the door, y/n following me.

"don't follow me out. okay?" i grabbed y/n's hand.

"i'll see you soon?" y/n gave me them damn puppy dog eyes.

"no promises." i wink before running up to billy's car and climbing in.

"the hell i tell you?" billy looked straight ahead.

"i'm not late." i respond, looking at him.

"you know what i'm talking about." billy's voice was bitter, more bitter than usual.

"oh, y/n?" i say.

"so, she has a name now, huh?" billy scoffs.

"it's a small town, okay? we weren't hanging out." i reason.

"hmm. well, you know what happens when you lie."

"i'm not lying." technically, i'm not.

billy looks at me, then starts the car back up and starts driving away.

i turn around momentarily to see y/n standing on the curb.

it's crazy how everything has changed. i was living my best life in california, and now i've moved town and started liking this  girl who still fancies someone else as well as me.

jesus, why am i so jealous of a girl who may not even be alive?

shit...

it's because i'm in love with y/n.

word count: 1293