The next morning, Emily and Will found themselves home alone after Joyce and Jonathan had both left for work. Emily took the opportunity to use the phone to call Mike, since there was less of a possibility of her being overheard. It rang for a few moments before someone picked up.
"Hello, this is the Wheelers," Mrs. Wheeler said.
"Hey, Mrs. Wheeler, it's Emily. Is Mike there?" Emily said.
"Yeah, just a sec."
Emily vaguely heard Mrs. Wheeler calling Mike's name, but just a few moments later, it was Mrs. Wheeler's voice she heard speaking to her, not Mike's.
"I'm sorry, hon, but he can't talk right now," she said. "He's apparently busy. Maybe try again later?"
Emily's heart sank. "Oh. Okay," she said.
"Talk to you later, sweetie."
Emily hung up the phone, a frown evident on her face. Obviously, talking it out was not an option if Mike wouldn't talk to her, so she needed help. She began to think of who could help her, and one person came to mind almost immediately: a girl her age who often had relationship troubles herself and who did not get along very well with Mike and would therefore not tell him anything she told her. Of course, this girl might not be willing to help her, but it was her best shot, and so she headed towards the door.
"Wait, where are you going?" Will asked her as she passed him in the living room.
Emily hesitated. "Somewhere," she told him before leaving.
"That doesn't answer my question."
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Ten minutes later, Emily found the house she had been looking for, and thankfully, the girl she was looking for was skating outside on the street. She stopped and got off of her bike, kicking the kickstand down, and the noise alerted the other girl of her presence.
"Emily?" Max said, surprised to see her show up at her house, alone and unannounced.
"Hey," Emily said, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"What are you doing here? Are you okay?"
"Well... yes. But I just... I need help. And if you don't want to help me, I understand. I was a total bitch to you last year and even since then, I haven't been very welcoming, so I know I don't deserve it. I was just... well, despite what we told you, Mike and I weren't official yet, so I guess I was... I don't know. It's stupid. The point is, I'm sorry."
"You were jealous. It's okay, I get it. I was new. You didn't know me and yet I wanted to join your party. But just so you know, I have never and will never like Mike like that. Trust me, he is all yours."
Emily let out a small laugh. "Yeah. About that..."
Sitting down on the curb, she went on to explain to Max what had happened with Mike the night before. She was careful not to mention the odd feeling that she shared with Will. Max continued to skate while Emily talked but still listened intently, making some commentary here and there but respectfully listening for the most part.
"So you were lying to him?" Max asked once Emily had finished telling her the story.
"Yeah, that's why I feel so shitty," Emily said.
"But what were you lying about?"
"I, uh..."
"You're not gonna tell me either, are you?"
"No. Sorry. I will eventually, I promise."
Max just sighed and went to do a trick with her skateboard, but the board ended up rolling out from under her and down the street. Before she could run after it to grab it, however, someone else grabbed it for her: Eleven. As the brunette walked up to Max with her skateboard, Emily suddenly remembered that she had told Eleven to find her if she didn't show up at Hopper's cabin by noon, and it was definitely past noon.
"Hi," Eleven said.
"Hi?" Max replied, taking her skateboard back.
Emily stood up, standing next to the girls who were standing face-to-face, just looking at each other. Max looked confused and even a bit intimidated, but Eleven's expression was unreadable, worrying Emily. Eleven had always been wary of Max and had never spoken a word to her before this point. Emily decided to intervene before something potentially problematic happened.
"Uh, hey, El. Um... let's go inside, shall we?" she said awkwardly.
Max agreed, and she led the way into her house and to her bedroom, closing the door behind them. No one else was home, so this wasn't really necessary, but she did it just in case someone showed up while they were talking. Emily then filled Eleven in on what they had been talking about before she arrived and what had happened with Mike after they left her place, and then she and Max resumed their conversation while Eleven observed, a bit lost and confused.
"So his mom answered and said he couldn't talk because he was busy?" Max questioned, remembering what Emily had told her about when she had tried to call Mike.
"Yeah. But he wasn't busy, he just didn't wanna talk to me."
"He's a piece of shit."
"What?"
"I mean, come on, you two have liked each other for how long? And have been dating for the past, what? Six, seven months? So you have one argument and he just goes MIA? Who does that?"
"Mike, apparently."
"And 'he's busy', my ass. How dumb does he think you are? You and I both know he doesn't have jack shit to do today. I guarantee you, him and Lucas are playing Atari right now. And now he's lied to you, so you're even in that respect."
"Well, when you put it like that..."
"Here's what you're going to do," Max began, sitting down on her bed next to Emily. "You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls. As far as you're concerned, he doesn't exist."
"But-"
"No, Emily, listen to me. He treated you like garbage. You're gonna treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine."
"But I already treated him like garbage, that's why I'm in this mess in the first place. I drew first blood."
"Is that that stupid party rule? No, we aren't doing that. Party rules don't apply to relationships. Besides, not only has he lied to you now, he's being an asshole and ignoring you. Which is so pointless, by the way. How are you supposed to be honest with him if he won't hear you out? So if he doesn't fix this, if he doesn't explain himself, dump his ass."
"I don't wanna dump his ass!"
"If he keeps pulling this shit, what other choice do you have?"
Emily lied back on Max's bed and let out a loud, frustrated groan into her hands, making Max realize that she needed a distraction before she broke down.
"Come on," Max said, pulling Emily's hands off of her face and taking one of them to pull her off of the bed.
"Where are we going?" Emily questioned.
"To have some fun. There's more to life than stupid boys, you know."
Emily grabbed Eleven's hand to bring her along as well and then asked Max, "Can I at least know where?"
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Once they had already left, Max informed them that they would be going to the mall. Eleven seemed a bit unsure at first, but both Emily and Max reassured her that it would fine.
"So, what do you think?" Max asked Eleven with a smile once they had gotten off of the bus that had brought them to Starcourt. Eleven didn't answer. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Too many people," Eleven told her, looking over at her. "Against the rules."
"Seriously? You have superpowers. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Really, nothing bad is going to happen," Emily added. "Not with us with you."
"Promise?" Eleven asked her.
"Promise."
Eleven looked back at the mall, and a smile grew on her face, letting the other girls know that they had convinced her. They brought her inside, leading her to the center of the ground floor, and she looked around at all of the stores in awe.
"So, what should we do first?" Max asked both girls. Neither answered, and Eleven looked completely lost. "You've never been shopping before, have you?" Eleven shook her head. "Well, then I guess we're just gonna have to try everything. Come on." She grabbed the hands of both Emily and Eleven and pulled them along to The Gap.
Max and Emily followed Eleven as she walked through the store, looking at the variety of colorful clothes in amazement. One shirt in particular caught her eye. It was blue with what looked like red, white, and yellow paint spatters on it, and it was displayed on the top of a display of hats, pants, and sunglasses.
"Do you like that?" Max asked her.
"How do I know... what I like?" Eleven inquired.
"You just try things on. Until you find something that feels like you."
"Like me?"
"Yeah," Emily said. "Not Hopper. Not me. You."
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
A few minutes later, Eleven came out of the dressing room in a new, extremely colorful outfit. Max handed her a yellow hat and helped her put it on. Eleven snapped the suspenders and laughed, looking at herself in the mirror. Emily and Max laughed along with her.
Eleven continued to try on outfits until she found a few that she really liked. Emily and Max both picked out new pairs of sunglasses for themselves and Max purchased the items. With their arms linked, the girls then left the store.
They chose to go to Hash Studios next and participate in a photoshoot. They were provided with a whole wardrobe to choose from and had fun with it, laughing and making a variety of poses as the lively man behind the camera took their pictures.
After the photoshoot, the girls went to a shoe store. Eleven picked out a pair of vibrant heels and tried them on. Emily and Max helped her walk in them, but she still managed to fall. This didn't bother her in the slightest, though, as she and the others girls laughed it off.
The girls' hysteric laughter attracted the attention of four girls from their school, who were also in the store looking at heels, but not ones that were nearly as intense as the ones Eleven was wearing. This group of girls happened to be very popular in school, and therefore weren't very fond of Emily and Max, who were the opposite. When the two of them and Eleven noticed the girls looking at them, they rolled their eyes and turned back to the heels, and the three continued to laugh until they left the store.
Once they had left the store, they remembered that one of the girls, whose name was Stacey, had rejected Dustin at the Snow Ball in a very rude way, nearly ruining his night. Eleven suggested they get the girl back for hurting their friend's feelings, and Emily and Max readily agreed.
The girls waited out of sight while Stacey and her friends left the shoe store and made their way to the food court to get drinks at Orange Julius. After receiving their drinks, the four began talking to a boy and being overly smiley. The trio hid behind a pillar, and Eleven used her powers to make Stacey's drink explode all over her, her friends, and the boy. Emily, Max, and Eleven enjoyed the sight for just a moment before running away laughing, hand-in-hand.
"See? What'd I tell you?" Max said to Emily. "There's more to life than stupid boys."
Emily rolled her eyes, but the big smile on her face didn't fade in the slightest. She was in too good of a mood at the moment to become upset about Mike again.
Their next and last stop was Scoops Ahoy. Max and Emily helped Eleven choose an ice cream flavor and toppings, giving her suggestions based on what they liked. It took a bit longer than usual, but eventually they were able to tell Steve what they wanted. It wasn't until after he had given them their treats and they had thanked him that he truly noticed that Eleven was out in public.
"Wait a second," he said. "Are you even allowed to be here?"
The girls looked at each other and left the ice cream parlor without answering him.
Having done and explored pretty much everything the mall had to offer, with a few exceptions, they decided it was time to leave, and they walked out of the mall to wait for the bus, completely content, having forgotten the conflict earlier on. However, they were quickly reminded again when they heard familiar voices, and Emily's heart dropped.
"Oh, you've gotta be shitting me," Max said, hearing the voices too. She led the way over to Will, Lucas, and Mike, who were getting their bikes out of the bike rack and preparing to leave. "Isn't this a nice surprise."
When Mike's eyes fell on Eleven, he let his bike fall over out of shock. "What are you doing here?" he questioned.
"Shopping," Eleven answered simply.
"This is her new style," Max said to him. "What do you think?"
"What's wrong with you two?" Mike said to Emily and Max. "You know she's not allowed to be here."
"Oh, so you're talking to me again?" Emily retorted.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't act like you don't know. Getting your mom to lie to me for you, telling me you couldn't talk 'cause you were 'busy'."
"I was busy!"
"Doing what?"
Mike didn't answer, telling Emily what she already knew.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," she said.
"Okay, Emily," Lucas began in a calm tone, "before you freak out, let him tell you why we're here."
Emily glowered at Lucas before once again turning to Mike with an expectant expression. Lucas smacked Mike's arm and gave him a look, telling him to speak.
"I... We came here to get a gift for you," Mike admitted in a much softer tone than earlier. "Just, I only have, like, $3.50, so it's hard."
"Super hard," Lucas reiterated. "It's- It's expensive."
Emily's expression softened as she stared at Mike, who was looking like a sad puppy. Sure, he had given her things before, like his Hawkins AV sweatshirt, but never something he had bought with his own money, so now knowing that he had come to the mall to buy her something made her feel guilty for being rude to him.
Max, however, had clearly been through this kind of situation before, because she scoffed and looked at Lucas. "Was this your idea?" she asked him.
"What? I... maybe," Lucas stammered.
Max rolled her eyes and grabbed Emily's hand, beginning to pull her away towards the bus, which had just pulled up. "Come on."
Emily looked at Will, who was standing behind his friends and had stayed silent through the entire argument. "See you at home, Will," she said, her voice riddled with sadness. "Maybe."
As her friends walked away, Eleven stayed behind for a moment, her expression unimpressed as she looked at Mike, making her stance in this situation very clear. Then, she walked away, getting onto the bus with Max and Emily.
[word count: 2493]
[written: 1/10/21]
[published: 1/10/21]
i am actually not publishing this at 2 in the morning