The three girls stayed in El's room, Max dancing around as El and River looked through various magazines.
Opening the page to a picture of Ralph Macchio, El's eyes lightened up before she stared at it, causing the other two girls to exchange looks and chuckle.
"You found Ralph Macchio." River stated, leaning forward as Max stepped up, leaning against the bed as she nodded.
"Yeah he's the karate kid. Hi-Ya!" Max exclaimed, chopping air, causing the other two to back up as they laughed lightly. "He's so hot, right? I bet he's an amazing kisser too."
"Hey, uh-" Max started, sitting next to River who had scooted over, making space for her. "Is Mike a good kisser."
This questioned had caused River to look up from the magazines. Though, of course only to engage in conversation with the girls. No other reason.
"I don't know. He's my first boyfriend." El shrugged shyly, as River nodded.
"Ex boyfriend." Max corrected, causing El to look down as River stayed quiet, before forcing a smile.
"Hey don't worry about it alright? He'll come crawling back." River assured with a nod, before clearing her throat, "He really likes you."
"Oh my god, I bet there all totally wallowing in self pity right now!" Max snickered, mocking the boys, "God what i'd give to see their faces right now."
Her last sentence had caused El and River to exchange looks, and a smile grew on El's face as Max furrowed her eyebrows.
"What is it?"
A few minutes later, El was sat on the floor as River and Max sat on her bed, leaning forward in excitement.
"Is this really going to work?" Max questioned softly, over the radio static from behind El, who gave her a firm nod.
"Holy shit, this is insane!" She gushed, shaking her head in disbelief and excitement.
"Max."
"Yeah, quiet, sorry."
The two girls had waited before hearing El speak up once again, causing them to sit closer. "I see them."
"What are they doing?" Max asked, furrowing her brows as River studied the girl using her powers closely.
"Eating." El quickly responded, causing the other two to nod.
"They say we are species." El stated, keeping still. "Emotion, not logic."
"What?" Max and River spoke up in unison, shaking their heads.
El had then quickly thrown the blindfold off, glancing at the girls with her eyes widened.
"Whats wrong?" River was quick to ask, as the young girl in front of her broke out into laughter, causing Max and River to exchanged confused looks, slowly laughing as well.
Though, when a car had approached they looked up quickly before El shook her head.
"Hopper." She informed, giving the other two magazines as they all laid on the floor.
"Hey, three-!" Hop was yelling as he bursted the door open, startling the girls.
"Do you knock?" River yelled out, glancing at Max who nodded.
"Jeez!"
"Yeah, jeez!" El repeated, as Hop's eyes had widened.
"Oh..hey. I'm sorry, I thought that uh-"
"Mike's not here." Max assured, before glancing at River who held in a laugh, just like she always did.
"The girls wanted to have a sleepover.." El informed, "Is that..okay?" She finished off, asking.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Your parents know about it?" Hop questioned, awkwardly and in a high pitched tone as the girls furrowed their eyebrows, slowly nodding before they spoke in unison.
"Yup."
"Uh yeah, that's cool. Yeah, that's-thats really cool." Hopper slurred, as they nodded.
The girls would've gone back to their magazines but Hop stood there awkwardly and it was painfully silent.
"Do you need something?" River slowly spoke, causing Hop to shake his head.
"No, no. Uh, I'll leave- I'll just let you- i'll leave." He muttered before shutting the door gently, and the girls exchanged awkward glances.
"Holy shit, I can't believe we're really doing this." Max laughed as she set another paper down onto the board.
"Ready?" River questioned softly as El nodded with a smile.
"Ready." She assured, grabbing the bottle and spinning it to land on Mr. Wheeler.
"Boring." Max and River chorused in unison, sending each other a nod as El laughed lightly.
"Yeah, boring." She repeated, nodding shyly in agreement.
"Spin again." Max urged gently, and El reached for the bottle before furrowing her eyebrows.
"Against the rules?" She questioned softly, glancing between the two girls who sat in front of her.
"We make our own rules." Max stated simply, as River nodded in agreement, causing El to nod before spinning it yet again, now the bottle had landed on Billy.
"Okay, I should just warn you. If he's with a girl, or doing something gross, just get out of there right away before you're scarred for life." Max instructed as River handed El her blindfold.
"Max." El started as Max had sat back down, shrugging.
"No, I'm just saying, I'm serious. He's really gross."
"Max!" El spoke again with a smile, as River grabbed the radio from Max's grip, changing the channel to a static.
They had both watched El closely, and it felt weirder this time. The mood was different. "I found him."
El had informed the two girls, causing Max to lean forward, her brows furrowed.
"What's he doing?" She questioned, as her eyes narrowed.
"I don't know." El simply responded before speaking up again, "He's- on the floor..talking to someone."
A few seconds after telling the girls that, El pulled her blindfold off harshly, gripping onto Rivers arm as she gasped, breathing heavily.
"El? El what happened? El?" River questioned frantically, before El had only shook her head, and leaned into the two girls.
˗ˏˋ✦ ✦ ✦'ˎ˗
The next day, the girls walked into Billy's room slowly, and River fixed her jeans, that were barely drying up from the rain.
"Why do I get the feeling we're gonna find all kinds of wrong here?" Max asked as she held the door open, looking around just like the other two girls.
"Because it's Billy." River muttered in response to her rhetorical question. Heavy Metal music was playing from his radio quietly, as Max walked over to his nightstand, opening it.
"Ugh, gag me with a spoon." Max groaned in disgust, shutting the drawer quickly before River had stepped forward.
The three had entered his restroom now, and El had walked up to the bath, slightly gasping, "Max.."
River stepped forward, and looked into the bath that was still filled with water, and melted ice bags, causing her stomach to sink as well.
"Ice. It's just ice. Probably for his muscles or something, he works out like a maniac." Max shrugged, as River looked up at the bag she picked up from the water.
"No," River shook her head as she muttered this, causing El to glance at her, slightly worried as Max did the same. River knew about this, she spent a fall last year dealing with Will. The flayed Will, and one thing she knew, was that they liked it cold.
El quickly opened the drawers and pulled out a bucket, causing River to break out of her thoughts and look over.
"El, what's in there?" River softly questioned, her voice slightly shaky as El pulled out a lifeguard fanny pack. It wasn't Billy's. Though after that, she pulled out a bloody whistle as well, causing the girls to grow quiet.
Everyone was rushing out of Hawkins pool, because of all the rain as the girls pulled up. Max in a yellow raincoat, El in a red one, and River in a green one.
They walked up to the workers, taking their hoods off to reveal their drenched hair.
"Excuse me?" Max spoke up softly, in a polite tone before being interrupted l.
"No one in the water until 30 minutes after the last strike." The boy from inside had spoke, looking down at his comic book. "And don't argue with me. You wanna get electrocuted, go climb a tree."
"Yeah, we're not here to swim." River spoke up, hitting the counter, trying to get their attention, "We don't care about any of that stuff." She finished, looking to El who held up the fanny pack.
"We found this." She informed quietly, as the two workers stared at them, finding no interest in any of this.
"Does that belong to anybody here?" Max leaned forward as she asked this question and River nodded, doing the same.
"Oh yeah. That's Heather's. I'll get it back to her." The boy muttered once again, as El shook her head, looking over to River.
"We could give it back to her." She shrugged looking back at the other two.
"You could. Except she's not here. Bailed on me today."
The girls all exchanged looks, before hearing his voice again. "What is this? You girls want a reward or something?" He questioned with a small scoff as Max shook her head.
"No, we're just.." She looked over to River who smiled sarcastically at the others, before she spoke up as well. "Good Samaritans." The two girls finished off in unison.
˗ˏˋ✦ ✦ ✦'ˎ˗
River and Max both moved from each shower, turning the water on quickly, after finishing turning them all on, they sat on separate benches, watching El who sat in between them, on the floor with her blindfold placed on, and a picture of Heather in front of her.
"What do you see?" Max asked, as River fidgeted with her bracelets nervously.
"A door. A red door." El responded quietly.
The teenage girls nodded in acknowledgment before waiting in complete, and nerve wracking silence. They shared a few glances as they waited, but remained quiet nonetheless.
El had quickly thrown her goggles off, panting in panic as River leaned forward, kneeling down beside her so quickly, as if it was an instinct already, and it was. "What happened? El?" Max demanded in a worry as River sat, pulling El towards her in a comforting matter, as El only covered her eyes, leaning into the girl, leaving a confused Max.
River sent her a short shrug, her face completely filled with a worried expression, before she tightened her arms around El, who let out a few cries.
˗ˏˋ✦ ✦ ✦'ˎ˗
As the girls walked up to the front door of an unfamiliar house, El didn't hesitate to unlock the door herself, and they let themselves in.
Walking in slowly, River glanced at the family portrait on the wall, showing Heather.
"This is Heather's house." She muttered, before they heard a loud laugh, along with music, causing them to shift their attention on to that.
"Max." Billy smiled, as the three walked up, to see him sitting at a table with two adults, who had stopped laughing.
"We didn't mean to..barge in." Max spoke, assuring the adults that sat at the table, "We tried to knock, but maybe you didn't hear us over the storm.
"I'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" The man had spoken up, furrowing his brows, causing Billy to chuckle.
"I'm sorry. Janet, Tom, this..is my sister, Maxine." Billy smiled before getting up, walking over to the three. River shifted in her place, as El noticed and grew confused.
Though considering what happened last year, River had a reason to be uneasy around him.
"What on earth are you doing here? Is something wrong?"
"We just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Max shrugged, responding as her step brother stared down at her.
"Okay? Why wouldn't it be okay?" Billy questioned with a look of innocence, that the two other girls surely didn't buy.
"Where is she?" El spoke up firmly, causing Billy to look over at the other two girls.
"I'm sorry, where is who?"
Billy stared El down, before looking over to River, quickly shooting a smile as her breath hitched.
"Well, they're a little burnt, I'm sorry-"
Out came Heather from the kitchen, holding a tray of cookies before glancing up and pausing. "Heather! This is my sister Maxine." Billy gestured to Max with a smile, before glancing at El, "And I'm sorry, I did not quite catch your name."
"El." The girl had firmly spoke up, staring right back at Billy as he nodded, turning to River.
"And this is-"
"River." River had spoken up quickly, interrupting him as he now stared at her, along with a small smirk.
"River." He repeated, "Now what is it you were saying El? You were looking for somebody?"
El had slowly looked to Heather, as the girls glanced at her before doing the same, "I-I saw- I saw you-"
"Your manager, at the pool." Max interrupted quickly, shaking her head. "He said you guys didn't come into work today, so we got worried."
"Heather wasn't feeling so hot today, so we thought we'd take the day off to nurse her back to health. But you're feeling just fine right now, aren't you, Heather?" Billy informed sweetly, before looking back to Heather.
"I'm feeling so much better." Heather nodded, reassuring the girls who stiffly stood there.
"Do you girls want a cookie?" She added in, questioning them all, "They're fresh out of the oven."