MALL RATS
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c h a p t e r f i v e
The next day, Bianca wakes up bright and early, getting up with a pep in her step. She finishes breakfast, which was more like lunch, and goes to do her hair. Liking the way the waves from her braid looked, she simply pins back a piece on both sides with barrettes.
Putting on her dress and looking in the mirror, she smiles at herself, satisfied with the outfit. Her dad comes in shortly after, leaning in the doorway.
"You look pretty. What are you doing today?"
"I have a date with Mike."
"Have fun, don't be out too late."
"I won't," she smiles, running downstairs and straight outside.
_____
Her knocks on the Wheeler front door are accompanied by Karen's smile. "Hello, Bianca. You look gorgeous as ever. What are you and Mike up to today?"
"Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler. Ice cream sundaes," she smiles back. "Anything fun in your plans?"
"Holly and I are going to the pool. Right, Holly?" she looks down at the little girl.
"Yeah!"
"Wow, that sounds fun," she grins at Holly.
"Are you coming?"
"Aw, no, she and Mike have plans today."
"Yeah, but I promise, I will come to the pool with you guys one day, okay?"
"Okay!" she then runs off to the living room, continuing her cartoons.
"She's so full of energy lately. Come in. Mike's in the basement, as always."
"Of course he is," she laughs. "Thank you again."
"You're always welcome, sweetheart," she nods, and Bianca heads downstairs to find Mike pacing.
"Why are you so stressed out?" she sits on the couch.
"I can't go out today," he blurts out, and she frowns.
"Why not?"
"My nana's sick."
"What?"
"Yeah, we think she might even die."
"Your mom seemed fine when I came in. She's even going to the pool with Holly."
"She's putting on a great act," she shakes his head, feigning sadness.
"Mike, what's really up? If-If you don't want to hang out, it's fine, you can tell me."
"I always wanna hang out with you. Come on, I called you every night you were at camp. I'm just... really upset about Nana. I'd honestly like to be alone," he sighs dramatically.
Her gaze lingers on his for a moment too long, and he looks up in concern, hoping to gauge her emotions. She simply narrows her eyes, dusting off her dress and storming upstairs.
"Hope she feels better," she says right before slamming the basement door.
He winces at the sound, knowing there were so many other ways to handle his jealousy that didn't require lying. But to be fair, nobody was applauding him on his communication skills.
"Bye, Mrs. Wheeler. Bye, Holly," she waves with a sad smile as she walks back outside.
Karen frowns at the girl's once clearly excited face being diminished to defeat, silently praying Mike fixes this, for his sake.
She rides her bike over to El's, convincing Hopper that she was simply bringing her over for a girls' day at her house, and that'd she'd be nowhere near the public.
"What's going on?" El questions.
"Mike bailed on me. We were supposed to have a date today."
"Oh. That's rude."
"Exactly my point. So instead, I'm gonna spend the day with you and Max. I feel bad for letting him steal me away all the time anyway," she shrugs.
"Okay," El shrugs, hopping on the back as she rides to Max's house.
She stops in the driveway, seeing the girl practicing a trick on her skateboard, lighting up at the sight of the girls.
"Hey guys, what's up?" she looks up with a slightly confused frown. Mostly because Bianca looked angrier than ever, which was not a common occurrence.
"Mike ditched me and lied about it so we're having a girls' day," Bianca explains, tossing her bike to the ground.
"Is that why you're wearing that dress?"
"Yes," she looks down. "Can we go inside?"
Max nods, letting them in and upstairs. "Okay, so what'd he say?"
"He made up some lie about his Nana dying and how he couldn't hang out because he had to visit her, and since he was so sad he had to cancel today, even though he claims to always want to hang out with me."
"He's a piece of shit!"
"Right?" Bianca scoffs, while El looks between the two in confusion.
"What?" she questions, not seeing the connection between the two.
"He bailed on plans and then lied about it!"
"An offensively bad lie, too. Like, does he think I'm an idiot or something?"
"But I thought friends don't lie?"
"Mike's not just my friend. He's my boyfriend."
"And boyfriends lie. All the time," Max nods vehemently, and El's eyes widen as she takes in this information.
_____
Meanwhile, Mike invited over Will and Lucas. He tried Dustin, but couldn't get a hold of him, most likely because he was a little mad that he and Bianca left yesterday.
Will wasn't paying much attention, taking the opportunity to plan a D&D campaign in the girls' absence. Bianca never wanted to play anymore, so in turn, Mike never wanted to play. Same for Lucas and Max.
"She knows I'm lying dude, what do I do?" Mike paces his basement.
"Oh I know she knows you're lying. You do realize she's got, like, an insanely high IQ? She probably knew you were lying from the first word."
"Look, I didn't know what else to do! I'm panicking, man!"
"Why'd you even bail in the first place? I thought you'd be inseparable now that she's back."
"Every single guy our age was staring at her the other night, Lucas. I counted, it was 15! And I don't blame them, because my girlfriend is the coolest, most beautiful person to exist, but it's ridiculous. I just needed a day to figure out my game plan."
"Okay, I'm confused now. You're mad that your girlfriend's hot now?"
"No, I'm mad that everyone else thinks she's hot. I swear I heard Chrissy Cunningham ask her about joining the cheer team next year."
"What's wrong with the cheer team? Bianca's pretty small, they could throw her in the air and stuff," Lucas shrugs. "Plus, I think she'd rather shake pompoms than get bullied the rest of her life."
"Uh, no. That's how it starts, okay? First, she's just cheerleading, and then she's dating a knock-off of Steve."
"Look, I get your concern, don't get me wrong," Lucas assures, patting his shoulder. "But have you actually seen any signs of her switching to the dark side?"
"She had some guy's number on her desk."
"Did she give him hers?"
"No."
"Okay, I'm gonna be honest with you, man. I wish you'd consulted me before because the way you handled this... You're in deep shit."
_____
"Max, I just don't know what to do. I mean, we've never really had a fight since we got together. Not since the Uno incident of 1984."
"Okay, here's what you're gonna do. Ignore his calls, and don't call him either. Then, you give him one chance to fix things. One. If he doesn't, you dump his ass."
"Are you being helpful or are you just being harsh because you don't like Mike?"
"I'm being helpful."
"El, what do you think?"
"Friends don't lie," she shrugs.
"You're right. It's decided. I'll give him a chance to explain. Maybe his Nana really is dying or he had a real reason for this. But if he doesn't fix it, he's done."
_____
"I'm done, dude!" Mike shakes his head, flopping dramatically onto the recliner.
"Okay, yes, normally I'd think you have some leeway because Bianca's pretty understanding, but I guarantee she's talking to Max right now."
"As in the same Max that hates me? I'm done," he sighs again, and Will rolls his eyes at the scene before him.
"I'm not gonna lie. It's gonna be bad," he admits, producing an agonized groan. "But you can fix this, it's just one little mistake. I've made hundreds, thousands."
Mike looks up with hope, as the boy continues. "Max has dumped me five times. But what have I done? Huh? Have I despaired? No. I've marched back into battle, and I've won her back every single freaking time."
"How?"
"I'll show you. Come on," he runs out, and Mike quickly follows.
"Guys?" Will looks up from his D&D set up. "I'm still here!"
_____
"Come on," Max grabs both girls' hands, pulling them off of the bed.
"Where are we going?"
"To have some fun. We're gonna get your mind off of Mike."
"You're right. Plus I think it's time El becomes introduced to the all-healing magic of shopping and ice cream," Bianca grins, running ahead.
"Oh, definitely," Max agrees, leading her outside.
In a way, Bianca was kinda grateful Mike was being an idiot. It gave her a chance to spend time with El and Max, who she felt like she'd kinda left out to dry after getting together with Mike.
Of course, she was still unwaveringly angry at the sheer audacity of Mike's actions. And a little hurt about it all.