Chapter Text
“This is a complete fucking disaster”.
Angrily swatting her messy ginger hair out of her face, Max Mayfield balled up another piece of paper and threw it away. Turned out, asking a girl out is not easy at all. Does a silly school dance even require a formal invitation? She had no idea, the boy she went with the last year didn’t even actually ask her to the dance. Anyway, she wasn’t trying to be formal about it, but rather getting her own thoughts and feelings together, not even for Jane to understand but for herself.
It all must’ve started just a little while ago, a week before Jane’s first official birthday. Or last Christmas. Or maybe this Halloween. Max didn’t really know and she didn’t feel like the timeline was important here. It all started, most importantly, with Jane being sweet. At first, the two didn’t get along: Jane, or El as they sometimes still called her then, felt like she got replaced by Max in their friend group after disappearing for a year. The conflict was quickly resolved though, and Max got an apology and a bunch of skateboard stickers from her for Christmas, which she thought was a bit awkward but definitely very sweet. They have been friends ever since, and even chief Jim Hopper, Jane’s adopted dad, was glad his kid was hanging out with another girl and not just a pack of nerdy boys.
What he didn’t realize at first was, Max was a nerd too. And which was worse, she was also a rascal, meaning all the things Jane usually did with her friends turned extreme when the ginger was involved. For example, there were regular movie nights with Mike (Jane’s closest friend and supposedly boyfriend) and occasionally the others, at Mike’s place, carefully scheduled to only happen every 2 weeks or so, as not to disturb the Hoppers’ reserved lifestyle, arranged especially so that chief could pick Jane up and bring her home without it looking suspicious. And there were ‘movie nights’ with Max, the latter simply sneaking past Hopper’s alarm system into their house with a whole load of snacks and some movie on a VHS in her backpack, and thank Lord if she had at least called Jane in advance. Jane thought it was unnecessarily risky but liked it anyway. She was a kid, and the predictable safe way of life she was forced to lead was far too boring. It wasn’t her fault they had to keep down for a while, and she missed her friends (especially after she had to stay at home mostly alone for a whole year). Luckily, her dad understood it too and didn’t get mad when he heard the girl’s secret window knock on yet another peaceful night. About a week before Jane’s birthday.
“Hey Mayfield.” Hopper said lazily, not even bothering to turn from his evening newspaper. “Careful with the window,” he called, hearing the frame being pushed upwards, followed by a muffled thump and the sound of a skateboard being pulled inside.
“Evening, chief!”
“We have a door, y’know. In case you haven’t noticed.”
Max fixed her hair awkwardly.
“I’ll make sure to use it next time.” She hesitated for a bit before adding: “I’m not staying over tonight,” earning a nod from Jim and sprinting off to Jane’s room.
As soon as she heard the shuffle of the bushes and dry leaves crunching under sneaky feet, Jane knew it was Max coming over again. Her ginger friend didn’t call that time, but someone else did: Will heard her saying she’s going to come when they were in school, so he thought it would be nice to call Jane in case Max forgot to. Will was almost like a brother to her because his mom Joyce and Hopper always hung out together in their free time; also he was Mike’s best friend so obviously they were like family. Will’s call gave Jane a chance to warn her dad about Max’s visit and avoid getting both of them in trouble. So, at the sounds indicating Max being about to invade their cabin, Jane perked up from her book and tensed up a bit. Listening carefully she put it away, then got up excitedly and fixed one of her braids in front of a small mirror she had in her room. She heard her friend climb through the window, the short conversation she had with Hopper, then stomping of her feet outside the door of Jane’s room.
“’Sup, Dorothy,” Max grinned, as Jane opened the door. She always used that name on her when she braided her lengthening hair, and Jane was confused about it at first, before someone explained the reference to her.
“Hi Max,” she smiled warmly, but then frowned a bit. “You didn’t call. Will told me you’ll come. Call us next time please?”
Her voice was soft and still kind of shy, and Max thought it was because she was a bit ashamed about her grammar or something like that. The other guys told her that Jane didn’t really know many words when they first met her and couldn’t speak like other kids because she was locked up somewhere her whole life. Due to all this Max was really impressed by her progress. And the shyness made Jane seem even cuter, she had to admit.
“Sorry. I will.” She smiled apologetically. “Anyway, I brought snacks and a movie!” Max pushed the taller girl inside softly, closing the door behind them.
That night, they watched an Indiana Jones movie, the raiders of the lost ark one. Jane has already watched no less than two Star Wars movies with the party before, and her favorite character was apparently princess Leia. Every time the woman appeared on screen Jane would bounce in her seat and point at the TV, excitedly whispering “she!!!” That was the most adorable and admittedly most childish reaction to a movie Max has ever seen but she didn’t mind, obviously. Anyway, the girl was already familiar with Harrison Ford’s acting, and Indiana’s character was really close to Han’s. Besides, both were Max’s favorite characters so watching this movie seemed like a perfect idea to her. Jane now had their old TV set in her room after Jim bought a new one, so they piled all the pillows and blankets on her bed, got pre-made popcorn and candy from Max’s backpack and made themselves cozy. The screen went blue for a moment, and with a push of a button, their movie night has started.
At first, Max could say her friend was confused. Apparently, seeing a familiar actor in a different role was pretty frustrating for someone who hasn’t been familiar with cinematography until a few months ago. Jane kept asking “Is he Han?” every time the man showed up after every somewhat long period of not being in the shot. She fiddled with her braided hair, seemingly deep in thought and watched the screen with full attention. Max has seen that movie several times already, so she was rather fixated on Jane’s reactions. They were very important, because what could possibly tell more about someone than their reaction to a film they have never seen before? Bonus points if it’s also your favorite. It was somehow nearly vital to her that Jane liked this one. Fortunately, she seemed to.
Over the course of nearly 2 hours of concentrated adventure, the girl grew more and more tired. Her laugh sounded rather sleepy when someone would crack a joke, she has long stopped asking if the man on the screen was Han Solo, lazily grabbed candy almost fell out of her hands. Also after several attempts to get even more comfortable, Max found Jane practically sitting in her lap, head on ginger’s shoulder, arms draped over her frame affectionately. When the movie has ended and the credits started crawling up the screen slowly, Jane’s eyelids dropped closed, and in this peaceful sleepy state, she was almost impossible to look away from. Or so Max thought, hypnotized by her friend’s almost angel-like features for a bare minute, feeling the strongest urge to stroke her hair and kiss her forehead. Then she felt blush creep over her face at the thought and jumped in her seat a bit, quickly pushing it away and jerking Jane awake. She didn’t even realize she was holding the girl in her arms as well, and now she was wiping at her eyes and mumbling “I’m resting my eyes” sleepily, and Max can’t shake off what she thought about earlier, and Jane is fixing her mussed hair in such a cute way that there are actual code red alarms going off inside Max’s messy ginger head with the sound of “WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS WHAT THE FU-“ so the only thing she can manage is:
“H-hey, I think it’s late now and I need to be home before anyone realizes I’m not…”
“Are you going alone?” Jane’s voice sounded worried.
“Yeah.” Max nodded. “I’m skating though, so it won’t take long.”
She zipped up her hoodie and gathered about a half of the rest of their candy and some trash left from what they had eaten. Her hands were shaking a bit when she shoved the stuff into her bag.
“Take care of yourself.” Jane said softly, also getting up from her bed and turning off the TV as her smaller friend picked up her board from where it was discarded on the floor. “Stay safe”
They made eye contact, sharing smiles and bumping their fists (a gesture Max and Lucas specifically taught her a few weeks before), and Max felt an immediate need to run away for a reason she was yet unable to comprehend. Hearing a lazy “The door, Max” from chief Hopper, she waved at Jane and left their cabin. She did use the door this time.
It was dark and quiet outside, the air was crisp and a bit misty. Max stepped over the wire – a part of the trap Jim arranged for their safety – and made her way through the woods. As she was coming closer to the town, she couldn’t help but think about that moment she had. Little did she know it was merely a start of the upcoming storm.