Chapter Text
“what are you gonna do about it?” angela says shrilly. el whimpers. she’s curled at the base of a locker. three of angela‘s friends stand by her, laughing at the broken necklace under angela‘s shoe. el dosen’t know what to do. she always walked with max, but she left early that day feeling sick. el hadn’t wanted her to go. max doesn’t know this, but el’s favorite part of the day is when she and max drive home together. it was thursday, so will was at the library after school. el wanted her to be ok though, which is why at 4:15, an hour after school ends, she’s on the ground watching angela stomp on her favorite gift from max– a gold skateboard charm on a thin chain. the chain is snapped and the charm is broken in half. a tear finds its way down el’s cheek.
“oh, is she – “angela starts but stops as she processes the sound of someone running down the hall. el hopes against hope that its max. the shoe sounds get closer.
“el? el where are you?” max rounds the corner, a dash of orange hair and red vans coming to a stop. “oh, hey angela! i’m just gonna grab jane real quick.” she says as she grabs el’s hand and hauls her up.
“not so fast.” angela snaps. “why’d you call her el? this bitch’s name is jane.”
“inside joke. you know, friends have them. oh, wait. i guess you wouldn’t know.” max retorts smoothly. angela’s eyes flick from max’s stare to her hand, still clutching el’s. she steps forward, raising her fist and bringing it down at max. max catches her forearm and twists, causing angela to shriek, and then max takes her skateboard and slides it under angela’s feet, tripping her. angela lies on the floor now, cradling her wrist and glaring at max, who’s already running down the hallway with el next to her, hands entangled. they don’t stop until they collapse in max’s car, max behind the wheel. max takes one look at el crying, and starts the car. she reaches over and squeezes her hand.
“hey. it’s okay. it’s fine. i’ll always be here for you. in more ways than you could ever know.” she holds el’s hand tightly as she drives, skipping the turn for their house and instead speeding along and old country road. windows down and radio on, they scream along to their favorite songs until they’re laughing so hard that max has to pull over by a field. they get out and dance in the grass and the flowers, spinning and laughing. every time el glances at max, carefree and gorgeous, she gets a feeling in her stomach. something warm, like how she felt when she first started dating mike. she doesn’t know what to make of it.