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"see? there's more to life than stupid boys!" max chirped after a particularly long laughing fit.
"stupid boys." el repeated, smiling small when max nodded in confirmation. "stupid boys!"
"yeah!"
the girls giggled quietly for a while, the pointless reality show playing on the tv acting as white noise. the redhead then grabbed a couple comics from her night stand and began to read. she watched fondly as el pointed and gaped in awe at the female superheroes.
"they're kinda like you." max said, motioning to one of the characters who appeared to have telepathic powers.
"like me?" el asked, squinting at the drawings.
"yeah. you can do the same stuff this one can, see? and that one there..."
max then went on to explain something about the comic, while el sort of zoned out. she found herself looking over her companion's features, from her blazing red hair to her icey blue eyes. the perfect contrast, el thought. then, she glanced over to the blocky television, only to find a boy and a girl kissing on the screen. just like she and mike did, or max and lucas.
but sometimes, el's thoughts drifted away. far away, to a place where girls could kiss eachother, maybe even boys too. in this place, she could kiss whoever, whenever, with no mike wheeler holding her back. in this place, she could kiss max.
what 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 it be like to kiss max, el wondered. would be something like kissing mike, or completely different? would it be rough or soft or simply chaste?
would she like it? (considering she liked everything about her friend, el guessed she probably would.)
she also wondered why girls weren't allowed to kiss eachother. if kissing boys was normal, then what was the problem? she decided that the world was just stupid. like boys. like kissing them. wait, what?
"el? earth to el!" max was waving her hand in front of el's face. it was clear she had zoned out for a moment.
"yes? oh, sorry." el snapped out of her 'i-wonder-if-kissing-max-would-be-nicer-than-kissing-mike' trance.
"you okay?" max asked, a trace of worry etched on her freckled face.
"yes," el confirmed, "just thinking."
"about..? and please don't say you're already thinking about going back to mik-"
"no!" el shook her head rapidly, "no. i was thinking about kissing." max raised an eyebrow.
"kissing?"
"yes."
"uh- what about kissing?"
"well, i was thinking about kissing other people."
"ooh! you got someone in mind?"
el hummed and moved her head in a little nod. "yes, but i was also thinking about something else." max motioned for her to go on, taking a sip of her coke. "why can't i kiss a girl?"
and the coke was flying out of max's mouth, landing all over the comics and el's lap.
"sorry. that was gross, sorry." she apologised, reaching under her bed to grab a couple wipes. "here," she quickly got to work, wiping the coke off of el's legs. "sorry."
"it's okay," el smiled, and the way her eyes glistened made max almost forgot what they had been talking about. "now, my question..?"
right.
"um. i guess you 𝘤𝘢𝘯 kiss a girl, if you really wanted..."
"really?" and there was the shine in her eyes again.
"yeah, uh, but some people- they don't like it." max explained briefly, and el cocked her head in confusion.
"why?"
"well, i don't really know. i guess it's just 'normal' to lik- to kiss boys." she said, putting airquotes around the word 'normal.' max didn't think it was normal. or maybe it was her who wasn't normal. she shrugged it off.
"that is stupid." el frowned.
"it is," max confirmed, "but most people don't agree." el hummed at this. after a moment or two, she broke the silence.
"so, if most of the people don't know about it," el said, "i could maybe kiss a girl?"
"uh- yeah. yeah, i guess," realising she sounded kind of like 'most people', max continued, "i mean, i don't have a problem with it. that, like, you wanna kiss girls. thats okay. thanks for, um, thanks for telling me." she rambled, looking anywhere but into el's eyes, while the latter looked at her fondly.
"mhm." she hummed, turning her attention back to the tv. the people weren't kissing anymore.
"yeah." max mumbled, mirroring el's actions, and then it was silent
after a couple more minutes of watching the show in silence, el asked a question. a question that may or may not have flipped max's world upside down. maybe.
"can i kiss you," el had said into the quiet room, "please?"
the words lingered in the air, and it took a while for max to process them. when he did, her freckle-ridden cheeks turned a rosy pink.
"huh?" her voice came out higher than intended.
"i would like to kiss you. please." she repeated, lips quirking up into a little smile.
"oh. um. i- if you- i mean... uh, sure." max nodded as she spoke, and el's smile only got bigger.
the brunette leaned in, until max could feel the ghost of her breath on her cheek.
"pretty." she whispered, tucking a stray strand of orange hair behind max's ear. the latter made a little noise, and that was enough encouragement for el to close the gap between them.
the kiss was soft and short, and el noted that max's lips were much less chapped than mike's. also, el was the one taking control this time. usually mike would just take the lead, assuming that was what el expected of him, but she sometimes wondered what it would be like to do the same to somebody else. now she knew, and it was lovely. she smiled into the kiss, and then pulled away.
the girls simply looked at eachother, the adoring looks visible in both their eyes.
"hm." el began, eyes flickering down to max's lips. her mouth was slightly ajar, and the sight made el grin wider. "i think i liked that."
"yeah?"
"yes."
"more- uh, more than mike?" el considered this for a moment, but quickly nodded.
"yes." she repeated.
as the night went on, the girls kissed a couple more times, and el honestly wondered why she hadn't done this before. turned out kissing a girl was much nicer than kissing a stupid boy.