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There were only two days left until spring break, and Mike Wheeler really wanted those days to pass as fast as possible. He would be visiting his girlfriend, Eleven, in Lenora Hills, California. He’d also be visiting his best friend, Will Byers, since El was staying with his family. But Mike felt like he needed to talk to El as fast as possible. He felt like he was losing her, and he needed to find some way to save his relationship with the girl he loved. God, Mike loved Eleven so much. But he couldn’t find it in himself to say it to her. Was he that scared to lose her?
Maxine “Max” Mayfield had been through a lot. She had lost her brother to a monster, and the trauma that accompanied that loss had messed things up. Max had withdrawn herself from her friends, even Lucas, her boyfriend. She was trying to move on in her own way, but things were getting worse. She was constantly having headaches and nightmares that kept her up on sleepless nights. And Max couldn’t shake the feeling that something far worse was coming. But she had grown numb to everything, and that was that.
Mike needed time to himself, and that’s how he found himself sitting on top of the old school bus in the junkyard he and his friends had been to plenty of times. He just needed it to let himself get lost in his thoughts. To simply think.
Mike’s thoughts were interrupted though, as he heard a faint noise nearby. He scrambled back down to the inside of the bus as he hid next to the back of the bus. The door was then pushed open as Mike realized it was simply Max.
“Jesus Christ, Wheeler,” the redhead said as she walked in and saw Mike getting up, “You look like a wreck.”
“Nice to see you too, Max,” Mike responded sarcastically, as he climbed back up to the roof of the bus.
Max rolled her eyes at Mike’s remark as she started climbing up the ladder. The two were never on the best of terms when it came to The Party, as they constantly argued or simply ignored each other. It had been that way ever since they met in 1984.
“Come here often?” Max asked with a bit of sarcastic edge as she sat down in a different spot at the top of the bus.
“Do you?” Mike asked, with the initial edge in his voice dying down.
Max sighed, as she immediately thought of one of her better conversations with Lucas. This was the last truly meaningful conversation they had before she truly saw the horrors of the Upside Down. She and Lucas had conversations like this after, but that particular talk always felt special.
“I mean, sometimes,” Max said, “We all have our places where we think about things alone, right?”
Mike shrugged as he replied, “Yeah. I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately. And I get a great view too, so I can at least get lost in my thoughts in a place that doesn’t suck to hang around in.”
There was a little bit of silence after that, as Mike and Max just went back to their own individual thoughts and took in the sunny afternoon.
Mike then spoke up again, “We all miss you, by the way.”
Max looked at Mike with a little bit of shock on her face before turning back and responding, “Didn’t know you cared, Mike.”
“It’s true. Especially Lucas,” Mike continued, “Something tells me he’s still in love with you. Even though you guys split.”
Max shook her head as she said, “I’m dealing with stuff. And I need to do it on my own.”
“I get it,” Mike quickly replied, “There’s certain stuff I need to get done on my own too.”
“And what might that be?” Max asked.
Mike paused, before responding, “Trying to not lose El. I’m just scared, y’know? I love her so much. But I’m scared of actually saying it to her. What if after a while, she’ll no longer feel the same way she does now? I need to figure that out because I’m definitely failing as a boyfriend either way.”
Max couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh in response to that.
“What’s so funny?” Mike said.
“I seriously can’t believe you still think she’d leave you behind,” Max replied, “I’ve seen it, we all have. She won’t leave you. You guys are heads over heels.”
Mike let out a small laugh as he said, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I hope you’re right. And I just hope you sort your issues out. I wish I could do more, but it’s up to you. None of us can force anything on you.”
Max nodded as she said, “Yeah. Maybe I can fix things. I just don’t know when. But it’s hard. That’s why I need to do this on my own.”
There was a pause, before Mike got up and said, “Well, if you need us…we’re right here. We always will be.”
Max nodded again as she replied, “I’ll let you guys know if I need any help. For now, I’m going to hang around here for a little bit more.”
“Cool,” Mike responded as he climbed down, “See you around, Zoomer.”
“Same to you, Wheeler,” Max said.
As she saw Mike grab his backpack and bike, Max couldn’t help but think about some of the things that he had said. Mike did have a point, but she didn’t know what she was going to do. If anything, she felt more torn. She wanted to sort herself out on her own, but The Party had stuck with her for almost all of her time in Hawkins. And they were still trying to help, no matter how many times she said she didn’t need it.
Maybe it was time to stop running from things, after all.