Chapter Text
For a whole week before Lucas turned fourteen, Max had been planning the perfect birthday present. Or maybe for a little over a week. Maybe she’d been planning it for almost a whole month.
Like everything between the two of them, it had started out as a joke.
They were sitting on the couch in Lucas’s living room, a few days after Valentine’s. Erica had recently stolen a VHS tape of Sixteen Candles from her best friend’s sister and shoved it into the VCR before plopping herself onto the single armchair across from them.
Lucas had complained, because of course he did. But Max was slightly intrigued. She’d heard other girls talking about the movie at school, saying they couldn’t wait to turn sixteen so they could be just like its protagonist. So they made some popcorn and settled down.
Erica didn’t last twenty minutes. After Lucas went full older-brother mode and practically kicked her out, threatening to tell their mom she’d been watching an inappropriate movie, she finally left them alone. The other two watched through the rest of the film. It was cliché and very cheesy, but by now, they were practically experts at making fun of the awkwardness, throwing comments back and forth, and half-looking away whenever things got too uncomfortable.
Once it was over, they stayed on the couch, talking.
“I really don’t understand why people make such a big deal out of birthdays,” Lucas was saying. “Tomorrow, you’ll be the exact same person you are today. Nothing truly changes.”
“People just like big parties, I guess. Besides, she’s turning sixteen. That’s kinda an important number.”
Lucas turned his head at her. “Why, though?”
“I don’t know, Lucas. I’m just saying, in movies and TV, everyone talks about turning sixteen as if it’s such a turning point in life.”
“But it’s the same. This girl was fighting for her life just to get a perfect birthday. But it’s exactly the same if, instead of doing it on her birthday, she just waited until the next day or the next week.”
“Some people like celebrating their birthdays, Lucas. You might be the only boring person who hates it.”
He kicked her shin with his shoe. “Hey, I never said I hated it. I love my birthday, in fact.”
Max cocked a brow. “Really?”
“Hell, yeah. Everyone’s paying attention to me. I’m in the spotlight. I get presents and cake.” He looked up to the ceiling with a smug smile. “It’s awesome.”
“But then you’re also a whole year older.”
“Nah, that’s not true. You don’t just turn a whole year older on the day of your birthday. You build up to it.”
“So you’ll be the same idiot at fourteen as you are at thirteen? That’s sad.”
Lucas shot forward and pinched her arm. She pinched him back, laughing. Then he stood up and grabbed the VHS box, sliding the tape back inside.
He turned the box around, scanning it.
“Sixteen Candles,” he read aloud. “That’s a lot of candles.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“You know what I think?” He set the box down on the coffee table and sat back down beside Max. “I think we should get one wish per candle on the cake. So that’s one wish more every year.”
“You want fourteen wishes? That’s a lot.”
“You get better chances. At least one of them should come true.”
“And what happens when you get older? You get eighty wishes when you’re old? And only one when you’re a child? Sounds unfair.”
“A baby doesn’t need wishes. They have all they need. And they don’t even know what a wish is. A grown-up could use some help from the universe. Don’t you think so?”
Max frowned, seriously thinking about it.
“And you can wish for anything you want? Anything at all?”
Lucas nodded. “Of course. That’s how wishes work.”
“What if someone wishes ninety times for a war that destroys half the world, then?”
Lucas considered it. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and crossing his hands together.
“It should be regulated, then. You can only wish for the same thing once. No wishes can be repeated.”
“Yeah, but how do you know what someone’s wishing for? You can’t really determine if someone’s repeating their wishes or not.”
“I make them tell the government.”
Max swallowed a chuckle. “Right. But if you say your wish out loud, then it doesn’t come true at all. Isn’t that how it works?”
He scratched his neck. Max watched him, amused.
“I think you should be able to wish for as many things as you want.”
“Damn. We’re getting all philosophical now.”
Lucas grinned. “If I had fourteen wishes, I’d wish for fourteen bandanas. Then I’d get at least one.”
After that, they put something else on, settling closer together until Max could rest her head on his shoulder.
But her brain was spinning, and the thought stuck with her for weeks to come.
If Lucas wanted fourteen wishes for his fourteenth birthday, Max would make sure he’d get them.
She got to work the next day. At first, it was more of a project than anything else.
At school, she interviewed each of the boys individually, trying to come up with ideas. What she hadn’t considered was that they were still boys, which meant they sucked at coming up with nice gestures.
Dustin was easy to talk to. They were lab partners in science class, meaning they shared a table.
“I was thinking of getting him a new wrist slingshot,” Dustin told her. “I think his old one is broken.”
“He’s turning fourteen, Dustin. Not four.”
Dustin squinted at her. “How well do you know your boyfriend?”
“Well enough to know he doesn’t need a stupid slingshot.”
“What if he needs one for high school, huh? What if he needs it to defend himself against bullies?”
Max raised an eyebrow. Dustin leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper.
“What if the demos come back, Max? He can’t fight without his slingshot. We’ll be doomed.”
Max scoffed and took a very deep breath.
“Fine, Dustin. I’ll figure it out. Thanks for nothing.”
The second Party member to get interviewed was Will. Max sat beside him at lunch, using advantage of the time before the other three came back with their food.
Will thought about it for a moment.
“Maybe something for D&D?”
Max frowned. “I thought about it, but something like what? A dragon?”
He laughed. “No. Well, maybe. But I think he’d like a new set of dice. He’s always forgetting his and having to burrow Dustin’s.”
“You need a whole set of dice for every player? That’s ridiculous.”
“No, you can all use the same dice, but I think he’d like having his own set. You can get them in different colors and everything.”
Max stared at him. It was actually a useful suggestion, but where the hell was she supposed to find a Dungeons & Dragons store in this shithole town?
Still, it was a better suggestion than Dustin’s slingshot.
Right before the last period, she found Mike at his locker, switching out his notebooks. Most of the time, having to talk to Mike alone made Max want to shoot herself in the foot. He was… complicated.
For starters, he didn’t even react when she told him she was looking for a birthday present for Lucas. His eyes never left his locker.
Max waved a hand in front of his face.
“Hello? I asked you a question.”
“And I heard it.”
She crossed her arms. “So? What’s your idea?”
He continued moving things around his locker at a painfully slow pace.
“Get him something from your heart.”
Max pressed her lips into a thin line, swallowing a groan.
“Really? That’s your wise advice? Get him something from your heart?”
“Lucas isn’t hard to please. He’s not shallow or materialistic. So just get him whatever you think is gonna make him happy.”
Now she wanted to strangle him.
She forced herself to calm down. “What if it was a present for your girlfriend, instead? Wouldn’t you like some helpful ideas?”
He shut his locker and started walking down the hallway without even meeting Max’s eyes.
“That’s different. El is a girl.”
Max hurried after him. “So what? Why does that matter?”
“Girls are harder to read. As long as I get her something expensive and some flowers with a note, she’ll be happy.”
Max huffed. “That’s disgusting! She’s not a pet you’re supposed to keep happy.”
“I never said she’s a pet. But boys are built different. You don’t need to get Lucas a chain or else he’ll break up with you. We’re simple. Give him a hug and a kiss, and he’ll be fine.”
Max stopped in her tracks. “You’re awful, you know that? I hope El breaks up with you.”
That Wednesday after school, Max sat on her desk, pen and paper in hand, and scribbled a few ideas onto a list. She titled it “Lucas’s Fourteen Candles”.
Under the big letters, though, there wasn’t much written. She’d quickly realized she needed more ideas for the project to come together. She didn’t want to turn it into a big group present, especially after the boys’ terrible advice, but she didn’t have enough money to buy Lucas fourteen presents of her own.
So she thought she could make him something by hand and buy him a bigger present later.
Except she wasn’t very skilled at crafts. Somehow, it took her a whole week to get the first half of the present done.
She found an empty matchbox in the kitchen and decorated it with leftover wrapping paper. On top, she glued a couple of gold stars she’d found in the arts and crafts folder she kept on her desk.
That Saturday afternoon, before meeting with the Party at the arcade, she quickly stopped by Melvalds General Store to buy the candles. But Hawkins was so poorly stocked that she couldn’t find fourteen candles that looked the same. She ended up buying six bright blue ones, six green ones, and six polka-dotted ones.
When she tried to fit them into the matchbox, she ran into another problem. Some candles were too long, so she had to cut them down to size. By the time she’d trimmed fourteen of them, most were uneven, with sharp edges and broken bits of wax. It was a mess.
On top of everything else, the present was paused for some weeks due to the insane amount of homework they were getting at school, which made it impossible for Max to find an afternoon to buy Lucas an actual present. And she still had no idea what that present could be.
Her hopes were dwindling. Lucas’s birthday was approaching fast, and she had nothing. Nothing at all.
Just when she was about to give up, Susan announced during Friday dinner that she and Neil were going to Indianapolis again to buy some things they needed.
This time, Max asked to come along. To get some new clothes, she said.
The next morning, she sat in the back seat of Neil’s truck while her mom blabbered nonstop about everything they needed to buy, and how excited she was to go shopping with her daughter.
Max wasn’t thrilled. In fact, she was slightly terrified. She had to find a way to keep the parents distracted long enough to sneak away and find something for Lucas. Time was running out, and this might be her only chance to buy his present before his birthday the following Tuesday.
Indianapolis had a huge mall, with even more stores in the shopping district downtown. They wandered from one store to the next, Max studying every display window for inspiration. As far as Susan was concerned, she was looking for clothes, so at least they were both getting something out of the trip.
To please her mom, Max went into a couple of stores and bought a few things for the upcoming summer, some colorful shorts and striped shirts. Neil was in a good enough mood to let Susan buy her a brand-new pair of Vans, so she could finally throw her worn-out ones in the trash.
After their shopping spree, they headed toward the mall. Neil was looking for a new coffee maker and some auto parts, which Max was pretty sure Billy could get at work. If only Neil knew. Susan, meanwhile, was determined to find a new rug for the living room.
The moment the parents walked into the furniture store, Max told Susan she was going to find the bathroom. Susan nodded absently, already distracted by the bright, colorful rugs crowding the room.
Max slipped away and wandered through the mall, up and down the escalators, searching for something she wasn’t even sure existed. She tried to find a board-game store, thinking about the dice set Will had mentioned. But either there was no such thing as a store that sold D&D stuff, or she had absolutely no idea what she was looking for.
She’d been gone for almost ten minutes. She knew she needed to get back to her mom soon if she didn’t want Susan calling the cops to look for her. Or, worse, if she didn’t want to face Neil in a bad mood.
She was about to quit when she came across the windows of The Gap. Taking a deep breath and promising herself she’d be in and out as quickly as possible, she entered inside.
By the time the smell of men’s cologne reached her nose, she was beginning to think the whole fourteen-wishes had been a stupid idea.
Shirts and polos were everywhere. Hanging from racks, folded into neat little squares, displayed on mannequins. A few men wandered around, picking out clothes and holding them up for inspection.
Max stared at them. She could buy Lucas a shirt, she supposed. Except she had absolutely no idea what kind he’d want, and she wasn’t about to spend all her money on something he’d wear twice before shoving it into the back of his closet.
She picked up a blue-and-white striped polo shirt, considered it, saw the prize tag, then put it back.
This was somehow worse than the dice.
Well, at least she’d tried. Maybe Mike was right and she’d been overthinking it. Maybe she could just give Lucas the messy matchbox and the candles, pretend she’d been going for something symbolic, and call it a day. Lucas would appreciate it. After all, he was the best person she knew.
She turned around, ready to leave. But as her eyes wandered toward the checkout line, she spotted a big plastic container full of bandanas. That’s it.
Max practically ran over to it. She grinned when she saw the discount sign: Take three, pay for one. She patted her pocket, mentally counting her money. More than enough.
She rummaged through the container, scanning the different colors and patterns and trying to remember which ones Lucas already owned, which ones she’d seen him wear, and which ones he didn’t have yet. Before long, she was holding fourteen different bandanas, piled across both hands.
She joined the end of the line, smiling to herself.
The cashier frowned when he saw her purchase, but when Max showed him she had the money to pay for it, he didn’t ask any questions. He handed her the bag and her change, and she was soon walking out the store with fourteen bandanas in tow.
Her intuition hadn’t been wrong. When Max finally found her mom in the mall corridor, Susan was frantic.
Max explained that she’d gotten lost, which was sort of true. The mall was huge, and by the time she’d finished looking around, Susan and Neil had already left the furniture store.
Neil was pissed. He grabbed Max by the arm and practically yanked her all the way back to the parking lot.
The next morning, Max woke up with a horrible bruise on her forearm and the bag of bandanas safely tucked under her pillow.
The second half of the present wasn’t very clear in her mind. She couldn’t just give him the bandanas in a plastic bag. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to give him the destroyed matchbox, either, but the present wouldn’t make sense without it.
She already felt dumb for buying Lucas fourteen bandanas. What if he’d been joking? What if he suddenly decided he was too old for bandanas?
She spent all Sunday trying to figure out how to put the present together. Going back to the matchbox, she numbered each candle from one to fourteen and stuck a little note with instructions to the back of the box. He was supposed to make a wish for each candle. Duh.
She took the shoebox her new shoes had come in and used some more leftover wrapping paper to decorate at least the top. Inside, she placed all fourteen bandanas and the matchbox.
The present was becoming more and more stupid by the second.
On Tuesday afternoon, Max showed up at Lucas’s house. The morning at school had been completely normal, with Dustin threatening to start yell-singing “Happy Birthday” to Lucas at lunch, but nothing more than that.
The Party was invited over for a small birthday celebration and a D&D campaign later that day, but Max was standing at his front door two hours early.
Mrs. Sinclair opened it, looking surprised.
“Max! We weren’t expecting anyone for another hour.”
Max shifted from one foot to another, suddenly uncomfortable.
“No, I know. I just…” She hesitated.
Lucas’s mom watched her with calm brown eyes. The same eyes as her son’s.
Max cleared her throat. “I brought him a present. I thought I could give it to him before everyone else got here?”
Mrs. Sinclair smiled a little. She glanced back into the house, then looked at Max again.
“Sure, honey. Come in. He’s in his room.”
“No, actually– could you call him out? I was planning on taking him somewhere. It won’t be long, we’ll be back before the party starts.”
Mrs. Sinclair hesitated for a moment, then nodded and turned toward the stairs.
“Lucas! Max is at the door!”
A few seconds later, something crashed upstairs. Lucas came running down the stairs, fresh out of the shower and combing his hair with his hands.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
Lucas looked at his mom. She glanced between the two of them.
“I’ll go finish the cake. Make sure you’re back before your grandmother gets here, alright?”
He nodded. Mrs. Sinclair tousled his hair before disappearing down the hall.
Lucas closed the front door behind him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to borrow your bike.”
Lucas frowned. “Huh?”
“With you, I mean. Let’s go.”
Max started down the driveway and found Lucas’s bike behind the bushes by the porch. She picked it up and handed it to him.
“I could skate, but we need to get back before your grandma arrives.”
Lucas let out a half-laugh, looking slightly worried. “You don’t know my Nana. She’s… a case.”
He took the bike and climbed on, making room for Max on the back.
“Where to?”
Max rested her hands on his shoulders, peeking over them. “I’ll lead.”
She took pride in having a good enough memory to remember the way to the quarry. Hawkins’s streets were easier to recognize without snow covering everything and making the roads and fields look the same. In spring, all the different trees and little flowers made it much easier to find her way.
Soon enough, Lucas recognized the route and took over pedaling.
A few minutes later, they reached the same spot they’d visited about a month ago. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, the sun hanging high in the sky and casting lights over everything. The grass was greener than it had been in February, and birds sang from the surrounding trees. Below them, the lake shone bright blue.
They climbed off the bike, and Lucas dropped it onto the grass before walking toward the edge to look down at the water. Max took advantage of the distraction to open her backpack and pull out the poorly decorated shoebox.
She cleared her throat.
Lucas turned around, his eyes landing on the box in her hands.
“Happy birthday, Stalker.”
She held it out to him.
Lucas took it, his expression caught somewhere between surprise and happiness.
He opened it but didn’t say anything at first. His eyes moved over the contents. Then he laughed.
A real laugh.
Max frowned, a knot forming in her throat. Of course it was stupid. Who in their right mind needed fourteen bandanas?
She crossed her arms over her chest, swallowing down the knot and doing her best to keep her voice neutral.
“You don’t like it?”
Lucas kept laughing hard. His stomach contracted with every cackle, and tears had started to gather in his eyes.
Max covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath.
“So goddamn stupid,” she muttered.
Lucas’s laughter finally died down. He was still breathing hard, trying to get himself under control. He looked inside the box again, rummaging through the bandanas until his fingers found the matchbox.
“What’s this?”
He took it out and set the shoebox on the grass. He turned the matchbox over, reading the instructions on the back. Then he opened it, closed it, opened it again, turned it around once more.
At last, his eyes found Max’s.
No matter how hard she tried to blink it away, a small tear slipped down her cheek. She was so embarrassed.
“I know. It’s really fucking stupid.”
Lucas looked at the matchbox again.
“I love it. Thank you.”
Max blinked. “What?”
“I love it.” He put the matchbox back inside the shoebox.
“Did you hit your head or something?” She wiped the tear away.
Lucas walked up to her and took her hands in his.
“No, I think it’s awesome, really. I love it.”
Max looked away, avoiding his eyes.
“You don’t have to pretend to like it, Lucas. I know it’s cheesy and dumb, and I–”
“Max.” He squeezed her hands. “I don’t care that it’s cheesy. It’s ours, and it’s perfect.”
“Come on. Why would you need fourteen stupid bandanas?”
Lucas laughed again. “Okay, maybe the fourteen bandanas was a bit much. I admit, it took me off guard. But it’s the meaning behind them… I get it. And I really like them.”
This time, Max met his eyes. They were calm and warm and bright, as always.
“I love you,” he said.
For a second, she forgot how to answer.
Then she squeezed his hands back.
“I love you too, idiot.”
Lucas grinned. “I’m the idiot?”
“You always were.”
He laughed, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to her forehead.
“But yeah, maybe fourteen bandanas is a bit excessive.”
“Your wish just came true. You should be happy. You've got one for each head now.”
Lucas burst out laughing again. They sat down in the grass, Lucas examining and trying on each bandana while Max watched him, smiling despite herself.
A few minutes later, Lucas gasped.
“Nana! My mom's gonna kill me!”
He jumped to his feet and rushed toward his bike. Max stared at him from the grass.
He turned to her, eyes wide.
“Come on!”
“Damn. How bad can it be? It’s just a grandma.”
She stood up and climbed onto the back of the bike, carefully tucking the shoebox into her backpack. Lucas pedaled down the streets as fast as she’d ever seen him go, the bike rocking from side to side.
In less than ten minutes, they were back in his driveway.
He practically threw the bike onto the ground and ran for the door. Max followed close behind.
Mrs. Sinclair was at the kitchen counter, decorating a big chocolate cake. The counters were covered with plates of food, from cookies to brownies and biscuits.
She barely looked up when Lucas nearly crashed into her.
“Where’s Nana?”
Mrs. Sinclair continued her impeccable icing job.
“Oh, she isn’t coming for a while yet. I just wanted you back before everyone else arrived.” She eyed him up and down. “If I knew you'd come back this sweaty, I wouldn’t have said anything at all. Didn’t you just shower?”
Lucas huffed. “Yeah, but–”
“Go fix yourself up. Come on. Your friends will be here soon.”
Max leaned against the doorway as Lucas stormed past her, frustrated. She gave him a quick peck on the shoulder, half-pushing him toward the stairs, then she turned back to Mrs. Sinclair.
“Can I help you with anything?”
“Oh, sure. Could you bring the cheese sticks out of the oven, dear?”
Max did as she was told. Every corner of the kitchen smelled delicious. She placed the tray on the counter.
“Isn’t this a lot of food?”
“There’s never too much food for four teenage boys and my husband,” Sue said with a chuckle.
Max helped out in the kitchen, chatting with Mrs. Sinclair while they finished getting everything ready.
A little while later, Lucas came back downstairs in a different shirt. Tied around his head was a camo bandana.
One of the fourteen Max had bought him.
Turns out Mrs. Sinclair was right. By the time it was time to blow out the candles, there wasn’t a crumb left on any of the plates.
The chocolate cake looked perfectly neat, the icing covering every corner precisely and evenly. When his mom reached for the candles, Lucas stopped her and took them himself.
He took the matchbox out of his pocket and placed all fourteen of Max’s messy candles on top of the cake.
Then he looked straight at her and smiled before blowing them out.