(1) California to Hawkins (Max Mayfield/(Fem)You)

-Chapter 8: Trash and....Eleven?-

I rush to Max's side as Mike, realising what I did, runs into the hallway to find...her. "Max? Max, you okay?" I ask, scanning her face for any sign of damage. "Yeah, Yeah I think so." She says. I hold out my hand and she grabs it, I haul her up. "What...what happened?" I asked. "I don't know. It was like a magnet or something pulling on my board." She says, looking around. "I know that sounds crazy." She says, looking to the floor. 

I shake my head, chuckling. "You'd be surprised." I say. I walk over to her board and pick it up, returning to her and giving it to her. "Thanks." She says. "Not going to lie, it was funny. You teasing Mike." I say with a smile. She laughs too. "Mhm. I know. But...." She says with a smirk. "I also noticed a certain SOMEONE glaring at Mike too." She notes, looking at me.

My face heats up and I look away. Shit. "What? Who?" I ask, looking around. "Mhm, sure. Play Dumb." She says, laughing and placing her board on the floor again. She nods at the board. "Go on." She says. As I go to step on the board, my radio crackles. "Guys, I found him" I hear. "Where?" I ask, handing Max her skateboard as we leave the sports hall. "In the bathrooms by Mr. Salerno's"

We rush to the bathrooms. Mike and Lucas joined us on the way. We all burst into the bathrooms to see Dustin casually exiting a stall. "Where's Dart?" I ask. He just shrugs, looking innocent. "I don't know. Not here." He says. "What?" Mike asks, pushing open the other stalls. "He said by Mr. Salerno's, right?" Max asks in disbelief. "Yeah. Maybe Will has him." Dustin says quickly. Not going to lie, Dustin is acting strange. Lucas looks around for a moment before speaking up. "Hey, guys..." He starts. We all look at him. "Where is Will?"

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Everything went by in a blur.

Mrs. Byers came to school looking for Will and we all searched for him.

Lucas found Will in the field and it turns out, Will was just standing there.

But....Will's eyes were going crazy. Like he was in a seizure. We couldn't wake him up for a while. No matter what we tried....and when we finally did, Mrs. Byers took him home straight away.

The rest of us stood at the school's front steps, watching as Mrs Byers ushers Will into the car and they drive away, leaving the rest of us. We all watched in silence as the car got smaller, driving off. "Okay, that totally freaked me out." Max says, looking at us. None of us responded. Will's episodes weren't just episodes. Something was up....and I fear...I fear it has something to do with the upside down. "Did that not freak you guys out?" Max continues, clearly confused. We have to tell her. Soon. I turned to her and offered her a small smile, letting her know we were just processing it. She smiles back and nods while the rest of us turn to each other.

"Two episodes in two days....It's getting worse." Lucas notes, grimacing. "Do you think...it's true sight?" I ask, worried. "What's true sight?" Max asks, turning to me. I open my mouth to answer when Mike cuts me off. "Nothing. It's nothing."

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We all walked to the bike parking area together. All silent. We took our bikes, one by one, before saying bye and going home. "See you tomorrow guys." Lucas says. "Yeah, see ya." Dustin says. "Bye." Mike says. Max and I also say bye to the boys as we head off in our own direction. We're silent at first. I was riding my bike and Max was skateboarding. "Y/N?" She asks. I hum in response, telling her I was listening. "What happened?" She asks me with a quiet voice. "What?" I ask, looking at her now. "What's true sight?" She asks. "It's a DnD thing." I say. "Is that....all it is?" She asks. We were now in front of my house. "I..I can't tell you much. I'm sorry...but I promise I will tell you. I just need to talk to Mike tomorrow." I say, looking her in her eyes.

Her bright blue eyes boring into mine, making me fall into some sort of trance. God, what was this girl doing to me? She looked a little sad, maybe hoping I'd tell her anyway. But with a single nod, she smiles. "Okay. I trust you, Y/N." She whispers. She then goes forward to hug me, wrapping her smaller arms around me as I hug her back, letting my bike fall to the floor. We stay like that for a bit before she pulls back slightly. Only slightly. Our foreheads still close together as I look into her eyes. I want to kiss her. Is that weird? I just want to surge forward and kiss her....but I don't. And no matter how many times I see her eyes fall on my lips, she doesn't either. We just stood like that for a good minute before she steps back and clears her throat. She throws me a grin, tilting her head. "Tomorrow." She says before skating off.

I watch as she skates into the distance before entering my house. Inside, I greet my parents, grab some food before going to my room. Inside, I try to fill my head with homework, not wanting to think about anything that just happened. My radio crackles to life beside me and Mike's voice fills the room. "Y/N?" He asks. I don't reply. I'm not in the mood to talk to him right now. "Y/N, Do you copy?" He asks, again, and again, and again, and oh my god shut up.

I grab my radio, hold it to my mouth and sneer into it. "Shut. Up" I say. "Wait! Y/N. Please." He says. I roll my eyes, groaning. "Okay what?" I ask, annoyance laces my voice. "You know in the sports hall?" He asks. Jealousy bubbles up again but I push it down. "Yeah." I say. "You know when Max fell off her board?" He asks me. "Yeah." I say again, giving him as little as I can. "Did you think it was...a little strange?" He asks. I stay silent. I know he's talking about the 'force' that pushed Max. I know he's suggesting Eleven's presence. I miss her too, but I refused to give in. She disappeared in front of us. We saw it. "Do you think...." He continues.

"Mike." I say. "Yeah?" He asks. "It's possible. But I'm NOT going to believe it until I see her. Do you understand?" I ask. "But-" "No, Mike. I'm not going to believe that she's back until I see her and I'm not taking your word for it." He sighs over the radio before replying. "Yeah, fine." He says. I say goodbye to him before deciding to go to bed for the night.

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Sometimes I want to hit my alarm.

Just, like, smack it.

It's constant beeping rings in my ears as I groan and awaken.

Doing my usual morning routine, I leave on my bike and arrive at school earlier than usual. I already find Lucas and Mike at school, parking their bikes. Walking up to them, I park my own bike alongside theirs. "Hey, Y/N!" Lucas says, smiling slightly. I wave at him and I see Mike awkwardly wave at me too. I nod at him, parking my bike. "Where's Dustin and Max?" I ask, looking around. "Dustin is probably coming." Mike says, shrugging. After a beat, Lucas speaks. "And Max is right there." He says, smiling. I turn to see Max rolling up on her skateboard. "Hey, guys." She says, hopping off her board. We all greeted her, well, Lucas and did. "Do you think Dart is still in there?"Lucas asks.Just then, a garbage truck rolls down the Street. Hauling trash around. "Lucas then proceeds to look at the school's trash chutes. "Do you think....." He starts before sprinting to the garbage bins. Mike, Max and I look at each other before sprinting after him.

"Lucas, no." I say, catching up to him. "But think about it. It's a weird creature who is bound to eat something. Where else to get food but the trash?" He suggests. I sigh, he's not wrong... "Fine. But I'm not going in." I say. Everyone follows me and steps back. "Well ONE of us has to go." Max says. "Not me." Mike says. "Not me," Lucas says. "It was your idea!" I say to him, "My IDEA doesn't mean I do it." He counters. "We draw straws." I say, grabbing some sticks from nearby and holding them in my hands. They each drew a stick, leaving one for me and we then revealed it to each other. Max had the longest one, followed by Mike, then me, leaving Lucas with the shortest one. I smirk and chuckle at the sight. "Looks like... your idea, you do it."

It's been a good 5 minutes of Lucas in the trash until Dustin rolls us. Just as he doesn, Lucas flings a bag out of the trash, letting it hit the floor and go everywhere. "Ugh." Mike groans as the smell wafts to his nose. "This is disgusting. Is it really necessary?" Max asks, plugging her nose. "What the hell is going on?" Dustin asks, confused as hell. "What do you think? We're looking for Dart." I say. Lucas then goes on arguing about how he has to do it, jumping out and stinking up the whole place. Dustin then turns to Max and smiles his toothless grin, smoothing his hair slightly and says "Hi, Max." She looks at him, confused and awkwardly before returning "Hi." Stay away, Dustin. I mean it....

Word Count: 1634