Chapter Text
October 27th ; 11:37 PM ₊˚⊹
“Max, I’m scared…”
An amused smile curved onto Max Mayfield’s pink lips. She adjusted the phone against her ear, feeling the sudden urge to laugh, stopping herself before anything could come out. She shook her head as if Drew could see her. “What exactly are you scared of, Drew?”
A breath Drew didn’t realize she was holding left her, her eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Max sounded both careless and clueless, as if the world surrounding her was sunshine and daisies. As if this reality was normal and everyday for her. “Are you seriously asking that?! Have you not seen the news? There’s a bunch of back to back missing kids cases all over Hawkins! Doesn’t that scare you?”
The amusement that Max previously felt deflated from her, the same way air rapidly left a balloon. There was a tone in Drew’s voice that she rarely heard. Reluctance, fear, it had surprised her.
Max let out a laugh. It wasn’t real, it was short and light. A way to ease the atmosphere. Something to calm the nerves that Max didn’t realize Drew had. “I’m mildly concerned, but there’s worst things that have happened in Hawkins.” A reel of memories played in Max’s head; the upside down, the creatures that spawned from it, the labs, the military, all the times she nearly lost someone she cared deeply about. “Speaking of that, how does someone in California know what’s going on in Hawkins, Indiana?”
An exasperated sigh left Drew. She was filled with uneasiness, she still wanted to discuss the matter, but for now she could put a pause on the subject. “Nate pretty much updates me on all things Hawkins.”
Max stiffened at the mention of her old best friend’s name. Ever since she left San Diego, there had been a change in their friendship. There was distance—physical and emotional. It was tense and obvious, but they didn’t talk about it. Sometimes they didn’t talk at all. It had gone from everyday phone calls and texts, to every week, month, every other month, and now… well, Max was practically stupefied when he’d randomly contacted her and suggested a visit for Halloween.
“And Nate’s keeping up with Hawkins, because…?” The question hopefully came off as casual. Max prayed Drew didn’t hear the thread of hope in her tone, the small piece of her that was searching for confirmation. Confirmation that the friendship they shared still mattered to Nate.
“Because you’re there,” Drew snorted. She said it as if Max should’ve already known, and maybe Max should’ve known, but reassurance never hurt anyone. Even if it didn’t come from the person directly.
“I didn’t think he cared that much.” This time, it was hard to keep her tone even. Her voice was small enough to be a squeak, vulnerability seeping through.
Drew softened her voice, she suspected Max felt this way and probably had felt this way for a while. “Don’t be silly, Max. You’re his best friend. He misses you.”
A crack formed somewhere inside the girl. A dam of emotions threatened to burst, flooding within her. She wanted to pour out her soul. To share every emotion that surrounded her friendship with not only Nate, but Drew as well. “I miss you both too. Nothing’s the same anymore.”
“Nothing seems to ever be the same where you live. Don’t you guys have military troops there like everyday? Plus evil scientists with secret labs, and again—the missing kids!”
Max pulled herself away from the edge of emotional abyss that she teetered on. The feelings that she felt for her San Diego friends would be addressed later. She could see now, she wouldn’t be able to hold it in anymore, for now, she had to make sure Drew didn’t have a panic attack over the phone. “That isn’t anything you’d need to worry about.”
At least that’s what Max wanted to believe; that somehow Halloween of all holidays would be normal. No demogorgans, no mind flayers, no Upside Down. The universe owed her this.
“If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t one of your friends a missing kid? They thought he died and then he magically came back to life?”
Max’s body went stiff again, she expected this. She knew it would come up somewhere along the line. “That’s not exactly what happened, but it’s close. How’d you know about that?”
“Again, Nate.”
“I didn’t expect the research on my friends too.”
“Like I said, he cares.”
Max turned to her bedside table. Two Wonder Woman comic books, loose change, and a red and white striped scrunchie scattered the surface. In the center of that sat a picture of herself, Lucas, Will, El, and the rest of the party. Her gaze lingered on Will’s face, she felt herself soften. She wasn’t around when Will first vanished, but it didn’t matter. After learning everything, getting to know him, and going through all their life changing adventures together, she loved him like a brother. She’d grown protective of him, talked with him about everything, and had been by his side through the little and big moments of life. Will, and the entirety of the party. They were all her best friends, but most importantly, they were her family.
“Just do me a favor and avoid mentioning that, please. I’m sure you could imagine how traumatizing that is. It’s not something he’d like to talk about.”
“Right, right. What’s his name again?”
Max looked away from the photo, choosing to focus on something else in the room; her Madrid skateboard propped up next to the door. She wondered if she and Nate would have time to skate together. If that was even something he’d want to do with her. “His name is Will.”
“Will,” Drew remembered suddenly. Flashbacks of Nate reading news articles and watching Indiana news broadcasts of the entire ordeal ran through her head, “yeah, I definitely remember now.”
“Make sure you tell Nate too. I don’t need either of you triggering him.”
“I’ll tell him,” she paused, “or you could tell him yourself.”
Max chewed on her bottom lip, her nerves getting to her once more, “I could.”
“You should.”
“…Maybe, maybe I will.”
“I hope you actually do it and don’t put it off until we get there.” Drew glanced around her bedroom. Her gaze landed on the open suitcase set in the middle of the floor. “And speaking of putting things off until the last minute, I should probably start packing. I don’t have much time.”
“Procrastination at its finest.”
“Unfortunately. Talk to you later?”
“Later.”
The phone call ended, leaving Max with silence and an illuminated phone screen.
She stared at her home screen for a moment. Rows of colorful apps and notifications stared back at her. She looked down at the phone icon, debating if she should make that phone call to Nate now.
Or maybe… she was a coward.
She sighed, setting the phone down until it locked. It was late, nearly midnight. She wasn’t tired, but she wanted to sleep. Anything to to find a way to push past all thoughts of Nate, Drew, and the anxiety they gave her.
When the thought of crawling under her comforter formed, she’d heard the familiar text notification sound. Cautiously, she picked up her phone. She figured it was Drew, sharing the details of something she’d forgotten to mention on their call.
But when she read the pending notification, she saw that it had been something else entirely.