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Max Mayfield was the personification of a wildfire.
She was born and raised in California, after all.
San Diego specifically.
She was used to the scorching, hundred degree heat.
She loved the sun a lot.
It was her best friend, honestly.
She liked surfing.
Doing tricks in the skate park.
The sun was intense all year long.
Even in the winter time.
Though not as hot, it’d stay warm.
She loved the sun because it was consistent.
No matter what happened, she could count on it.
Even on rainy days, she felt its warmth just behind the clouds.
Waiting.
Waiting to show its face again.
Waiting to give her another good day of surfing or skating.
California was great.
And then she moved to Indiana.
Hawkins, Indiana.
No more San Diego.
She didn’t know how to feel.
First of all, the drive was insanely long.
She had to sit in the same car as Billy for several days as they drove after Susan and Neil’s cars.
The knowledge of why they were moving weighed heavy over both of their heads.
The uncomfortable silence could not be helped, even with AC/DC loudly playing in the Camaro.
It was not lost on her.
The reason they were leaving.
Their reputation, Neil had said.
It had been completely shattered by Billy.
And Max, Billy claims.
Though Max knows it wasn’t her fault, she couldn’t help but think he had a point.
Maybe she should have been smarter.
Smart enough not to bring Nate near the house.
Smart enough not to taunt Billy.
To poke the bear.
Smart enough to tell Nate to back down.
Maybe she should have been stronger.
Strong enough not to just stand there and watch as Billy broke his arm.
Strong enough not to stay quiet about it.
To let him get away with it.
Strong enough to approach Nate again after it all happened.
The guilt still dangles over her head. She isn’t sure it’ll ever go away.
She’d written him a letter before she left. Maybe, just maybe, that’d be enough.
It’s not like she’d ever get to know, anyway.
So, then.
Hawkins, Indiana.
It was cold.
So cold, she could feel her fingers frosting over the minute she stepped outside.
Max could sense the change in weather a little too well.
Her body reacted to it in all the wrong ways.
It didn’t take long for her head to start hurting.
Bloody noses.
Shivering.
Sore joints.
She thought she was sick for a while. But apparently, this is normal.
This is just what happens when you go from the occasional chill of California’s autumn to the bone-chilling, below freezing winds of Indiana’s autumn.
And Max?
She didn’t like it.
Not one bit.
It takes her a while to get acclimated to the fifty degree chill.
Now, it wasn’t like she’d never felt this cold before.
She was often found showing off in her local ice skating rink back in Cali.
She was really good on the ice.
After all, she had turned into a near professional after only about four months worth of lessons.
She’d been told by her instructors that she had a promising future in figure skating.
In her opinion, however, simply knowing the tricks and doing them to brag was much more fun than a career.
And sure, the cold had bothered her a little then.
But there was a huge difference between living in constant cold and being cold for a few hours while performing in a sport that required a lot of physical activity.
Quickly, Max discovers something weird about this place.
And no, it was not just the cold.
She finds out that Hawkins is not a normal small town.
Monsters lived underground, and this group of nerds that had been stalking her were apparently monster hunters, or whatever.
She learns all of this from one of them, Lucas, who then proceeds to tell her about how the government is actually evil (that, she believes) and they turned this girl, El, psychic or something (that? not so much).
She doesn’t buy it.
At least, not until she becomes a live witness.
Monsters attack her, Dustin, Lucas, and this high schooler who smells like hairspray.
Then, she’s practically dragged along for the ride.
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time had given her a brand new group of friends, who had no choice but to let her in.
Well, not the psychic girl, apparently.
What did Max ever do to her?
In any case, she’s a monster hunter now, apparently.
Or, well, that was just what Max has been calling it.
Shortly after the whole situation went down, it was her birthday.
November 8th, to be exact.
This fact appalled the group. It meant she was either several months older than them, or several months younger.
To their dismay, she was older, turning fourteen.
She explains quickly that she had just barely made the Class of 89 cut. If she had been born two months earlier, she’d be a freshman in high school right now.
But what shocks her is their continued bickering after the fact.
Turns out, the Party had a specific hierarchy about their age, the oldest having bragging rights, poking fun at the youngest, etc.
This seemed to throw the whole thing off its rocker.
Lucas was born in late January of 71, so he had been the oldest beforehand.
Then it was Will in March, Mike in April, Dustin in May, and El in June.
Then, enter Max, 2 months (almost 3 months) older than their (former) eldest.
Needless to say, she quickly got the bragging rights.
Dustin seems to think this gives him free reign to call her a grandma.
He only gets to do that once.
Never again.
Shockingly, she’s been pretty quiet about her distaste for Hawkins’s weather.
But as November creeps into December, she finally starts complaining.
Frankly, it’s fair. If you ask her, at least.
Her friends, who have grown up in this weather, seem to find her suffering amusing.
After all, thirty degrees was a cakewalk for them.
It makes her eye twitch.
No human should be able to thrive in this cold.
But no matter how much they mock her, she knows they wouldn’t last a day in California.
That thought alone gets her through the day.
But there was one thing that came with the cold weather that she’d forgotten about.
One thing in particular.
Granted, it was hard for her to consider something she’d never seen before.
Only ever heard of.
Snow.
When the redhead woke up on December 16th and looked out the window, she was appalled.
White flurries fell from the sky and piled on the grass outside.
Well, what used to be grass.
It was all dead and brown now.
Billy is just as displeased as she is with this situation.
At least they had two things in common.
They both missed California.
And they both hated the cold.
He irritably drives them to school, shockingly close to the speed limit.
As stupid and reckless as he was, even he knew when he shouldn’t test Mother Nature.
She escapes the car the second he parks, and scampers to the middle school across the road.
Was she being dramatic? Sure.
A few flurries never killed anyone.
But was it unsettling?
Absolutely.
Max finds herself scurrying, a little curled in on herself as she runs.
She was never the skittish type until something happened that she didn’t understand.
She wasn’t a control freak by any means.
She had the humility to know that sometimes, the cookie just crumbled that way.
But a lack of control at this level was sure to knock her off her rocker, just a little.
Sue her.
These stupid white flurries can only symbolize one thing to her.
She was not home.
It was like a laughing, living, breathing reminder of her sins.
Even though they weren’t technically hers.
The redhead spots her friends and scampers faster.
She must look like a scared, deranged squirrel, barreling at them like this.
“Woah!” Even Mike noticed her odd behavior, exclaiming.
She nearly knocks Lucas over as she instinctively retreats from the evil, taunting snowfall.
They dapple her hair like sparkles, and she hates it.
“H-Hey!” He stammers, surprised by her sudden clinginess. “You okay?”
His arm hesitantly wraps around her.
“Fine!” She tries to bite out in her usual sarcastic fashion.
Instead, she just sounds like a mouse awaiting certain death.
Nailed it.
She hides her face in Lucas’s jacket now.
Because if she didn’t, all she’d see would be those damn snowflakes.
“Hawkins’s first snow of the year.” Dustin starts, hands on his hips, staring at the sky.
Max tenses.
“Yeah, my mom says you guys can all come over later.” Will’s shy voice chimes in.
“Oh, hell yeah!” Mike exclaims. “And tomorrow, if the snow clears, we can check the pond out back.”
Their planning falls into white noise as she burrows her face further into Lucas’s shoulder.
He takes this as a sign to talk.
“Is everything-”
“I’m cold.” She interrupts flatly.
“Oh.”
She can just barely hold back a snort.
He was such a dork.
“Do you wanna… go inside?” He offers.
The redhead lifts her head. “So smart.”
Will looks like he’s trying to hold back a giggle.
Even he agreed.
As she walks by him, she gently nudges him with her elbow.
But she doesn’t linger for long.
Instead, she’s pushing past anybody who dares to get in her way.
She wasn’t afraid of the snow.
Hell no.
Max Mayfield was not scared of some stupid frozen water.
If she was, she’d be a pretty shitty skater.
She just… didn't want to think about it right now.
Out of sight, out of mind.
School was boring, but it at least provided a solid eight hours of avoiding her problems.
The boys scramble after her in a disorganized fashion.
At least they all had 1st period together.
She glares up at the signs hung up in the school.
‘Snow Ball, 1984!’ They read.
Yes, a dance themed after the main thing she hates, how perfect.
It was inevitable that she’d go, despite her reluctance. But she didn’t have to worry about that for another four days.
“Max! Wait!” Lucas exclaims.
“Why are you so slow?” Max scoffs, keeping her fast pace.
“What’s with you this morning?” Mike barks at her.
“Math test!” She snaps back.
“We’re literally going to science! Right now! Together!”
“Whatever.”
Eventually, they catch up with her in front of Mr. Clarke’s door.
He wasn’t here yet.
After all, the bell wouldn’t ring for another five minutes.
So she was cornered. Lovely.
“Max, friends don’t lie.” Mike apparently feels the need to remind her.
“No, but friends also aren’t legally obligated to spill their guts about everything that has ever, will ever, and currently pisses them off.” She retorts in a mouthful of words. Loudly.
She pulls back to stare into space angrily.
They all exchange a look.
Yep.
There was something wrong with Max this morning.
This winter morning…
Oh.
“Is it the snow?” Lucas asks, sliding beside her and nudging her.
She just grumbles angrily under her breath.
It makes him chuckle a little bit.
Max was not an enigma to them. In fact, she was more of an open book than she realized.
The redhead had her moments of genuine anger.
She was very scary in those moments.
They’d only ever seen her like that when she threatened Billy that one time, and when she’d gone off on Troy and James last week.
Then, she had her sarcastic, playful anger.
Like when she bickers with Mike every day of the week.
And then, she had moments like this.
She wore her fur lined coat this morning.
It made her look like an angry, fluffy kitten, leaning against the lockers with her arms crossed.
The perfect way of describing her like this would be with one word.
Gremlin.
Even in the small amount of time they’d known each other, they’d already started to learn how to work with her in these different moments. Much like they did with each other.
After all, party members had to stick together.
And so, Lucas just wraps an arm around her and pulls her close.
She melts against him quickly, letting out an irritated noise.
Her fury could not be calmed by a hug!
No matter how gentle it was.
No matter how much she melted.
Her burning fury was never ending!
…
But… maybe it could be put on pause.
For a little bit.
It’s been pretty obvious for a little while that Max loved physical interaction, as much as her standoffish demeanor protested otherwise.
But she would rarely initiate it. She didn’t like being vulnerable.
This left it up to them to offer it instead, which they didn’t mind.
The Party stands around her and Lucas like bodyguards.
Unfortunately for her, Mr. Clarke shows up early. Their hug had to separate in favor of Science class.
And now she was back to her fury again.
The snow had put her in a really shitty mood, to say the least.
Thankfully though, after Max had seen the horrors of the other dimension and fully joined the Party (whether by choice or by being metaphorically dragged by her ankles, she still didn’t know) they’d managed to score her a seat beside them.
The only kid who’d been willing to swap was the boy just beside Will, for reasons that were clear by his enthusiasm alone. He didn’t even need to say anything.
What a coward.
Whatever, it worked in her favor.
She might (totally not) be in love with Lucas, but Will was still her favorite friend.
Why?
Because he was the only one who, at first, only wanted to be her friend, and nothing else.
With how Mike had been so adamantly against her, and with Lucas and Dustin having been head over heels for her, it was nice.
To have someone who was just there to be a friend.
And he definitely did not remind her of a certain someone or anything.
Absolutely not.
He did not have the same shy, yet friendly hazel eyes.
Or the same dusty brown hair.
Or the same wiry, thin frame that she could pick up and spin around in circles.
And he was definitely not the reason that she’d mentally become the group’s protector.
Nope.
It was just the friendship thing.
Yeah.
…
She was bad at lying.
Even to herself.
Especially to herself.
The second she sits down, she flops her head down on the table and grumbles.
Will leans over to her. “Why do you hate the snow so much?” He whispers.
She lifts her head and stares through squinted eyes. “Cold.” She says flatly.
He smiles sympathetically. “Really? That’s it?”
“…No.” She mutters.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
Instead of answering, she just flops her head back down.
He chuckles softly. “Guess not.”
It was frustrating just how easily they all could read her.
She was so used to being guarded and secure.
Then, enter from stage left, new friends who actually gave a shit.
Was this a problem for her ego? Absolutely.
A problem for her though? Not exactly.
She’d never say it out loud, but she liked it. Being cared for.
Mr. Clarke has started class now.
She doesn’t care enough to even put her notebook on her desk.
As much as the teacher would love for her to focus, they had a silent, mutual agreement.
Anything she didn’t focus on in class, she’d just get from the boys.
That was enough for Mr. Clarke, and she appreciated it.
Maybe it was pity, maybe it was just a result of him being happy that his star students had a new friend.
Something quickly and suddenly jostles her from her thoughts.
A paper ball hits her on her head.
She lifts her head instantly, and it falls on the desk.
Will is smiling mischievously at her.
She eyeballs him, and he just gestures to the paper with his head.
The ginger irritably opens the paper ball.
Max couldn’t fight Will on anything, really. He was her soft spot.
Inside the paper was a really good doodle of a dog, and a note.
“Did you want to come to my house after school with us? We don’t have to be outside for too long! And we can have hot chocolate after, too!” It was accompanied by a smiley face.
A reluctant smile crosses her face.
He was too sweet for this world.
In the corner, she scribbles. She then folds it into a paper airplane, tossing it at him strategically.
Will catches it, much to her dismay.
Oh well. They can’t all be winners.
He unfolds the airplane.
In the corner was a much sketchier doodle of a cat wearing sunglasses, sitting on a skateboard. Beside this doodle was a short answer.
“Ok.”
He smiles at her, and she salutes, flopping her head back down on the desk.
Sleep takes her.
It’s not long before she’s nudged awake just as fast.
She groggily rises and grabs her bag, clinging to the nearest person’s shoulder and following behind the group with her eyes closed.
It’s weird, she feels like the world has slowed.
Like she’s hibernating, or something.
Once again, she blames it on the cold weather.
Except this time, her accusation was right, according to Dustin, who was yapping their ears off about something called ‘the winter blues.’
She isn’t sure if he’s talking to her, but he’s definitely talking about her.
Once she finally peels her eyes open, she finds that the person she was attached to was Mike, who, strangely enough, never pushed her away.
Instead, he leads her to their next class, History.
She only had Mike in this class, though.
Shockingly, it wasn’t terrible.
He leads her to their seats in the back, where she unceremoniously drops.
“Jesus-“ He hisses briefly, sitting down beside her.
She can feel his concern, but he stays quiet.
Max is grateful for his silence, as she once again lays her head down on the desk.
Several minutes into the lesson, she looks up, only to find he was matching her position, as if her sleepiness had rubbed off on him.
It amuses her.
Together, they ignore the class, once again passing out.
After an hour, he’s dragging the sleepy redhead out of her seat and retreating into the hallway.
It seemed that they all had some sort of agreement, as he carefully passes her over to Will, who takes her to their Art class.
She didn’t have the motivation to hiss at them in protest as they all decided to hover around her for the day.
Thankfully, she had at least one of them in all of her classes.
After Art class is Math class, where Dustin drags her along to make it there on time.
Then, she’s clinging to his arm like a miserable koala as they meet up with the other Party members for lunch.
An irritated noise leaves her throat as she looks outside.
The snow was still falling.
Her cool girl persona has completely shattered for the day, having been swapped out with this pathetic excuse of a personified paper towel.
Lucas tries to feed her a sandwich, but she just grumbles and swats at him.
“You’re gonna feel worse later if you don’t eat now.” Dustin tells her.
Much to the Party’s dismay, this version of Max did not seem to care about the consequences of her actions.
Granted, did she ever?
Lunch ends, and recess begins.
Max is a little shocked to find the teachers ushering kids outside.
Back in Cali, if there was even a drizzle of rain, it was an indoor recess day.
Hawkins was weird.
Kids were playing in the snow.
Including her friends, who’d started throwing snowballs at each other.
As for Max?
She had bolted to the nearest tree and scaled it quickly.
Mike seems to have a death wish, because he tosses a snowball at her.
She deflects it with her board and fixes him with a death glare.
She hasn’t spoken a word since Science.
Not even when provoked.
There was definitely something wrong.
“Come on! What’s wrong with a little snow?” Mike protests her silence.
Instead of answering, she throws a stick at him, making him squawk.
It was cold on her hands.
Max growls under her breath, pulling out her sketchbook. She starts doodling cats, skateboards and bunnies.
She was nowhere near as good as Will, but she wasn’t bad. She was just more of a doodling person, rather than an actual art piece person.
The branch shifts, and another body joins her.
As if summoned by the presence of a sketchbook, it was Will.
“Whatcha drawing?” He leans into her side.
She tilts the sketchbook a little to show him.
His hazel eyes inspect the page and he grins. “They’re cute.”
Silently, she goes back to her doodling, not minding his presence.
He stays glued to her side, patiently.
That was another thing she appreciated about Will.
No matter how worried he was, he’d never be too insistent that she spill her guts.
He just understood.
She draws a cat with a sad face, half buried by snow in a forest.
Then, she draws a happy cat on the ocean, surfing.
Will shifts, registering her wordless explanation.
“You miss California.” He says simply.
She nods, closing the sketchbook and leaning against his side.
“I bet it was a lot warmer up there, huh?”
She nods once more into his shoulder.
They both watch the other three and their mindless snowball fight.
Well, now Lucas and Dustin were wrestling in the snow and Mike was tossing snow at them.
Max finds herself amused, just a little.
Will gently nudges her. “I heard that the snow might last a while. You might end up snowed in with us. Sounds horrible, doesn’t it?” He teases.
She rolls her eyes.
“Absolutely terrifying.” She agrees, finally finding her will to speak again.
The teachers call them all inside.
Max shoves her wet coat in her locker irritably.
PE wasn’t terrible. During dodgeball, she teams up with Lucas and Will, targeting Troy specifically.
It was pretty funny.
The rest of the day goes by pretty quickly.
She even managed to write a sentence in English class.
That was progress in Max’s book.
Even if it only really came from Mike and Dustin pestering her.
Max meets with the Party the second the last bell rings.
They all hurry outside.
Nancy, Mike, Lucas and Will had come to school carpooled with Jonathan as the driver.
Meanwhile, Steve had taken Dustin.
Once they all explain their plan to accumulate at the Byers’s house, the designated drivers agree to take them.
As for Max, she just glares at Billy from across the parking lot.
With a gesture of her head, he instantly gets in the car and drives off.
He needed no explanations.
Plus, her mother and Neil strangely didn’t seem to mind Max running around town with her friends.
It helped that she hadn’t mentioned they were all boys.
Instead, she used El as a coverup.
Even though the other girl hated her.
Shockingly, Billy never snitched on her.
Whether it was her threat or him simply not caring, she didn’t know.
But she wouldn’t complain.
Instead, she slides into Steve’s car, Dustin calling shotgun.
The snow was already a few inches high.
And yet, school hadn’t been cancelled.
It probably would be tomorrow, if Will’s theory was correct.
She watches the snow fall with hooded eyes.
As Steve bickers with Dustin, he glances in the rearview mirror, brows furrowing instantly.
“What’s up with you, Red? You’re never this quiet.”
“Don’t ask.” Dustin answers for her, thankfully.
Max was not in the mood to talk about her very personal, one-sided conflict with a weather phenomenon.
“Maybe Hopper will let El come!” She hears Mike’s voice exclaim the second she opens the door.
Max hopes not.
As much as she thought the other girl was amazing, she couldn’t help but feel like El would try to stab her at some point.
It didn’t make her feel safer knowing that she apparently had the
power to open and close interdimensional doors at her own volition.
Ms. Byers waves everyone inside, imploring they stay warm.
Steve ruffles Max’s hair wordlessly before he gets back in his car and drives off.
She follows after the crowd, hurrying inside.
Almost instantly, the boys are talking about what they’re going to do.
Meanwhile, Max has flopped down on the array of blankets in front of the fireplace, burrowing in them and plopping a pillow over her head.
Due to her distrust of most, being comfortable enough to lower her guard in front of others was not something she did lightly.
But it came easily with the Party.
“Wait, where’s Max?” Lucas’s suddenly concerned voice pipes up.
They all presumably look around the room, if the brief silence told her anything.
Instead of really responding, she just makes an annoyed grunting noise and wiggles a bit.
“Oh.”
And then suddenly, someone flopped down on her, disrupting her peace.
She lets out a hiss and squirms around, batting at the brave soul who dared pester the (trying to) hibernating dragon.
As the pillow falls off her head, it’s revealed to be Dustin, who squawks at her as she starts hitting him with it.
He starts laughing, and strangely, she finds herself laughing, too.
She quickly has him in a headlock, ruffling his hair.
Lucas joins the fray, shockingly coming to Dustin’s aid.
“You traitor!” Max barks at him.
Meanwhile, Mike and Will just shake their heads.
“There’s three of them now.” Mike huffs with a smirk.
Clearly, the two smaller boys had always just let Lucas and Dustin roughhouse while they watched.
“Will! Help me!” Max dramatically reaches out a hand while Lucas playfully attacks her with the pillow while Dustin holds her.
“I can’t do anything!” Will squeaks indignantly.
“You’re on your own.” Mike says with crossed arms.
Max scoffs. “Assholes!” She squirms one more time before huffing. “Okay, okay! I give! You win!”
The other two let out a cheer.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” She says with a glare, but she relaxes against them.
The girl flops back into the mess of blankets. “I can’t believe all of you hate me and want me dead.”
“Yeah, totally.” Lucas chuckles, flicking a stray feather at her.
She snatches the pillow back and hugs it. “You nerds go freeze your asses off, I’m happy right here.”
Mike steps around Dustin and steals her pillow. “Nope, you’re coming with us!”
She squawks. “Hey!”
Will flops down beside her, pulling her arm. “Come on! If you’re gonna live in Hawkins, you’re gonna have to get used to the weather!”
“No.” She grumbles, wrapping her arms around his smaller frame. “It’s warm in here.”
He squirms, and she ruffles his hair.
“Come on!” Dustin whines, joining the pile. “You’ve been a little asshole all day, you need to have fun!”
She scoffs.
Ms. Byers walks into the room. “Okay, guys. If you’re gonna play, you should go now. I don’t want anyone outside in the dark.”
They all stare at Max expectantly.
She grumbles. “Fine, I’ll go.”
And so, Ms. Byers lends her some proper snow gear, while the boys use Jonathan’s old stuff and some of Will’s.
“They’re dragging me against my will, you know.” Max starts while the woman hands her a pair of snow boots.
She smiles softly. “Oh, I figured as much. You’ll get used to it. But hey, you’ll have a lot of fun when you get out there.” The woman gently pulls a hat over her ginger hair.
The second she steps into the hall, she glares at the four of them.
“I hate all of you.”
Unsympathetically, they drag her outside, chatting excitedly.
The minute she steps on the porch, she’s blasted by cold air and groans.
It was absolutely terrible.
The moron squad bolts off the steps and into the yard, kicking snow around and making snowballs.
Max lingers on the porch.
The cold made her body act weird. She could move, sure, but it felt strange. She’d much rather stand in place and zone out.
A presence joins her, but it isn’t one she expected.
It’s Nancy, who looks on at the chaos, amused.
“They’re a handful, aren’t they?”
“Unbelievably so.” Max responds dryly.
The older girl glances at her curiously. “Why not join them?”
She huffs, wishing people would just stop asking her that. “I don’t like the cold, but they wouldn’t go without me. So… here I am.” She gestures to her awkward position on the porch.
Nancy purses her lips in thought. “I see. Where did you say you were from again?”
“California.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widen comically. “Yeah, I can see why you’d be a little messed up here.”
She really was Mike’s sister.
Nancy stays quiet for a moment, before speaking up again. “Y’know, I was going to make hot chocolate for everyone. You can come with me, if you want. It’ll give you an excuse to leave.” She smiles.
These people were too nice, in Max’s opinion.
Nancy barely knew her, and here she was, trying to help her out.
As the redhead glances at the boys running around the field, she sighs.
“No, thanks. I don’t wanna leave them hanging. They were too excited to get me out here.”
The older girl laughs softly. “Alright. Well, you’ll be saved soon either way, don’t worry. I make a mean hot chocolate.”
Max finds herself smiling, despite standing in her least favorite weather. “I look forward to trying it, then. Thanks.”
Nancy gives the girl a small salute as she walks inside.
Then it’s just Max on the porch again.
She has a few seconds of peace, before Will is hopping up to her and dragging her into the field with them.
“Come on! They’re too good at throwing, we need backup!” He exclaims at her, gesturing at Lucas and Dustin, who were strategically pummeling Mike with snowballs.
Max hums. “I don’t know. Last time I checked, I was on my own.” She does an air quote, referring to the earlier betrayal, before making a ball of snow on her own and nailing him in the shoulder with it.
Will squeaks in surprise.
The snowball was mostly powder, she’d obviously never done this before, but it has enough force behind it to make him stumble.
Max scurries back and ducks behind a mountain of snow, just in time as a snowball whirs over her head.
Mike had somehow recovered from the other team’s attack and was now focused on jumping her specifically.
Asshole.
She flips him two birds from above the pile.
Dustin shouts, “Are you on our side?”
“No!” She barks at him. “I don’t trust any of you shitheads!” She peeks over her claimed territory to glare at him.
She ducks to avoid another Mike snowball.
“Your aim is shit!” She snarks.
“Says the one who isn’t even throwing anything!”
“It’s called a slow victory, Micheal! I let you exhaust yourselves, and then I attack later!”
“Don’t you Micheal me!” He shouts.
Lucas just looks impressed. “You should really join our campaigns more! We need another strategizer!”
He then throws a snowball at Mike in her honor, even though they weren’t on the same team.
Mike was the common enemy.
Max just rolls her eyes. “I am not playing your nerd game.”
“You’re already a nerd!” Dustin exclaims.
That gets Max fired up.
“Excuse me?” She barks, leaping up from her hiding spot… right into Mike’s snowball, which hits her square in the chest.
“You fucking—fuck!” She snarls, struggling to find her footing in the snow. She scrambles to get back over the snow mountain.
She finally scales it, but her foot gets stuck.
Mike laughs at her until Lucas hits him with another snowball.
“I hate this goddamn powdery bullshit!” She’s still shrieking into the air, kicking snow everywhere and flailing.
Lucas comes to her aid, laughing. “Stay still, jeez!”
She lets out an almost feral growl as he helps pull her out.
If she had claws, they’d be halfway through his coat with the way she gripped onto him.
“Maybe we should try a less… action-y activity?” Will offers as the Party drops the battle, accumulating together again.
Max just crosses her arms, once again an angry cat.
Dustin suddenly flops on his back and starts making snow angels. “Does this work?”
She huffs.
“Okay, grumpy pants.” He sits up, shaking the snow out of his curly hair.
“Uhh… how about making a snowman? Nothing can go wrong with a snowman!” Lucas tries, crouching down to roll up a ball of snow.
He turns around, only to find that Max has wandered off.
Instead of watching, she found a big stick, and was idly whacking it on a frozen puddle.
He winces.
She looked so lost.
“Jeez, that’s sad.” Mike mumbles, though it isn’t out of malice.
Even he was a little worried.
Dustin had described to them the effects of the winter blues.
All they wanted was to show her that she can still have fun, even with the weather weighing down on her.
Will is the first one to move, stopping beside her.
“What, uh… what’re you doing?”
She doesn’t look up.
“Murder.” Is her only reply.
“What’d the ice ever do to you?”
“Exist.”
She rears back, aims, and throws the stick like a spear, nailing it into a snowbank.
“Nice shot.” He comments softly.
She just grumbles in response.
Dustin, Lucas and Mike were quietly discussing the situation.
“We’ve tried snowball fights, snow angels and building snowmen… what else can we do?” Dustin lists.
“Uhh… we can go to the pond like we planned. It’s probably frozen over. She likes skateboarding, maybe she’ll like ice skating?” Mike suggests.
“She’ll definitely like that, but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow. It needs more time to freeze before it’s safe.” Lucas chimes in.
While they look for a solution, Will is carefully leading Max inside.
It was clear that being out there wasn’t helping.
They shed their snow gear quickly.
Max is already returning to the mess of blankets on the floor before the fireplace, burrowing underneath them.
Will plops down beside her.
“…I don’t mean to be a drag, y’know.” Max mumbles after a few minutes.
“A drag?”
“A burden.” She clarifies. “That’s why I wanted to stay inside, I knew I’d just make everyone miserable out there.” She murmurs, face buried in her pillow, muting her voice.
His brows furrow. “You’re not a burden, Max. We dragged you out because we wanted to show you that the snow isn’t all bad.” He says with a smile, even if she can’t see it.
“And yet you’re in here, taking care of me instead of having fun.” She curls back up in the blankets.
He frowns in thought, before scooting closer and murmuring, “Dustin told us about something called the winter blues. Well, that’s just what he calls it to make it sound lighter, but I’m pretty sure it’s called seasonal depression.”
His head tilts as he looks at the Max-shaped lump under the blankets. “I have a feeling that’s not the main problem, is it?”
The lump shifts.
“You can talk to me, Max. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”
It’s quiet for a few heartbeats.
The lump shifts, and then out squirms a redhead, emerging from the mass of blankets like a butterfly from the chrysalis.
She sits up, their arms pressed against each other.
Her eyes looked haunted in a way that he’d never seen before.
“I hate the snow.” She says quietly. “And it’s not just because it’s cold…”
Her hands grip the blankets. “It’s just… this big, terrible reminder that nothing will ever be the same again. That I’ve lost control completely.”
His big, hazel eyes look at her, worried.
A pang of guilt hits her in the chest.
She hasn’t been this open since that night with Lucas on the roof of the bus.
As she realizes this, she feels an instinctive urge to rebuild her walls all over again.
But those curious, concerned eyes won’t let her.
They calmed her tensed, scared body.
So, she continues.
“I had to leave everything behind. My dad, my life, Nate…”
“Who’s Nate?” He asks softly.
Max takes a breath.
“He was… everything to me. My best friend, y’know? The brother I wish I had.”
She has to bite back a sob.
“And then Billy ruined it. Just like he always does. He hurt him, and chased him away.” She sniffles.
Will silently pulls the blankets over their shoulders, and she leans against him.
“I thought I was getting better. But then this stupid snow came, and now everything’s falling down.” The redhead squeezes her pillow in her arms.
“Everything’s changed, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Her voice is no more than a whisper.
Will is silent for a moment, before he gently speaks.
“Maybe change isn’t such a bad thing.”
When she doesn’t react, he continues.
“If there’s something I’ve learned in life, it’s that there are very few things you can control.” He murmurs. “But one thing you can control is making new memories. Not to replace the old ones, but to honor them, y’know?”
“…Easier said than done,” She replies softly.
“True, but you’ll never know unless you try.” He tilts his head, letting his bowl cut rest on her ginger hair.
“I guess you’re right.” She admits after a few heartbeats of silence. “I don’t want to be negative all the time. I hate being like this. But I can’t seem to stop it. I can only ever like… mute it.”
“How?”
She looks a little embarrassed as she admits. “You guys, shockingly.” Her voice is soft, delicate in a way he’d never heard from her before. “It sounds silly but…” Her voice trails off.
Max doesn’t need to finish her sentence, he already understands.
“That’s the beauty of it all, I think.” Will smiles. “No matter how tough life gets, there’s always a safe space in your friends.”
“It’s nice.” She agrees. I’ve… I’ve missed that. Having a safe space.”
Her eyes looked a little lighter now, at least.
“I guess you nerds aren’t all bad.” The girl teases, giving him a gentle nudge with her elbow.
Will chortles, before agreeing. “Nerds are the best.”
“Woah, I didn’t say all that, now.”
“Well… Dustin was kinda right, you know.”
She gives him a glare. “You’d better choose your next words very carefully.”
He gives her a shit-eating, mischievous grin that he only ever showed off around her.
Completely unafraid.
How brave.
“You’re a nerd.”
She softly growls and immediately has him in a headlock, ruffling his hair. “Take that back, nerd!”
“Not gonna happen, nerd!” He retorts, using his weight to toss them onto their sides.
“I am not a nerd!”
“You play video games!”
“That doesn’t make me a nerd!”
They ignore the bickering in the kitchen. The others were probably called in for hot chocolate a little bit ago.
Right now, Max was too focused on defending her honor.
“It so does!” Will protests. “Not to mention, you only hang around us! The nerds!”
Max soon releases him and plugs her ears. “Can’t hear you!”
“So you agree then?”
The girl’s red rimmed eyes were alight with amusement. “Lalalala!”
Will just lays back down on the blankets, Max joining soon after.
“Thanks, by the way. For the pep talk.” She gently nudges him.
“You’re welcome. Nerd.” He adds.
She scoffs, but no longer tries to deny it.
Jonathan pokes his head in, as if he’d been waiting for them to quiet down. “Hey, you guys want some hot chocolate?”
The two nerds sit up and look at each other.
That sounded pretty good right now.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum quickly rise from the blankets and hurry past Jonathan, who chuckles at their excitement. “Don’t trip!”
Their arms were intertwined as they bolt into the kitchen, laughing.
“Holy shit! You fixed her!” Dustin exclaims. “How?”
Max unwraps a straw and blows the wrapper at him, making him yelp. “Shut up, loser.” She orders through her teeth.
She leads them to the two unclaimed cups of hot chocolate on the counter.
Straw still in her mouth, she plops the opposite end in the cup, carefully picking it up.
“What is wrong with you?” Mike huffs.
She glares with a brow raised. “What?”
“Drinking hot chocolate with a straw?!”
“Oh my god, do you have to complain about everything?” She scoffs.
“What’s wrong with using a straw?” Lucas protests.
“It defeats the whole point of drinking hot chocolate! You can’t even eat the marshmallows!”
She squints. “Why do you eat the marshmallows? They’re supposed to melt to make it sweeter!”
Mike goes slackjawed.
“You’re insane!”
Will, ever the instigator, grabs a straw and plops it into his cup.
Mike’s brows furrow. “You traitor!”
The bowl cut having kid simply shrugs with a smirk, taking a sip.
Lucas follows suit, an equally shit eating grin on his face.
Max shrugs. “Looks like I’ve started a rebellion.”
Meanwhile, Dustin is appalled by the bullshittery happening before his very eyes.
“What team are you on? Team smart, or team idiot?” Max tilts her head.
“Neither? Because there is no proper way to drink hot chocolate?” He says, as if asking a question.
“Boo.” She groans. “Well, that’s three against one. Poor Mike, always outvoted.”
Mike scoffs. “El would take my side!”
“Well she isn’t here, genius! Plus, that’d be unfair. She’ll take your side just because it’s you.” Dustin nudges him.
“Still!”
Max rolls her eyes and finishes her hot chocolate.
After putting the cup in the sink, she makes her way to the living room, pulling the blankets around her and melting in the warmth.
Her ocean eyes watch the flames lick the sides of the fireplace.
Naturally, she’s followed by the nerd army.
“If we’re gonna be snowed in all night, we have to do a one-shot!” Dustin says, clearing a space in the middle of the blankets.
Max hisses as her space is invaded, to which he makes a face at her.
Lucas plops down beside her. “Yeah! Who’s DMing?” He asks.
“I’m already hosting our main campaign,” Mike whines dramatically as they all look at him. “I’m not doing a one-shot!”
Max glares at all of them and retreats into the amalgamation of blankets, resting her chin on her arms.
Will has ran away to grab a stack of paper, spare dice he kept in his room, and several colored pencils. He sets them down in the center and sits between Max and Mike.
“But you’re our DM, Mike!” Dustin protests.
“I can DM.” Will offers. “As long as it’s just a one-shot.”
“See? It doesn’t always have to be me.” Mike elbows Dustin, who rolls his eyes.
Will looks down at the mostly buried Max. “Are you gonna join us?” He asks with his big puppy dog eyes.
Max doesn’t answer, eyes closed.
He smirks. “I know you’re awake.” He pokes her head and she grumbles.
“I’m sleepy,” She drawls. “Go away.” She puts a pillow on top of her head.
“Come on, Max! A one-shot is perfect for beginners.” Even Mike seems to want her to join.
She just groans. “Why do you all hate me?”
“Tough love.” Will answers. “Come on. If you join, I’ll draw your character.” He adds to sweeten the deal.
The redhead is silent for a moment.
Then she’s slowly pulling the pillow off her head, resting it on her arms instead.
“Fine.” She mutters.
They all cheer, and she fights off a smile. “Shut up.”
Quickly, blank character sheets are passed around.
Max just stares at hers with confusion while the others start filling in their information.
Will leans over to help her. “Okay, so… first things first, you’re gonna want to pick out your class.”
“Math.” She drawls sarcastically.
He rolls his eyes. “You could be a rogue. Also known as a thief, sometimes.” He suggests. “They’re like, super sneaky and cool. Definitely your vibe.”
“Yeah, that tracks.” She agrees. “Sure, I’ll be one of those.”
“Alright, now your species. There are a lot you can pick from. You could be a tiefling, elf, orc, human, dragonborn…”
“Can I just be a cat or something?”
He laughs. “I mean, there is a cat-like species. They’re called tabaxi. As a tabaxi, you’ll get to add 2 in your dexterity, and then 1 in charisma.”
He then helps her roll her stats. It wasn’t that complicated since it was just for a one-shot.
“What do you want to name your character?” Will asks once everything is set up.
“Sir Templeton III,” She sleepily comes up with, almost immediately.
He snorts. “Really?”
The girl fixes him a glare. “Don’t judge my majestic naming skills,” She tosses her borrowed D12 at his shoulder.
He rolls his eyes. “Okay, Sir Templeton.”
“The third.” She clarifies. “That’s very important.”
Mike is playing a half elf mage named after his title, The Majesty, for some reason.
Lucas is playing a dragonborn ranger named Grant the Mighty.
Dustin is playing a human bard named Jest the Quick.
“Sir Templeton?” Mike snorts when she introduces her character.
“The third!” She once again has to clarify. “So disrespectful to the best sneaky kitty cat ever.”
“A tuxedo cat wearing a tuxedo? This is supposed to be medieval!”
“He’s so amazing that his fashion sense transcends time, stop complaining!” Max throws a pebble at him.
He squawks in shock, “Where did you even get that?”
“I’ve had it!”
“Also, why are you playing a guy?”
“What, do you have a problem with me playing a guy?”
“No! I just didn’t expect it!”
“Okay, okay! Will the Wise. What’s our story today?” Lucas changes topics quickly, before Max and Mike can burn the house down with their glares.
As sleepy as Max was, she finds the story pretty engaging, even if Will just came up with it on the spot.
A village was under threat from an army of ogres, and it was up to their party to stop them.
Ms. Byers brings them snacks throughout their game, face bright with amusement.
They pass by the minions, tearing through them with ease.
Sir Templeton III steals a pair of dungeon keys and frees a group of imprisoned villagers, making the party cheer for him.
Sure, they were hyping her up for everything she did, but it still made her smile.
She was doing pretty good for her first time playing.
The final boss is strong, but their party is stronger.
She uses her character’s silver tongue ability with ease, confusing the enemy.
They’re all shocked by how quickly the improv of DND roleplay comes to her, watching as she negotiates with the opponent.
Sir Templeton III actually lands the final blow, making the boss eat one of his pocket explosives.
The whole party cheers in victory.
The story took about three hours.
Even if she doesn’t really cheer herself, she still smirks proudly, eyes half open. “Take that, shithead.” She snarks as Will pretends to die on the floor.
“That was awesome, Will!” Lucas exclaims.
The temporary DM smiles bashfully. “Thanks. I should try doing one-shots more. I don’t think I have it in me to do a full campaign.”
Max, as if immersed in her cat-like character, is curled up in the blankets once more.
“Why are you so tired? It’s only like… eight.” Lucas nudges her.
“Long day,” She yawns.
Truthfully, she just tended to get tired when she was comfortable. It was weird.
She didn’t think too much on it, though.
The phone rings, which draws their attention from their victory.
Ms. Byers picks it up and listens.
“Okay, sounds good!”
She sets the phone down.
“Who was it?” Will asks.
“The school. Looks like school’s out tomorrow.” She says with a smile.
Another small, celebratory cheer takes over the group of boys.
Ms. Byers laughs. “Dinner’s on in five, kids! Call home and tell your parents you’re staying, I’m not letting anyone get hurt out there.” The woman says with a smile.
As Ms. Byers makes her exit, Max reluctantly sits up and rubs her eyes. “So, what’s the plan for after, nerds?”
“We should watch a movie or something.” Lucas exclaims.
“Movies.” Dustin clarifies. “Let’s marathon some!”
She groans. “If you make me watch something nerdy, I’ll bite you.”
Lucas huffs. “Just for that, I think we should watch Lord of the Rings.”
“Or The Hobbit!”
“Star Wars?”
Max scoffs, retreating back into her blankets. “Ugh, gag me with a spoon.” She mutters.
“You’re already getting into DND, you have to learn this stuff, too!” Will shakes the Max-shaped lump.
“Woah, who said anything about getting into it?” She swats at him through the blankets.
“I did!”
“You’re not the boss of me.”
But Will is already grabbing their VHS collection. The four boys bicker as they decide on a movie.
They then all take turns on the phone, calling home.
Max just tells Neil that she’s at Jane’s house, snowed in for the night, so they’ll work on homework, watch a movie and go to bed. Surprisingly, that’s enough for him.
Probably because she said Jane and not Will.
While the other four congregate to the phone after her, she slinks into the dining room. “Need any help?” She offers.
Ms. Byers looks a little surprised, but welcoming. “Oh, sure, honey. Could you help me set the table?” She asks with a smile.
“Course!” She and Ms. Byers set up plates and utensils while Jonathan and Nancy put the food on the table.
“Y’know, I’m glad they have another girl in their group.” The woman says teasingly. “At least someone has manners.”
“Yup, I’ve gotta set ‘em straight.” The redhead returns the teasing tone. “They’re so oblivious, it hurts.”
Then, the boys all rush in, bickering loudly.
Max, Nancy, Jonathan and Ms. Byers all exchange amused glances.
They all eat pretty quickly.
And then the boy tornado is out of the room just as quickly as they entered.
Ms. Byers goes to wash the dishes, but Jonathan takes over. “Go get some rest, Mom. Nance and I can watch the clown squad.” He offers.
“I am not part of this clown squad.” Max decrees.
Ms. Byers thanks the three with a smile. “Goodnight.”
Max dries the dishes as Jonathan puts them to the side, while Nancy puts them away.
They work in silence, until Dustin pokes his head in. “Max, come on! We’re starting the movie!”
She looks at him with a snort. “Busy, start without me. I’ll be asleep within the first five minutes, anyway.”
He rolls his eyes. “Buzzkill!” And then he’s gone.
“We have this covered if you wanna join them, you know.” Nancy says with an amused smile.
“They’ll survive without me for a few minutes.” She then adds. “I hope. Maybe.”
Jonathan rolls his eyes. “What would they do without you?”
“Crash, burn and die, in that order. I’m shocked it never happened before I got here.”
They finish the dishes fast thanks to their numbers. The redhead hurries back to the living room, surprised to see them all waiting for her.
“Are you deaf?” She hums.
“Are you?” Dustin retorts.
She rolls her eyes.
They put A New Hope in the VHS player and lay down on the blankets in a line.
Will is at her left, and Lucas is at her right.
Unfortunately for them, this is where they lose Max. She was many things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. Five minutes was all it took, and then she was out.
She’s nuzzled into her pillow, listening to the movie, but not watching.
Soon, it’s turning into white noise.
Her breathing slows to a steady calm.
She holds Lucas’s arm with both of hers.
It was peaceful.
Sleep takes her quickly.
.
.
.
She doesn’t dream, or if she does, she doesn’t remember it.
Her eyes don’t open when she wakes, instead, she listens to her surroundings.
Snoring, a lot of snoring, for sure.
But she’s still warm, comfortably so.
She can feel two forms around her.
Her face was cold, though. Probably the morning air.
Finally, she opens her eyes.
Her arm is wrapped protectively around Will, who’s head lays on her chest.
Lucas had an arm resting over her, head on her shoulder.
It was funny how squished in the whole Party was, huddling together like cold hamsters.
She must radiate warmth or something.
Her eyes look around, the morning light illuminating the little dust particles in the air.
They fall onto the clock, which reads 8:24.
The Party slept in, for sure. But who wanted to wake up early on a school-free day?
Instead, she closes her eyes again.
It was nice.
She doesn't fall back to sleep, instead, she relaxes and enjoys the quiet.
Eventually, Will starts to stir, so her eyes reopen.
His hazel eyes flicker open and he mumbles. “Morning… sorry…”
“For?” She responds with an equally sleepy voice.
“…sleeping on you?”
The redhead snorts. “You really think I care? If I did, you wouldn’t be here.” Her arm pats his side.
That relaxes him, and he smiles. “Guess so.”
Mike had his forehead resting against his back, and he didn’t want to move and startle him awake.
Max rests her chin on his bowl cut. “It seems we’ll have to wait for the other sleeping beauties to wake up before we can have our freedom.”
He hums in acknowledgment, already falling back asleep.
“No, don’t leave me.” She drawls sarcastically.
It takes a while, or maybe not, she isn’t sure, but Mike eventually stirs beside Will.
“Good morning, princess.” Max teases as his brown eyes blink open.
“Why are you snuggling him?” He huffs.
“Why are you?” She retorts.
He shoots her a glare. “Because I can!”
“Why can’t I?”
“You’re a girl.” He mutters.
Max just snorts.
Mike Wheeler, ever the enigma.
“Excuse me, but Little Acorn here is like a brother to me. Never gonna happen.” She hums, having to blow air out of her mouth to get a strand of red hair out of her eyes.
“Don’t call him that!” He mutters, but he looks a little relieved. Weird. She quirks a brow, making a mental note for now.
Moving past that, she snarks. “Hush, you’ll wake up my favorite person.”
Mike just rolls his eyes.
Max, with the arm that Lucas was laying on, grabs a pillow and starts whacking Dustin and Lucas with it.
The two of them shoot up almost instantly. “Who’s dying?” Dustin exclaims sleepily as he wakes.
“Thanks, my arm was starting to go numb.” She smirks, tucking it back to her side.
Lucas rolls his eyes. “Good morning to you, too.” He says with a smile.
“Guess we know who your favorite person is.” Mike drawls.
Max sits up, still cradling Will in her arms like a protective mother hen.
The other two boys look in shock, and she scoffs, tossing another pillow at them. “God, you’re all such losers. Stop assuming things!”
“We didn’t say anything!”
“You thought about it!”
Will starts to shift again, and they all go quiet.
“Welcome back to reality, sleepyhead.” The girl teases.
He pulls himself from her grip slowly, rubbing his eyes.
Once his arm drops, he looks around.
“Why are you all staring at me?”
Max nudges him. “Because they’re a bunch of weirdos.”
“What?” He squints.
“Don’t ask.”
The girl then hops up and stretches. “What absurd plans do you nerds have for today?”
They exchange looks.
The Party had a plan.
It required permission from Ms. Byers, sure, but it was a great plan nonetheless.
They had waited for Max to go to the living room after finishing her hot chocolate, before Will quietly whispered to his mom.
“We have an idea.”
Ms. Byers looked at the four boys, all wearing the same puppy dog eyes.
She smiled tiredly, yet endearingly. “What is it?”
They definitely had plans.
“Well, it’s a suprise.” Lucas starts.
Max’s brow quirks. “A suprise?”
“Yeah. We need to get my mom, first.” Will grins.
“Oh, no. Don’t tell me it’s outside.” She squints at them.
They exchange yet another glance.
Guilty.
She groans. “Really?”
“Yeah, but don’t worry. You’ll like it, I know you will.” Lucas leans on her.
Max was doubtful.
But she trusted them.
Will scampers off to wake up his mom.
The rest accumulate in the kitchen, grabbing and throwing together whatever food they find.
It seemed Will had grabbed Jonathan and Nancy, too, as they’re soon joining them in the room.
Meanwhile, Max’s eyes are trained outside.
The snow was somehow still falling.
Except it was smaller now, gentler. Easy to see though.
But several thick layers of snow coat everything the eye can see.
She knew it would be brighter soon, when the sun reaches its peak at noon.
Until then, long shadows stretched across the white, giving it a nice, blue hue.
With the gentle reflections, it looked like the ocean.
She bites her lip, lost in thought.
Lucas gently nudges her. “You okay?”
Max nods slowly, eyes not leaving the mountains of snow.
His eyes follow hers, and he sets a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry.”
Her gaze channels onto their shared reflection on the window instead.
His soft brown eyes were so easy to get lost in.
Will and Ms. Byers were taking a while, but they soon arrive with bags full of… things?
Maybe that was the surpise.
“Alright, guys. Get your snow gear on!” The woman says cheerfully, her eyes mainly landing on Max.
She felt oddly centralized right now.
“I bet it’s like… two degrees out or something.” Max mumbles, reluctantly throwing on her fluffy-collared coat.
“Probably colder.” Mike says with a smirk. “I bet your hair’ll turn white if you stay out long enough.”
She throws her glove at him. “I’d rather stay red.”
They’re all ushered outside, geared up and ready to go.
“Where is it again?” Lucas asks. “We haven’t been there in a while.”
“That way, through the woods behind the house.” Ms. Byers replies, pointing. “Just a little bit of walking.”
“Through all this snow?” Max groans.
“Yep, welcome to Hawkins.” Jonathan says with a chuckle.
Max is practically glued to Lucas’s side as they trudge through the snow, arms wrapped around one of his.
She felt like a baby deer learning how to walk.
At least the trees were beautiful, icicles dangling from their snow-heavy branches.
The snow glitters in the slowly climbing sun, making her eyes squint.
“Close your eyes.” Lucas nudges her.
She does so, under the impression that it was because he noticed her squinting.
She was in for a shock.
Max wasn’t sure how long they walked for, but eventually, Lucas’s voice pulls her from her lack of awareness.
“We’re here.”
She isn’t sure what to expect when she opens her eyes, but it definitely wasn’t this.
A shiny, glossy pond, with a thick layer of ice coating its surface.
Beside the pond, the bags are dropped.
“Okay, who’s was who’s again?” Ms. Byers pulls something from the bag.
A pair of ice skates.
Her heart does a little flutter.
Mike nudges her with a small grin. “We thought since you like skateboarding all the time, you might like to try ice skating.”
But her mind isn’t all that focused on his words.
Nate, at age 10, is leading her to the indoor rink with a smile.
A younger Max is hesitant.
“Are you sure this is safe?”
“Obviously! Look at how much fun everyone’s having!”
Max is unsteady in her skates, staggering on the floor, clinging to his arm for dear life.
“Come on, Mad Max. You can skateboard and roller skate, how is this different?” He moves onto the ice with perfect form, holding her hands.
She grips him tightly. “Oh, God…” She grumbles, struggling to gain traction.
He moves beside her. “No, you want to move your feet outward like this, then move inward as you go forwards.”
“I hate everything about this.” She says with a wince, trying to follow his advice.
He snorts. “You look like Bambi.”
She whacks him in the side. “Shut up!”
The two kids laugh.
Ms. Byers is smiling, handing her a pair of skates. “I think these’ll fit you, honey.”
Her words pull her from her thoughts, and she takes them in her hands.
Will nudges her. “So?”
“…So what?” She says, her voice barely audible.
“What do you think?”
Max’s blue eyes look back to the ice.
Nancy was already dragging Jonathan across the ice, who looked reluctant, but still smiled. He clearly knew how to do it, it just wasn’t his favorite sport.
“I think…” She starts softly.
They eye her curiously.
“I think I’ll beat any one of you in a race.” She’s already kicking off her snow boots and replacing them with the skates.
“Oh, you’re on.” Dustin points at her.
They all smile.
“I don’t mean to brag,” Mike taunts while she ties the skates. “But I’m kind of the fastest skater who’s ever walked the Earth.”
Max flips her hair out of her eyes to glare at him. “Is that right?” She drawls with a smirk.
She’s up quickly, and Lucas moves to catch her in case she falls, but she’s fine.
The girl quirks a brow at him, and he smiles sheepishly.
What a dork.
“Do you need any help?” He asks as she trudges through the snow.
“That’s presumptuous of you.” She teases, and he rolls his eyes.
Her blades reach the ice, and she suddenly finds herself back in California with Nate. Except this time, she’s no Bambi.
“You nerds seriously think this is my first rodeo?” She asks, hands on her hips.
They look at each other, and then back at her.
The girl rolls her eyes.
“Watch and learn.” She gives them a salute, before twisting around again.
Then, she’s off.
She builds up speed by kicking off the ice with each stride, manipulating each glide skillfully.
No matter how rusty she was, it was something that would always come back to her.
Maybe she couldn’t control where she lived, but she could certainly control this. The ice, her momentum.
Once she’s built up her confidence, she does an experimental twirl.
There it was, the familiar shredding of the ice.
She lifts one leg, balancing on the other, maintaining the momentum of her previous glides to keep spinning and moving at the same time.
Once the momentum slows, she places her leg back down and gets back to gliding.
Thankfully, these were figure skates, and not hockey skates.
Not many knew the difference.
If she closed her eyes, she’d be back in the ice rink in Cali.
But for some reason, she doesn’t succumb to the need for nostalgia this time.
She’s happy here, to be back in her old ways, but in a new place.
Performing, showing off her skills.
To new friends this time.
Even Jonathan and Nancy have stopped to watch in awe.
Max’s balance was impeccable, able to maintain a long glide on one foot.
Her spins and leaps are perfectly calculated, landing gracefully each time.
It was a perfect mixture of the past and the present.
She whirls around to stare at her friends on the shore.
They gawk at her, wide eyed.
Pride fills her body like a flame.
And somehow, the cold doesn't bother her anymore.
.
.
.
Max liked Hawkins.
And she still liked San Diego.
But what she liked about Hawkins was different from what she liked about San Diego.
San Diego brought her comfort in the form of the sun, the heat, the freedom.
Hawkins brought her comfort in the form of friends, who she considered to be more of a family than her own.
She supposed Hawkins was warm, too.
Not because of the sun, but because of the people.
Anytime it got too cold, she was welcome at the Byers house, or the Wheelers, or the Hendersons, or the Sinclairs, or the Harringtons. She could go on.
She still wasn’t used to it, truthfully.
It took her a while to accept that people loved her and cared about her.
People wanted to help her. It was different, to say the least.
But soon, she starts going to the Byers household when she wants to draw with Will, or when she needs music recommendations from Jonathan, or when she needs a motherly hug from Ms. Byers.
She goes to the Wheeler household to learn how to shoot with Nancy, or to pester Mike about DND.
She goes to the Henderson household when she needs Dustin’s help with an assignment she doesn’t understand.
She goes to the Sinclair household when she needs a shoulder to cry on with Lucas, or to learn new hilarious remarks from Erica.
She goes to the Harrington household when she needs a real brother like Steve.
In short, Max Mayfield has finally found peace.
Or however much peace a spitfire of a teenage girl could have.
Sure, she hasn’t quite gotten to El yet.
The girl still kind of scares her.
But at least she wasn’t planning on killing her.
Probably.
Hopefully.
She’d have to talk to Mike about that one eventually.
But for now, she was happy.
She still gets moody when it snows, though.
Maybe Will wasn’t too far off about the seasonal depression thing.
But she’d survive it regardless, thanks to the four nerds who’d become her best friends.
Despite it all, Hawkins was still a small town. People talked.
Apparently, people thought it was weird for a girl to be friends with only boys.
But anytime some asshat tries to make a snarky comment, they’re quickly put in their place.
Not many had the guts to mess with the four nerds anymore.
She was just as much their protector as they were hers.
As for today, it was January 19th, a Saturday.
Max soon finds out that it’s also another snow day.
How lovely.
It’s strange how she’s gotten so used to the little flakes falling from the sky.
Instead of sleeping in, she gets up and moves to the kitchen.
Nobody else was awake, which she appreciated.
The girl throws on a coat and snow boots, pushing the door open.
She’s blasted by cold air immediately.
Her feet lead her across the salted path to the mailbox.
It was a little morning routine she’d given herself. Every day, wake up, get some fresh air and grab the mail. It’s been helping, getting herself used to the cold.
It takes a little bit of pulling, due to the slight freeze, but she gets it open and pulls a few things from the box.
In her hands are the usual things. A few college advertisements for Billy (of which she knew he’d just burn), and some random government stuff about voting.
But one thing catches her eye.
It’s a small box.
With a California stamp on it.
It had a letter taped to it.
The envelope was a pretty blue color, decorated with stickers.
“For, Mad Max (Ps. Read the letter before opening the box!)” it says on the front.
Max bites her lip and hurries inside.
She kicks off her snow boots and unceremoniously shoves her coat on the hanger. The other pieces of mail were dropped on the kitchen table as she passed by.
The second she enters her room, she flops back onto her bed and inspects the letter more clearly.
Was it from her father?
The address says it was from San Diego.
Her father lived in LA.
She sits up in her bed, incredibly curious now.
It’s easy to open, and the letter slides right out.
It was a normal piece of paper, some extra stickers placed on it.
Swallowing her anxiety, she unfolds the letter.
To Mad Max,
Hey. I know it’s been a long time. I got your letter, I just didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry for that, and I hope I’m not too late.
I’m also really sorry for blaming you, even indirectly. That asshole’s actions had nothing to do with you. It was silly of me to think that I could do anything to him, but I was just so mad that he’d dare to hurt you. I should have never let him win, to let him come between us.
(My arm’s a lot better now, by the way. Obviously. I mean, I’m writing this, after all. Haha.)
I really, really miss you, Mad Max. I miss my sister. And I hate knowing that I’m part of the reason you had to leave, that I might never see you again.
I guess I can only hope that you’re doing okay now. Maybe you’ve moved on, made new friends. I don’t blame you if you have, you deserve to have people around you. I rest easy though, knowing that anybody who tries to give you grief won’t last long. You’re too strong to let them get you down, always have been.
I want you to know though, none of this is your fault. I’m so sorry that I never tried to reach out before you were gone. I had the thought of going to see you, but I guess I was just scared. Not of Billy, but of the fact that I wouldn’t know what to say. That I’d make it worse or something, I don’t know.
I just hope I can hear from you soon. Maybe one day, we can meet up and do some laps around the rink, or some tricks at the park. Like old times.
Until then, keep on rockin’, girl. Give them hell, Mad Max.
Your bro,
Nate Walker.
A wave of emotions crashed over her.
Relief.
Sadness.
Longing.
She quickly wipes a few stray tears from her face, taking a deep breath.
Oh, Nate.
She gingerly picks up the box.
Her hands delicately pull the strings apart and slides the top off.
Inside is a cassette tape.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
A small smile crosses her face.
Even after all these months apart, he still knew her so well.
Bowie was always her favorite.