Chapter 25

017

• 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨 •

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

☄. *. ⋆ “Okay, I’m done, I can’t do this,” Max panted, falling out of a sit-up and lying back onto the floor.

“We’re only at twenty-three, we have, like, seven more!” Stella continued the excerise, sparing her girlfriend a glance.

“Oh, God,” the redhead groaned. “No more.”

Stella finished up the last sit-ups, then rolled onto her stomach to look down at her girlfriend. “We haven’t even done cardio yet.”

“There’s more!?” Max threw her hands over her face.

“You wanted to train with me!” Stella stood, her hands on her bare hips as she wore a sports bra and shorts.

“Yeah, well, that’s because I like being around you,” Max propped herself up on her elbows. “And you happen to look really good in your workout clothes.”

“Mhm,” Stella rolled her eyes, a grin on her face as she turned away from Max and started to do jumping jacks.

“Oh, we gotta go soon,” Max told, leaning over to look at Stella’s clock. “The others are gonna be waiting for us.”

“No, I’m not done,” Stella whined like a child, continuing her jumping jacks.

“Ess, go take your sweaty self to the shower, and then get dressed in normal clothes,” Max stood and sat on Stella’s bed. “Unfortunately.”

“Okay, you creep, just let me finish these real quick,” Stella checked her watch, then finished up the last few seconds, then grabbed a towel and a change of clothes. “Alright. See you in a sec.”

–

☄. *. ⋆ “No! Nope! No! You can’t make me go!”

“Come on!” Max pressed, a laugh escaping her lips as the words did. Stella let out another long, exaggerated groan as Max continued to drag her off of her bed by her legs.

“No, I shall stay in this bed forever!”

“You were working out fifteen minutes ago!” Max proceeded to pull her girlfriend until she fell from her bed. “Jesus, Ess!” The redhead laughed again.

“Yeah, but now I’m comfy and tired,” Stella looked up at Max, pouting like a toddler as Max dropped her legs. “Don’t make me go.”

“We told them we’d be there!” Max reminded the brunette, reaching for her hands to pull her up to her feet. Stella reluctantly took them, bringing herself to stand as she spoke. “Yeah, I know,” she said, then took a step closer to her girlfriend. “We both know Mike’s gonna be late, though,” the girl said, her hands falling from Max’s hands to her waist. Max smiled, giggling a bit as she moved her own hands to Stella’s shoulders. The two leaned in, their lips meeting in the middle.

Their mouths moved against each other’s, both girls smiling into the kiss before pulling away and grinning at each other.

“Okay, come on, Miss Romantic,” Max said, rolling her eyes as her smile became teasing, taking Stella’s hand and starting to her door.

“Ugh, fine.”

–

☄. *. ⋆ Stella’s arms unwrapped themselves from Max’s waist as they approached Starcourt Mall.

Max’s bike came to a stop, both of them hopping off as the redhead parked it by their friends.

“Hey, guys,” Stella greeted before looking around. “Where’s Mike?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Lucas replied. “He’s late again.”

“Yeah, he always is,” Max agreed, and Stella folded her arms.

They waited for a few minutes longer, and Michael Wheeler finally arrived ten minutes late.

“You’re late,” Lucas told him, not even greeting the boy.

“Sorry!”

“Again,” Lucas added.

“We’re gonna miss the opening!” Will told him. Mike parked his bike, then stopped to talk to the group for a moment. “Yeah, if you guys keep whining about it. Let’s go!”

“If you guys keep whining about it, nyeh nyeh nyeh,” Lucas mocked their friend. Mike made his way to the front of the group as they walked into the mall. “Just please stop talking, dude.”

“Let me guess,” Lucas teased. “You were busy.” He puckered his lips, making kissing sounds. Stella and Will chuckled, while Mike was simply fed up with him. “Oh, yeah, real mature, Lucas.”

“Oh, El. I wish we could make out forever, and never hang out with any of our friends!”

Lucas was kind of right. They had barely seen Mike all summer because he was always hanging out with El instead. When they did make plans, he’d either blow them off to be with El, or be late because he was with El.

“Lucas, stop,” Max said, and Lucas turned to Will. “Will thinks it’s funny!”

“Because it is!”

“I just think it’s sad,” Stella shrugged from beside Max.

“Yeah, it’s so funny that I wanna spend romantic time with my girlfriend,” Mike threw his hands up. Stella subtly linked an arm with Max. “I’m spending romantic time with my girlfriend.”

People shouted at them and made their various sounds of annoyance or disgust as the friends pushed through them to make it down the escalator, each kid repeatedly blurting out their sorries and “excuse me’s.” Stella caught one “move, dyke!” from some girl in her grade, ready to swing as she turned, but had no hope of finding the perpetrator in the crowd.

“Watch it!” A girl yelled at Mike when he ran into her shoulder.

“Mike!” Stella scolded, then turned to the girl he bumped into. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, watch it, nerds!” None other than Erica Sinclair echoed from her group of friends. She was always with them, but Stella had never really heard them talk. They just kind of followed Erica around everywhere like she was their ring leader. Stella kind of had to respect it the power.

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Lucas sneered at his little sister. But, like Erica always was, she was quick with a comeback. “Isn’t it time you died?”

“Psycho!”

“Butthead!”

“Mall rat!”

“Fart face!” They were yelling across the mall at each other now, and Lucas blew a raspberry at her.

“Lucas!” Stella could only sigh as she and Max dragged the boy to catch up.

“Oh, now, that was mature,” Max said sarcastically.

The five made their way to Scoops Ahoy, the mall’s ice cream parlor. Steve worked there now, so Stella would always get the group free ice cream and have Steve sneak them through the back to watch movies for free. Mike went to the counter and repeatedly rang the assistance bell, despite the fact that Robin, Steve’s coworker, was right in front of them. “Hey, dingus! Your children are here!” She shouted back to Steve, who opened the window to the back room to look out at the kids. “Again? Really?”

Stella made her way to the front, slipping in front of Mike, just to ring the bell once with a smile.

While Steve led the kids behind the counter, Stella grabbed two cherries from the selection of ice cream toppings.

“No, Essie, don’t-” Steve sighed as he tried to stop his sister. But she just popped one of the fruits in her mouth, then winked at Steve as she continued to hurry through the door.

Steve gave up, rushing all the kids through the back door to the hallway behind the mall. “Come on, come on. I swear, if anyone hears about this…”

“We’re dead!” Every party member completed the sentence for him, having heard it countless times. Stella handed Max the other cherry she had grabbed, the redhead taking it with a smile.

Mike checked through the door to the theater, making sure no one was there to see them.

“All clear,” he told them, then the party all followed him into the theater, all looking for nearby empty seats.

Stella spotted three seats, then two in front of them, and she pointed. “Look.”

They all found a spot, Max and Stella sitting in the two in front.

“See, Lucas? We made it,” Mike leaned over to tell Lucas from beside Will.

“We missed the previews,” Lucas argued, and Stella rolled her eyes. She hated previews. She came to watch one movie, not a bunch of trailers. Max turned around to speak. “Still made it. Fart face,” she teased, and Stella giggled.

Stella turned to receive the Skittles Lucas handed her, opening it up and offering some to Max. “Here.”

“Thanks,” the girl took some of the candy, and they all settled down to watch the movie.

It opened up with a girl sitting in a white room. She got up and made her way over to a calendar on the wall, everyone watching intently while Stella snuck her hand under the arm rest to intertwine her fingers with Max’s.

The girl in the movie stared at the calendar, but whatever would have happened next flickered away, and everyone in the theater groaned in annoyance.

“Come on!” Max threw her head back, Stella letting her head fall onto the girl’s shoulder.

But after a moment of sitting in the darkness of the theater, the movie returned to life, and the whole theater cheered.

So did Stella, but they came to a halt when she felt a flutter in her hand. A tingling. She didn’t let go of Max’s, but she lifted her hand just enough to check, her eyes going wide at the sight of the dark veins around the scar of the bite sure received a year prior. She gasped, making Max turn to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

Stella took a moment. “Nothing.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. Just, um… I saw this part in the trailer,” she brushed it off. Max nodded before turning her attention back to the screen.

Stella glanced behind her at a shaken seeming Will, finding he was already looking to her.

She swallowed her worry, facing back to the screen and trying to ignore it.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “They’re here! They’re here!” Stella squealed, scrambling away from the window once she saw Dustin’s yellow car pull into his driveway.

Everyone hurried to their hiding places fire Dustin’s big “welcome home” surprise, Stella and Max rolling up the huge poster they had all made. “Go, go, go!”

After Dustin was in his room for a moment, Mike nodded to El, and their plan was set in motion.

The sounds from the toys could be heard faintly from the other room as they led Dustin out to the living room.

“It’s just a dream. You’re dreaming,” Dustin muttered to himself, Stella holding back her laugh.

“Now!” Mike whispered to El, and the noise from the different toys abruptly stopped.

They all crept out from behind a wall, Lucas with the poster in hand. Max gave them a silent countdown with her fingers. When she reached one, everyone blew their noisemakers and threw their hands up.

Dustin, expectedly caught by surprise, whipped around and sprayed Lucas directly in the eyes with hairspray as he screamed.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Sorry,” Stella said amidst her laughter. “Sorry, it was just the way he kept spraying it for so long,” she had managed to calm down, only to suddenly burst back into laughter.

Lucas came up from under the running sink, deadpanning at Stella after rubbing his eyes. He then looked to Max, seemingly analyzing something. “Is that a new zit?”

Stella looked between the two, her jaw agape. “Seriously?”

“What is wrong with you?” Max grabbed his head and shoved it back under the water.

“I was just aski–” he cut himself off with a squealing shriek, making Stella start laughing again.

“What’s going on?” Max asked a couple minutes later when everyone started flooding out of Dustin’s room and through the door.

“We’re going to talk to Dustin’s girlfriend,” Will told them.

Lucas shot up from the sink, Stella whipped around as she stood up straight, and Max’s eyes widened as they all spoke in unison. “Girlfriend?”

They paused as they looked between each other, then dashed out of the front door.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Aren’t we high enough?” Lucas complained, clearly desperately wanting this hike they’ve been on to end.

“Cerebro works best at a hundred meters,” Dustin reminded them, a point he had made several times already.

“If you’re gonna drag us all the way out here, maybe you should be the one lugging this shit around,” Stella argued. “I could be practicing.”

“You’re always practicing,” Max nudged her arm. “And I’m pretty sure people in Utah have telephones.”

“Yeah, but Suzie’s Mormon,” Dustin told them.

“Oh, Shit. She doesn’t have electricity?” Lucas was incredulous.

“Oh, that’s the Amish,” Max looked at him like he was stupid.

“What are Mormons?” Will wondered, and Dustin’s reply was quick, like he was expecting the question. “Super religious white people,” he explained simply. “They have electricity and cars and stuff but… since I’m not Mormon, her parents would never approve.”

“So, instead of just mailing her, or calling and making up a lie, you built a whole radio and are dragging it up a hundred meters in eighty degree heat?” Stella asked, Dustin replying proudly. “Yep. Suzie doesn’t like lying, and her parents might find the mail. It’s all a bit… Shakespearean.”

“Shakespearean?” Max echoed the term.

“Yeah. Like Romeo and Juliet,” Dustin referenced.

“Right.”

“Star crossed lovers?”

“I got it.”

“Hey, guys!” They all turned around when they heard Mike shout, only to realize he was way behind them. “This was fun and all, but uh…” he tapped his watch.

“I have to go home,” Eleven lied. It was so obviously a lie. Just like it always was.

“We’re almost there,” Dustin informed them, but Mike didn’t seem to care. “Sorry, man. Curfew,” he said, but he clearly wasn’t sorry.

“Good luck,” El told them before heading down the hill, hand in hand with Mike.

Dustin checked his watch. “Curfew at four?” He asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, we believed it at one point, too,” Stella rolled her eyes.

“They’re lying,” Lucas told him.

“It’s been like this all summer.”

“It’s romantic.”

“It’s annoying.”

“It’s gross.”

“It’s bullshit!” Dustin cursed. “I just got home.”

“Well, their loss, right?” The boy added. “Onwards and upwards! Suzie awaits!”

They all groaned before turning to follow, but Stella slowed down after a moment, feeling that tingling in her palm again.

She glanced down at her hand, hoping she wouldn’t see what she knew would be there anyway. Those black veins branching out from the scarred wound once again. She turned around, only to realize that she wasn’t the only one falling behind the group.

Will looked up at her, his hand on the back of his neck and both of them sharing a look of worry. Stella looked out at the trees, Will turning around to do the same.

It felt like something was out there. Something bad.

“Will, Stella!”

They turned when they heard Dustin’s voice, jogging to catch up.

“Come on, Ess,” Max held out her free hand, Stella taking it when she reached the others.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Made it,” Dustin dropped his bag down.

“Yeah, only took five hours,” Max complained, setting down the case Dustin made her carry.

“Why couldn’t we just play D&D?” Will whined, exaughsted.

“I’m so thirsty,” Lucas grabbed their shared waterbottle from his bag, unscrewing the cap and chugging the entire thing as Stella and Max watched with glares.

Lucas wiped his mouth when he finished drinking, completely oblivious.

“Did you seriously just drink the rest of our water?” Max asked him.

Lucas’s face dropped in realization, then he went about spitting his mouthful of water back in the container before offering it to the girls with a grin.

Stella grimaced and Max just looked at it, then back up to the boy, shaking her head.

“Gross,” Stella muttered.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Pretty impressive, right?”

They all stared up at the contraption as it towered over them, Max mumbling a “yeah.”

“Now, you ready to meet my love?”

“Okay, sure.”

“Yup.”

“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”

Dustin sat down, picked up the radio, and spoke into it. “Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over.” But nothing could be heard from the other line except for static. Dustin glanced up at them for a moment. “One sec. No, she’s probably– she’s still there.” He held the bottom down again. “Suzie… this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over.”

The four others looked between each other, growing impatient. Stella tossed her head back.

“I’m sure she’s there, it’s just…”

“Yeah,” Lucas tried to hear him out.

“You know, maybe she’s, like, busy, or…”

“Yeah.”
“Yep.”
“Mhm.”

“It’s around dinnertime. Here.”

“Suzie. This is Dustin. Do you copy? Over.”

Stella had a feeling she was going to get really sick of hearing that.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Suzie! This is your Dustin. Do you copy? Over.”

Stella pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could take that.

“Suz—”

“Dustin, come on!” Max piped up from her spot on the floor beside Stella, who she’d been sharing a backpack as a pillow with for the past hour or so. “She’s not there.”

“She’s there, alright? She’ll pick up.”

“Come on, we’ve been here since sundown,” Stella gestured outwards.

“Maybe Cerebro doesn’t work,” Will suggested.

“Or maybe Suzie doesn’t exist!” Lucas lifted his head up.

“She exists!” Dustin defended.

“She’s a genius, and she’s hotter than Phoebe Cates?” Lucas asked rhetorically. “No girl is that perfect!”

Max and Stella sat up at the same time.

“Is that so?” The redhead replied.

“I mean… you and Stella are perfect. Y-you’re perf– In your specia– your own special way,” he tripped over his words, sitting up.

Stella and Max glanced at each other before chuckling.

“Relax, I was teasing,” Max said. “Ess is obviously perfect, and I’m obviously perfect, and Dustin is obviously lying!” She stood up, taking Stella’s hand. “Come on, Ess.”

“Where are you going?” Dustin asked.

“Home,” the two answered in unison, starting hand in hand down the hill.

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

season 3 has officially begun yippee!!

sorry this is late, my wattpad decided to shut down on me for some reason… not kind

ty for reading and please be sure to comment and vote!! i love reading yalls comments dont be a ghost reader!!