Chapter 26

018

• 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 •

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

☄. *. ⋆ Stella watched the ball as it bounced on the rim a couple times before sinking into the hoop, making her grin as she relished in the success and the heat of the summer. She started to jog over to grab the ball, but it was pulled away by an invisible force, and Stella’s eyes followed it to land on El.

“El! Hey, dude,” she smiled, making her way over to the girl. “What’s up?”

“I… need your help,” the girl seemed nervous to ask. “It’s about Mike.”

“Mike?” Stella cocked a brow. “What about him?”

“I think… he lies,” she told her, handing the girl back her ball.

“You wanna go inside?”

–

☄. *. ⋆ Where El was having relationship problems, Stella saw an opportunity. El and Max had never particularly gotten along, but they never really talked, especially since Eleven’s strange reaction to first meeting Max.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Cali.”

“Hi, Ess,” Stella could hear a chuckle through Max’s greeting. “What’s up?”

Stella turned to look at El, who sat on Stella’s bed waiting for her to get off of the phone, though Eleven wasn’t sure who she was even calling. She knew Max would be hesitant to come over if she knew it was to hang out with Eleven. Stella turned back to the phone. “Do you wanna come over?”

“Always. Right now?”

“Mhm.”

“Okay, I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay,” Stella hung up the phone.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Surprise!” Stella smiled awkwardly at Max as she showed her that Eleven was there. Both girls faces turned slightly uncomfortable as they both looked to Stella.

Max grabbed Stella’s wrist. “Come with me,” she said, and took her to another room. “Why is she here? You know she’s never liked me.”

“You guys haven’t even talked!”

“When we first met, she walked by me instead of shaking my hand.”

“A year ago,” Stella pointed out. “You were the only one there she didn’t know, and she probably thought you were trying to, like, steal Mike or something!”

Max cringed, and Stella continued. “But now she knows you’re cool.” Stella waved an arm. “And I didn’t trick you or anything. I just asked if you wanted to come over.”

Max grinned after a moment. “Okay, fine. Why is she here, though?”

Stella smiled. “She’s having problems with Mike. Called you before I got the whole story.”

–

☄. *. ⋆ “And then he said he missed me, and then he just hung up,” Eleven finished her story.

“He’s a piece of shit,” Max glared.

“What?”

“Mike doesn’t have jack shit to do today, and his Nana obviously isn’t sick,” Max pointed. “I guarantee you, him and Lucas are playing atari right now.”

“But friends don’t lie,” El told her.

“Yeah, well, boyfriends lie. All the time.” Max sat down on Stella’s bed in front of El, Stella joining. “Here’s what you’re gonna do: you’re gonna completely cut him out. Show him that you don’t care,” the Harrington told her.

“Don’t care?” El repeated.

“You don’t care. Be completely unbothered,” Stella added, and her memory flicked to the year prior to her listening to Steve give Dustin advice.

“How?” El wondered, and Max chimed in. “You’re going to stop calling him. You’re going to ignore his calls. As far as you’re concerned, he doesn’t exist.”

“Doesn’t exist?”

“Like you never met him,” Stella elaborated.

“He treated you like garbage! You’re gonna treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine,” Max instructed.

“Give him the medicine,” El echoed, making Max and Stella nod.

“Mhm. And if he doesn’t fix this… if he doesn’t explain himself,” Max started. “Dump his ass.”

El went wide-eyed, and Max stood up, taking El’s arms. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“To have some fun!” Max told her. “There’s more to life than stupid boys, y’know.”

“You mean like girls?” Stella piped up, standing from her bed. Max rolled her eyes. “Sure, that too.”

–

☄. *. ⋆ “So, what do you think?” Max asked as the three stepped off of the bus. She looked over at Eleven to see her uncertain expression as she stared up at the Starcourt Mall sign.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Max asked.

“Too many people. Against the rules,” Eleven’s voice held her worry, only further convincing Stella that this needed to happen. El had to have some sense of getting to be a normal teenage at some point in her life.

“Seriously?” Max chuckled. “You and Ess have superpowers. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Plus, it’s just the mall. No one’s gonna be hunting for you here, don’t worry.”

El looked back at the sign, a small smile reaching her face.

“Let’s go!” Stella grabbed El and Max’s hands from in between them, taking off into the building.

They reached the center of Starcourt Mall, looking around at all the things to do.

“So, what should we do first?” Max asked, but El gave no reply, looking dazedly at all the commotion around her. Stella, on the other hand, knew exactly where she wanted to go.

“You’ve never been shopping before, have you?” Max chuckled, Eleven shaking her head in response.

“Well, then I guess we’re just gonna have to try everything,” Max grinned, and Stella jumped in place. “The Gap it is, then! Come on!” She grabbed both of her friends’ arms, hurrying to the store.

Max and Stella followed El around as she looked through different items like a curious puppy. Her eyes landed on a blue button-up, colorful lines randomly scattered on it.

“Do you like that?” Max asked, and El looked between her and Stella. “How do I know… what I like?”

“You’ll just be… drawn to it,” Stella tried to explain, and Max nodded as she added. “Yeah. You just try things on. Until you find something that feels like you.” Probably a better description.

“Like… me?” El repeated.

“Yeah,” Stella nodded. “Something like El,” she said, making the brunette grin.

“Not Hopper,” Max said. “Not Mike. You.”

–

☄. *. ⋆ El jumped out from the dressing room, standing in front of the mirror with a grin as she admired the outfit she wore.

Stella glanced around for a moment, then grabbed a beret and placed it on El’s head, making all three of them laugh.

Max fixed the yellow hat for El, who stared at the mirror, inquisitive. She pulled the suspenders clipped to her pants, snapping them back against her torso with a laugh.

“Okay, okay, next one!” Stella excitedly hurried El back into the dressing room.

As the girl got changed, Stella and Max began to look through different accessories.

“This is fun,” Stella glanced beside herself to her girlfriend. “I’m glad you and El are friends now.”

“Yeah, thanks to you tricking us,” Max’s tone was playful as she cocked a brow. Stella shrugged. “It wasn’t a trick.”

“Yeah, right,” Max rolled her eyes, a grin creeping onto her face.

“You’re welcome,” the Harrington added, and Max narrowed her eyes at her.

El jumped back out of the dressing room, this time in a similar top, although this one was white, and a matching skirt. Smiling, Stella grabbed two belts from off the rack, holding them up to El, who picked the yellow one.

After Max and Stella helped Eleven put on the belt, somehow they ended up spinning the girl in circles. It didn’t take long for her to stumble, falling back into her friends’ arms.

El went back into the dressing room, Stella looking through some things for herself whilst Max tried on different sunglasses.

Stella glanced over while Max tried on red ones, a grin reaching her face. Max took notice, smiling along. “What do you think?”

“I think you need to get those.”

El stepped back out in her third outfit, and Max and Stella immediately switched their attention to her. El flipped her hair, moving it to the side and her friends watched proudly as she explored her own style. She was clearly feeling a newfound confidence, and she glowed with it.

Squealing, Eleven grabbed her friends’ hands, dragging them out of the store once they had paid.

On their way out, Stella’s eyes landed on two matching bracelets she had noticed earlier, and she quickly grabbed them as she continued to run out, slipping them in her pocket.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “That’s it, girls!” The photographer shouted as the three messed with the props they had gathered from the photo booth. “Okay, here we go!”

Their faces turned serious for a moment as the camera flashed, doing whatever poses together they could think of.

“Wardrobe change, please! Wardrobe change!” The man shouted happily. “Thank you!”

The girls ran to the clothing racks around the studio, looking for other fun clothes to take more pictures in.

“Shake it,” the photographer shook his head, ruffling his hair. “Shake it off for me.”

They got their pictures afterwards, hurrying to wherever El led them as she rushed through other stores.

–

☄. *. ⋆ El’s feet hobbled as she got the feel of the high heels she wore, stumbling and falling to the ground despite Max and Stella’s grip on her arms.

“Are you okay?” Max managed through her laughs, Stella unable to even get a word out, although helping her up.

Once they were able to focus on their surroundings, their eyes landed on Stacy and a few other girls who were popular at their school, with who Stella happened to be friends.

When their eyes landed on Stella, they looked away, hesitant to judge. The trio, on the other hand, burst right back into laughter.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Ess, you coming?”

Max’s voice brought Stella out of her zoned-out state. “Hm? Oh, yeah. I’m just… I’m gonna use the bathroom. You guys order, I’ll meet you at the table.”

Max nodded, heading to wait in line for food with Eleven, meanwhile Stella beelined for the bathrooms.

Stopping in front of the mirror, she stared back at her reflection. A pang of guilt struck her chest as her mind reeled through all her recent experiences. Max would want to know.

Stella let out a deep, shaky exhale, her eyes going back to her palm. She eyed the scar, some relief hitting her when she didn’t see the inky veins around it, but that only calmed some of her nerves.

She wasn’t sure why it had been returning. She just knew nothing good would ever come of it. The gray clouds above were going to start pouring, and there was nothing she could do but wait for the storm to start. There was no chance this didn’t escalate, no matter how much she lied to herself or tried to push it to the back of her mind.

“Shit!” She hissed, her hands shooting away from the sink when she heard a sharp sizzling from under her hands.

The brunette looked down at the sink, her handprint now burned into the material.

Closing her eyes, the Harrington took a slow, deep breath in and out, then landed her gaze back at her own brown eyes again.

“Calm down,” she breathed quietly, then ran a now-normal-temperatured hand through her hair. “You’re fine.”

As she left the bathroom, she was stopped for a moment as someone bumped into her shoulder. “Oh, sorry.”

“Stella,” a familiar voice spoke, and Stella grinned when she saw Oscar Rollway staring back at her with a smile. “Ozzy! Hey,” she wrapped the boy in a hug, then watched his face fall as they pulled back.

Stella, faltering for a moment, furrowed her eyebrows. “You okay?”

Ozzy seemed dazed for a split second, his eyes cold before the personality seemed to snap back to him. “Yeah. I gotta go, though.”

“Okay…” Stella’s voice reached a mutter as the boy sped away, and she felt chills flutter into her spine when her palm began to thump. Apparently, the relief of its absence was short lived.

Unable to bring her eyes to her hand, she turned to look to her girlfriend and friend, opting to attempt to forget the event.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Oh, my God!” Stella gasped, her attention leaving her food when she caught sight of a familiar group. Upon her startled state, the napkin in her hand sparked into a small flame. “Shit,” Stella scrambled to shake the flame out. “Sorry. Look.”

The other two, their panic going away as Stella de-escalated the flame, followed where the girl was pointing, their eyes landing on Stacy and the rest of the girls who scoffed at them earlier.

They were talking to a boy, who Stella happened to know Stacy liked, and all she saw was an opportunity to get back at her a little. “Any ideas?”

After a moment of the three looking between each other, El spoke up. “I have one.”

After leading the others behind a pedestal, El peered put from behind it, her friends following.

They were silent for a bit, until the juice in Stacy’s hand suddenly exploded.

“Holy shit!” Stella laughed, then Max frantically tapped the two girls. “Come on! Come on!”

“See? What’d I tell you!?” Max beamed.

“There’s more to life than–” Stella and Max started in unison, El finishing for them. “Stupid boys!”

“Ooh, let’s go bother my brother!” Stella noticed Scoops Ahoy, leading her friends to it as they happily obliged.

“Hello, Steve! The one and only Stella Harrington has arrived,” she put her arms out, spinning as she made a grand entrance. “We come for free ice cream,” she grinned, her hands landing on the counter as she leaned against it.

Steve sighed, closing his eyes, exasperated. “Yeah, yeah. Chocolate cone, whipped cream, and peanuts, I know. “

Stella nodded. “Yup. Make sure it’s–“

“Two scoops, I know,” Steve interrupted, having heard the order dozens of times now. “Max, strawberry?”

The redhead nodded, and Steve looked to El. “What about you?”

“Uh…” the girl looked to her friends, clueless and lost, and Stella was quick to speak up for her. “Get her vanilla with sprinkles and extra whip.”

Steve nodded, then started with the orders.

–

☄. *. ⋆ “Uh, okay, here you go, you got a strawberry, a vanilla with sprinkles and extra whipped cream, and here’s yours, Essie,” Steve handed the trio their dessert, all three answering in unison. “Thanks.”

“Wait a second,” Steve paused. “Are you even allowed to be here?” He squinted at El.

Without an answer, the three sped away as they chuckled.

–

☄. *. ⋆ As the girls pushed open the mall doors, they were met with the hot air of the summer day, rather than the cool atmosphere inside the mall.

“Wanna trade?” Max asked, looking to El beside her. Grinning, the brunette in question swapped cones with her new friend, all three girls basking in the moment.

That was, until Stella slowed to a stop at the sound of a familiar voice.

“That’s ridiculous. Why can’t I just…”

Mike Wheeler’s voice was easily recognizable, and Stella deadpanned at Max until the redhead realized. “Oh, you’ve gotta be shitting me.”

El’s face dropped as each girl turned to Lucas, Will, and Mike as they wheeled their bikes away from the rack. Mike, his jaw agape, dropped his bike and it crashed to the ground. “What are you doing here?” He pointed at El. The girl’s face remained cold, unbothered. “Shopping.”

“This is her new style,” Max chimed in, Stella deciding to add on purely out of spite. “We got a shit ton.”

“What do you think?” Max raised her eyebrows, earning a pointed look to both her and her girlfriend as Mike spoke. “What’s wrong with you two? You know she’s not allowed to be here.”

“Oh, please. You’re just mad she’s not wasting her time with you,” Stella shot back.

“Yeah, and what is she? Your little pet?” Max added.

“Yeah,” El looked from Max to her boyfriend. “Am I your pet?”

“What? No!”

“Then why do you treat me like garbage?” El was quick to reply, and Stella and Max decided to pause their commentary, letting El take off with it.

“What?” Mike shook his head, and for once, El persisted to stand up and speak for herself. “You said Nana was sick.”

“She is!” Mike said, an obvious lie. “She is!” He looked to Lucas, waving his hand as he obviously tried to get his backup. “She is sick.”

Lucas nodded along. “Yeah she’s sick, she’s sick! She’s super sick. That’s why we’re here, actually.”

“Yeah, we’re shopping. Not for us, but for her, for Nana,” Mike lied, and Lucas kept up with it. “For Nana!”

“You guys should really work on your improv,” Stella muttered, loud enough for the boys– besides Will –to glare daggers at her, before Mike’s gaze softened back to El. “Also, we’re here to get a gift for you. Just, we couldn’t find anything that suited you, and I only have like three dollars and fifty cents, so it’s… hard.”

“Super hard,” Lucas exaggerated. “It’s expensive.”

Silently, El stepped forward. “You lie. Why do you lie?”

After gaining no response, Eleven turned around when Stella spoke. “El,” she said quietly as the bus arrived.

El stepped even closer after turning back. “I dump your ass.” Then she turned heel and left.

Max and Stella, both with their jaws dropped open and shell-shocked, followed without a word back to the bus, where they found seats together in the back. After a moment, the two burst into giggles, high-fiving each other three ways.

─────✧･ﾟ: *✧･

two episodes into season 3 how we feeling???

this season is very stella’s-powers-involved im excited

thx for reading !!