𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑛 || 𝑚．𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟

ten . . . the mall rats

CARDIGAN       |       SEASON III ; ACT II
.୧ ‧₊˚⋅☀️ chapter 10 ━━━━━━ ❛the mall rats❜
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BEING SECOND BEST WAS SOMETHING ARA DIDN'T THINK SHE CARED ABOUT MUCH BEFORE SHE INTRODUCED NATE TO MAX. It was weird to be jealous of someone she considered to be her second half. She didn't want to be jealous but feelings can't be helped.

Nate and Max clicked instantly when they first met and sometimes Ara felt left out when all three of them hung out. Abandoned almost.

She subconsciously promised herself to never let herself get hurt like that again once she move to Hawkins. A promise she broke once Mike came into the picture. But just like with Max she never put the blame on El.

Eleven was a sweet girl from what Ara had heard from stories and if Mike could more than tolerate her than that must mean something. She only hoped that El would come around and they could be friends.

Max and Ara were now on the streets of Old Cherry road. Max was teaching Ara a few tricks on a skateboard that she got.

Ara tried copying the trick Max had shown her but instead it was like her skateboard started rolling away from underneath her and she cursed under her breath.

El came over to the twins with Ara's skateboard in hand.

"Hey." El said as she gave the board back.

"Hi?" Ara said a bit confused on what was going on.

"Can we talk... all.. three of us?"

————

Lucas and Matt sat on the couch in the Wheeler's basement while they watched Mike pace in from of them ranting.

"I just don't understand what I can do to fix this." Mike said too the two others on the couch.

"No, no , no. You're approaching this the wrong way." Lucas told the raven haired boy. "First you need to understand the root of this problem. Why did she start getting mad at you all the time and when?"

"I don't know!"

"Back in March." Matt stated matter of factly. "When you and Eleanor started dating."

"So she was jealous?" Mike asked the brunette.

"Maybe..." Lucas trailed off.

"No!" Matt exclaimed, trying to keep his friend's secret, well, secret.

"Hey, guys, I'm almost set up here." Will said from the table where he was setting up the dnd board for his campaign.

"Oh, cool!" Matt got distracted from the subject at hand.

"Matt!" Mike whisper-yelled at him.

"Oh, yeah." Matt turned back to the boy stood in front of him. "Ara is just mad that you kept on ignoring her and ditching the party. I'm pretty sure because of this guy friend she had back in California who liked her sister more or whatever it's a self défense mechanism. She's mad because she feels hurt." He then saw the weary looks on Mike and Lucas' faces. "Trust me. My mom's a therapist so I know a lot about human psychology."