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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: CONNECT THE DOTS
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JULY OF 1985 started out cool. It wasn't too hot or too cold and the citizens of Hawkins could thank the rolling thunderclouds for that. The smell of rain was in the air and it made Liz feel like she could breathe again and not be suffocated by the stuffy, hot air that had filled the entire month of June. Liz had woken up to the sound of thunder and found herself cuddling Max. Her face was soft as she was clearly still asleep. Liz had moved a piece of hair out of Max's face and watched as Max's face twitched slightly before Max moved even closer to Liz and pressed her face into Max's shoulder.
It was getting closer to the afternoon when the girls finally left El's house and started to slowly make their way to Max's house. The clouds had only gotten darker as they made their way there and Liz could tell it was definitely going to be raining soon and not lightly. The last thing she really wanted to be doing on a rainy summer day was searching for Max's older brother but El insisted something was wrong, so Max and Liz agreed to go with her.
"It's gonna start pouring soon," Max informs El as they turn onto Max's street. "We should be at the mall or, like, watching a movie or something."
Liz's eyes widened at the mention of watching a movie, "Oh, The Goonies!"
Max smiled largely at Liz, "Yes! The Goonies!"
"You don't believe me?" El asks the two girls who seemed more excited about doing anything other than what El wanted to do.
"I believe you saw some super weird stuff, totally, but you said Mike has sensed you in there before, right?" Max explains. El nodded. "So, maybe it was just like that. Maybe Billy just... sensed you... somehow."
"But the screams," El reminds her.
Max sighs, "Yeah, I know, but here's the thing. When Billy is alone with a girl, they make, like, really crazy noises."
Liz cringed, knowing exactly what Max was talking about and she could say the same thing about her brother, although, lately, Steve hasn't been bringing many girls home. El's eyes widened at Max's words, "They scream?"
"Yeah, but like... happy screams," Max explains hesitantly.
El looked very confused as she asked, "Happy screams? What is happy screams?"
"It's like..." Max trails off, locking eyes with Liz who just shakes her head. She really did not want to have the sex talk with El. "I'm just gonna lend you my mom's Cosmo."
