further apart // max mayfield x oc

3: ii (the mall rats)

"why would you ever kiss me? i'm not even half as pretty."

——

the one thing felicity was excited to get back to hawkins for was starcourt. it seemed almost dream-like, a huge technicolour hub in the middle of what she considered to be one of the most boring towns in america. her and dustin dodged the crowds of people and easily found themselves inside scoops.

"have a nice day" the girl behind the counter sighed, handing over two cones of ice cream to a customer in front of them. nervously, felicity stepped up. my god, she was pretty- the way her soft brown hair framed her face and her eyes were carefully outlined. her eyes drifted to the name pinned to her uniform, 'robin'.
"can i help you?" robin asked, looking between the pair. "hi!" dustin smiled, "i'm dustin. and this is lis", he gestured to his sister.
"i'm robin" robin said, raising her eyebrows in concern. "pleasure to meet you, is he here?"
"is... who here?"

just then, the familiar face of steve harrington appeared from behind a door marked 'staff'.
"hendersons!" he exclaimed, running to greet the pair. "they're back!"
steve hugged felicity tightly, then proceeded to perform a complicated handshake with her brother, complete with sound effects.
"hey, you got the job!"
"i got the job!" steve tipped his sailor hat.

after the disaster of the snow ball, steve had become almost like an older brother to felicity and dustin. it was comforting really, in a world full of monsters and confusing teenage relationships, that they had someone to drive them to school or to turn to for advice.

"how many children are you friends with?" robin interrupted. the elder boy sighed.

——

"no way! hotter than phoebe cates? no way."
"brilliant too!" dustin gushed. felicity sat on the opposite side of the booth, poking at her ice cream with a spoon and trying to ignore the conversation. every so often, steve would shoot her a confused or sympathetic glance, but she pretended not to notice.

"so where are the other knuckleheads?" he asked, trying to avoid the disturbing imagery of kissing someone without teeth. "they totally ditched us yesterday! but it's ok because they're going to regret it - big time- when they don't get to share my glory!" dustin explained.
"our glory" felicity cut in, scowling.
"what glory?"
"well you see... last night we were trying to get in contact with suzie, and umm..." he dropped down to a whisper, "i think we might have...
interceptedasecretrussiancommunication"
"you what?"
"we intercepted a secret russian communication, steve!" felicity half yelled, causing scoops to go silent for a moment whilst she turned bright red. "jesus, shh! that's what i thought you said. w-what does that mean?"
"we could be heroes" she mumbled.
"true american heroes. just picture it, you could have everything you want, all the ladies you want, and more" her brother added.
"what's the catch?"
"all we need is your help with the translation."

——

"shit!" max swore, stumbling off her skateboard and pushing it away. no doubt her already bruised knees would sting tomorrow, but that didn't matter so much right now. she chased after her board, pausing when she realised someone had picked it up already. "hi" eleven said, handing it back. "hi?" max replied, puzzled- she and eleven weren't exactly on hanging-out terms yet. "can we.. talk?"

never mind, apparently they were.

——