falling for you\\ elmax

"here we go again"

(max's POV)
yep. it was official. mike and el were soulmates once again. and i'm not sure if there was anything i could do to stop it this time. i'm not sure what mike really said to eleven to make me be angry at me, or ashamed of me, but it must've been something really fucked up. i hate mike. i mean, yeah, i've hates him before for being a douche, but he took this to a whole new level. talking to el wasn't easy. i'll tell you that much. everything was awkward between us. even when we glanced at each other it was not easy. every time i saw her i started to cry. every time her and mike held hands, kissed, hugged, it made me even more sad because i couldn't help but think; that should be me and el. not mike. but i felt as if no matter what i said to mike, he wouldn't lay off. he's an asshole. i just got to accept that.

it was back to school. i was at my locker and i saw mike and el walk through the doors. holding hands. i frowned and grabbed my books. just as i shut my locker door. there was lucas, smiling widely. i jumped back.
"woah, didn't see you there, stalker." i said, chuckling. i started to walk in the halls, and lucas followed next to me.
"so, we were gonna all go see a movie tonight and we were wondering if you wanna go!" he asked, smiling. i smiled too, about to accept. suddenly, i thought of eleven and mike. i bit my lip, looking down.
"is el and mike going?" i asked silently.
"well, they usually do." he chuckled. i looked back at them, laughing and flirting. i rubbed my arm.
"maybe i shouldn't..." i said nervously. lucas grabbed my arm.
"come on, max! i know it's awkward between you guys right now, but, we're your friends and we want to hang out!" he said. i looked at him with an unsure look. i groaned.
"fine." i said, rolling my eyes. he jumped up and down with joy.
"great! meet all of us at the entrance of starcourt." he said, running off to class. i gave a thumbs up and walked to class.

"what movie are you guys seeing?" my mom asked, driving to the mall. i sat in the front seat, looking out the window.
"i'm not sure, whatever movie we decide to watch." i said. we'll probably just have steve sneak us in once again. i thought to myself. i saw the mall. the bright neon sign reading "starcourt mall" shined bright. my mom pulled up to the entrance. as i was looking for lucas, i didn't see him. i sighed. then, i saw them, mike and el. i gasped.
"what's wrong?" my mom asked me with concern. i ducked.
"just, wait here please." i said.
"max, stop acting weird! come on, i gotta get to the store to get stuff for dinner." she said, unlocking my door. just as i opened the door, lucas and dustin arrived. i sighed. thank god. i thought. i hopped out and my mom drove away. i walked to lucas and dustin.
"hey, max!" both of them said greeting me. i waved, smiling. i looked at el. she looked happy. i got sad. suddenly, she looked in my direction. i turned away quickly. we all walked into the mall.

after steve snuck us in, we all decided to see a scary movie. we found a seat and dustin even bought some popcorn. mike and el sat in front of us. i looked down to see them holding hands. i frowned.
"popcorn?" dustin asked me, offering the bag of butter popcorn. i smiled and accepted, grabbing a handful of popcorn. he smiled as well. the movie started. i couldn't focus on the movie. i just kept thinking about eleven. thinking of how badly i wanted her to hold my hand. how badly i wanted her to be mine, and not mike's. i was angry at first, then i was sad. i missed eleven. even if we couldn't date. i missed having sleepovers every weekend. i missed telling secrets and gossiping about mike. i miss the fun we had. my eyes got watery. i wiped them quickly. it was dark so no one noticed. i couldn't take it. i sat up quickly.
"where are you going?" lucas whispered.
"i have to go home." i said, storming out. no one followed me. i called my mom from one of the phones in the mall. she picked me up.

the second i got home, i cried. i cried so hard. i felt like all i ever did was cry. all because of mike. i cried into my pillow the rest of that night. i ended up falling asleep. i hated mike wheeler. this was all of his fault.