STARCROSSED ▷ steve harrington

02. mall rats - part one

CHAPTER TWO - MALL RATS
PART ONE

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"NO, YOU HAVE to put your feet on top of the wheels," Jackie informed her sister, watching as she balanced and kept a hand raised just as a precaution incase she fell. "That's the easiest way to flip the board."

It was another hot summer day in Hawkins, and Jackie's hair was pulled up completely to the top of her head, she'd been sweating underneath the scorching sun, and the hair had been sticking uncomfortably to the back of her neck.

It wasn't often that Jackie was home with Max now, though most of their nights consisted of them catching up on the couch, talking about the day's activities as they sat in front of the television, air conditioning blasting, and blocking out the noise of Billy's obnoxious music from his bedroom.

Max nodded, and slowly lifted her feet up in the air as she jumped, the skateboard flipped slightly, but not enough and it skidded out from under her. Jackie rushed to her, catching Max by the shoulders just as her head almost hit the ground. "Jesus," she muttered.

"You okay?" Jackie questioned, her voice laced with concern. When Max nodded, she released her and looked up to see a girl approaching. She was hardly recognizable now, her hair curling blonde at the tips, nearly reaching her shoulders. Her bone structure had grown over the course of the months, and she looked like a real teenager now. Except for the baggy old clothes she was wearing. She stepped up to them, offering Max's board. Jackie refrained from tilting her head in confusion—the last time either of the Mayfield sisters saw her she hadn't been the nicest.

"Eleven," Max greeted, brows furrowed slightly. "Hi."

Eleven closed the gap between them, and held the board for Max to take. She still looked awfully young, like a lost puppy with big eyes. She glanced between them. "Hi," the young girl responded. "Can we talk?"

The three of them sat in Jackie's room ten minutes later, listening as Eleven explained her situation with Mike. The siblings shared a look as she spoke, and Max paced nervously back and forth.

"And then he said he missed me...and then he just hung up."

Jackie frowned at the girl, knowing exactly how she felt. She'd had her fair share of boyfriends before Steve, each of them all turning out to be assholes in the end. One that crashed and burned her first year of high school, and one that had Jackie slashing the tires to a brand new Mustang once she'd found a piece of lingerie that didn't belong to her in the backseat when she was a junior. Needless to say, she understood Eleven completely.

"He's a piece of shit," Max concluded, her jaw clenched.

"What?" Eleven questioned, obviously taken aback by her choice of words.

Max threw her arms up. "Mike clearly doesn't have jack shit to do, and his Nana definitely isn't sick."

"Yeah," Jackie agreed. "The whole situation kind of sounds fishy to me."

"Fishy?" Eleven repeated, and Jackie sighed.

"Like, suspicious. It doesn't make sense on why he would lie." She hummed, "maybe he just wanted to spend a day without you?"

"Why would he want to do that?" Eleven wondered.

"It's probably nothing personal, I know for a fact I couldn't spend that much time with Steve without getting sick of him. It's normal, I guess. You probably have nothing to worry about."

"Still," Max cut in. "He didn't have to lie. He could've just told the truth."

"But..." Eleven's face fell. "Friends don't lie."