B is for Beautiful

November 1984, Hawkins, IN

"Dude, did you see Christina Mullins?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Damn, she is so cute!"

"Sure, but it's not like she's ever gonna like you, Dustin. You're Toothless Henderson, remember?"

"She's new!"

"So? I'm pretty sure Tammy and the posse have already gotten to her."

Dustin's shoulders sagged. "I guess. Why do you always have to be such a pessimist, Lucas?"

Lucas shrugged. "I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. And if I'm not, then who is?"

Neither of them mentioned the fact that Dustin had no real interest in Christina Mullins. They both knew who it was that Dustin really liked, and the problem was that Lucas liked her too. They avoided talking about it.

Will reached them just then, where they were waiting by their bikes.

"Hey, guys. Where's Mike?"

Neither of them had time to answer before someone else interrupted, arriving last at the bike stands.

"His bike's not here, he probably left already so he can go see El," she said, out of breath due to running from her locker on the other side of the school. "I saw him at his locker, he was rushing," she added.

Dustin chuckled. "Yeah, that makes sense. Good call, Max."

Lucas turned around and started to unlock his bike. "I guess we should get home then, guys," he said. "Since Mikey's off with his girlfriend."

"I'm pretty sure he hasn't asked her out yet. Mike doesn't have the balls to do it," said Dustin.

Will pulled his bike out of the stand as Max prepared her skateboard. "Well we didn't think he'd ever have the balls to kiss a girl but he did, didn't he?"

Max nodded. "He told me he's asking her to the Snow Ball, too."

"Why'd he tell you and not us?"

"I don't know, Dustin, did you miss the fact that I'm a girl and maybe he wanted some female advice?" she retorted.

"Geez, woman, you don't have to be so defensive!"

She slapped his hat off his head in response.

The next Saturday, the gang was at the Wheelers' to hang out all day. Dustin and Will had gone to the video rental store on the corner of Briancliff and Elm, and Mike and Lucas were on their way down from Bradley's Big Buy with some snacks that Karen had sent them to purchase (El would usually have gone with Mike, tagging along on the back of his bike, but she had refused when she realized that the store he was going to was the very same one she had stolen Eggos from the year before). Max and El were in the basement waiting for the boys to get back, while Holly and Karen stayed upstairs laughing at the mishaps of the unfortunate Inspector Gadget.

After one particularly boisterous round of giggles from the mother-daughter pair on the couch, Max turned to El to ask her the burning question that had been with her all morning.

"So has he asked you yet?"

El gave her a confused glance from where she was retacking the poster for The Thing that was constantly falling off the wall.

"Mike, I mean. He said he was gonna ask you to the Snow Ball. Has he done it yet?!"

El smiled a small smile and nodded, looking at her feet.

Max shrieked. She proceeded to redden and clamp her hands over her mouth. "Um, I mean, cool. Um, so, how, exactly, did he do it?"

El walked over to Max and sat next to her on the carpet underneath the staircase. "Monday. Mike came to Hopper's house after three-one-five. I was outside. He said he wants to talk with me, I said okay. Then he said I am the most beeyou-bee-beeyou-"

"Beautiful? El, he called you beautiful? Oh my god, that is adorable. Tammy only wishes her boyfriend said that to her!"

"Who is Tammy? Also, what is... boyfriend?"

Max waved her arms excitedly. "I'll tell you after, just finish your story!"

El continued. "He said I am the most bee-youti-full girl he ever met and said if I want to go to the Snow Ball with him. I said yes, but then I said what is bee-youti-full? He got very pink on his face and couldn't talk right. He says it is an extra special kind of pretty."

Max was almost bursting at the seams from the amount of cuteness that had ensued. She may have been a bit of a tomboy, but nothing could stop her from feeling the feels. They have to be the cutest couple in the history of the universe and they're not even a couple yet...

"Okay, who is Tammy and what is boyfriend, Max?"

Max sighed. She didn't want to have to be the one to explain this, since she wasn't very good at expressing her thoughts and emotions. "Well, Tammy Wilson is this girl at school. She's really popular, which means everybody likes her and she has lots of friends. On the other hand, she's not really very nice to people that she doesn't think are cool. And that's us, El. You met Troy?"

"Mouthbreather. Broke his arm."

"Yeah, Dustin told me. He was really enthusiastic about it, hah. So Tammy's like Troy, but instead she's a girl. She doesn't hit people like he does, she uses words to make people feel bad about themselves. And in some ways, it's worse. She also has a group of girls who follow everything she says and are just like her. We call them the posse," Max said.

"Tammy is a mouthbreather?" Max nodded. "Okay. What is boyfriend?"

At this, Max started to blush, the colour showing immediately on her fair skin. In this aspect, she was very like Mike.

"Well, uh, a boyfriend is sort of like a friend. Obviously, a boy. He's just... a boy you like more than a friend."

"Not a friend?" It was beginning to dawn on El that maybe this word boyfriend was what Mike had been talking about when he did the thing with his mouth that time in the school last year.

"No, not a friend. More than a friend. It's kind of weird, really, but I guess that's just how people work. He's gotta be someone special to be your boyfriend, and you go on dates and kiss and hold hands and stuff."

"What is date, and kiss?"

Max could have cried. This was getting increasingly harder to explain, and anyhow these explanations were making her think of a certain someone. She wasn't enjoying it, although she supposed El couldn't really ask any of the boys (especially not Mike, he would turn into a stuttering, blushing mess right away), and asking parents was out of the question. She took a deep breath before starting again.

"A date is when you go out and do fun stuff with someone you like," she began, "someone you like more than a friend, and you do it alone. A kiss is when you put your mouth on someone else's to show them you like them. It's like a hug or holding hands, but it's more important. It's only for people who you like as more than a friend. Do you get it, El?"

El nodded excitedly. She had a name for the thing Mike had done now! Did this mean that he liked her... as more than his friend? She would have to ask him. But for now, she had one more question for Max.

"Max, do you like someone more than a friend?"

Max was suddenly scared. El couldn't know, could she? Because if she did, then maybe he did, too. El was very good at picking up on people's emotions, and while he wasn't as perceptive as her, Dustin still usually knew what to say and when to say it.

"Um, why do you ask?"

El suddenly looked much more curious. "You do. Is it one of our boys?"

"I- yeah..." Max admitted.

"Not Mike." Max thought this was funny. Was El showing her first signs of jealousy? They were all fairly sure that El liked Mike just as much as he liked her, even if neither of them realized it.

"Why not Mike?" she teased.

"I don't like it." Of course you don't, you don't want anyone between you...

"Well, no, it's not Mike."

El gave her a once-over and said "It is Dustin. Yes?"

Max looked away, red-faced. "You can't tell him, okay? It's a secret."

"Why?"

"He's not supposed to know! It's embarrassing."

"Why? He says nobody likes him, but he has friends. I do not think it is what he means. He means that nobody likes him as more than a friend, yes? But you do. He will be happy if you tell him."

Max sighed.

"No, he won't, El. Dustin doesn't like girls like me. He likes girls like Christina Mullins. She's pretty as hell, and she's smart too. Plus, she's popular, like Tammy. It means she has a lot of friends," she added as she noticed El's questioning expression. "I'm just plain old Max, I'm not pretty, I'm not very smart, and I'm not cool either. I'm basically one of the guys, and that's probably all he sees me as. I'm not going to put myself in that situation."

"Okay, Max. Can I read to you?"

"Hey, Max!"

It was the end of last period (which for Max was English) and all she wanted was to escape. She didn't want to go home until she knew Billy would be there, but he had work today and wouldn't be back until late. Max might have headed over to Mike's house, since that was where the gang usually hung out and Mrs. Wheeler didn't mind having her son's friends over, but they had been forbidden this week because Mike was sick with the flu (El was too, and there were suspicions as to how she had gotten it...). In short, Max couldn't think of anywhere to go, so she might as well stay behind to talk to whoever was calling her and kill some time.

It was Christina Mullins.

Oh for God's sake, why me?

"Yeah?" Max headed towards the door as Christina drew closer, adjusting her blue dress.

She better not ask me if Dustin's going to the Snow Ball, Max thought darkly.

"You know your friend Mike? Is he going to the Snow Ball?"

MIKE! HAH! Oh, how unlucky you are, Christina!

"Why do you ask?"

Christina fidgeted with her dress nervously. "I just- I think he's cute, that's all. Do you know if he's going?"

"He is, but if you wanted to go with him you're too late. He has a date already."

Christina looked at her shoes disappointedly. "Oh. Do you know who?"

"A friend of ours. She's homeschooled."

"Oh. Well, thanks anyway, Max. Could you tell him I said hi? I noticed he hasn't been at school this week."

She must like him! This is hilarious, wait till El finds out!

"Will do." She started in the direction of her locker, but she had only taken all of three steps away when Christina asked another question.

"What about Dustin? He's pretty funny," she said.

Max whipped around. "You're not even friends with us. You hang out with Tammy and her group, and you know perfectly well that she hates us. I don't know what you think you're playing at, Christina. And as far as I know, Dustin's not going." With that, she stalked off down the hall, leaving one Christina Mullins shocked at the earful she had received.

Max was fuming. How dare she? She doesn't have any right! She doesn't even know them, why would she want to go to the Ball with them? Goddamn prissies, all they want is a date. She slammed open her locker and began to throw what she needed into her bag. When she was done, she slapped her locker shut again. On the other side was Dustin.

She jumped nearly a foot. "Dustin!"

"Hey! So it's just us today, Lucas said his mom asked him to be home as fast as possible, I think his grandparents are visiting or something. Will said he had a doctor's appointment right after school and had to get going," he said.

"Oh. Cool." She paused. "Hey, could I come to your house? If you don't mind. I don't want go home yet. We could do some homework together, maybe?"

Dustin nodded excitedly. "Sure! Algebra?"

Max smiled. "Or science, because I need a little help with that."

As they walked out of Hawkins Middle, the mid-November sun hitting their faces, Max felt a little nervous but mostly happy at the prospect of spending a few hours alone with Dustin. This was sure to be an interesting experience. Once she had gotten her skateboard and he his bike, they pushed out onto Elm and headed in the direction of Kerley Street. When she reached the intersection at Cornwallis and Kerley, right in front of Dustin's house, she turned around to see how far behind he was. Turns out, he had stopped at the other end of the block for no apparent reason, but when she looked at him he began to pedal towards her.

When he arrived, she looked askance at him. "Why'd you stop?"

He smiled. Goddamn, his smile is so cute!

"Well, if I hadn't stopped I wouldn't have been able to appreciate the beauty that is you. Your hair really reflects the light, you know? It's like fire," he responded.

"So you're saying my hair is on fire."

"No, I'm saying that I really like your hair. Also that I think you're really cute."

Max was speechless.

"Shall we get inside and do some homework, then? After you, milady," he said as he gestured towards the front door.

Later, just as Dustin's mother left for the supermarket, they finished their science homework and started taking their algebra out.

"Do we really have to do algebra? I don't want to," groaned Max, hanging upside down off the side of Dustin's bed.

Dustin, sitting at his desk, said "I guess we don't have to, since he said it's not due tomorrow. And algebra's a bitch, anyway. But what do you wanna do, then? Unless you wanna go home now, I can go with you if you want?"

Max looked at her watch. "It's still early, Billy won't be home till late. Do you think your parents would mind if I stayed for dinner? I really, really don't want to go home," she answered.

Dustin sighed and plopped himself down on the bed next to her. "Nah, they won't mind. My mom likes you, Dad doesn't really care unless you're rude at the table or some shit. But shouldn't you go home? I mean, you can't avoid your mom forever."

"She's a raging alcoholic, Dustin, she doesn't care about her kids. She's always mad at us when we're home, but she can't hurt us when we're not. That's why Billy's always at work, he wants to get enough money so that when he graduates he can get us both out of here and away from her. And it's why I'm always hanging out at Mike's, 'cause Mrs. Wheeler actually cares about the kids in her house, even if they're not hers. My mom cares so much the only reason she'd put up missing posters for me is to take suspicion off of her. I could run away and she wouldn't care, dude. She'd be glad to be rid of me."

During this rare show of emotions, Dustin had started to play with her hair. It was a habit to play with his own when he was thinking hard about something, except this time it was Max's because he liked her hair better and he was feeling courageous. She found it to be quite soothing.

"Shit, Max, I didn't know it was that bad, I'm sorry. If you ever need someplace to go, you can come here, I've got you covered. And if you ever need someone to talk to, I like to think I'm a good listener," he joked.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Dustin. You're a good friend, you know?"

"Is that... all I am to you?"

Max suddenly felt panicked. Was he asking what she thought he was asking? How was she supposed to respond to this?

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged.

"I mean... when I called you cute earlier, you didn't say anything. I thought you were gonna hit me, or at least yell at me for being a shithead. So I guess I thought... maybe... you might like me?"

She glared at him. How does he know?

"What made you think that?"

Dustin looked away. "I don't know, I guess it's just me looking too much into things. I'm a hopeful guy, okay? Because I really like you, and I hoped you might like me too. Guess not, huh?" He smiled sadly.

Max could not believe it.

"You-" she sat up, "you like me? Me? Really?"

He looked back at her. "What do you mean, really? Of course I do, you're great!"

She almost laughed. "Well you were right, dumbass! You almost always are, aren't you?"

He started to smile a real smile; her face was already stretched to its maximum.

"Dustin, do you want to go to the Snow Ball with me?"

"Of course, pretty lady. I would be honoured!"

She pushed him off the bed, both of them laughing.