It's the last Sunday of September. With October just around the corner, the leaves have already begun to turn, transforming Hawkins into a mosaic of orange and red hues. The Indian summer heat has faded away, leaving behind the faint but telltale chill of the season to come.
As Mike waits in the driveway outside Lucas' house, seated on his bike, he shuffles side-to-side, trying to keep warm. He checks his watch. 11:17 AM. Lucas was supposed to meet him out here 2 minutes ago.
Mike sighs but keeps waiting. Another 3 minutes pass, then another 5, and by 11:26, Mike is about to approach the front door and knock when Lucas emerges, looking thoroughly pissed off.
Mike's brow furrows. "What happened to you?"
"Erica hid my money!" Lucas fumes. His bike is leaning on the side of his house and he grabs it. He walks it closer to Mike before throwing his leg over the seat and mounting it.
"Why?"
"Because she's evil!"
"Where'd you find it?"
"It was hidden with her old Barbies!"
"What?!"
"I know!"
"That sucks. Is she gonna get in trouble?"
"Probably not," Lucas answers with an eye-roll. "Let's just go."
Mike nods and the two bike off down the road, headed to their favorite Sunday afternoon destination: the Palace Arcade.
They only bike a couple feet before Lucas' notices the obvious: two members of their party are missing. "Where's Will and Dustin?" He asks, glancing at Mike.
Mike thinks back to the telephone calls he'd had to make this morning. "They can't come — Will is spending the day with his mom and brother," he recounts, "And Dustin's cat got sick, so he and his mom are taking it to the vet."
"Mews is like, a million years old," Lucas says with a shake of his head. "How is she even still alive?"
"Maybe she's an immortalist," Mike jokes, causing Lucas to snort.
The two bike towards the downtown area. On the way there, they pass by the high school football field, where the football team is in the midst of practicing for the big homecoming football game. The frenzied shouts of the coach are still audible over the soft bustle of distant passing cars, echoing bird calls, and the crunch of dead leaves under their bike wheels.
Mike's father has always wanted him to do sports, but Mike can't honestly think of anything worse than having to waste a Sunday getting yelled at and throwing around a ball in the cold.
Lucas sees the football players too, and he turns to glance at Mike with a curious look on his face.
"Are we going to Homecoming this year?" Lucas asks. "The dance, I mean, not the game."
Last year, the boys had skipped the big annual fall dance. Still adjusting to being in high school, they hadn't quite found their footing yet. A mushy, romantic school dance hadn't appealed to them, so they'd gone to see Terminator instead.
But this year…
"Maybe," Mike says. "Why, do you want to?"
"I dunno," Lucas replies guardedly, "Do you?"
Mike bites down on his lower lip, stopping himself from saying something that'll only embarrass him. Like, something about how he's actually been thinking about Homecoming a lot lately. Or how, sometimes, when he's trying to fall asleep, he'll run over scenarios in his mind. How those scenarios are often focused on one person, one moment, one question.
The scenarios always end in frustration because Mike knows it's all pointless, anyway. He barely knows El, and El hardly knows him. Even if they were closer, what's to say that a cool girl like her would agree to go with a nobody like him? What if she wanted to go with someone else?
The thought jabs at Mike with a stabbing pain as an unsettling question dawns on him.
Does El have a boyfriend?
It's something he's never considered before. He's only ever seen her hanging around with Max, but what if her boyfriend like, went to another school, or something? He'd probably be someone totally bad ass, with like, a motorcycle. Someone who got detention for worse things than selling their test answers.
Mike feels an uncomfortable amount of jealousy churn in his chest, which is ridiculous because, as far as he knows, the person whom he was currently jealous of might not even exist.
"Mike?" Lucas asks, glancing at him. "You okay?"
"Uh, yeah!" Mike responds quickly, shaking his head as he comes back to. "I dunno about Homecoming. We still have a month to decide."
"Yeah," Lucas agrees somberly.
They don't speak much after that, not until they arrive at the arcade. Their legs are sore from biking — both wince slightly as they dismount the bikes that are getting slightly too small for them.
"I can't wait until we can drive," Lucas laments as the two park their bikes at the bike rack.
Mike, thinking back to El's motorcycle-driving boyfriend who may or may not exist, agrees wholeheartedly. "Totally. We're all still taking driver's ed together next summer, right?"
"Definitely!" Lucas nods. "It'll be better that way."
Because everything's better when they're all together. Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Will. It's been that way ever since kindergarten, just the four of them. But now that they're in high school, things are changing. Mike thinks about how tense things have been with Dustin lately and can't help but worry.
"Hey, Lucas?" Mike asks as he and Lucas head towards the entrance of the Palace Arcade.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think Dustin is seriously pissed at me?"
"What?"
"You know," Mike hesitates, "About talking to El."
"Even if he is, that's his problem," Lucas reminds him. "I think he's just weirded out by the whole thing, so he's acting like a shithead about it. He'll get over it."
"Yeah," Mike replies, sincerely hoping that Lucas is right.
They enter the arcade, instantly feeling welcomed by the flickering neon blue lights, the sounds of 8-bit chiptunes, and the smell of old quarters.
"Let's start with Galaga first!" Mike suggests, and Lucas agrees.
The two head over to the game console. Lucas benevolently allows Mike to go first, and so he does, cracking his fingers before he begins.
Even though the rest of Mike's life has been kinda weird lately, there's something comforting about just getting to push it all aside and focus on the simple task of shooting up some aliens. It's familiar, it's easy, it makes sense, and he knows exactly what to do about it all.
Unfortunately, Mike's mindless daze doesn't last long, as Lucas finds a way to bring a certain someone back into their dialogue.
"So, are you going to keep talking to El?" Lucas asks conversationally.
Mike flinches, almost missing the alien he's trying to shoot at. "I dunno," he says, trying to sound like the idea of spending time with El isn't something he's secretly dying to happen, "Maybe. I mean, if she wanted to. Are you going to keep talking to Max?"
Lucas smiles a little and shakes his head. "I think if I tried, I'd end up in the hospital," he jokes, rubbing at his arm.
Mike makes a dismissive sort of sound. "Does it actually bother you? All the punching?" He glances at Lucas just in time to see him blush.
"Not completely," Lucas admits.
Mike gives a snort of a laugh as he finishes his round of Galaga. "400,000!" He boasts, turning to Lucas. "I think that means I beat Dustin for first place!"
"Think again!" Lucas says, shaking his head.
Mike's brow furrows in confusion, but sure enough, when he turns to look at the final scoreboard, he's only won second place. Ranking in at first with 450,000 points is someone unknown to the boys: MadMax
"What the hell?" Mike exclaims, dumbfounded, "Who's MadMax?"
"I think I recognize them," Lucas frowns. He examines the screen closely, as if the secret identity of their competitor could be found hidden amongst the pixels. "I've seen that username on the leaderboards of other games here, but not this high!"
"Dustin's gonna be pissed," Mike says, trying to hide that he too is upset about the current turn of events, "He's all the way in third place now!"
"This has to be recent! We were at the arcade Friday before we went back to your house. Dustin still had the high score then."
"You're right."
The boys fall silent for a moment, both staring at the screen with puzzled frowns.
"We gotta find out who MadMax is," Lucas finally says, "Maybe he can tell us how he got such a high score!"
"Good idea!" Mike agrees.
The two begin their search, going from arcade game to arcade game, checking out the leaderboard screens to see if MadMax played there. Sure enough, they stumble upon a trail of high scores that lead them towards the back of the arcade.
They scan the sea of game consoles before their gaze lands on Dig-Dug. There's a lone figure hunched over the console, sporting a baggy gray hoodie and washed-out jeans. The spritely sound effects of the game are going off like crazy as the player's score climbs higher and higher. Pale fingers move at lightning speed, flying over the controls in a determined focus.
"That's gotta be him," Mike whispers, to which Lucas nods. "Look at how fast he's going!"
"Should we go over?" Lucas asks.
Mike shrugs. "Sure."
The two approach the figure cautiously, not wanting to disturb the powerful gaming performance happening before their eyes.
When the final score tops out at 751,300, the boys are shocked, to say the least.
"Holy shit!" Lucas hisses, turning to glance at Mike, wide-eyed.
Mike only nods back, feeling just as awed. He clears his throat before stepping forward and giving the hoodied figure a nudge on the shoulder. "Hey!" He says with a friendly tone, "Are you Mad Max? 'Cause you're like, really good!"
The figure flinches, as if Mike had startled them, but doesn't turn to look at them.
"We were just wondering if you could tell us how you get all these high scores," Lucas adds hopefully, "I've never seen someone get more than 700,000 on Dig-Dug!"
The figure mutters something unintelligible in response.
Mike frowns. "What?" He asks, stepping closer.
Another mutter.
"Huh?"
With a frustrated huff, the hoodied individual turns to face them. At the same time, Mike and Lucas' jaws nearly drop to the floor.
They almost don't recognize her. Her black eyeshadow is gone, leaving her face looking almost ghostly in comparison. Her long, often tangled hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail that's hidden by her hood.
Despite the costume change, Mike and Lucas still realize that they're currently face-to-face with none other than Max Mayfield.
Max Mayfield, a habitual visitor of the principal's office.
Max Mayfield, who liked wearing leather jackets and ripped jeans.
Max Mayfield, who skateboarded to school every day.
Max Mayfield, who, a little over a week ago, had called them all 'literal losers' and 'full-on geeks.'
Mike can't help it. The irony of the whole situation is extremely amusing to him. He bursts out laughing, even though it instantly causes Max to give him a death glare.
"Max?!" Lucas manages to choke out, still looking shocked, "You're Mad Max?!"
Max, still glaring, crosses her arms over her chest. "So what if I am?" She asks threateningly.
Mike manages to control his laughter, though only barely. "It's just," He finally replies, "I don't think we would have ever thought you'd be here."
"We didn't know you liked video games!" Lucas adds, completely in awe. "Or that you were amazing at them!"
Max shifts in place uncomfortably. "It's no big deal," she mutters, though Mike can't help but notice the small smile she's failing to hide.
"It is!" Lucas insists, practically drooling now, "You beat Dustin's high score on Galaga, he's been number one since middle school!"
Max smirks. "Seriously? It wasn't even hard."
While Lucas continues to adoringly gaze at Max, Mike can't help but glance around the arcade. If Max is here, then her best friend can't be that far behind, right?
"Is El with you?" Mike asks Max casually (hopefully).
"No!" Max answers brashly, brow furrowing, "She can't know about this!"
Mike feels his heart sink a little, but he brushes it off. Meanwhile, Lucas is looking confused over Max's response.
Lucas eyes her. "You mean, you haven't told her?"
"I can't!" Max says desperately, "I don't want her to think I'm a geek like you guys," she pauses, then adds, "No offense."
"Thanks," Mike replies flatly.
"Look," Max continues. She steps closer to them, keeping her voice low. "I have to work really hard to keep up my reputation around school. Do you know how much my life would suck if people like Troy found out that I like nerdy stuff like this? I'd be totally screwed. No one would take me seriously."
"Still!" Mike counters, "Even if that's true, you shouldn't lie to El. She's your friend, isn't she?"
"Obviously."
"Well, friends don't keep secrets from each other. And I doubt El would make fun of you for doing something that you like."
Max eyes him carefully, scrutinizing his response.
"She didn't make fun of me for liking this kind of stuff," Mike reminds her.
"Yeah, but that's only because she—" Max stops mid-sentence and shakes her head. "Never mind."
"You should be proud!" Lucas tells her, butting in before Mike can pry about what Max had left unsaid. "You have crazy good skills! You should tell her!"
Max sighs, looking both frustrated and conflicted. Her eyes roll up to the ceiling and stay there for a moment. "Fine!" She finally replies, looking back at the guys, "Maybe I'll tell her. But only her. If this gets out to anyone—"
"It won't!" Lucas assures her, smiling. "I swear! We're really good at keeping secrets!"
Mike can't help but side-eye Lucas. If Dustin had thought that Mike was totally in love with El (which he WASN'T, just for the record), he would only need to look at Lucas right now — all smiles and bright-eyes and blushing cheeks.
Max eyes both of them but nods, her worries seemingly appeased for the time being. "Good," she states, uncrossing her arms and putting them in her pockets.
There's a beat of silence between the trio, all unsure of what to do next.
Thankfully, Lucas speaks up again with a tentative offer. "Well, uh, if you want, we could, like…uh, play together? Maybe you could…uh…show us how you got…uh…your high, uh, score?"
Mike is certain that he's never heard anyone use "uh" more in a sentence before. Nevertheless, he knows how much this would mean to Lucas, as much as Lucas may try to deny it.
"Yeah!" Mike says, rushing to Lucas' aid. "We could do Defender or Dragon's Lair — we're both really good at those."
"I don't think so," Max says, shaking her head dismissively. "I've already been here all morning. I got places to be."
She looks nervous, and at first it confuses Mike, but then he realizes that Max Mayfield is blushing. Why? Was she shy? Could it actually be because of Lucas? Maybe Will's theory was actually right…
"Oh," Lucas replies, looking a little dejected.
"Thanks anyway, though," Max adds, sounding sincere.
"You're welcome!" Lucas replies with more enthusiasm. "We're gonna be here all day, if you, uh, wanna come back."
"You seriously play here all day?" Max questions, a small smirk on her face.
Lucas hesitates. "...Yes?"
"You guys are such nerds," Max says with an eye-roll, though her tone is light-hearted.
"Well, you kind of are, too," Lucas points out, "I mean —" His sentence trails off as he motions to the arcade.
Max blushes more now, and it's such an uncharacteristic look for her that Mike is completely taken aback to see it.
"Whatever," Max replies, pulling her hood lower over her face. She grabs her skateboard, which has been resting against the Dig-Dug console this entire time, and turns to leave.
"See ya' around, dweebs," She says, punching Lucas in the arm as she walks past.
"Bye!" Lucas replies eagerly, waving to her as she leaves.
Mike can't help but smile at Lucas, and it isn't until Max walks out the front doors of the arcade that Lucas even notices.
"What?" He asks, looking at Mike defensively.
"Nothing!" Mike replies, still grinning.
"Mike, seriously," Lucas complains, giving him a look.
"It's seriously nothing," Mike insists, then, unable to help himself, lightly punches Lucas in the arm, "Dweeb."
Lucas blushes again. His gaze moves back to the Dig-Dug high score screen, and he sighs wistfully. "She's so cool."
"You should ask her to Homecoming," Mike says sincerely.
Lucas eyes him. "I'll ask Max to Homecoming when you ask El," He replies dryly.
It's Mike's turn to blush now. "What!?"
"Exactly."
"Exactly what?"
"Face it, Mike, even though he's an idiot sometimes, Dustin has a point. Girls like that aren't into guys like us."
"You don't know that!" Mike insists, "Anything could happen!"
"Just because it could doesn't mean it will."
"Doesn't mean that it won't."
Lucas still looks unsure, but he sighs again, seemingly compliant. "I guess. I just don't wanna get my hopes up, you know?"
He definitely knows. As supportive as Mike wants to be, he knows deep down that, if the tables were turned, the same sentiments wouldn't improve how he felt about his current status with El. Still, Mike doesn't want to dwell on his insecurities for too long, that'll only make things worse.
"Hey," he says instead, giving Lucas a light nudge, "Why don't we try to beat Max's score on Dig-Dug?"
Lucas looks at him, stunned. "Are you serious? That's going to be impossible."
"Yeah, but imagine how impressed she'd be," Mike pauses before adding, "Or pissed. She might get mad. But even then, she'll have to come back and play again to beat you. You'd get to see her, probably even talk to her."
Lucas thinks about this for a moment, a hesitant smile growing on his face. "Do you think that'd actually work?"
Mike shrugs. "Why not?"
And that's how, 35 quarters and 2 hours later, Lucas gets the high score of 752,001 on Dig-Dug. Mike cheers him on the whole time, and when Lucas enters his name into the leaderboard, seeing it beside Max's just feels right.