After school, Mike spotted Max walking home. He ran up to her.
"Hey, Max. Can we talk for a minute?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes. "You can't make me like your girlfriend. She was a total ass to me when we first met, and she can't just accept that-"
He held up his hand to silence her. "Look- I get it. I wasn't a huge fan of you either when I first met you. But she'll warm up to you. She just feels threatened. She's never really interacted with other girls her own age before, you know?"
She scoffed. "So basically, you're saying that the girl who can literally move shit with her mind is, what, scared of me?"
"I- sure. We'll go with that. But that's not the point, Max. the point is that you two need to get along. And you can't both be stubborn forever."
She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really?"
"I know you could stay stubborn forever," he corrected himself hastily, "but you shouldn't. Please just try to be friendly? Please?"
She hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment. She had worked to hardly to gain Mike's trust and she wasn't about to lose it now over his jealous girlfriend.
"Fine. I'll try. But if she refuses to talk to me, there's nothing I can do."
Mike grinned. "Thanks so much, Max! I owe you one!" and with that, he sped off to bike home with Dustin.
"Hey, Max." Lucas said, approaching from behind, "What was that all about?"
She sighed. "Mike wants me to play nice." she said. "He wants me to be friends with his little girlfriend or whatever. And-"
Lucas laughed. "Come on, max. Cheer up. She grows on you, really."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" she snapped.
Lucas backed away. "Woah, sorry. Didn't mean to offend you or whatever. I just really want you two to be friends, okay? And plus, she might be coming to school soon anyway. Now that the chief is her legal guardian or whatever, he's gonna try to enroll her. It would look pretty suspicious if you two had a rivalry. She's gonna need to blend in."
Max sighed. "No, I get it. I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's not your fault. I just know that you guys would choose Eleven over me if you had to choose." she blinked back tears and kicked at a rock by her shoe.
Lucas put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. I would never choose her over you! You're an official party member, Max! And friends don't leave friends. Never ever. No matter what."
She smiled at him. "Thanks, Lucas. I really appreciate it. I'll try I promise."
He smiled back. "Okay."
They set off down the road together, their hands hanging close together, but never quite touching...
