Max walked into Reggie Casing's two-story home with Troy, the always memorable class bully from Hawkins Middle—who'd gotten a lot nicer since he broke his arm 2 years ago. He was slightly taller than her with brown hair and mud brown eyes. He immediately went to get them drinks and she was excited for it.
Reggie walked by with a paper crown that looked like it was made by a 5th grader and went out the front door. Mike had just parked across the street in the neighbor's driveway.
"It's the other birthday boy!" Reggie called out.
"Mike? It's your birthday?" El blanched. Mike turned pink.
"I didn't want it to be a big deal. Most people forgot."
"I'm so sorry I forgot," Will put his hand on Mike's shoulder.
"No, I'm glad you did. This is just a regular party. Reggie just found out. I just wanted to be with my friends anyway."
"I didn't forget buddy. I am my birthday gift to you," Dustin pointed to himself.
"Thank you," Mike retorted sarcastically and Dustin tightened his smile. They walked up the path to the front porch. There were red solo cups already lining the banister. El looked surprised by the noise on the inside.
"Crowded," she held on to Mike's arm.
"Don't worry, I got you," he said making a bee-line for the kitchen. "What's your poison?"
"Poison?" El asked.
"Figure of speech, what do you want to drink?" Mike asked her. El looked around. She knew what the cans of Coke tasted like. The giant punch bowl was intriguing. She pointed at it.
"Are you sure? It's not just juice."
"Pour it!" Max yelled surprising Eleven. She'd already had two cups of the stuff herself. "El! I missed you." Eleven hugged her back, not recognizing the difference in her appearance and attitude.
"It's good to see you. How have you been?" Eleven asked her. Max wasn't fully paying attention. She was staring at Mike.
"What are you looking at?"
"Hi Max," he said quickly. El finally caught onto something being wrong.
Dustin knew that Mike cared so much about him coming to the party so that he could spend time with Will and he could hang out with his girlfriend. He understood. If he had the opportunity to have one night out with Suzie, he'd probably do the same thing. He knew Mike would do it for him. He would need that if he had to plead with Suzie and travel to her in Utah. He's not sure how far the two of them would be able to get, but it was still an option in the lower half of the alphabet.
Will had a lot to talk about to Dustin. He figured Mike would find time for him later like he always did. El came first now. Before Will could crack open any of the topics he wanted to catch up with Dustin, another familiar face walked through the door.
Lucas looked like himself but with more facial hair than Will remembered.
"Lucas, you made it!" Dustin went to hug him first. Some of the other party guests looked at him weird. Will interrupted to shake his hand.
"Will, it's good to see you, man. What's new with you?"
"So much, I—" he was about to break into his opportunity when Lucas saw Max coming out of the kitchen. Lucas wanted to back out of the door but instead he held his ground and she eventually saw him standing there too.
"Lucas, you're here" she said before tripping over her feet and falling face-forward right into his arms.
"Oh no," he mumbled.
"Leave her, she's my girlfriend now—so back off!" Troy said pushing off Lucas who had carried Max over to the couch. He had three of his own friends backing him up so Lucas let her go. Will, Dustin, Mike and El stood nearby and he moved back over to them, looking back at her to see if she was okay.
"His girlfriend?" El asked the boys.
"Yeah, he—she, um, dumped him."
"They didn't get back together?" El wondered. Dustin shook his head once. The others stayed silent. Lucas was still looking back. He turned to El.
"Could you, um—make sure she's okay?" he asked her. El nodded kindly. Lucas looking relieved walked away into the kitchen. Mike followed her over to Max's side. Troy wasn't much of a nurse.
"She's my friend," she said, which was enough to get her close to her. "She needs water and medicine." Troy rushed to get it. With him gone, El and Mike both sat with her. "Why is she acting different?"
"It's complicated, I guess. She got weird after a while and she stopped talking to everyone in the party, not just Lucas. He still—you know—cares about her obviously. Just don't tell her I told you that."
"I don't think I can talk to her at all," El said picking up her wrist. When she let go, it dropped neatly into Max's side. "I'm sorry. This isn't the party you wanted."
"Are you kidding? Things not going as planned. Having to watch out for my friends. Being with you—it's just like old times," he smiled brightly, and she put her head on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead.
~A.N. I had a lot of fun writing this part. Finding each character's voice is such a treat for me to experience things from their perspectives. How do they speak? Is this believable? I am definitely thinking about all of this as I write. Leave comments about whether or not you like it so far! TY :)