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Max doesn’t know how El ended up at her house, but she’s happy she did. First off, she can tell the only influence in her fashion taste is Mike, and that just won’t do. She’s been pushing the girl over the summer to try something new, she didn’t necessarily mean go against every rule Hopper had made for her, but rule breaking can be fun.
“We make our own rules.” Max tells her in confidence, El definitely isn’t disagreeing. The mall was better than she could have imagined with El, first off El had to figure out who she was. El knew it to, at least to a certain extent, but now she really was seeing the world.
“So… I dress like… dads?” El says to her as they walk past a department store and they see a display.
“Well, not really, just you dress a little behind the times maybe? I don’t know California fashion hits harder and faster than it does in Hawkins.”
“I don’t want to dress like a dad.” El decides to her.
“Well, then don’t. Don’t take fashion advice from anyone, even me. Let’s find you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Come on you have to look at fashion magazines or something right?”
“No, Hopper does not bring those home.”
“Well, we can definitely get you a subscription to something, tonight we can look at my mom’s old Cosmopolitan’s too.” They slow at a display as El looks a bit focused.
“I like bright.” She decides to say to Max.
“Bright?”
“Bright. Rainbow.”
“We can work with the style rainbow!” Max is beaming as they start trying to find her sizes in different things. Taking heaps of clothes into the dressing rooms, trying them all on. She doesn’t think she’s smiled this much since California, she isn’t sure El has ever.
“This.” El has a huge smile on her face as she stands in a geometric romper.
“I love it.” Max agrees, El looks oddly at her as she hands her the next piece of clothing.
“I said I liked this?”
“You need more than one outfit.” Max rolls her eyes playfully as they continue to try on clothes.
“Mike won’t be mad?” El has a brightly colored shirt on as she says it.
“No, if Mike is mad, he’s a worse boyfriend then we ever thought.”
“He is nice.”
“Like I said earlier, boyfriends lie, a lot.”
“Lucas?”
“Lucas too. I think he’s finally over himself thankfully.”
“Over himself?”
“He just tells the truth now, especially since I have no issue dumping his ass.”
“Dumping his ass?” El adds another to the “yes” pile in their dressing room.
“You know, when we break up. I dump his ass.”
“I don’t think Mike would like that.”
“It isn’t about what Mike likes, it’s about what you like.” Max tells her as she tries on an almost identical striped shirt to hers.
“I like today.” El has a smile on her face.
“I like today too. See how much fun it is to hangout with someone other than the boys?”
“I see you also.”
“I mean without them. Tonight we have to have a sleepover, it will be so much fun!”
“Sleep over?”
“When you sleep at someone’s house and you stay up late and play games and stuff.”
“Will and I have had sleepovers.”
“Different context. This is much more fun, I promise.” Max tells her as they try on the last of the clothes they brought in with them.
The day goes on, turns out Hopper has no idea how to shop for El, which doesn’t entirely surprise Max, they get her the basics too. That’s how they ended up at the Macy’s makeup counter.
“You wear this?” El asks her.
“Not really, I wore a little to the snowball.”
“Kali wore makeup.”
“Ah yes, the two day punk phase you went through. I think everyone remembers that.” Max is laughing a bit.
“I don’t want to wear makeup like that.”
“You don’t have too. See, look at all the bright colors.” They’re looking in awe at the wide selection.
“Hopper won’t be mad?”
“No, I think Hopper would prefer if you wore bright makeup.”
“Like Nancy?”
“We aren’t going for the preppy look.”
“What look?”
“We want to find you, so let’s try some out.” Max didn’t think they could have so many colors on their arms and wipe them off while giggling excessively. El goes with a pink lipstick and an eye shadow kit with bright colors. That’s where Max is taken by surprise. They’re by the clothes in Macy’s when it happens. El kisses her, she stopped, wide eyed.
“What did I do wrong?” El looks as confused as Max feels.
“Nothing… um,” she’s stumbling over her words a bit now, “why did you do that?”
“Kiss you?” Max can’t believe she’s blushing.
“Yeah… kiss me.”
“Well, Mike said you kiss when you like someone.”
“Do you kiss the other boys?”
“No, but I don’t like them how I like you. Was that wrong?” Max isn’t sure how to respond, Neil’s voice ringing in her ears of what has been said about Billy, what has been said about others they would see.
“No, it wasn’t wrong. Just… we don’t kiss friends really.” Max decides to tell her.
“I am sorry.”
“Don’t be. Don’t be sorry.” Max is confused a bit as they keep walking, it didn’t feel wrong. Why didn’t it feel wrong? It should feel wrong.
Later that night after lots of laughter and spying and having actual real fun, the two go quiet for a few moments.
“I dumped his ass.” El observes, the two under the covers already.
“You did.”
“He said we’re a different species.”
“Boys are dumb.” She reassures her.
“So, I should be with my own species?”
“We’re the same species. Just, different sexes.”
“Different sexes?”
“Like boys and girls I guess.”
“So it’s better to be with girls?”
“I think it’s whatever you want to be with, but I don’t really see that here. In California I did, a lot.”
“Why not here?”
“I think people are different here.”
“How?”
“Just, backwards.”
“Backwards?”
“Like they’re going backwards, they don’t accept it I guess.”
“What if I like girls?”
“Then, well you like girls and that’s fine.”
“Should I feel bad?”
“No.”
“You seemed upset today.”
“I wasn’t upset, just caught off guard.”
“Off guard?”
“I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll tell you a secret.”
“Okay.”
“You can’t tell anyone else ever.”
“Promise.”
“Friends don’t lie.” Max reiterates the groups weird little mantra to herself before turning to El, “I think I liked it some.” El smiles at her in return. Only the outside light illuminating the room.
“I think I did too.” El confesses to her.
“Secret?” Max says in a serious tone.
“Yes, our secret.”
“Our secret.” Max agrees, before El kisses her quickly once more.
“That is our secret as well.” El smiles at her and Max pushes her hair out of her face some, they both fall into a restful sleep. Max wondering if Billy is gay and even if she is gay too. It shouldn’t have felt so right.