fic about max and el becoming best friends pls
She finds them, like so many things, in the space underneath the floor boards.
She swipes her hand on the wheels and stares at they spin. Hop keeps saying he’ll teach her how to ride a bike but he’s always busy too. These look more manageable than the bike, even if they have more wheels. She shoves her feet into them and ties them up, staggering along the floor slowly. It’s a strange but not entirely unpleasant feeling, even if a lot of it is pushing herself from the chair to the table and back again. Then into Hop when he comes home.
“Where’d you find those old things?” he asks.
“Down there,” she says pointing beneath her feet. She thinks he might yell but he just makes that huffing sound. When he’s upset but also amused. Like an emotional compromise. “I can put them back,” she volunteers.
“Don’t worry about it,” he says, “someone should enjoy them.”
Fast forward months later and she gets a day out. One day, when Hop checks with everyone that it’s not too risky but says it’ll be a while before she can do it again. Maybe another half a year, maybe not until it’s completely safe. She nearly breaks her neck throwing everything she can think of that’s important into her backpack before Hop drives her over to the Byers house. Jonathan still looks like he hasn’t slept in months but he smiles when he sees her.
“Nice skates,” he says.
“Thank you,” she whispers back before he steps aside so she can go inside.
The guys all beam when they see her, then they all collapse together yelling over each other about everything. She scrambles to upend her book bag, showing them the things that she brought. No-one gets a word in edge wise and it’s not until she looks around that she realizes her skates are missing. She goes into the kitchen to see Max hunched over them. For a moment all the rage is back but Max’s head pops up and she puts them on the table with a flourish.
“There,” she says, “I fixed the toe stop, it’ll be easier to brake. It was too long before.”
“Toe stop,” Max repeats and then taps the long piece on the front, “this thing. So you can stop.”
“I just hold the chair,” El mutters.
“What’s gonna happen when you go outside?” Max asks. It’s a good question, one she doesn’t have an answer to. Max picks up the skates, grabs her wrist and pulls her outside. “put them on,” she says.
She shows El a bunch of new positions to put her feet in, how to push off and how to turn. Eleven follows as best she can, but a part of her is aware of just how old the skates are. Max gives her hand a tug and when she tries to turn, something in them comes loose and the two girls wind up on top of each other as one of the wheels flies off.
“Shit, sorry!” Max says as Eleven stares at her skates, “I bet we can fix them.”
“El—El!” She looks up as Mike comes running towards her.
“Her skates broke,” Max says.
“Shit,” Dustin sighs, “that’s rough.” Mike unlaces them and helps her up.
“Are you okay?” he asks and she nods first.
“My skates broke,” she repeats. Mike nods. “I need new skates.”
“Damn right you do,” Lucas agrees, “we gotta tell Mrs. Byers.”
The others run inside but Mike stays outside with her and gets his bike. They’re both bigger but she still fits if they sit carefully, arms wrapped tight around his middle. She buries her face in his shoulder blades and smiles when he lets go of one of the handles to give her hand a squeeze. The ride is perfect as they get to the shop Max leads them too.
“Hey MadMax,” the guy behind the counter says and she gives a nod to him, “you hanging with the two-wheelers now?”
“As if,” she rolls her eyes, throwing an arm around Eleven’s shoulders, “this chick needs some roller-skates.”
With Max’s help she gets laced into a pair of bright red skates, with wheels and laces the color of Eggos. Max shows her how to adjust the toe stop. These ones fit perfectly. Like they were made for her feet. El can’t stop marveling at them as she carefully pushes her way out of the shop. The boys all cheer when they see her.
Max helps her skate most of the way home.
She holds onto the back of Mike’s bike for the rest.
“You did a good job,” Mike tells her when they get back to the Byers house, “and your skates are really cool.”
El blushes all the way up to her hair.
It’s a week before someone knocks on the cabin door. She skids towards it but Hop beats her there, opening it and looking confused at the person the other side. El knows that it isn’t Mike just from that, but she’s surprised to see Max standing there.
“Kid what are you—“
“My name’s not kid, it’s Max,” she snaps, “can El come out skating?”
“No, no she can’t come out skating,” Hop says, “this is a secret—she is a secret. You aren’t supposed to be here.”
“I’m not,” Max says rolling her eyes, “I’m hanging out with my brother.”
Hop blanches and El wonders what that means. Hop shakes his head and lifts his elbow, permitting Max entry. El steps back and Max frowns at the action, surveying the cabin instead. El doesn’t see a skateboard on her. She’s not upset about Max being there when her skate broke, but she’s not exactly wanting to risk it happening again. Finally Max looks at her and then holds up a pair of bright blue skates.
“Let’s practice turning,” she says, “help me move the table.”
They push the furniture back and Max shows her a new way to lace up her skates. El does her best to copy Max’s movements, her fingers feeling clumsy. They both get to their feet and Max shows her how to turn quickly. Then how to move at the speed you want to move, instead of just shoving yourself forward as hard as you can. Eleven practices everything Max shows her religiously, trying to copy the other girl’s movements as best she can. She learns how to spin, though Hop forbids anything like jumping in the house.
“Why don’t you make her Eggo Surprise?” he says one day as they’re eating dinner.
“To say thank you for showing you all this stuff,” Hop says. El considers this and nods.
Hop’s jumping rule gets broken in record time.
The first day of school, real school, she makes Hop drop her off well away so she can skate in. She’s spent a year dreaming of doing this. She waits for the wave of euphoria to hit her.
“Nice skates!” She spins and stops on a dime as Max rolls up to her on her board. The red head glides past her and El puts on a burst of speed. They race towards the main building. They’ve talked about racing but the space has been limited. She glances over at Max who sticks her tongue out, “heads up!”
El turns and stops right in front of Mike’s converse. His eyes widen in surprise and what she hopes is admiration. From Max’s whistle she knows it’s impressive. Then someone shoves past her, rocking her forward on her toe stops and Mike’s arms instantly bad around her waist, keeping her off her ankles. She turns but they’re already moving into the crowd. Like nothing happened. No one is hunting her, they don’t know she could kill them with a thought. And Mike’s arms are still locked around her waist.
“Are you okay?” He asks and she nods, still surprised at this turn of events, “okay good, lean on me.”
She leans on him as she undoes her skates, swapping them for her shoes. Max taught her how to tie the laces together and she slings them over her shoulder as they all race up the steps towards the building. She gets her locker and hangs her skates carefully inside, locking it tightly behind her before running off to join her friends.
