1983 || Stranger Things

sɪxᴛᴇᴇɴ | ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇᴍᴀᴋᴇʀ

𝑆𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝐽𝑢𝑙𝑦 15, 1984

      Max and Julie were having what they called, a "sleepover." Their parents were out of town for the weekend and Billy was probably with some random girl. He hadn't bothered to tell his sisters, and they had given up asking. The girls had made themselves all the junk food imaginable and had set themselves up in Max's spacious room. They had also lugged the living room TV upstairs, so they could watch a movie.

      Julie laid on Max's pillows under her special blanket with Max on top of her as they watched Risky Business, a movie Max had been begging Julie to watch with her since she got home. Tonight was the night that Julie succumbed, and they rented it on VHS.

      "Tom Cruise is hot." Julie muttered, hoping that Max wouldn't hear her, but the red-head did.

      She looked up to her sister with a knowing smirk on her face. "You know who else is hot? The guy in your pictures." Max said, and Julie immediately looked away from the screen and to Max.

      "You went through my pictures?" Julie asked, slightly worried.

      Max shook her head. "I was looking through your mix tapes, and the picture was in there. Why?"

      Julie rolled her eyes. "That's where I keep all my pictures so nothing bad happens to them." the teen shrugged off, looking back at the movie.

      "Okay... who is he?" Max asked as she sat up and snatched the remote from Julie, pausing the movie.

      "Dude!"

      "Answer!"

      "Good Lord." Julie sighed, looking at Max who was now hovering above her. "He's not even my friend, Max. I just take pictures for fun. Technically, he took that picture himself with my camera and then gave it to me." she summarized, hoping that Max would buy it.

      "Uh-huh. I don't see pictures of your other friends." Max pointed out, and Julie groaned.

      She slid off of Max's bed and walked across the room to the door, Max's little footsteps following. Julie walked quickly down the hall to her room and made a beeline for her bed. She knelt down and pulled her singular box of mix tapes she had brought with her out. She began digging through the box when Max arrived next to her.

      "What are we doing?" Max asked, trying to steal one of Julie's mix tapes, but was caught by the owner herself.

      "I'm gonna prove to you that there are pictures of my friends." she said, dumping the bin and finding what she was looking for. "Here. Nancy Wheeler, Barb Holland, Jonathan Byers, you, Billy." Julie listed, handing Max each picture as she said each name.

      "Cute. You have a picture of your mix tapes? Really?"

      "Don't be mean. They're loyal, and I love them." Julie joked, putting the polaroid pictures at the bottom of the bin and tossing the mix tapes on top of them. "Are you going to drop it now?"

      Max sighed, standing up and offering Julie a hand, which she took. "I guess. Can we go watch the movie now?"

      "Lead the way."

•••

      Later that night, the sisters had finished with Risky Business and their snacks, and were now cuddled together on Max's bed. Max's back was to Julie, and Julie was combing her fingers through her hair gently. The room was dark, and the only sounds came from the quiet sea less than a mile away.