𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐄 | stranger things ✓

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: BELIEVER

believer; someone that believes in the truth or existence of something

Max stared out her bedroom window in deep thought. They day before at the arcade, Lucas told everything. About Will, about Eleven, about the Lab and about the Upside Down. He probably shouldn't have and wasn't allowed to but he felt guilty about her being left out. (Plus, he kind of liked her.) Max wondered if his 'stupid story' was even real. She had so many doubts. It sounded impossible but the serious look Lucas gave her made it sound more real.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a figure walking passed her window. It looked like a girl, her age, from school, probably in one of her classes. Max saw her face and put a name to her face. Melanie. She opened her window and leaned out. She waved and whispered, "Melanie!" which got the girl's attention. It was the middle of the night. The streets were quiet and the house walls were thin. Last thing she wanted was her brother to hear her. "What are you doing?" She asked the girl with so called 'psychic abilities'.

Before Mel answered her, she remembered that Max wasn't in their party. She felt like she wasn't supposed to talk to her. "I can't say." She shrugged, keeping her word.

Max sighed in frustration, realizing that it was probably Mike that told Melanie not to talk to her. "Lucas told me everything so it's okay." She decided to tell her to see how Mel would reply. Mel looked at her unsurely. "I know you have powers, alright? And you're not the only one." She said, trying to convince her. Mel was already convinced. "And...Dustin and Mike told you not to tell me, right?" Mel nodded then began on her hunt for Dustin's house again. Before she could even take a step, Max asked, "Wait. Where are you going?"

"Dustin."

"Dustin's? Do you know where he lives?" She wondered. Mel shook her head. "Me either." She told her truthfully. Max wanted to talk to Mel more. "Do you wanna stay over?" She suggested. "I know you don't really have a home right now." She told her, feeling guilty about it.

Mel spent the night at Max's answering all her questions, proving she could read minds and fixing a broken skateboard. Max was officially a believer. She spent the night on the floor. It gave her flashbacks of the Lab. When she misbehaved, she would be locked in a small room. She'd always lie on the floor, in a corner. Except in Max's house, she had a soft pillow and a warm blanket.
In the morning, Max and Mel were both woken up by the sound of loud rock music being played by Billy. The sudden blast of music startled Mel. Max let out a yawn. "It's just Billy. Don't worry."

"Who's Billy?" Mel wondered. She didn't know there was someone else in the house.

"He's my...he's family." He was her brother but she would never call him that. Mel knew what family was. She wished she had one.

Max let her borrow some clothes and they got ready to go find Dustin. Max was just putting more duct tape on her skateboard when the doorbell rang a few times. "Max!" Billy angrily called. "Are you getting that or what?"

"Okay!" She shouted back from her room. Before she left her room she told Mel to stay put. Mel patiently sat on Max's bed for her to come back. When she returned, she said, "We gotta go. Come on." She opened her window to see Lucas standing there. "We're going to find Dustin."

He looked at them both confused. "Melanie?" He pointed at her. Melanie awkwardly raised her hand.

"Surprise." Max cheered sarcastically. She climbed out the window then helped Mel. "This better be good, stalker." They all began running away from the house instead Billy noticed they were gone. When they slowed down after running down a few blocks, a puffed out Max asked, "Where are we going?"

"The junkyard." Lucas replied, trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah. She seems pretty special, I guess." Dustin told Steve on their way to the junkyard. They had a plan to catch Dart there. They left bits of meat leading to the junkyard so Dart would follow them through the woods. They were walking on the old train tracks when Steve started taking about why Dustin kept Dart in the first place. Dustin wanted to impress Melanie. They continued to talk about girls then Steve told Dustin that Nancy was different from other girls.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is." Steve said, missing Nancy more than anything and heartbroken knowing she's probably with Will's brother, Jonathan.

"But this girl's special too, you know." He told Steve in confidence about his crush on Mel. "It's just, like...there's something about her." It kinda troubled Dustin that she was with Mike. Jealousy.

"Whoa. Hey." Steve saw that was troubled. Probably thinking that Dustin was obsessing over her. "You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?" He asked, concerned.

Dustin looked at Steve then then was planned to answer judging his facial expression. Steve looked concerned. "Uh. No. No."

"Good." Steve replied in relief. "She's only gonna break your heart and you're way to young for that shit." He told him which broke his heart a little.