the mall rats

✧

Max Mayfield was always something that got Rue's heart pounding a little faster than she'd like to admit.

She awoke to soft sheets and the morning light trickling in through the blinds. Sadly shedding herself from the remaining glimpses of a great dream, her eyes stayed shut as she soaked in the warmth of the covers before letting her green eyes see the sun's rays.

As Rue turned to face her other side, her breath caught at her throat when she spotted Max's blue eyes already staring at her. Max beamed when she saw Rue was awake. "Morning, sleepyhead," she teased, lifting one arm to prop her head upon her hand as she smiled at Rue's half-asleep figure.

Rue hummed, slithering closer to Max. She was warm and soft and very welcoming.

Max laughed as Rue clung to her. She raised a hand to run it through Rue's hair, which spread across her pillow in its amber strands like a halo. She carefully untangled knots she found while lazily twirling small locks between her fingers.

"What do you wanna do today?" Rue asked, her voice mumbled as she rested her head at the croak of Max's neck.

"Hmm," Max murmured, thinking. "Do you want to go to the pool again?"

Rue groaned, pulling away from Max and laying back on the pillow again. "Pass. . . what if we just stayed here?" she asked.

"Here?"

"Like, on your bed, and do nothing."

Max snorted, shaking her head. "Seriously?"

Rue shrugged, a hint of a smile on her face. She noticed the light of the morning sun glowing behind Max, making her look like an angel descending from the heavens. "Yeah, I wish I could stay here forever."

"Don't be ridiculous," Max poked at her sides, knowing very well Rue was ticklish. She grinned when Rue laughed and continued to poke at her until she found herself tickling her. Max's fingers wiggled by Rue's sides as she shifted in her spot, straddling Rue to stop her from getting away.

"Max!" she squealed, trying to push her hands away, but Max seemed to stick like glue, and she wasn't moving from where she sat. "Max, please — Max!" Rue begged.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Max teased. "I can't hear you over all your laughing!"

"Max," Another voice called from outside the room, but neither of the girls heard it over their giggling fit. Footsteps echoed in the hall before Max's bedroom door burst open, and a tired Billy Hargrove stormed in the room. "Max." he spoke sternly, causing both girls to stop and look at him.

Rue noticed Billy looked sick. He was paler than he was when she last saw him, and he had dark bags under his eyes.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Max asked him.

Billy narrowed his eyebrows, his gaze focused on the girl under his sister. "Rue, right?" he asked, pointing at her.

Rue slowly nodded, not understanding why he suddenly wasn't sure who she was. She's stayed over at Max's house plenty of times for him to be sure of her.

He snapped his fingers, "Right, yeah," he mumbles before looking back at Max, "I'm leaving for work."

"Okay?" she said.

"Just letting you know, don't get your panties in a twist," he rolled his eyes. Billy gripped on the door handle for a while his eyes lingered at Rue before he left, slamming the door behind him.

"Weirdo," Max muttered, shaking her head. When she looked back at Rue, she noticed the position they were in, and her cheeks flushed as red as her hair before jumping off and landing on the ground on her two feet. "Get dressed," she said quickly, hiding her face behind her ginger locks, "I wanna show you a new skateboard trick I learnt."

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

"Max, are you sure you can do it?" Rue asked as the girl who stood on her skateboard, trying to kick up an ollie. She sat on the curb of the sidewalk. Her elbows rest on her knees and her face in her hands.

"Yes! I can! I did it earlier, just watch!" Max exclaimed from the middle of the street.

Max tried again, but every time she did, she failed, which only angered her because she knew she could do it. She looked back down at her board, kicking up once more, but this time her foot slipped, and the board went rolling down the street, and she almost fell. "Shit!"

Rue let out a tired chuckle. She yawned, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands before walking over to Max, asking if she's okay.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Max huffed, and Rue grinned at the pout on her face. They turned to get the board but stood confused when they spotted Eleven there, picking it up then walking over to them.

"El, what are you doing here?" Rue asked, walking up to her.

El shyly glanced at her old shoes, then back at Rue, "I need your help. . . I went to Joyce, but you weren't there, so I looked for you in — "

"The void?"

"Yes." She pursed her lips, then looked over Rue's shoulder and spotted the redhead girl standing awkwardly. "Hi," El smiled.

"Hi?" Max furrowed her eyebrows, stepping closer and taking her skateboard from the girl.

"Can we . . . talk?" she asked stiffly, glancing between the two girls.

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

El and Rue sat on Max's bed while the girl paced back and forth in her room after El had told them what had happened between her and Mike. "And he said, he- he missed me. And then he just hung up."

"Boys are weird," Rue said, and Max nodded.

"He's a piece of shit," she spat, which made El's eyes go wide.

"What?"

"Mike doesn't have jack shit to do today, and his Nana obviously isn't sick," She explained. "I guarantee you — he's playing Atari right now,"

"Atari? El asked, turning to look at Rue.

Rue smiled, "A video game."

"Oh okay . . . " El glanced back and forth between the two girls in confusion. "But friends don't lie. . ."

"Yeah, well . . . Boyfriends lie. All—the—time," Max said seriously. "That's why I broke up with Lucas," she sat down with the two girls on the bed, looking at El straight in the eyes. "You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls. As far as you're concerned, he doesn't even exist."

"He won't like that," Rue chuckled, and Max nodded.

"Good."

"Doesn't exist?" Eleven leaned closer, interested in her words.

"He treated you like garbage. You're going to treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine."

"Give him the medicine . . ."

"Mhm," she hummed, nodding her head. "And if he doesn't fix this - he doesn't explain himself . . . dump his ass."

There was a silence in the room for a moment, which was interrupted by Rue's laughs. "That's a little dramatic."

Max turned around, "Come on, Rue, you won't understand. You haven't dated anyone before."

Rue made a face. "Well . . . I'm not sure if Ava counts but — "

"I thought you and Rue were dating," El said, causing Rue to stop talking and choke up on her spit, and Max to spin around and face her. El had her eyebrows narrowed in confusion as she looked back and forth from Rue and Max.

"You — what?"

"Sorry?"

Max's mouth went ajar, and her eyes went wide, and Rue stood up from the bed as if something bit her. Max was watching Rue's every move carefully. Rue looked anywhere but Max. Her cheeks crimsoned red, and her heart raced at her chest.

Max rubbed her hands over her face, trying to hide her blush. "El we're not — we're not um . . ." She trailed off, looking at Rue, who quickly shot her gaze at the floor, in hopes to cover her face with her hair. Max frowned, ". . . we're not dating."

"Oh—?" El said, side glancing at Rue, who shook her head, meaning for her to stop talking. "Okay,"

Max cleared her throat, shaking her head, "Come on," she pulled El up from the bed and nudged Rue's shoulder.

"Where are we going?" El asked.

"To have some fun! There's more to life than stupid boys, you know."

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

A dollar and a few cents later, the three girls were stepping out of the crowded bus and into the fresh air. The summer sun shined bright as they stepped forward, closer to the big yellow building, Starcourt Mall.

Despite Rue wanting to stay in bed all day, she could never say no to a trip to the mall, especially if it would be with friends. Rue held onto El and Max's hand as they kept stepping closer until she felt a tug on her left hand.

Rue stopped, bumping into a few people who walked behind them. "Sorry," she apologized to them before shuffling closer to El, pulling Max with her. "What's wrong?" she asked when El gaped at the building in worry.

Eleven shook her head, "Too many people," she said softly, "against the rules,"

"I forgot about that," Rue admitted, ready to turn around and bring El back home until she felt another tug on her arm, this time her right hand.

"I'm pretty sure you'll be okay," Max said, "Plus, you have superpowers, what's the worst that could happen?"

Eleven shared a wide-eyed expression with Rue, and gave her a look that asked, "What should I do?"

Rue sighed, looking back at the Starcourt sign. It was risky, there were a lot of people there, and she didn't want Hopper on her back for bringing El to a place she was exposed to many people. But there was a part of her that knew if Hopper really wanted El to have a normal teenage life, he'd be okay with her going to the mall, knowing very well Rue stayed close.

"We'll be fine," She nodded, almost trying to assure herself that.

Max beamed, pulling them through the crowd and into the building.

The smell of corn dogs and overpriced food filled their noses. They pushed past a few more people, hurrying to the middle of the mall so El could have a better look.

Eleven spun around and gasped at the place; So many people, so much chatter, so many things to do.

"So, what should we do first?" Max smiled.

Eleven didn't answer her. She continued to look around.

"She's never been shopping before," Rue told Max, and excitement rushed through her knowing this was the first time Max and El hung out without it being awkward.

Max gasped and looked at El, "you haven't?"

Sheepishly, El shook her head no.

"Then I guess we're just gonna have to try everything!"

The music of the mall seemed to become louder as Max glanced around at the shops for a few seconds, deciding what to do herself. "Here, come on!" She grabbed El's hand and pulled her towards The Gap.

Rue nearly slipped as she ran after them, trying not to get lost with the crowd, "Sorry!" she said when she bumped into a group of four boys. She froze, thinking one of them looked familiar, but when she turned around, they were gone.

"Rue! Come on!" She heard Max's voice before a hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her into the store.

Max and Rue let El look around the racks and everything. The girl stopped in front of a mannequin that had a blue shirt on it, staring at it in awe.

"Do you like it?" Rue asked her.

"How do I know what I like?"

"You just try things on, until you find something that feels like . . . you." Max told her.

"Like me?"

Max looked at El, a big smile crawling on her face. "Yeah, not Hopper. Not Mike. You."

Rue gazed at Max, in awe of her words. Although, it didn't last long when Max and Eleven took off to try some things on, leaving Rue to trail behind again. She looked around the store. There wasn't much that called her attention. Her green eyes trailed around, eyeing a few pairs of pants that were nice. But not good enough for her to spend her money on.

She skipped towards the colourful scrunchies that caught her eyes, and then she noticed a few friendship bracelets, and the silly little middle school girl in her took a few of them.

There was a soft tap on her shoulder, and when she turned around, she expected to find El, showing her the new outfit she had chosen. But when Rue spun around, her mouth dropped as she gasped, "Oh, shit!"

"Hey, Newby,"

"Sky!" she beamed, jumping up to hug the older girl, who laughed at her actions, hugging her back, "What the hell? I thought you were going back home?"

The ginger smiled at her reaction, shaking her head. "No, I'm staying with my aunt and uncle until I have to go back to school — the rest of the summer, basically," she explained, "It's not like I have baseball finals to practice for," she teased, nudging Rue's shoulder.

"That's great!" Rue cheered, "That means I can finally take my top score in Pac-Man back,"

Sky snorted, shaking her head, "In your dreams, kid."

"Kid?" Rue scoffed, "Okay, two can play it that game, grandma."

"Ouch," She shot her hand up to her chest, "You broke my heart . . . kid."

"Did I break your hip too, grandma?"

Sky shook her head, "you're unbelievable," she laughed. "Hey, I'm here to buy a gift for my aunt actually, it's her birthday, want to help me?"

Rue stopped herself from agreeing so quickly as she looked down at the friendship bracelet in her hands, "I can't. I'm here with — " she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the change rooms.

Sky's blue eyes followed where Rue pointed, "You're here with a college student who doesn't get paid enough?"

Rue frowned, turning to the change rooms, expecting to see El and Max still there, but instead, she saw one of The Gap employees putting away the clothes they've left behind. "Well, then," she laughed bitterly. They've left her. They didn't even go up to her and tell her they were leaving. They just left.

Sky noticed the tone in Rue's face and shook her head of short curls, "It's okay," she said as Rue put the bracelets back on the shelf. "Come on . . . We can get smoothies, my treat."

"Yeah, fine," Rue gave in, flashing her a smile.

"M' lady," Sky joked, sticking her arm out for Rue. She smiled as they locked their arms together and took off towards the mall.

After window shopping at most stores, where Sky had said most items weren't good enough for her aunt, and asking for Rue's opinion, who said she didn't know her aunt to help. They stopped at a jewelry store.

Rue's eyes widened when she spotted the back of four boys she knew very well. Mike, Lucas, Will and, "Alexander?!" she exclaimed, causing the four boys to jump and spin around.

"Jesus, Rue!" Lucas held his hand to his chest, clutching his shirt tightly, "You're gonna give us all a heart attack!"

"Please, don't call me that," Alex huffed, shifting in his spot from between Mike and Will. "It's just Alex."

Rue grinned, pointing between the four boys, "I didn't know you guys were friends,"

Mike sighed, "I'm having girl problems right now, so I called all the help I could get, alright?"

"I'm surprised he even knew my phone number," Alex said, half glancing at Mike and giving the freckled boy a weird look.

"I didn't. Will gave it to me,"

"Oh," Alex's ears went red.

It took everything in Rue not to laugh at Will's bewildered face as he punched Mike's shoulder. However, Sky and Lucas didn't try to hold back their chuckles.

Alex smiled at Will, shaking his head.

Mike narrowed his eyebrows at the two girls before him, "What are you doing here?" he asked, "Who's this?"

Before Rue could, Sky introduced herself. She stepped forward, she stuck her hand out, "I'm Sky Butcher,"

Mike looked at her strangely for a second, "Mike," he said, ignoring her hand.

"Well, little Mike, you don't have many manners do you?" she cooed like he was a child before smirking, "No wonder you've got girl problems."

Mike scoffed, looking down at her in a mocking way as if he was trying to show off he was taller and that he wasn't little. But Sky kept a smug look on her face as she looked up at him, a look in her blue eyes that dared him.

He huffed, stepping back, "I'm not little," he mumbled, turning back to the jewelry he was looking at. "Excuse me, sir," he called, kneeling before the glass window. He smiled kindly, looking up at the man, "how much for this teddy bear right here?"

The man looked down at the gold teddy bear, then at Mike and said, "Three hundred."

The smile curled on Mike's lips quickly fell, and he stood up from the floor, rolling his eyes. He, Lucas, Alex and Will rushed out of the store, complaining about the price. "I should've shoved that teddy bear right up his — "

Sky stepped forwards, smiling at the man, "I'll take it!"

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

Rue snorted and coughed as she felt her drink go up to her nose from laughing as she drank it. "Fuck," she sputtered.

Sky laughed loudly, sitting in front of Rue in the food court. She had gotten Rue a smoothie, as promised, and one for herself as they shared a giant pretzel.

Rue pat on her chest after choking up, but it didn't stop her from laughing. "How are you not in jail?"

"Ah, community service," She said with a wink.

"That's fucked up,"

"If it's fucked up then why were you laughing?"

Rue's ears burnt red, and she shook her head, "Shut up," she mumbled, sipping from her strawberry and peach smoothie.

Sky hummed, leaning back on her seat. From that angle, she could get the perfect view into Scoops Ahoy. "Hey," she called, making Rue look up at her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know that girl in Scoops Ahoy?"

Rue smirked, pulling a piece from the giant pretzel, "Robin?" she asked, popping the sweet and salty treat in her mouth. "Isn't she, like, two years older than you?"

"And you're two years younger than me. What does that have to do with anything?"