CHAPTER TWO:
THE NEW GIRL

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   LIZ WATCHED AS students started filing into the classroom and sat at their seats, waiting for the bell to ring so class could start. Dustin and Lucas sat in the very front row, while Mike, Liz, and Will sat behind them. They had had the same seating arrangement since kindergarten. The bell finally rang and Liz leaned back in her seat, crossing her ankles over each other as she waited for Mr. Clarke to get started. He smiled at the class before placing a plastic brain on his desk, "Meet the human brain. I know. I know, it doesn't look like much. A little gross even, right? But consider this." He paused and help up his pointer finger. "There are a hundred billion cells inside of this miracle of evolution. All working as one. No, no, I did not misspeak. I did not stutter. A hundred billion."

The door closing made everyone's head snap up in that direction. Mr. Clarke looked up and smiled as a girl Liz had never seen before walked into the room. She had fiery red hair and freckles littering her tan face. Liz thought she looked incredibly pretty, "Ah, this must be our new student."

"Indeed. All yours." The principal said before exiting the room, leaving a girl with fiery orange hair who quickly tried to go to a seat only to get stopped by Mr. Clarke.

"All right. Hold up. You don't get away that easy. Come on up. Don't be shy." Mr. Clarke says. The girl rolls her eyes but obeys and stays at the front of the room. Liz bites her lip and almost feels bad for the girl. She would hate the new kid introduction, too.

   "Dustin, drum roll." Dustin obeys and starts to pat on his textbook, making Liz smile as he does so. "Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine."

"It's Max." She corrects.

"Sorry?" Mr. Clarke questions.

"Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max." She explains to him in a snarky tone.

"Mad Max?" Lucas whispers to the group. Liz glances up at the girl, and instantly becomes intrigued. She wants to know more about this girl, and she isn't entirely sure why.

"Well, all aboard, Max." Mr. Clarke states. Max immediately heads to the very back corner desk and takes a seat, crossing her arms over her chest. The boys and Liz's eyes follow her as she sits down, but Liz immediately looks away once Max looks back at them.

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By recess, the gang was still very intrigued by this new girl. The boys were determined to find out if this was Mad Max, but Liz had other plans. She just wanted to be friends with the girl, she thought that Max was beautiful and mysterious. Liz wanted to know more about the redheaded skateboarder from California.

   "There's no way that's Mad Max." Mike states, as the group watches behind a fence as the girl skateboarded around the basketball court.

   "Yeah. Girls aren't good at video games." Will agrees with Mike. Liz glares at Will, who awkwardly smiles at her. "Except for you, of course, Liz."

   "Well, even if they were, you can't get 750,000 points on Dig Dug." Mike explains. "It's impossible."

   "But her name is Max." Liz states, watching in awe as the girl did tricks on the cement benches. She seemed to be really good at skateboarding and it impressed Liz.

   "So what?" Mike snaps at the girl.

   "So, how many Maxes do you know?" Lucas questions.

   "I — I don't know." Mike states, trying to think.

   "Zero," Lucas answers for him. "That's how many."

   "And she shows up at school the day after someone with her same name breaks our top score." Dustin explains. "I mean, you kidding me?"

   "Exactly! So, she's gotta be Mad Max. She's gotta be."

   "And plus she skateboards, so she's pretty awesome." Dustin states, causing Liz to chuckle slightly and smile softly at the girl. She agreed with Dustin's statement completely.

   "Awesome?" Mike scoffed. "You haven't even spoken a word to her."

"I don't have to. I mean, look at her." Dustin says, pointing to Max which he's now lost. " Shit, I've lost the target."

"Oh, there!" Will states, pointing to stairs and a door that she was walking up to. Will furrows his eyebrows, "What's Liz doing?"

Unbeknownst to the boys, while Mike was questioning how Max is apparently awesome, Liz had started walking over to the girl to introduce herself. She follows her up the stairs, and lightly grabs Max's arm before she can open the door. She smiles slightly at the feeling of her warm skin before letting go, "Hey, you're Max, right?"

"Yeah." She answers.

"I'm Liz Harrington." Liz introduces, smiling, and blushing lightly. "I kinda hate my full name too, It's Elizabeth."

"It's not as bad as Maxine." Max chuckles, a small smile showing which Liz loved. "I like the name Elizabeth, it's pretty."

"So are you." Liz giggles, before her eyes widen at what she just said. "I — I mean, your name — your name is pretty."

Max giggles at Liz's flustered expression, "It's okay. You're pretty, too. You're friends with those guys that are currently staring at us, right?"

Liz glances at the boys, who immediately turn the other way, pretending not to have been staring and she chuckles, "Yeah, I am. They're my best friends."

   "Can you do me a favor, and give this to them?" Max hands her a folded up piece of paper, and Liz takes it with a confused expression. "You can read it, but just know that it's not directed to you."

   Liz nods, "Uh, yeah, sure."

Max smiles at her, and opens the door, "It was nice to meet you, Liz." Liz smiles back as she closes the door behind her. She walks down the stairs, and hears the boys running up to her.

"So, is she?" Dustin asks.

"Is she what?" Liz questions.

"Mad Max! Is she Mad Max?" Lucas questions.

"Oh, I don't know." Liz chuckles, causing the boys to sigh in annoyance. "I was just introducing myself to her. But, she did give me this to give to you guys."

Dustin immediately takes the folded up paper, and starts unfolding it. The group crowds around him, and the boys read the text together, "Stop spying on me, creeps."

"Well, shit." Dustin sighs.

"William Byers." The principal calls, interrupting the group. The whole gang turns around. "Your mother's here."

Will's face falls and he nods, walking away from his friends without even a slight goodbye. The gang walks over towards the front of the school, and watches as Will walks out of the school, towards his Joyce's car. Liz knew he was acting different, and this was why. He has to go to the lab today.

"You guys think he's okay?" Dustin questions.

"He's always weird when he has to go in." Lucas states. Liz nods in agreement, thinking back to yesterday at the Arcade.

   "I don't know. He's quiet today." Mike states, worry about Will present on his face.

   "He's always quiet." Lucas states. Liz watches as Joyce drives away, and she hopes that Will is okay. And if he isn't, she wants to help.

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   After school, Liz leaves her class which she doesn't have with any of the boys. She walks to her locker, and notices Max standing a few lockers away, putting her books in it. There was only two lockers separating them. Liz unlocks her locker, and puts a few of her books in, only taking home the ones she needs for homework. She closes her locker, and glances at Max who was grabbing her skateboard out her locker.

   "My friends and I are going trick or treating tomorrow, you should come." Liz tells the girl. Max glances at Liz as Liz leans against the lockers, a soft smile on her face.

   "Trick or treating with stalkers?" Max questions, pretending to think about before giving her answer. "No thanks."

   "Come on, I'll be there." Liz smiles, as Max closes her locker door. "You don't have to decide right now, but at least think about it. See you later."

   Liz smiles as a goodbye, and turns around just as Max smiles back at the girl. Max was just as intrigued about Liz, as Liz was about Max.

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A/N:

[ 1448 WORDS ]

second chapter!!

i'm so excited for max and liz to start talking more omg you have no idea!

and i promise that steve and liz will have more brother sister moments including her coming out to him which will just be beautiful