CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
SNOW BALL '84

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ONE MONTH LATER

THE RED DRESS fit Liz perfectly, just like it had a week ago when Steve had taken her dress shopping. After the moment that Max and Liz had shared after escaping the tunnels, Liz wanted to make sure she looked amazing for the Snow Ball so she could impress Max. She still didn't like admitting it to herself but she was slowly starting to accept the fact that she liked Max Mayfield and she had a feeling that Max liked her back.

"Liz, hurry up! We gotta leave in a few minutes to pick up Dustin!" Steve yells up the stairs. Liz takes a deep breath and smiles at herself in the mirror before exiting her bedroom and making her way down the stairs.

Steve was standing by the front door when Liz got to the end of the stairs and he smiled at her as he looked her up and down, "You look beautiful. There's no way that she won't see that."

Liz bites her lip to hide a smile and looks down at her feet in embarrassment at her brother complimenting her, "Thanks, Steve."

Steve takes a look at his watch and his eyes widen, "Come on, we gotta go."

Liz was ushered out to the car by Steve and she got in the front seat. She would get in the back seat once they got to Dustin's since she knew Dustin and Steve had gotten close over the last month because of what they all went through. Liz had gotten close to Max, as well, the girls even going as far as to have a couple sleepovers at Liz's house. Her feelings for the girl had only grown the more time they spent together. Liz wasn't totally sure but she knew that there was something between her and Max. The only question was, was it meant to be platonic or something more?

They pulled in front of Dustin's house and the minute Dustin walked out his door, Liz's eyes widened at his hair. She looked over at Steve, "You didn't."

"That was all him, but I did know he was going to do it tonight," Steve explains. "He looks good, right?"

Liz chuckles slightly, "He looks like you but curlier."

She stepped out of the car and Dustin smiled at her before looking her up and down, "Liz! You look great!"

Liz smiles, "So do you. The hair looks good, you're kinda rocking it."

Dustin pats his head, "Thank you."

Liz chuckles before moving aside and letting him get in the front seat while she went to the back. The ride to the school was silent and Liz was extremely nervous to face her redheaded best friend that just so happened to be her crush. Steve pulled up in front of the gym entrance, "All right, guys, here we are."

Liz felt the butterflies in her stomach grow as she looked through the doors of the gym entrance. She didn't know if she would be able to look at Max and talk to her normally if Max was all dressed up, looking even more beautiful than she does already, "So, remember, once you get in there..."

"Pretend like I don't care," Dustin states, which makes Liz roll her eyes.

"You don't care."

"I don't care."

"There you go. You're learning, my friend. You're learning," Steve nods, while Liz just shakes her head at their conversation. Dustin moves the rearview mirror so he can check out his hair, which makes Steve frown and cover the mirror. "Hey. Come on. You look great, okay? Liz, tell him he looks great."

"You really do look great, Dustin," Liz smiles genuinely.

"See, you look... you look great!" Steve smiles. "Okay? Now you're gonna go in there..."

"Yeah."

"Look like a million bucks."

"Yeah!"

"And you're gonna slay 'em dead."

"Like a lion," Dustin states before purring which made Liz cringe and shake her head.

Steve paused then shook his head, "Yeah, don't do that, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good luck," Steve says before shaking Dustin's hand.

"I'll be in there in a minute, Dustin," Liz tells Dustin as he gets out of the car. Dustin gives her a thumbs up before Liz makes eye contact with Steve in the rearview mirror.

"You okay?" Steve asks.

"I don't know if I can ask her to dance," Liz says, her breath shaky as she toys with her dress. "I mean, everyone will be looking at us and people already bully Will relentlessly and he's not even gay. What are they gonna do when they find out that I actually like girls?"

"Liz, stop," Steve tells her, turning around to look her in the eye. "You only have one life and you have to live that life the best way that you can. Now, this girl may only like boys but... there could be a chance that she likes girls or both guys and girls. When you get in there, just take a deep breath and ask her to dance. If someone tries to give you shit about it just tell them that you two don't have dates and decided to dance together, and if they continue to give you shit about it, then I'll... have a stern talking to them."

Liz chuckles, "You mean you'll threaten them?"

Steve scoffs, "Hell yeah. No one fucks with my sister."

Liz smiles at him. She takes a deep breath and exits the car, closing the door behind her. She runs a hand through her hair before walking into the gym doors, spotting Dustin talking to Mister Clarke, "Elizabeth, you look ravishing."

Liz smiles, "Thank you, Mister Clarke."

"Ready?" Dustin asks.

Liz nods, "Ready."

The two of them walk in together and Liz's eyes widen at the decorations that were all over the gym. The only things that still made it look like a gym were the bleachers and the smell. There was a balloon tunnel at the entrance of the gym and the walls were decorated from head to toe with blue and white streamers. The middle of the room was draped in lights and a disco ball hung from the ceiling along with block letters that read Snow Ball. Dustin and Liz waved hello to Nancy before making their way over to their friends.

Liz's heart almost stopped when she saw Max. She wasn't wearing a dress which made Liz smile. A dress would've looked great on her but pants and a sweater made her look even more beautiful. When Max spotted her, Liz saw her face light up as Max scanned what she was wearing with her eyes. The two kept their eyes locked on each other as they walked until Mike spoke, "Holy shit, what happened to you?"

The whole gang drew the attention towards Dustin's hair, "What do you mean, what happened?"

"What?" Mike exclaims.

"Dude," Lucas chuckles.

"Your hair," Max says as everyone stares at it.

"Is there a bird nesting in there?" Lucas questions, going to touch it, only for Dustin to pull away and for Liz to slap his hand.

"Don't be mean!" Liz exclaims to the group. "His hair looks great!"

"What do you mean, what's wrong with my hair? There's no bird nesting in here, asshole! Okay?" Dustin yells, which makes the group laugh. "I worked hard."

Liz smiles at Dustin and rubs his arm before looking towards Max, "You look great, Max."

"Not as great as you," Max shrugs, gesturing to Liz's red dress. "You look beautiful Liz, like always. I just wore nicer clothes and did my hair differently."

Liz frowns and grabs Max's hand, "Hey, no. You look so beautiful. You're definitely the prettiest girl here."

Liz could see a light blush appear on Max's cheeks just as a romantic song started to play over the speakers, "You won that title the second you stepped into the room."

Liz's heart skipped a beat at those words and she hesitated on asking Max to dance out of pure nerves. She finally opened her mouth to ask, but as soon as she did, Lucas cleared his throat and turned to Max, "Max... Hey. Um, it's nice, right? You want to, um... You want to, like... you know? Like, just you and me?"

"Are you trying to ask me to dance, stalker?" Max questions Lucas who was a stuttering mess.

"No, of course not," Lucas shakes his head. "Unless you want to."

Max chuckles before grabbing Lucas's hand, "So smooth. Come on."

Liz's expression fell as she watched Max and Lucas walk out onto the dance floor. Max put her arms around Lucas's neck and Lucas set his hands on Max's waist. Liz didn't know that Lucas even had a crush on Max, but it was obvious that Max was somewhat interested in him. Liz felt tears come to her eyes as she realized that Max didn't like her like Liz thought she did. Max was just being a friend to Liz and Liz thought it was something more. Liz shook her head at how stupid she was.

"Liz?" Mike asks, noticing Liz's expression. "Are you okay?"

Liz put on a fake smile, "Yeah, um... I just need some punch."

Liz then walked away and went off towards the bleachers. She sat behind the streamers as the tears that rolled down her face ruined her eye makeup. Liz didn't even care how she looked. All she wanted was for Max to like her back in some way, shape or form, but she knew that was never gonna happen. She had her face in her hands as she cried and she didn't even notice Dustin come to sit by her until he wrapped his arms around her, "Don't cry over her, Liz."

Liz looked up at him and furrowed her brows, "What... I'm... I'm not crying over anyone."

Dustin frowned, "I'm not gonna judge you. I know that you like her and it's okay."

Liz wiped her eyes and stopped her crying, "How did you know?"

"I'm your best friend, "Dustin smiles. "And you've never looked at me like you look at her."

"I'm not upset about her dancing with him," Liz explains through sniffles. "I'm upset at the fact that I thought we had something and I thought that she felt the same way about me, but... her feelings were just friendship and mine were way more. I should've known. I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid," Dustin shakes his head as he rubs her arms. "Remember when we were digging through trash at Will's house last month and I said that I felt electricity between Lucas and Max? Well, I may have felt electricity between them in that one moment, but I've felt it between you since you two met. You guys have something and even if it's only meant to be friendship, it's something that you shouldn't just give up because it wasn't what you thought."

Liz smiles at him, "Thanks, Dustin."

"Now, come on!" Dustin smiles, standing up and holding out his hand towards Liz.

"What?" Liz chuckles.

"You look amazing, you have to dance at least once tonight!" Dustin explains, gesturing to Liz. "So, Elizabeth Harrington, will you dance with me?"

Liz smiles at him and grabs his hand, "I would love to."

The two of them go out onto the dance floor and Liz wraps her arms around his neck as Dustin sets his on her waist. They smile and laugh as the music plays and Liz spots Stacy on the other side of the gym, gaping at the two dancing together. Liz put two and two together and realized that Dustin must've gotten rejected to Stacy, but once she saw Liz Harrington dancing with Dustin, she regretted saying no to him.

The music starts to pick up slightly and Liz's eyes catch Max and Lucas right before Max leans in to kiss Lucas. Liz frowns but looks away, not catching Max look her way as she's dancing with Dustin. Max smiled at Liz and if anyone had seen it, they would've seen that the look Max gave Liz was one close to regret and jealousy at Liz dancing with Dustin.

Everything between the group was happy and somewhat normal again. Will and Eleven were both home and safe, a new party member was added, and Liz had finally figured out who she was. Except everyone knows that not all is what it seems in Hawkins, Indiana and darkness was still lurking in the small town, waiting for the right time to strike.

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[ 2096 WORDS ]

i'm sad. i don't want to wait until season 3
to continue writing max and liz awww

also, i feel like i explained liz's feelings really
bad in this chapter so i'm sorry if ur confused!!