CHAPTER SIX;
ALTERCATION OF SORTS.

"will!" el banged on the bathroom door. "please, hurry up! i'm going to be late!" he'd been in the shower for ten minutes and el had somehow overslept this wednesday morning.

she impatiently waited outside in the hall, contemplating just throwing her hair in a ponytail and skipping the shower. just when she was about to give up, the door swung open to reveal her brother in his towel.

"finally!" she exclaimed. "oh, and can i please get a ride today? i have a test and i need to get there early and look over my notes," she begged as she entered the bathroom and he started walking to his room.

"no can do, i have to tutor jenny again," he said with sorry frown, earning himself a growl from his step-sister.

she scoffed. "i can't believe you haven't gotten over this, already," she muttered.

he stopped and turned around to face her monstrous bedhead with a glare. "you're right. i haven't gotten over it, and for good reason. i'm looking out for you, el. you're stupid if you actually think that —"

"whoa, whoa, whoa!" hopper interrupts the battle between siblings, holding his hands up in surrender. "what the hell are you two fussing about? you've got to get to school! and el, you need to," he pointed to his head in reference to her hair, "fix all this."

she rolled her eyes before passing a cold glance to her brother and shut the door to the bathroom. she's not surprised to find that he'd used up all the hot water. typical.

she hurriedly took her cold shower and practically ran to her room to throw on a pair of jeans and a striped red and white tee-shirt. she ran a wand of a mascara through her lashes, nearly poking her eye out in the process as she rushed. she hopped down the stairs on one foot as she slid her other into her converse.

"no time for breakfast, love you!" she yelled to joyce who had most likely made her breakfast.

when she got out the door she found will climbing into his car, not expecting his sister to be ready yet. he was shocked to find her pleading eyes on him beneath a strand of damp hair that rested against her forehead.

he sighed, considering whether or not he was being too harsh on his sister for dating his best friend. maybe he was taking this too far.

just before he could nod his head at her, a familiar honk came from the street. they both looked to find a black mercury comet parked in front of their house and inside the sleek car sat mike wheeler.

she looked back to her brother when she heard the cranking of his car. he didn't even look her way before backing out of the driveway and speeding away.

she huffed before hurrying to the passenger door of mike's car. "you're saving my ass, today," she greets, hopping in.

"it's what i'm here for, to save all the asses," he replies as she buckles her seatbelt with a giggle.

he's driving away from her house when he asks, "he still ignoring you?" she nods. "me too. i don't get why he's so upset. i mean, i'm his best friend. wouldn't that give me, like, brownie points or something?"

she shrugs with a heavy sigh. "he said he's looking out for me."

mike's brows scrunch together, "wait, should i be offended by that or something?" with a meek laugh she pulls down her visor to view her reflection, hoping she was able to come off as somewhat presentable.

she ran her fingers through her damp curls, letting out her hundredth sigh of the morning. she hated doing things in a rush, especially getting ready.

"you look fine, chill out," he coaxed before speeding up when the light turned yellow.

"first of all, i look like a rat. second, that was illegal," she gestures back behind them at the light.

he hums, "that depends."

el's brow kinks, "on?"

"whether or not someone saw it," he slyly responds, earning himself an eye roll.

she rubs the little bit of mascara that had gotten on her eyelid off as she murmurs, "you're such a cliché."

"what do you mean?" he quips, turning down the road of their school.

she only shakes her head, not bothering to go into further detail in fear that she'd expose just how many romance novels she'd read with a cliché bad boy involved.

he pulled into a parking place, and she practically leaps out the car.

turning off the ignition, he follows after her. "hey, what's your rush?"

"i have an algebra test and i need to look over my notes," she explains, about three steps ahead of him. she glances back at him, "thanks for the ride! i'll see you at lunch, yeah?"

he nods, catching a glimpse of dustin and lucas waving him over. "see you then!"

she smiles before jogging to the entrance, mentally preparing herself for the test.

/ / /

"you look fine," max assures, as el had forced her into the bathroom before lunch to check her appearance. she wasn't one to care so much about vanity, but lately she's had more eyes on her than normal. as much as she hated to admit it, it had affected her and made her more self-conscious.

she was trying to tame her curls which had dried in a voluminous fashion — more voluminous than she was accustomed to. "yeah, yeah, can i borrow your scrunchie?"

max handed her the green scrunchie without another thought, and hopped up in the counter top. "so, how are things between you and 'ole mikey boy?"

"um, good, yeah," she replies, gathering her hair together.

the ginger groans, "this is so weird. i still can't believe you guys are together. i mean, you two have hardly ever acknowledged one another aside from when he'd call you annoying."

wrapping the scrunchie around her hair, her eyes narrow, "he called me what?" max giggles, brushing it off. el wasn't that surprised, she always got the feeling he was easily annoyed.

just when max was about to speak again, a flush sounded. the two friends looked at each other, wide-eyed. they thought they were the only two in there. much to their dismay, especially max's, out walks shelly with a smug grin.

"el, max," she greets.

el ignores her, and starts choosing her baby hairs to pull out of confinement.

max speaks, "so, were you eavesdropping or did you just have the shits because we've been in here for a while?"

the cheerleader rolls her eyes, directing her attention to her ex best friend. "things with mike are good, huh?"

el meets her gaze in the mirror, "they're great."

"i'm shocked he went for someone like you. i always heard he had a thing for cheerleaders — especially blonde cheerleaders," she muses, turning on the faucet and washing her hands.

the redhead laughs, "funny how you fit the bill, yet he's doesn't even know you exist."

shelly rolls her eyes before pulling out a tube of gloss, and puckering her lips. "just be careful, ellie. i know how sensitive you can be, and we all know how mike can be a tad reckless, hm?" she taunts, swiping the gloss over her lips. "later, ladies." with that, she exits the girl's bathroom.

"god, i can't stand that bitch. i never liked her, and how you were friends with her for so long is beyond me," max shrieks, hopping down from the counter top. she squeezes her hands, "do you ever have those people you'd choke if you were both in a dark alley? well, for me, that's shelly braswell."

el giggles, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the bathroom. "well, if you ever do, i'll happily be your alibi." they both laugh and take off to the cafeteria.

they find their boyfriends — to clarify, boyfriend and fake boyfriend — already seated at their table, having their own conversation. "i'm getting pizza, i'll be over in a few," max mentions before making her way to the lunchline.

"hey, guys," el greets, sitting her brown paper bag on the table beside mike.

he smiles at her before glancing over at brooke's table. he sees her eyes on him, and she smirks when she meets his. he looks to the brunette beside him, "so, how'd your test go?"

el shrugs glumly, taking her seat, "i won't know until tomorrow." he nods, eating a grape.

lucas takes a gulp of his pepsi before asking, "so, el, are you going with us to kimberly lawson's party friday?"

she furrows her brows, "no, i wasn't invited."

lucas and mike both laugh. "it's a party, el. no one's invited, you just go," lucas explains.

"party? what party?" max asks, taking her seat beside her boyfriend, stealing a kiss in the process.

"kimberly lawson's," mike answers, leaning back in his chair and resting his arm on the back of el's. "you're coming, right?"

she looks at lucas, "if he is, i am. i can't trust the girls at this school to keep their hands off my man." the jock laughs, kissing her cheek and whispering something in her ear that made el want to gag from the way his words caused max's cheeks to flush. "you coming, el?"

"oh, no, you know i'm not the party type," she says, opening her lunch and pulling out her sandwich.

she tenses when she feels mike's finger twirl a curl from her short ponytail. she sneaks a glimpse behind him where brooke was gawking at their table. el looks to him before pressing a soft kiss right above his jawline.

"oh, come on! you've got to come, el," max whines. "we can all go together! come on, please. we've never had a couple to do things with, and now that we do, you aren't ruining it for me!"

"you should come," her faux lover agrees.

she purses her lips, pulling the crusts off her sandwich. "i'll think about it." max cheers before having her own conversation with lucas, one that el didn't really bother listening in on.

as she bit into her sandwich, two chairs pulled out and then sat will and dustin — dustin next to mike and will next to lucas. "hey, losers," dustin greets, already swiping the unopened pudding cup from mike's tray.

el was staring at her brother who was careful not to even glance in the direction of the couple. she releases a heavy breath, catching mike's attention. he frowned, feeling guilty for the divide that had fallen between the normally close siblings. not to mention, he missed his best friend.

el grabbed a dollar from her bag. "i'm going to go get a water from the vending machine," she informed her friends who looked at her when she got up. she sauntered to the other side of the lunchroom where the vending machines were placed against the wall.

as soon as she inserted the crippled dollar, it slid right back out, and she huffed. she began straightening it on the corner of the machine when a voice that made her stomach turn spoke, "need to borrow a dollar?" she peeked behind her to find troy hovering in his letterman jacket.

she narrowed her hazel eyes, wishing nothing more from some sort of laser beams to shoot out from her retinas and take his head off. "no thanks."

he chuckled, stepping closer. "tell me, ellie. how exactly did you end up with mike wheeler? i mean, it's quite the downgrade in my opinion." she rolled her eyes, trying to get the dollar to go in the machine once again. "just be careful. we all know what he did to poor ryan cooper."

"and why do you care who i'm with?" she replied, her stare only growing colder.

he smirked. "just because things didn't work out between us doesn't mean i don't care about you, ellie. i'll always have a soft spot for you. you know that."

she could only roll her eyes. finally, the machine took her dollar and she pressed the water button. the bottle of water dropped and she happily grabbed it, ready to escape his intoxicating cologne — and not the good type of intoxicating.

she made her way back to her seat where her friends had been watching the interaction from. mike squints his eyes at troy who was finding his own seat beside shelly, "what'd he want?"

she caught him off guard when she cupped his cheek and directed his lips to hers. he hurried to kiss back expecting her to pull away quickly, but she allowed the kiss to linger, knowing troy was watching.

she kissed her fake boyfriend like she forgot her disapproving brother was merely feet away — which she had. finally, she pulled away with a soft smile, "nothing he's going to get, that's for sure."

...

a/n: i don't know how i wrote two new chapters in one night, this isn't normal. this was a double update, so make sure you read chapter 5 !! thanks for reading, thots !! x

word count: 2215