dumping ass

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Max, El, and Alina decided to end their shopping trip with ice cream, so they found themselves heading to Scoops Ahoy. Steve was at the counter today, looking utterly bored, and quite like he wanted to go into the back of the store, where Alina assumed Robin was. She wondered if he'd seen Dustin since he'd gotten back—the two of them were closer than Steve was to any of the other party members, having bonded during the whole mess with Dart last year—but knew there would be time to catch up with him later, so didn't ask. Instead she just ordered a chocolate ice cream on a waffle cone, while Max ordered strawberry, and El, who took a lot longer to decide, ended up ordering vanilla with whipped cream and sprinkles.

The back window suddenly slid open, and there was Robin, excitement in her eyes. She spoke to Steve about something or other—Alina found herself focusing less on their conversation, and more on talking to Max and El, the latter still looking over the many toppings available. With a grin quirking on her face, Alina slung her arms around them, because today had been a golden day, and she needed to show her appreciation somehow.

"Thanks, guys," she said, her heart light. "For all of this. This is the most fun I've had in ages." She was so happy to have El back—El, the girl who'd stayed in her treehouse and stole her barbecue chips, who held Alina's hand and seemed fascinated with the most mundane things—that she had the momentary urge to leap into the air. Finally, finally, she wasn't with Mike. Finally, things could be what Alina had always imagined them to be—movie nights, sleepovers, baking cupcakes.

"Of course," said Max. "I think it's good to have a break. And I've definitely had fun, too."

"Me, too," said El, just as Steve whirled back around, the window to the back room closing, and gave them their ice creams.

"Okay," he said, "here you go, you got a strawberry, a chocolate, and then a vanilla with sprinkles, extra whipped cream." The trio took their ice creams, and El immediately immersed herself in hers, her eyes alight.

"Thank you," said Alina, looking fondly at Steve. He really did look stupid in that hat.

Steve leaned on the counter, and then his brows furrowed. "Wait a second," he said, looking to El. "Are you even allowed to be here?"

The three of them exchanged an amused glance, and Alina let out a giggle when she noticed El had gotten an ice cream mustache. Then they turned, running out of the ice cream shop (Alina turned back at the last moment to give their babysitter a salute), knowing they were safe, knowing Steve wouldn't risk telling Hopper about this. And that was the conclusion of their shopping trip. Now all they were to do was head back to El's, where they would have a sleepover (they'd go to Max's tomorrow night, and, if Will went out, Alina's the night after that). Nothing could go wrong, right?

The three girls made their way back into the hot summer day to wait for the bus to arrive. Max held up her strawberry cone, which was melting slightly in the sun. "You wanna trade?" she asked, handing off her strawberry to El, who handed the vanilla to Alina, who gave her chocolate to Max. Even though Alina usually preferred chocolate over vanilla, she had to admit this was good.

Then: "That's ridiculous. Why can't I just..." It was Mike's voice. Alina turned, finding the source of it—Mike, Lucas, Will and Gabe were all at the bike rack, deep in conversation. Max's smile dropped at the sight of them.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me."

"I haven't got that much," Lucas was saying earnestly, and Alina stared at him, wondering what to say.

It wasn't like they were fighting—in fact, they were doing really well right, now especially after the arcade date—but Lucas seemed to be siding with Mike, who had lied to El earlier today. Perhaps she should just act neutrally with him. Not pick a side. Because, after all, Gabe and Will were there, too, although they were looking more like they'd been dragged here, not like they'd volunteered to come with.

"Isn't this a nice surprise," Max remarked, watching the four boys wheel their bikes around. Mike's face immediately fell into a glare at the sight of her, and Lucas didn't look so happy, either. Gabe, on the other hand, wearing a sunshine yellow baseball cap perched on his head, brightened at the sight of the trio, raising his arm in a wave.

Mike, though, was not amused. His bike fell to the ground with a clatter, and Alina knew it was because of El, who was breaking the rules in order to be here. "What are you doing here?" he asked her, his mouth agape. But El just stared him down, her face stone cold.

"Shopping."

"This is her new style," said Max coolly, nudging her. "And that's Al's." she cocked an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

"What's wrong with you two?" Mike spat, looking from Max to Alina. "You know she's not allowed to be here."

"That's a stupid rule," said Alina, licking her ice cream. She avoided looking at Lucas's reaction to her outfit, keeping her eyes on anything else.

"Yeah, what is she, your little pet?" Max asked scathingly.

"Yeah," repeated El. "Am I your pet?"

"What?" Mike asked. "No!"

"Then why do you treat me like garbage?"

"What?" Mike was sounding like a broken record at this point. Alina rolled her eyes.

"You said Nana was sick," said El, cocking her head at him. She was sounding cold, a complete contrast to the giggling girl she had been in the mall. Alina could cut the tension between them with a knife.

Gabe, too, seemed to be mad at Mike, as his smile faded when he spoke. Maybe they'd had a fight, Alina thought. Or maybe he was just as tired of Mike's bullshit as she was. She wouldn't blame him.

"She is!" Mike argued, looking nervous. But this confirmed to Alina what she already had been told—that Mike was lying. She could tell it in his tone, by the way his eyes widened a fraction, by the sheer nonchalant way he'd been acting before they'd sidled up to him. And Mike seemed to realize they knew, too, as he quivered slightly under the trio's stares. "She is! She is sick!" he nudged Lucas, trying to get him in on the lie, which Lucas was quick to do.

"Yeah, sick," he said. "She's sick."

"Sick of your bullshit, maybe," Alina muttered. She didn't want to fight with Lucas right now, but he was making it very easy for her. But her boyfriend carried on like he hadn't heard her.

"She's super sick," he said, his brain seeming to whir, making up a lie on the spot. "That's why we're here, actually."

"Yeah!" said Mike. "We're shopping. Not for us, but for her, for Nana."

"For Nana!" Lucas echoed. Gabe let out a sigh. He didn't seem to want to say anything, but Alina could tell he was uncomfortable. A twinge of guilt went through her, not just for him, but for Will, too. Neither of them were in relationships, and they'd probably been suffering through Mike's whining the whole day. It didn't look like they'd gotten to play D&D, at least.

"Also, we're here to get a gift for you," Mike admitted to El. "We just... we couldn't find anything that suited you, and I only have, like, three dollars and fifty cents, so it's hard."

"Super hard," Lucas confirmed. Alina caught her brother's eyes, trying to ask him if everything was okay. As a response, he just gave a shrug as Lucas continued, "It's—it's expensive."

It was quiet for a moment, before Alina finally spoke. El seemed to still be thinking of what to say, so Alina gave her time. "You two are the worst liars I've ever seen," she said with a chuckle, taking another lick of her vanilla ice cream. "Mike, why couldn't you just have told her the truth? We all know you're lying, and if you wanted one day where you could just play Atari, I'm sure she would've understood. Instead you just had to mess it up."

"That's what I said!" Gabe seemed to have finally found his voice. Mike gave him a glare, and then trembled as El stepped forward. Her eyes were unforgiving.

"You lie. Why do you lie?"

Mike had no response. Alina heard the woosh of the bus's arrival from behind her, but she kept her eyes on El. Nostrils flaring, El took a few more steps forward, until she was standing directly in front of him, and then said the words that ended it all.

"I dump your ass."

Alina's mouth dropped open, and she wasn't the only one. Lucas and Max had similarly astonished expressions on their faces as they watched this impromptu breakup. Gabe hid a smile under his hand, and Will kept looking from Alina, to Max, to El again, his eyes bulging. Then El turned, heading for the bus, and Alina and Max hastened to follow her. Maybe this would've been the time to dump Lucas, too, but they'd been through worse fights than this, and, to be honest? Alina didn't want to.

The trio found seats on the bus—El and Max together, with Alina a row across—and high-fived. Alina had to admit she was impressed. She hadn't thought that El would've had the guts to do that—and right to Mike's face, too. And as the bus drove off, the four boys—one simply shocked, another disappointed, and two barely reacting at all—stood on the curb, watching it leave. And that was when Will spoke up.

"Now can we play D&D?"

This time, only Lucas answered. "No."

Mike looked like he was going to cry. Gabe, who'd been suppressing a smile through all of this, finally had it slide off his face like a pat of butter slid off a knife. Even though this was obviously a good thing—El and Mike were broken up! Now they wouldn't be constantly together!—it also meant that Gabe and Will would now have to endure Mike's agony about this new, unexpected event.

He was feeling quite jealous of Alina and Max, actually, as he watched the bus leave.

"Well," Lucas said, deciding to speak again. "At least Alina didn't break up with me."

"Oh, yeah, that's great, Lucas," Mike huffed. His face was red, and he looked simply infuriated that El had the gall to break up with him. Gabe had to admit the circumstances of their breakup were pretty strange—hadn't they spent three-hundred and fifty-three days apart, wondering when they would see each other again?—but he supposed this had been the first time Mike had really messed up. Sheesh. It hadn't taken much.

Maybe that was a sign they weren't meant to be together after all.

Mike stalked back to his bike, his hands curled into his fists, and Lucas and Will hastened to follow him. Gabe remained in place, though, considering just heading home. But then he saw Will, the boy who electrified him with just a touch, and knew he couldn't leave him alone. So he followed them, too, climbing onto his bike and preparing for the storm that would soon be atop him.

It wasn't here yet. Mike seemed to still be in denial, muttering things to himself but not voicing them to his friends. He pedalled furiously, perhaps harder than he would've done before, and as a result, his foot kept slipping off, his ankles getting scraped by the pedals. Gabe, Lucas, and Will were all silent as they followed him, weaving through the crowds of people in an attempt to get out of the parking lot. In fact, nobody except Mike spoke a word until they reached his house—they knew it wouldn't be good.

And as they reached the basement, the storm finally struck.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧