when gabe snapped

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Alina was (how about that?) actually enjoying herself. This was the third outfit she'd tried on—an exquisite black tank top with spaghetti straps, showing off her thin arms, and a rainbow skirt that started just at her belly button and skimmed the top of her thighs—and she looked good in it. This wasn't a twisted hellscape of being forced into dress after dress, this was Alina Fairgrieves-Byers finally, after fourteen years, truly finding her style. It didn't mean she wouldn't still wear goofy comic t-shirts and Star Wars paraphernalia, but it meant that she had finally expanded her horizons.

El looked like she was having fun, too, spinning round and round in a white dress held up with a belt until she collapsed, giggling, into her friends' arms. And Max, not to be left out, tried on pair after pair of sunglasses, seeing which ones would work with her complexion and the red of her hair.

This day was golden, not just because of the streams of light that had shined through her window this morning, but because Alina Fairgrieves-Byers was hanging out with friends, friends she rarely spent time with alone. She had no idea that on the other end of the mall, the four boys she wasn't planning on hanging out with were struggling immensely. Still.

They'd gone through what felt like the entire mall—although, realistically, it had probably been about five stores—and still hadn't found anything as a present for El. This was probably due to the low, low pocket change of three dollars and fifty cents Mike had in his pockets, but even gifts that cost less than that weren't enough for him. They were too cheap (which was saying something, because, again, Mike only had three dollars and fifty cents), or not good enough, or would melt before he got it to her (an exhausted Will had suggested ice cream). So, Gabe was stuck in the mall, trying to resist the urge to ask Will if he wanted to leave. For the two of them to hang out, alone.

Because, come on. He couldn't be that obvious.

Unfortunately, not knowing where they were going, the four boys stopped in front of an underwear store. A woman's underwear store. Highlighted in a pink glow, Gabe's eyes widened as he took in polished mannequins with lace bras, lingerie, and thongs. Lady's things. Gabe wasn't a girl, but whatever those things were sure looked uncomfortable to him.

Lucas and Mike backed immediately away from the store, shielding their eyes like they'd just seen unknown horrors, and Gabe and Will exchanged an amused look at their friend's dramatics. It was the first time the two of them had laughed since they'd arrived here, and it was a refreshing change.

Alina, El, and Max left the Gap with several new outfits—and a pair of bright red sunglasses for Max. Alina, luckily, had left her wallet in the pocket of her jeans, so she was able to pay for her own clothes (she still occasionally babysat for Holly, as well as mowing lawns and shovelling driveways with Lucas to make money). El, who'd never worked a day in her life (well, at least not paid labor—the lab wasn't that considerate), had to rely on Max paying for her.

El was wearing one of her new outfits, a black dress with blocky, colorful shapes polka-dotting most of it, and Alina had paired the lavender shirt (definitely her favorite) with the jeans she'd been wearing. Max had her sunglasses perched on her nose, and all three of them looked, as Lucas might put it, totally tubular. Alina, on the other hand, would say something more like alluring.

While the boys smelled perfume and Lucas sprayed some directly into Mike's eyes (if it'd been Dustin, Gabe thought, it might've been a payback of sorts), El, Alina, and Max skipped through the mall with linked arms to their next stop in this shopping adventure—Flash Studio. There, they went wild with outfits, preparing themselves for a photoshoot. With Max in purple, El in yellow, and Alina in blue, the three of them grinned and posed for the camera, back to back.

It must've been strange, thought Alina, as she switched poses in front of the paint-splattered background, for El to be so public. After all, she'd been in hiding for most of her time in the outside world. But Alina was glad she was finally having her fun. After all she'd been through, she certainly deserved it.

After several wardrobe changes, lots of laughter, and weird facial expressions, Max, El, and Alina left Flash Studio with some extremely good pictures. They headed to the shoe store next, where Alina, nearly using the last of her pocket money (she still had a few dollars back at home, but she had to admit she'd spent a lot today), bought herself a pair of brand-new sneakers. They were red, nearly matching the exact colour of her energy, and they were absolutely brilliant.

El wanted to try on a pair of high heels, and, with Alina and Max's support, wobbled around for a little bit before falling to the floor. Her laughter rose to a shriek, causing some glares from across the store—notably from Stacy and her crew, who had been stereotypical bitches back at Hawkins Middle—but none of the three giggling girls could care any less, not even when Stacy's group rolled their eyes at them. In fact, it caused them to start laughing again.

Then they formed a plan. Trailing the girls and their newly bought shoes, Alina, El and Max headed to the food court, where Stacy's group bought drinks and flirted with an employee at Orange Julius, who, Alina had to admit, was cute, but also way too old for them. Given that Stacy had rejected Dustin at the Snow Ball last year, Alina's sympathies were pretty limited, and besides, the little prank they were pulling was harmless, anyway.

This wasn't a job for Alina's abilities, so she merely sat and watched as, peeking out from behind the wall, El concentrated, causing the drinks to quiver a little in the girl's hands, before Stacy's drink exploded, drenching her and all of her friends—including the employee. Gasping, sopping wet, all of them nearly looked human.

It was awesome.

Then Alina nudged Max. "Hey, look who it is," she said, jerking her head to a boy sitting at one of the tables, digging into a hot dog on a stick. His red hair was longer now, curling to his chin instead of sticking up everywhere, but it was still Daniel Tree, the skinny white boy Alina had grown to absolutely despise. Even after Alina's possession last year, where she'd nearly scarred the boy with her pocket knife, Daniel Tree, although he avoided Alina more than he usually did, still made a point to insult Will, Gabe and Lucas at any opportunity he got. Which was why he absolutely deserved what was coming to him.

"It's your turn," said El. She'd never met Daniel Tree, but she could tell by Max and Alina's faces that this was not a boy that they liked. "Do something."

"Like what?" Alina asked, watching Daniel take a sip of his drink and scratching his ear. "I can't just make his lunch blow up in his face."

"Do what you think will mess with him," said Max. "C'mon. We're all longing to beat his ass. Why don't we just do it already?"

Alina tried to conceal her grin. "Fine," she said, and then headed out into the open. Daniel was too concentrated on his meal to see her, so she managed to stride right up to the garbage can perched beside him. It was overflowing, and it was perfect.

Taking a few steps back, Alina looked surreptitiously around the mall. She didn't even need her powers for this, but she had to make sure nobody was watching. Once she was sure nobody was, Alina reached out and nudged the garbage can with her foot. It swayed a little, but didn't move. She nudged it again, and this time, it managed to tip over, spilling out all over the table and covering Daniel with napkins, wrappers, and even bits of old food. Alina dived behind a plant, trying to hold in her laughter at Daniel's shellshocked face.

As he looked around mutinously for whoever had done this to him, Alina hurried back to her friends, who were practically cackling at the sight of the bully covered in filth. "Nice one," said Max, and Alina high-fived her, satisfied. It was time he really got what he deserved.

Max grabbed her and El's hands, and the three of them ran off, giggling. "See?" Max asked. "What'd I tell you? There's more to life than stupid boys."

The stupid boys in question had given up on their quest, anyway. Sitting on the edge of the plant enclosure, Mike buried his head in his hands, coming, Gabe hoped, to the conclusion that they should just head home. Lucas was chewing his lip, looking around the mall, and Will seemed to have finally gotten the courage to speak.

"Can we please play D&D now?"

It was almost a simultaneous response from Lucas and Mike. "No."

"Look," said Gabe, speaking for the first time in an hour, "maybe getting El a gift is a mistake. Maybe you should just apologize to her. Without giving her anything. You could tell her that Hopper was 'threatening' you, and then you can make up and get right back to thrashing around like a pair of eels."

"A pair of what?" Mike asked. That seemed to be the only part of the sentence he'd heard.

"I'm just saying," Gabe groaned, scratching his chin. "We've been here forever, and you haven't found anything. I think if you told El the truth, and maybe made it up to her in some way—like, you could watch a movie with her or something—she'd forgive you."

"Okay, first of all, El and I are not like a pair of eels," said Mike. "Secondly, I can't just tell her the truth. She won't believe me."

"You don't know that," said Gabe. "You don't know anything. Because all you do with her is make out!" His temper was rising, and his face was heating up, flames flicking at his cheeks. It was very unlike him, to be lashing out, but when it came to Will, anything went. Now he wasn't afraid to speak up.

"Gabe, calm down," said Will softly. "It's okay."

But for once, Gabe wasn't even listening.

"That is not true!" Mike yelped. "We do other things."

"Oh, yeah? What kinds of things?"

"We do—we do things! Just because I don't want to tell you everything about my relationship with El—"

"No, I think you do! It's all El, all the time. And Lucas, you're not as bad, but you don't always have to be talking about Alina, either. Don't you have any hobbies? What happened to D&D? We haven't played it with you guys in ages and I know Will's been looking forward to it all morning and instead we've been stuck at this mall for what feels like forever—"

"If you're so miserable," Mike roared, "then why don't you just go home! You don't have to stay if you don't want to. Just leave!"

"Gabe," said Will, louder this time, "it's okay, just calm down, I'm sure Mike will want to play eventually—"

"No, Will! For once, I'm not going to calm down! For once, I need Mike to understand that he and El aren't the only people in the world!" Gabe wasn't even rambling as he shrieked at his friends. "You know you have friends, right? You know there's a party, right?"

"I know that!"

"Really, because I don't think you do!"

"I wasn't joking when I said you could go home, Gabe!"

"Guys!" It was Lucas who finally snapped Mike and Gabe out of their feud. "We all need to chill out. Gabe, I actually kind of agree with you, but you need to calm down and stop yelling. Mike, I know El's your girlfriend, but maybe he's right. Maybe we should call it a day and head back home."

Mike sighed. "Fine. We'll head back home, and we'll discuss this, there."

"Fine," echoed Gabe. His ears had stopped pounding, and he blinked. "Now let's get the hell out of this mall."

He was hoping that this conversation would be over soon, but unfortunately for him, they were soon to run into the same girl he'd been trying to avoid. 

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: this chapter wasn't the best but honestly, it has one of my favourite quotes in it. i couldn't stop laughing when i wrote about gabe called el and mike "a pair of eels" and honestly, he's not wrong. he also really went off there hahaha

'till next time!