CARLA'S MORNING HAD STARTED OFF NORMALLY.

As she did every morning, she found herself in the kitchen, sitting on the counter with a bowl of cereal in her hands.  It was still decently early—about nine-thirty in the morning—meaning everything was still relatively quiet.

Nancy had been gone for the night, more than likely staying with Jonathan—something she did more often now—and Mike had gone down to the basement, where he spent most of his days anyway.  Holly was changing in her room, preparing to go to the pool with her mother, Karen, who was packing a swim bag for herself and the girl, and Ted had gone off to work.  Everything was normal.

That was until the phone rang.

Carla had been the one to get it, setting down her bowl and hopping off the counter, her mother sending a thankful smile as she picked it up, "Wheeler residence, Carla speaking."

"Hi, Carla." The voice that came through belonged to Eleven, and rather than her usual soft tone, the girl sounded rather upset and impatient. "Is Mike there?"

Carla recalled the fact that usually, her brother was out of the house by now, biking to the cabin.  Though she didn't know the schedule they shared, by the impatient and seemingly upset tone of the girl, she concluded Mike indeed was supposed to be with her. Clearly not.  "Yeah, he's still here."

"Can I talk to him?"

"Of course, give me a minute." the Wheeler pulled the phone away from her ear, handing it over to her mother so she could walk over to the basement door.  Once the elder woman grabbed it, Carla opened the door, calling down for the boy, "El's on the phone!"

"Shit." Mike hissed out before yelling back up, trying to act as normal as possible. He knew if Carla found out he was lying to Eleven—who'd already been lied to for most of her life—he'd be in for a lifetime. "Okay!"

Carla didn't miss the exclaim he'd let out, and her brows knitted together as she shut the door to the basement.  Something was clearly off.  Mike never sounded so worried or scared about a call from Eleven—usually he was on the phone before his sister could even finish her sentence.  Whether or not he'd just experienced his first actual fight with his girlfriend, or had somehow messed up, Carla didn't know.  She'd ask about it later.

When she returned to her cereal, Karen had the phone up to one ear, listening in to Mike's conversation.  She'd always been slightly nosy, especially when it came to her kids lives—yet Carla supposes it's their fault.  Mike, Carla and Nancy rarely tell Karen what happens on the daily, so she's left to find out herself.  

What she found out must not have been good, as within a few moments, she exclaimed, "What?"

"Mom! Get off the phone! How many times?" Mike's voice was heard next.

"Did Nana call?" Karen yelled back, both concern and confusion laced in her expression.  Carla set her bowl down on the counter, eyeing her mother suspiciously.  What was going on that involved Nana? Or was Mike lying to cover something up from his mother?

"No, Mom! Just get off the phone!"

Karen finally set down the phone, letting out a scoff as she did.  The brunette girl took this as her chance to question, asking, "Is everything okay, Mom?" 

The blonde woman gave an exasperated look, "I-I don't know. I have to get to the pool, ask about Nana, will you?"

"Yeah, sure..." Carla trailed off, watching Karen go up the stairs, coming back down with the youngest Wheeler.  She then left the house, leaving Carla completely clueless of to what the phone call had been about.

But, just when Carla was about to go down to her basement and ask her brother what the hell that he was talking about when the doorbell rang, causing her to let out a sigh and trudge to her front door.  As if it wasn't early in the morning, her eyes were met with the urgent looking face of Lucas Sinclair and the seemingly tired face of Will Byers.

"Hi?" Carla asked, looking at the two with suspicion. Clearly, something was wrong, because why else would Lucas and Will have shown up on her doorstep as quickly as they had? Mike had walkied them, saying something along the lines of, 'code red'—as you can tell, she knew this act too well. 

"Basement?" Lucas questioned, brushing right past the elder Wheeler as she gave a slow nod, still unsure of what was truly happening.

"What happened to hello?" She called back, tossing a hand up as she watched the boy run down the basement steps towards his friend.  Her gaze fell back to the other boy who seemed like he would rather be in bed then at the doorstep of the Wheelers.

"Hello..." Will took her words into account, before he slid right past her as well, heading straight down to where his other two friends were—more slowly than the Sinclair boy had.  

Carla paused a moment before muttering to herself, "I'm not even gonna ask."  Taking a look at the clock, it was around nine-forty, meaning she had twenty minutes before her shift at the library started.  With that on her mind, she trailed up her stairs and into her room to change. 

As she hadn't expected the two boys so early, Carla really hadn't put any effort into her appearance—not like she or the two truly cared what she was wearing.  She was still in her sleeping attire—an over-sized t-shirt and shorts—and her hair wasn't brushed through.

That changed in a few moments, and looking in the mirror, Carla checked herself over to make sure she looked okay for her shift.  Now with a better outfit and neater hair, she slipped on some flats and rushed out the door, not bothering to tell Mike—he was clearly busy with his friends, besides, he could always walkie her.

Though it wasn't necessary, the Wheeler rushed over to the library, and got there with extra time to spare.  Walking into the place, she felt thankful for the air condition, having already grown old of the summer heat within the few seconds she'd spent walking inside—though she loved the break from school, summer was not her favorite.

Marissa was quick to greet her, a warm smile on her face as she watched the girl enter, "Good morning, Carla."

"Hi, Marissa," Carla gave a small smile, coming around to the front desk where she usually worked.  While Marissa answered more difficult questions and walked around helping and organizing, the teenager would check out books and answer the more simple questions, like where to find a certain section.

Slowly but surely, people of all ages entered the library. It wasn't too busy—most people were at the mall, exploring everything new it had to offer.  She helped a few people find a certain section, and a few find the right newspaper, and of course she checked out a few books for a couple different teenagers—each planning on going to college in a coming months, sporting jerseys and sweatshirts claiming that school as their own.  Seeing so many colleges made Carla think of her own future. What was she going to do?

She'd never really taken time to think about what was coming for her, but she supposed it was time she did. After all, senior year was creeping up upon her—only a month and a half left until she would be in her final year of high school—and she only had so much time before she had to choose what she'd spend the rest of her life doing.

Of course she'd go to college—her and Nancy had both declared that way back in middle school—but to do what, she hadn't really thought of.  Her sister would probably go somewhere to become a professional journalist, and Jonathan would do something involving photography—something which both of them were working on now, having gotten a job at The Hawkins Post—but Carla? There was nothing that really stood out to her like it did to them.  She didn't have a singular passion like photography, or art, or science.

She supposed the worst case scenario would be she didn't go to college and ended up with a job that just fit—like the library. Except to Carla, that scenario sounded much worse than it probably was.  

She'd been stuck in Hawkins all of her life, and sure, it was her home—she'd always have a place for the town no matter how shitty it was—but it didn't offer much.  Carla wanted more for herself, and Hawkins just couldn't give that—not to mention the terror filled memories this town held for her.  If that wasn't enough to leave, she wasn't sure what was.

But, then there was Steve. 

No matter how much she wanted to leave this town and find something better for herself, she couldn't leave him.  Steve knew his future—as if his father didn't remind him of it everyday.  He was going to be stuck in Hawkins, there was no big job or fancy college waiting for him.  He would be stuck with an eh job that got him by.

If Steve stayed, she'd stay too.  At least then they could suffer together.

Ending her thoughts on college was the opening of the library door.  Normally, Carla wouldn't have been bothered by it, and originally she wasn't, but she quickly became confused when she noticed the two girls walking to the front desk.

Maxine Mayfield and Eleven Hopper.

Seeing Max wasn't too big of a surprise—sure, she'd never come into the library before, but maybe she just wanted to talk with Carla or just see what the girl had been busying herself with—it was Eleven who got her confused.

Eleven was supposed to be secluded inside her home.  Technically, she was still somewhat of a threat to the government, and for her safety, Hopper had kept her within the cabins walls, giving her a curfew when it was mandatory she left.  Only Carla and Mike were allowed to visit, and she wasn't supposed to have much contact with the outside world.

The other odd part was the fact that the two girls were here together. Carla clearly remembered the way Eleven had brushed right past Max for her.  Eleven hadn't spoken to Max at all since that night, so why were the two together as if they were friends?

"Hey," Carla's eyes glanced between the two, trying to figure out what was happening based on their expressions, "What do you guys need? I'm on my shift right now, but if you need to talk—"

"Yes, we need to talk." Max was quick to cut off the girl.  What was up with these kids and rushing this morning? What was so urgent? 

"Okay..." the Wheeler trailed off, walking around the front desk to join the two girls, calling out to her boss as she did, "I'm gonna take a small break!" 

"Sounds good!" Marissa called back.

Once her boss replied, Maxine was quick to drag the girl outside to the library parking lot, the three of them standing right in front of the front doors—as if that gave them any sort of privacy.  Cutting to the chase at once, the teen asked, "Has Steve ever lied to you?"

Carla gave a confused look, but answered anyway, ".....No? He knows better than to do that. Besides, we've been through too much together to keep secrets from each other like that."

"Exactly." Max looked at the younger brunette, eyebrows raised as if she was stating a point, "Carla's boyfriend doesn't lie to her, or keep secrets."  The girl she was speaking on looked between the two, unsure—as she had been most of the morning—on what was going on.

"Why are you suddenly invested in my relationship?" Carla crossed her arms, eyeing the two girls.

Max was the one to answer, "Your brother lied to El about your Nana being sick so he could get out of hanging out with her today." 

"Well, that's an asshole move." the elder girl scoffed. She might love Mike—he was her brother after all—but that was a jerk move.  Friends don't lie was the party's main rule— that was something he'd taught Eleven early on in their friendship she was sure—so why was he breaking it now? Even though they were dating, El was still his friend, the rule still applied.  

"Right?" Max exclaimed, "See, even Carla agrees with me, and she's his sister."

The older Wheeler then took back her words. Sure, maybe lying to Eleven wasn't the best route, but this was Mike's first relationship.  He didn't know how to admit things, and was bound to make a few slip ups, "Maybe he just needed some space? I mean, it was wrong for him to lie to you, El, but you do spend an awful amount of time together."

"So? You and Steve spend an awful amount of time together too." Max sent her a look. Though that wasn't entirely true, it wasn't a complete lie either.  Almost daily, she'd find herself at Scoops after dropping the kids off at the mall, in Steve's company, but, it wasn't the same.  

"It's not the same," Carla replied, "Me and Steve have jobs and can't spend every day with each other like that, so when we have the time, we use it up."

"Whatever, that isn't what I came to ask." the redhead shook her head, getting back to what she'd originally come for, "Will you drive me and El to the mall? I want to show her there's more to life than boys."

"I mean, I'm supposed to be at work, but I don't see why not." Carla shrugged.  Max gave a smile to the Hopper girl, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the older girl's car.   Once inside the vehicle, Carla took a moment to make sure this was actually allowed.  She didn't want to get in trouble for thinking Eleven was allowed to be doing things. "This is allowed, right?"

"Probably not." Maxine shrugged, "But it's summer.  Hopper can't keep her cooped up in that cabin forever, right El?"

Eleven gave a small nod, repeating the girls words, "Right. I want to go out."

"Okay, let's do this." Carla sighed, starting up her car and heading for the mall.  The radio started up and Girls Just Want To Have Fun began to echo through the car, a smile growing on Max's lips as the upbeat music started playing.  She began to bop her head, and Eleven let laughs fall from her lips as the girl expressed herself.

Within the day, Carla could already see the bond forming between the two girls. It was nice to see Eleven having a friend, a girl her own age who she could relate to and get better information from.  Even if the Wheeler had originally been that person for El, she couldn't relate to her in ways that Maxine could.

The trip to the mall had been quick, and soon enough Carla had parked the car and the three girls were walking into the place, midday sun blaring against their bodies.  Max had an arm linked with Eleven, dragging her towards the entrance, the older of the three trailing behind to give the girls their space.

"So, what do you think?" the redhead asked as they stopped in front of the mall, the Hopper girl staring up at the sign.  Her face slightly fell as she watched the people pass her, and Max noticed, brows furrowing, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Despite her past words of 'I want to go out',  Hopper's rules seemed to click back into her brain, causing a feeling of unease to overcome her, "Too many people." She looked at Max, "Against the rules."

"Seriously? You have superpowers. What's the worst that could happen?" Max reminded, "Besides, we have Carla here; she won't let anything go wrong.  If Hopper finds out, he'll feel better knowing she was watching us."

Carla came forward, placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder, "We don't have to stay, if you don't want to risk anything.  I could take you to Hawkins Theater, or to my house....but, I think you're gonna love this."

"Okay.." Eleven took in a breath, a small smile appearing on her face. Max put out a hand, capturing the girl in her grasp, the Hopper girl copying and taking the Wheeler's.  All three of them ran through crowds of people into the mall, the sound of Material Girl hitting their ears.

Running past shops, Max finally stopped them in the middle of the food court so they could decide on where to go first.   Eleven's eyes were gazing over everything, taking in the entirety of the mall.  It was a lot to anyone—the lights, the music, the people—but to Eleven, it must seem like a whole new world.

She'd been secluded her whole life, and this mall trip was the first big step towards a normal life. The first step towards being a normal teenager who went out with her friends and didn't spend all day in a cabin.

"So, what should we do first?" Maxine asked, smiling brightly. She then noticed the slightly overwhelmed expression of Eleven, realization hitting her, "You've never been shopping before, have you?"

Eleven shook head, still amazed at everything around her.

"Well, I guess we're just gonna have to try everything." At those words, Eleven gave a light smile.  The two girls then looked over at Carla for approval—as if they truly needed it from her.

"Well, we're not gonna have time to try everything if we keep standing here." the Wheeler replied, "Let's go!"

Max's eyes then caught a store, and she took El's hand in hers again, dragging the younger girl away.  Carla ran after, letting a laugh escape her lips.  If only she knew of the trouble that was about to follow the seemingly normal shopping spree.

mara's misc!

guess who had lots of motivation and got this finished in two days? yours truly.

i'm on spring break rn so i've been spending all day writing and catching up on fics......but i only have like day left + the weekend, so don't expect anymore really quick updates.   i have to go back to school (😭) so i won't have all day to write anymore, (sadly).

this chapter is really just some filler. i can't stand s3 mike, and even carla's mad at him for lying, (as she should be).  like if you're a mike defender/apologist, go ahead and be one but i am sure not.  he was an asshole in s3 and s4 and just so annoying to me....

anyway, hope you enjoyed <3 see you back with chapter three!