(      darkest before dawn      /      act three    )
episode two   |   stranger things

❛  LIAR LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE   ❜

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"HEY MRS. WHEELER, IS Mike around?" Aurora smiled as she spoke to Mikes mom.

"Yes, give me one moment," Mrs. Wheeler pulled the phone away from her ear before shouting for Mike. Aurora heard a mumbled answer before the line went silent for a few seconds.

"Hello?"

Aurora smiled harder at the sound of her boyfriend's voice, "hey, I thought, because I wasn't working we were going to hang out? It's already nine thirty-three."

Mike sighed over the phone, "oh yeah, um, I'm sorry Rory, but I think I just need to be...alone, today. It's just, some things!"

      "Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Aurora furrowed her eyebrows softly, panic tugging at her gut.

      "Yeah! It's just...my um, mom wanted up to hang out as a family. Today."

      Aurora tilted her head, "I thought you wanted to be alone?"

      "Right! Yeah, but um, if I don't go with them I can't go anywhere. So it's just going to be me. Alone. At my house," Mike spoke.

      "I can come over there, if that's what you're asking."

      "No!" Mike shouted, "I mean, no. It's fine. I don't care, just, don't come over here."

Aurora's stomach dropped for a moment, as she pulled the phone from her ear to glance at the pink speaker box. Almost like she was trying to find something that wasn't there, before placing the phone back onto her ear and speaking in a softer voice: "okay, I'll call you later, I guess. I love you, Mike."

"Yeah, um, you too."

Aurora heard the dial tone before she even got the chance to hang up. She paused for a moment, her eyes welling with tears slightly as she took a shaky breath in, before softly placing the phone down and walking to her room. Softly closing the door, before picking up Mango and holding her closely to her chest as she laid down on her bed.

It was Mary who knocked on her door a few minutes later, and when Aurora gave no response, the older woman quietly entered and took a seat next to Aurora on her bed. Mary combed a hand through the girls honey-blonde hair, "boys suck."

Aurora gave no tells that she heard her aunt until she nodded slightly, jostling Mango, as the cat rose up from her arms to great Mary.

"You know," Mary glanced at Auroras outfit, a pair of light blue overalls and a white tee underneath, "how 'bout I take you to the mall, and you meet Max and Eleven there and I pay for a little shopping trip for you guys?"

Aurora rolled on her side, glancing at her aunt with a soft smile, "really?"

Mary nodded, "but you've got to get your butt up and out the door in five minutes!"

Aurora's eyes widened as she scrambled from her bed before rushing to her pink phone on her desk, quickly dialing the number for both Max and Eleven's homes. Making plans to meet at the fountain in fifteen minutes.

The drive there was simple, Mary asked one question about Mike and Aurora's eyes welled up and that was the end of the conversation. Mary handed Aurora a wallet when they pulled at the front door of The Starcourt Mall, and Aurora didn't glance inside until she was sure her aunt had left. She almost stopped breathing when she realized that her aunt had given her almost fifty dollars.

She was the last of their trio there, and Max pulled the two of them over to a quieter corner of the mall once the three of them had said "hello."

"What did Mike do?" Max blurted out as soon as the three of them paused.

Aurora glanced at her wide eyed, "Mike—Mike didn't do anything?"

"Please," Max tilted her head, "he bailed on you. Again?"

"He just said that...he wanted to be by himself today. But then in the same breath told me that his mom wanted to hang out as a family, and then basically told me not to come over because he didn't care."

Max scoffed, "please, Rory, take this in the nicest way possible, but he's treating you like garbage! I bet that him and Lucas are playing a stupid game right now! He's not by himself."

"But, why would he lie?"

Eleven butted in, "but, friends don't lie."

"Boyfriends lie," Max rolled her eyes. "All. The. Time."

Aurora sighed, "I mean, he didn't even say Love you back, to me before he hung up."

Max paused in her thoughts, "WHAT!" A few people glanced their way at her outburst, "okay, here's the plan since you're dating an asshole. You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls. As far as you're concerned, he doesn't even exist!"

"But isn't that a little...mean?" Aurora bit at one of her nails before Max pulled it away.

"No, matter of fact, it's nice for what he's doing to you, Rory! He's treating you like garbage, so you're going to treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine."

Eleven nodded, "his own medicine?"

"It's a metaphor," Max explained, before noticing Eleven get even more confused, "basically she's going to treat him the exact same way he's been treating her." Max turned her attention back to Aurora, "and if he doesn't fix this? If he doesn't explain himself and make it up to you? Dump his ass."

"But..."

"But nothing, Rory! Mike is being a complete jerk and he needs to realize that as soon as possible." Aurora nodded, picking at her fingers slightly before Max grinned, "okay! Let's have some fun, just us three, there's more to life than stupid boys, you know."

"Well, that's perfect then, because my aunt gave us some spending money! Shopping spree?"

Max squealed loudly, "YES!"

The redhead grabbed the other two girls by the arm, pulling them towards their first shop. Aurora and Eleven glanced at each other, the former couldn't stop a smile from showing before Max came to a stop in the first store.

Eleven began wandering around, touching every fabric and every piece of clothing as she admired everything. Before stopping to look at a mannequin on top of a display.

"Do you like it?" Aurora beamed, as Eleven glanced between the two girls curiously.

"How do I know what I like?"

"You just try things on," Max answered with a smile, "til you find something that feels like you."

"Come on!" Aurora grabbed the shirt Eleven was admiring before picking up a few other miscellaneous items she thought Eleven would like, before picking a few for Max and herself.

When the three girls stopped, all three of them had a good amount of clothing to try on. After a small conversation about how fitting rooms work, the three of them all chose their own before trying them on. Each of them walking out to show every piece to the others.

For the next two or three hours — Aurora lost almost all sense of time as the three of them moved in and out of the fitting rooms — the girls stopped at almost every store in the mall, and tried on almost everything they could fit into. The three girls couldn't stop smiling, and quickly all three of them accrued a large amount of shopping bags. Though, most of Aurora's were things for Mango, though she had found some outfits for her.

      The three of them stopped at a photo booth where they got to dress up and take photo. Each of them got a slip of their photos, and Aurora swore to pin it to her wall as soon as she got home.

The sun was setting by the time the three of them chose to finish off their shopping. On their way to get ice cream, the three of them ran into three boys.

      "...does that even make sense?" Lucas finished as Mike and Will sat at the water fountain.

      "Isn't this a nice surprise?" Max scoffed.

      "What are you doing here? I thought you couldn't go out?" Aurora motioned towards Mike.

      He rubbed at the back of his neck, "oh, um, well. My, um, dad! He said that I could."

      Aurora nodded, glancing at her feet, as Max stepped in, "sure, and is that why when we called your house, you're family was there and they didn't have a clue about a family outing?"

      "See, um, it was Nancy's! Nancy's idea, and then she had to, um, bail and then..." Mike trailed off as he couldn't think of anything else to add to his lie, "I'm here to look for an apology gift. For you."

      Max rolled her eyes before looking pointedly at her boyfriend, "wonder whose idea that was." Lucas groaned.

      "Really?" Aurora glanced up at her boyfriend, a smile growing on her face.

      "Yeah, but it's super hard and I only have like three dollars, and it's super expensive." Mike spoke.

      "But, that doesn't explain the lying. I mean, you could've just said you didn't want to hang out with me. You didn't have to spin this whole thing elaborate thing. And you also know that all it takes to woo me over is flowers, maybe some chocolate here and there, but not something expensive, Mike."

      "I didn't lie!" Mike argued, "I just..." he sighed, glancing at Lucas before clearing his throat, "you're just a little...much. And sometimes, the constant neediness gets a bit tiring, and sometimes I just need a break."

      "You're fucked." Max mumbled, watching Auroras face fall. Max grabbed the girls hand, squeezing once to remind Aurora that her and Eleven were by her side.

      "You think I'm needy? A little much?" Aurora was on the brink of tears as she felt her heart break into pieces, "okay. That's fine, I guess I'll just take myself and all of my "neediness" off your plate, Mike."

      Mikes jaw dropped, "does that mean you're—"

      Eleven stepped in front of him, block him from getting closer to Aurora, "It means she dumps your ass."

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

ahhhhhhhhhh I LOVE TJIS!!!!! the ANGST in
all caps bc i'm evil. I had something else in
mind when planning this, but this is what we
ended up with!!! so please enjoy bc i know i
did. but this is a short chapter so expect
another one sometime today too!! bc i finally
have time and motivation again!!!!

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves