"It's gonna start pouring soon." Max spoke the next day as the trio walked down the street together, El put in the middle after she insisted they go to Max's to make sure the girl she saw was okay, "We should be at the mall or, like, watching a movie or something."

"Going to the pool." Peter suggested with a nod, "The lake."

"Don't believe me?" El looked at both of them.

"Completely believe you." Peter corrected her before he shrugged, "But Max says he's a weird dudette."

"I believe you saw some super weird stuff, totally, but you said Mike has sensed you in there before, right?" Max hummed to El's previous statement over eggos this morning, "So maybe it was just like that. Maybe Billy just sensed you somehow."

A single rain drop hit Peters nose, looking up at the sky with squinted eyes. He wished he'd thrown on a rain coat instead of a bright green tee and jean jacket. El sighed, "But the screams."

"Yeah, I know, but here's the thing." Max began with a long sigh, "When Billy is alone with a girl, they make, like, really crazy noises."

Peters eyes went wide as he took his eyes off the sky, "Maxine."

"They scream?" El asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, but, like..happy scream." Max tried to explain.

"Max!" Peter flushed in the face as he gave her a crazy look, "Don't have this talk with me here!"

"Happy screams? What is happy screams?" El threw her hands slightly in disbelief.

"I'm just gonna lend you my moms Cosmo." Max huffed, the three stopping infront of Max's house, "His cars not here."

El had a determined look on her face, Peter glanced over, "It wouldn't really be breaking and entering considering Max lives here."

"You really wanna do this?" Max looked at El as well, earning a nod.

"Why do I get the feeling we're gonna find all kinds of wrong in here?" Max asked after she opened Billys door, El and Peter close behind her.

"Oh my god." Peter looked away quickly from the half naked girls on the wall, "Obviously not gonna look at her, you know? I'm very respectful to woman, i'd never be disrespectful with my eyes. Even beautiful woman like her, nope- not gonna look."

"I knew we shouldn't have brought you." Max groaned, "Forgot you're a boy for a second."

"Was it the nail polish?" Peter asked curiously, shielding his face of the posters on the wall.

Max ignored him, pulling a drawer open before slamming it back, "Ugh, gag me with a spoon. Peter, do not come over here."

El grabbed Peters wrist, pulling him with her toward the bathroom. He sighed in relief when only met with floral wall paper, "Thanks, El."

She flipped the light on, eyes falling to the bathtub filled with water, empty ice bags laid on top of it, "Max."

"Ice. It's just ice." Max dipped her hand into the bath and pulled one of the bags, "It's probably for his muscles or something. He works out like a maniac."

"I wish." Peter waved his arms around like noodles.

El's eyes turned toward the cabinets, Peter and Max following her gaze as smeared blood was on one of them. He frowned his eyebrows, "Does Billy get nosebleeds?"

El pulled the cabinets open, reaching for the trash can under the sink and peering down at it.

"El, what is it?" Max spoke when El didn't say anything.

Peter walked forward, standing behind her to look over her shoulder. His eyes widened before looking back at Max, "I think you were right. We did find all kinds of wrong in here."

El turned to Max with a bloody whistle in her hand, Peter grabbing the lifeguard fanny pack.

"I love the rain." Peter looked up at the sky as the girls ran into the pool lobby, "Shower me in your tears, mother earth."

"Peter!" El spoke up, grabbing his arm to pull him under with them.

"Excuse me." Max approached the two older teens behind the counter.

"No one in the water until thirty minutes after the last strike." the boy spoke, not taking his eyes off the magazine he was flipping through. Peter pulled the hood of the white rain coat off his head, somehow still managing to get his hair wet, "And don't try and argue with me. You wanna get electrocuted, go climb a tree."

"Yeah, we don't care. We're not here to swim." Max huffed. Peter thought of his two new friends and realized that Max was the muscle out of the three, leaving the looks of the brains for him. El was clearly very smart, but she also was very pretty, meaning she could be either, "Or get electrocuted."

"We found this." El held the fanny pack up, meet eyes with the pair behind the counter.

"Does that belong to anybody here?" Max asked curiously.

"A girl, specifically." Peter nodded in agreement.

"Oh, yeah. That's Heathers." the boy nodded his head, eyeing the pack, "I'll get it back to her."

"Well, how are we suppose to know you're a respectable boy who doesn't stare a posters of naked woman?" Peter rose his eyebrows his way, getting an odd look in return.

El gave him a crazy look as well before stepping in, "We could give it back to her."

"You could." he shrugged, "Cept she's not here. Bailed on me today."

The trio shared a look.

"What is this? You three want a reward or somethin?" he asked in disbelief when non of them bothered to leave the desk.

Peter shrugged, "Looks good on college applications."

"No. We're just good samaritans." Max grinned.

El walking off caught the talking duos attention, making them turn and follow her toward the poster board. They stared at a lifeguard photo, the name Heather written under it.

"Jesus, she's pretty." Peter nodded with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Do you think you can find her?" Max looked at El.

"Would be pretty hard to miss her." Peter confirmed.

"Peter, shh." El scolded him, looking back at the pair of older teens behind the desk, who were no longer paying them any mind. El yanked the photo off, Max leading them toward the locker rooms.

Peter paused at the door, making the two look back. El frowned her eyebrows, "What's wrong?"

He flushed, "This is the girls locker room."

"Yeah, so?" Max asked with a shrug.

His jaw dropped, "Did you forget i'm a boy again?"

"No one's here." Max rolled her eyes, "No one's gonna know."

"I'll know!" Peter exclaimed with a crazy look, pointing to himself. El grabbed his wrist, pulling him in and locking the door.

"I'll get the showers." Max flipped them all on for the sound, the place steaming up quickly.

Peter took his rain coat off, throwing it to the side before sliding the jean jacket off his arms and laying it on the ground. He then looked to El, she'd already been giving him a questionable look, "For you to sit on. Locker rooms are gross."

El gave a small, shy smile, taking her seat on the jacket on the ground before Max joined them. El put a pair of black out goggles on her face, Heathers picture laid before her. Max and Peter sat on the bench, giving her some space to do what she did best.

"What do you see?" Max asked honestly.

"A door." El said back, "A red door."

Peter gave a odd look toward Max, "Know any red doors?"

El gasped for air, yanking the goggles off and taking deep breaths.

"What happened?" Max asked quickly, being ignored as El continued to gasp for any form of breath, "El!"

Peter kneeled down next to the Hopper girl, grabbing her shoulders to meet her eye, "Hey, hey, shh, it's okay. You're fine, can you tell us what happened?"

El breathed heavy, leaning forward as her forehead pressed into Peters shoulder. The boy rubbed her back quickly, letting her calm down and catch any breath she was searching for.

•

kylie speaks

taylor swift writes
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