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Panic Attacks

Mavis was far from paying attention to what Mr.Clarke was saying. She was busy scribbling on her notebook, making small doodles, she had absolutely no clue what they were. She tugged on the cheer outfit, hating how it itched her. Her foot was tapping so fast Carrie almost thought she was having a spasm, but she knew it was only anxiety.

Mavis grew to have anxiety not too long after El was taken away from her. She'd have anxiety attacks went she thought about her too long and too intense. Mavis knew she needs to stop before she made a scene right then and there, but she couldn't stop her hand from writing 011 small on her notebook. Her pen dropped from her hands and she thought back to small features she noticed and liked about El. Like how her eyes would go wide when she didn't understand something, the way her fingers twitched when she was scared or cold, and how her whole body seemed to stop completely when she used her powers.

"Mavis? Are you okay?" Mr.Clarke asked as he caught her breathing heavy and staring off. His voice came out more of an echo in her mind as many things were filled her head, when he repeated himself Mavis stood up quickly.

"I'm so sorry, Mr.Clarke" she mumbled while rushing out of the classroom, running down the hallway. She rounded a corner quickly, running into someone.

"Hey, watch it" the person scolded her as she didn't take the time to look at her, just realizing how bright her red hair was and how she stood just a inch or two taller than Mavis.

"Sorry" the shorter girl apologized as she took off down the hallway toward the outside. The new girl watched her with frowned eyebrows, only seeing pink hair flying past her.

Mavis reached the outside quickly, breathing heavily as she sat down on the steps. She put her head in her hands and took deep breaths, counting backward the way Will taught her to. Her breathing slowed down as the blur from her eyes decreased by the second. Hearing the double doors open, she turned around, completely expecting it to be the principal or someone else that would get her in trouble.

Mike.

He sat down next to her, knowing not to say anything. Wrapping his long arm around her, she leaned into him, knowing he understood what she felt better than the other four of her friends ever could. This happened a lot in the past year, it wasn't nearly as bad as it use to be but still wasn't settling. Mike knew he shouldn't baby Mavis as much as he did, she was a teenager now and probably needed to know how to handle herself. But he'd taken care of Mav his whole life, why should an age stop him from that.

"It's okay Mav," he said back to her, rubbing the side of her head comfortingly as the cold air hit them.

"There's no way that MadMax" Mike shook his mind a few hours later as they all watched the redhead, new girl, skate on her skateboard on the shitty ramps.

"Yeah, girls don't play video games," Will said as Carrie gave her adoptive brother a look, as he put his hands up in serenader.

"And even if they did you can't get seven hundred and fifty thousand points on Dig Dug" Mike added in.

"Clearly she can, think she rigged it?" Carrie asked as she looked over her shoulder at Mike.

"No way, maybe she's just that cool" Mavis quickly added in with a shrug, pulling her leather jacket around her cheer uniform, the cold hitting her.

"But her name is Max" Lucas pointed out as Mike shrugged.

"So what?" Mike questioned as Lucas gave him a stupid look.

"So, how many Max's do you know?" Lucas asked as Mavis sighed.

"You know, you could just use yalls loud mouths to speak to her. But no, of course, Mav will do it for you" she mocked while walking off, Carrie taking off after her as they fell in line.

"Hey" Mavis jumped out in front of the skating girl, making her quickly come to a stop and fall off.

"What the hell? Don't you know not to jump out in front of a moving vehicle?" Max asked as Carrie slapping her forehead at Mavis's actions.

"Nice try, but last time I checked this wasn't a vehicle. I'm Mavis" the shortest girl announced as she held her hand down to help Max up. The redhead hesitated before taking her hand and pulled her up.

"Max. I saw you earlier" Max pointed out as Mavis sighed and nodded her head with a shrug.

"Miner inconvenience, this is Carrie Byers," Mavis said as she grab Carrie's arm to yank her closer as the short-haired girl nodded.

"Well, it's nice meeting you guys. What's up with the uniform?" Max asked as she looked down at Mavis's outfit.

"A mistake I think I made" Mavis admitted, making the two girls laugh.

"We were gonna head over to the library after Mavis changed back into her real close, you're welcome to tag along" Carrie shrugged to Max, who took a second to think before nodding with a shrug.

"Sure why not," she said as the newly formed trio walked up the steps and into the school as Max threw a piece of paper into the trash can.

"Mavis? What are you doing? We're supposed to wear these all day" Jennifer Hayes said as she came around the locker corner and saw Mavis back in her normal clothes, the cheer uniform next to her. Mavis sighed as she ran a hand through her hair and turned back it her.

"Yeah, no offense Jennifer, but I don't think cheerleading is my thing. I mean yeah the tryouts were fun but this isn't me," Mavis said as she turned to look at the blonde, who looked annoyed yet sad.

"And let me guess, this is when you say it was just a kiss and didn't mean anything as you do with the rest of them right?" She asked as Mavis looked away, she felt bad when this happened but she couldn't help it.

"It's not you, okay? I'm just not a relationship type of girl, I told you that" Mavis explained as she shut the locker and pulled the leather jacket over her pink tank top, "It was just one kiss."

"Well, then I guess what everyone says is right... you really are just a bitch with mommy issues" Jennifer glared before she spun on her heels and stormed off, it hurt Mavis but she knew she hurt her too. Mavis did have Mommy Issues, she had them so bad she used other girls to feel the void of her Mom and El. With one last eye roll, she left the locker room.

"Took you long enough" Max commented as she and Carrie fell into line next to her, sharing a look at her no words.

"Hey, something wrong?" Carrie asked, grabbing her arm to stop her. Mavis sighed as she looked at the two.

"Everything's fine" she mumbled before turning away again, heading to the library, hoping they would follow.

The girls sat in the library minutes later. They talked for a while, getting to know each other and filling Mavis in on what she missed in Mr. Clarke's class.

"Carrie Byers? Your Mother is here" the principal spoke as he walked into the library with Will by his side. Carrie sighed, knowing it was time for her doctor's appointment.

"Hey, don't worry. It's gonna be fine" Mavis said as she gave Carrie's hand a small squeeze, getting a sad smile back.

"I'll see you later, nice meeting you Max," the short-haired girl said as she walked off, Mav sent Will a wide grin as he waved back before the siblings disappeared in the hall.

"That's her brother?" Max asked, it wasn't a secret they they looked nothing alike.

"Yeah, their Mom adopted her about a year ago" Mavis nodded as she looked down at her notes, highlighting the important parts. Max hesitated before finally finding the courage to ask.

"Hey, ugh Mavis?" she asked as the pink-haired girl hummed in response and looked up at her.

"Is it true you locked some guy in his own locker and broke his nose?" Max asked as Mavis's face fell, with a sigh she nodded.

"It was a few months ago, he was making fun of my friend and I was just really angry and upset. Hope that doesn't scare you off or anything , because you should know I'm getting better at controlling it" Mavis spoke as her dark eyebrows frowned, her larger than most eyes blinked. Max quickly shook her head.

"No, no of course not. Just when I saw the cheer uniform it threw me off, you didn't seem like the type at first" Max said as Mavis nodded.

"Cheer was a mistake, it's not gonna happen again" Mavis shook her head as she continued to write. Max couldn't help but feel more curious as she sighed before asking again.

"So why'd you try out then?" Max asked as Mavis looked back up at her with an eyebrow raise before realizing she was not gonna let this go.

"Trying to be someone I'm not and trying to forget someone I can't," she simply said before going back to her work, as if the whole conversation didn't happen. Max knew not to ask again, clearly seeing Mavis was becoming annoyed and by the looks of her she didn't wanna get in her bad side. Not only because Max knew she probably could do worse than just break a nose, but also because she liked having a friend. Especially when that friend wore leather and had pink hair with many stories and secrets.

What a mystery she is.

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max Carrie and mavis? holy trinity.