"Mav." Mike scolded her from across the table at the way she was eating the risotto like there had been no tomorrow, smearing it across her face in the process. She stopped chewing and looked up with innocent eyes, wiping her face and straightening her posture.

"So there I was, headed down the I-5, going to see a client in Ventura. I'm looking for a motel to stay in for the night and suddenly, bam, it hits me." Murray went on with his painfully long story. "Didn't the Byers move here?"

"Small world, isn't it? It's a small world." Joyce gave a forced laugh.

"So I thought, 'Hey, you know what? Why don't I drop in, say hello to my old friends?'" Murray grinned as he made sure to look around at each of them.

"So sweet of you." Joyce agreed, her tone made her sound flirty but that clearly hadn't been the case. El frowned her eyebrows as she watched Mav go back to eating risotto like it was her last meal.

"Sweeter of you to let me stay." he giggled her way.

"And he cooks." Joyce over explained.

"Cooks so good." Mav hummed in delight, Will squeezed the bridge of his nose.

"I clean too!" Murray fluffed up his hair. "A regular little housewife."

"You should just stay." Joyce waved her hand.

"I'd be tempted, Joyce, except you know, you have that, uh.." he trialed off, his eyes wide with a nod.

"Right." Joyce nodded. "That business trip."

"Business trip? What business trip?" Will looked up quickly, as did El. She looked up when she felt a foot touch her ankle, meeting Mav's eye as she gave her a little wink.

"Oh my gosh." Joyce faked a gasp. "I almost forgot to tell you guys. This thing came up at work-"

"Mav, you've got a little-" Jonathan slurred his words as he motioned around his face. "-like an explosion."

"And it turns out I have to go to a conference tomorrow. In Alaska." Joyce carried on.

"It sometimes is just daylight there." Mav hummed as she washed her food down with her juice. "Bet you'll sink into some snow."

"Not everyone sinks in snow." Mike looked over at her. "Not everyone does a lot of things."

She realized he was talking about her influence on El earlier. "Not everyone is okay with being walked all over."

"Not everyone is on probation." he rose his voice in her direction.

"Alaska?" Will brought the conversation back to Joyce.

"That's where they're based, the Britannicas." Joyce shrugged casually. "Joan and Brian Britannica."

"So do Eskimos, like, still live in igloos, or, uh, are they, like, fully-blown like, living in the..in the suburbs now?" Argyle turned to face Murray in questioning.

"Who is this?" Murphy smiled to Argyle slightly.

"Schmacked." Mav held her glass up high for Argyle to cheers with her.

"So, Jonathan, this means you're gonna have to, you know, take charge while i'm gone." Joyce looked to her left.

"Wait, what? What's going on?" Jonathan looked around confused.

"Your moms going to Alaska." Argyle whispered to him.

"You're going to Alaska?" he gapped at his mom. "What's going on in Alaska?"

"The Britannicas are there." Argyle whispered to him once more.

"The Britannicas?" his jaw fell slightly in confusion. Mavis rose her eyebrows as she looked in his direction, sneakingly taking garlic bread from his plate.

"Jonathan, what is wrong with you?" Joyce gapped.

"I think I know what's wrong with him." Murray mumbled.

"Shhh, don't blow his cover." Mavis scolded him.

"We just had a super stressful day." Jonathan exhaled loudly.

"This girl got shmacked in the head today at the roller rink after being slammed in a locker." Argyle explained.

"Shmacked?" Murray questioned.

"One of those vicious skate attacks." Argyle agreed.

"A skate attack?" he, once again, was full of confusion.

"Yeah, but it wasn't an ice skate. It was...it was a plastic skate." Jonathan struggled to explain due to his state.

"No, it was, like, rubber." Argyle pointed out

"Rubber. Rubber." he hummed, Joyce looked in shock by his behavior.

"You know what, i'm not sure." Argyle pointed out with a shake of his head. "Anyway, she looked like she's gonna be fine."

"She didn't look fine." Mike mumbled down at his plate. Mavis stopped chewing as El dropped her fork suddenly, scooting out and leaving.

"El, aren't you gonna finish your-" Joyce started, Mav stood up and threw Mikes risotto in his face. "Oh my god!"

"Rude!" Mavis held a finger in Mikes face before following El up the stairs. "El, wait for me, you're two inches taller."

El didn't wait, but she left her door open as she crawled into her bed. It wasn't long before a weight was on her back and Mavis laid ontop off her, her head hung over her shoulder. "Sorry i'm a bad influence on you."

"You're not." El said in return. "Would have done it anyways."

"Well, then, sorry Mike is such a dick-can." Mav hummed as El gave a small snort. "Learned that from my senior friend in Hellfire."

"Angela in a dick-can." El nodded her head. "She's not actually my friend."

"Well, i'd hope not." Mav had to snort. "You could do so much better then her anyways."

"Wish I had you." El rolled over as Mavis fell off her, her back hitting the mattress as El sat up, holding her hands across her chest and looking at her. "I'd go to all your games."

"Me too." she sighed slightly. "It would be so much fun to go to school together. You can hang out at the diner after school too while I sneak you free milkshakes. And i'd make 'em with extra love."

Her words made El grin slightly. "Three years."

"That's all." Mav promised. "Now, gimme a kiss, woman!"

El laughed, climbing up a little more to lean down and press her lips onto hers.

"Mav. Mav. Wake up." El shook her quickly, urgently.

"Mm, what?" she asked, her eyes remained closed.

"Police." El's words made her eyes fly open. "Stay here."

"No, no." Mavis sat up fully. "Because of the rolling rink?"

"Stay here." El repeated.

"I'm not gonna let you take the fall for something I started." she climbed out of bed. El turned to her with a sigh. "We'll go together."

"Mike said you were one strike away and on probation." she looked down at her. "You stay. Let me do this."

"But-" she began.

"Don't want to loose you." El held her face. "It's different for me, I know."

Mavis hesitated. "I'll get you out."

"I know." El smiled at her.

"Don't say anything until you're at the police station, but only give the obvious details. Tell them you didn't mean to hit her that hard and all she did, they might emphasize since it's your first offense." Mav cupped her face with guilty eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too." El leaned in to meet her in a kiss.

"No, Jane Hopper. H-O-P-P-E-R. She was just taken in less when an hour ago." Mavis ranted to the woman behind the car.

"Jane Hopper." she confirmed as she looked at the screen. "Okay, yes, I see her now. It looks like she's still being processed."

"Okay. So, uh, what does that mean exactly?" Jonathan tried to understand everything that was happening.

"That means they're putting her in the system. After which point, she'll be transferred to juvenile hall." she looked at him.

"It's her first offense and it isn't even considered that bad!" Mav gapped at her, because she didn't know the state of Angela's face.

"Jail? You're gonna put her in jail?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"A detention hall for juveniles." the woman corrected.

"That's jail." Mike mocked.

"This is bullshit. Her Dad use to be a literal Chief!" Mavis gapped at her. "She's a minor too. And she doesn't have a guardian here, or a lawyer."

"Is there any chance we can just see her?" Jonathan grasped Mav's hand to keep her calm.

"Are you a parent or guardian?" she gave him a questionable look, though it seemed she knew the answer.

"Well, we're her brothers, and we're family." Will motioned between himself and Jonathan.

"That's not enough. You have to be a parent or guardian." she shook her head at him.

"If she doesn't have a guardian present then you shouldn't be taking her to jail." Mav glared harshly at her.

"You wanna see Jane? Find your mother." she stared.

"Thank you." Jonathan spoke, pulling Mavis with him.

"That was such bullshit!" Mavis mocked as she pulled away from Jonathan when they got outside. "California is a literal dick-can!"

"I know, okay?" Jonathan shook his head.

"What do we do?" Will asked.

"That one." Mike pointed to the police van. "That's the one."

Mavis took off in a sprint to make sure, to know a solid answer. She saw El's face as she paused in the street, staring at her through the glass. Mavis looked over when a car slowly pulled up next to her.

"Hey, kid." Owens looked at her. "Long time no see."

Mavis gapped. "What are you doing here?"

"You wanna go with your girlfriend?" he looked up at her. "We aren't going to jail."

Mavis looked toward the boys, they paid her no mind as they clearly were trying to discuss a plan or anything of the sort. "I need to make a phone call when we get there."

"Sure." he nodded. Mavis hesitated, circling the car to get in the passengers seat and follow the police van.

"I think Robin and Nancy will make a good team." Carrie spoke to Dustin as they trailed behind Steve and Max, walking into the school.

"I think so too." he nodded, exhaling. "I miss Mav."

"Me too." Carrie frowned. "Maybe she'll come home early."

"And miss seeing you 'little babe' ?" Dustin scoffed. "Yeah right."

"At least they're good together. At least Mavis actually is a good girlfriend." Carrie spoke, almost like she was bitter and sad all at once. "I bet Mikes sleeping in my room."

"Are we back to saying his name?" Dustin looked over at her with an eyebrow raise.

"Definitely not." Carrie shook her head. "I'm just so mad at myself, mainly. For being so blinded by having my first boyfriend that I didn't stop to realize how much I was changing just for him to keep liking me or something. And then I go to California and he breaks up with me because of the long distance? I mean, I get that part. But after all I did for him to stay with me this whole time, it just hurts like hell."

Dustin looked up, because he knew that she hadn't told anyone why Mike ended up breaking up with her. "You shouldn't have to change for anyone. Who you are is good enough, you know?"

"I was such a shitty friend to you though." she gave a guilty look. "I'm really sorry about how much I blew you off last summer for Mike. That was dumb."

"It's okay." Dustin shrugged. "I mean, I can understand. When Suzie and I were at camp together, we only ever wanted to be off alone together too."

"How's that going, by the way? I'm sensing something a little weird." Carrie rubbed her eyes, hiding that it hurt her to talk about Mike.

"I guess long distance only works if you're lesbians." Dustin shrugged with a faint laugh. "But, we're still friends. It just wasn't the same."

"Yeah." Carrie looked down some. "I guess it's not."

Before he could speak, Robins voice came over the walkie. "Dustin? You there."

"Yeah, i'm here." he pulled the antenna, it hit Carrie in the arm slightly. "Oh, i'm sorry, Car."

She turned her head to give him a small smile. An i'm sorry, even from the wrong person, felt nice to hear.

"So, Nancy is a genius." Robin gushed from the other line.

"Can't really talk right now." Dustin said to her honestly.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Robin asked, the line broke a little.

"Breaking and entering into the school." he shrugged.

"Fun, spring break adventures." Carrie agreed with a grin.

"Just, get your ass to the school and we'll explain everything." Dustin told Robin, shoving the antenna down.

"You two, keep up." Steve shined the light on the pair, encouraging them to walk into the office.

"It's like a mini watergate." Dustin looked around. "Hawkinsgate."

"You think, sense I use to be a host, i'm a little higher on the hit list?" Carrie asked Dustin honestly.

He gapped. "I didn't even think of that."

"Holy shit." Max stared down at the files.

"Find something?" Carrie walked a little closer.

"Mrs.Kelley was seeing Fred and Chrissy." she passed Fred's file to Steve. "But, that's not the worst of it."

"What?" Dustin gave a worried look.

Max held a file out.

Mavis Hinton-Sinclair

•

kylie speaks

dustie? carstin? carderson?
byerson?