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𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮:
"𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚊 . . . 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔
𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍."

╚═════ ∘◦ ミ ☾ ◦∘ ══════╝

THE NEXT DAY, Mackenzie was hanging out with Max as they normally did when they wanted to get away from the boys. It was a time both of them needed very much. The only thing Mackenzie wished was different was that Eleven could be with them, but with Mike and Hopper's stupid rules, she couldn't. Currently, Max was skating down her street on her skateboard while Mackenzie watched her from the curb with a bright smile on her face. The hot sun shone down on the two teens, and Mackenzie had a pair of sunglasses on to block her eyes from the blinding light.

"So," Max began as she skated back up to the brunette. "Any progress with Will?"

"If you call giving him a kiss on the cheek is progress, then yes," she responded while shrugging, placing her white sunglasses on top of her head to look up at the redhead. "Every time I think I'm brave enough to try and actually tell him, I just . . . chicken out. There's this doubt in the back of my mind that he'll say no and it'll ruin our friendship."

Max held her arms out to balance as she moved in a straight line. "The chances of that happening are slim to none. I think you just gotta do it, you know? Just go for it."

"I don't know, Max," Mackenzie sighed, placing her chin in the palm of her hand.

Max proceeded to skate in small circles. "Come on, Kenz. You said it yourself, summer's a time of love."

"Yeah, but what if he doesn't want to be a part of the time of love?" she asked. "After everything he's been through, I think he just wants to, you know, figure himself out a little bit."

The redhead stopped skating and stared at the girl incredulously. "Okay, you are literally so oblivious. That boy stares at you like you're the only star in the sky. I'm positive that if you march up to him, tell him you like him, and then kiss him, he wouldn't be opposed to it."

"Max," she complained.

The redhead raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm pretty sure it'll help him figure himself out."

Mackenzie bit her lip in thought and straightened up. "You know what, you're right."

"See? You gotta have confidence. That's what it's all about."

Mackenzie watched as Max tried another trick on her skateboard. However, she fell off and her board went skating down the street. Mackenzie followed it with her eyes to see it suddenly stop. She stood up in shock, watching as Eleven walked up to them with Max's skateboard.

"Hi," El greeted.

Max looked confused, taking her skateboard back. "Hi."

"Hey, El," Mackenzie smiled, trying to clear up some of the awkardness. "What's up?"

Her eyes flickered between them. "Can we talk?"

Max brought the two girls back to her bedroom. They listened to El's story about how Mike was acting strange on the telephone. Mackenzie was laying down, her head dangling over the side of the bed with her eyebrows scrunched in thought. Mike was obviously lying about his Nana being sick. Meanwhile, Max was pacing back and forth, her face holding annoyance.

"And then he said he missed me, and then he just hung up," El finished.

Max stopped pacing and looked at El. "He's a piece of shit."

"What?" El asked, obviously confused.

"Mike doesn't have jack shit to do today, and his Nana obviously isn't sick." She pointed at El accusingly. "I guarantee you, him and Lucas are playing Atari right now."

"Probably," Mackenzie commented, sitting up from her position.

"But friends don't lie," El pointed out.

"Yeah, well, boyfriends lie. All the time." Max then sat down on the bed, looking straight at El. "You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls. As far as you're concerned, he doesn't exist."

El looked a little sad at that. "Doesn't exist?"

"It's a figure of speech, El," Mackenzie said soothingly. "She doesn't literally mean he doesn't exist. Today, you just gotta . . . block him out of your mind."

Easier said than done, Mackenzie's mind told her. You can't even get Will out of your head.

Max sat forwards. "He treated you like garbage. You're gonna treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine."

El nodded in understanding. "Give him the medicine."

"Mm-hmm. And if he doesn't fix this, if he doesn't explain himself, dump his ass."

"Woah," Mackenzie protested. "Little harsh, Max."

"Come on, she has to share what she's thinking," Max urged, turning back to El. "El, don't be like Kenz and not express how you to feel to someone."

Mackenzie looked at the redhead with an incredulous expression. "Okay, do not bring me into this. This is about how Mike is being totally over controlling, not my undying crush for Will Byers."

"You like Will?" El giggled.

Mackenzie's face burned red-hot. "You know what, shut up." She then suddenly got an idea. "Hey, why don't we go do something fun? Girls day, with El this time, and absolutely no boys. There's more to life than them."

Max apparently had an idea. She grabbed El and Mackenzie's hands, pulling them off of the bed. "Come on. I know just the place."

༻✦༺༻✧༺༻✦༺

THE STARCOURT MALL. It was the designated hangout place for everyone in Hawkins ever since it was built. Mackenzie thought it was a little weird that it suddenly just sprouted up out of nowhere, but she enjoyed the spot nonetheless. There was pretty much everything you could do here so it was perfect for a girls day. Mackenzie stepped off the bus, smiling up at the neon light sign.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Mackenzie asked, looking over to El who was glancing anxiously around at everyone. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Too many people," she answered. "Against the rules."

"Seriously?" Max questioned incredulously. "You have superpowers. What's the worst that could happen?"

A smile appeared on El's face, making one appear on Mackenzie's too. She grabbed El's hand and began pulling her into the mall, Max opting to latch onto El's other hand. They stopped in the food court, watching as El stared up at everything in wonder.

Mackenzie raised an eyebrow at her. "I assume you've never been shopping before?"

El shook her head.

She smirked. "I think our first order of business is to get you some new clothes."

Max's face brightened. "Come on!"

The redhead brought them over to The Gap. El walked around the store, looking at all the bright colors in amazement. Mackenzie's heart warmed at how El was getting her first taste of freedom away from everything. The fascinated girl suddenly stopped in front of a display that had a blue shirt with white, yellow, and red stripes placed haphazardly all over it.

"Do you like that?" Max asked.

El looked at the two. "How do I know . . . what I like?"

"Well, why don't you try it on?" Mackenzie suggested. "If it feels like something that will suit you, then it's the one."

"Suit me?"

Mackenzie nodded. "It'll feel like it was made for you. Not like the clothes Hopper and Mike are making you wear. These clothes will have Eleven written all over it."

The girls ran around the store, picking up things that caught El's eye. She tried on a mixture of a bunch of outfits, including the blue shirt she liked with suspenders and a yellow beret. While El was changing, Max and Mackenzie decided to have a look around. Max picked out a pair of cherry red sunglasses, ones that matched her hair well. Mackenzie found a cute bedazzled belt which would look amazing with the outfit she was currently wearing, which consisted of a jean skirt, an orange tank top tucked into it, and her white Converse.

El had finally found the one. It was a black romper with colorful shapes all over it. With bright smiles, the girls bought their items and walked out of the store. Mackenzie fastened the belt around her waist and linked arms with El and Max.

"You ever had a photoshoot, El?" Mackenzie asked, and she shook her head. "All right, let's go."

They made their way over to the studio where they took a lot of photos dressed up in crazy outfits. With a multitude of smiles and giggles later, they took El to the shoe shop where they were helping her walk in heels. El fell to the ground when she lost her balance, making the three girls erupt in laughter. When they helped her up, they saw a group of girls from school, Mackenzie recognizing one of them as Stacey, look at them and roll their eyes. It only resulted in more laughter from the three.

After Mackenzie bought her new pair of black Converse, one of the colors she'd been wanting for a long time, they spotted the group of girls from earlier talking to a cute boy. They peeked out from behind a pillar, El's eyes narrowing in concentration. A quick nod of her head made their drinks explode Stacey and her friends' faces.

"Come on!" Mackenzie exclaimed, grabbing El's hand and running away with Max in tow.

Max turned to El. "See? What'd Kenz tell you? There's more to life than stupid boys."

Getting ice cream from Scoops Ahoy was the best way to end their shopping trip. Steve took their orders, and with a momentary pause of talking to his co-worker Robin from the window, he turned back around with their three cones.

"Okay, here you go, you got a strawberry, a vanilla with sprinkles and extra whipped cream, and then a chocolate, Kenzie's favorite."

Mackenzie smiled at him as she licked her chocolate ice cream. "Thanks, Steve."

His eyes then landed on El. "Wait a second. Are you even allowed to be here?"

A glance between the three girls was enough to make them laugh and run away. Mackenzie walked out of the mall with a bright smile on her face, standing next to her two best girl friends. The sun was shining bright and it warmed her skin up from the cool air of the mall. She licked the creamy goodness off of her waffle cone, closing her eyes in content momentarily at the blissfulness of it all.

"You wanna do a three-way trade?" Max asked the two of them.

"No way," Mackenzie responded, making Max trade her strawberry cone for El's vanilla one. "I'm keeping the chocolate for myself, thank you very much."

"Suit yourself." Max suddenly stopped, her face dropping at the sight of something in front of her. "Oh, you've got to be shitting me."

Mackenzie followed her line of sight to see Mike, Lucas, and Will taking their bikes out of the racks. She scoffed incredulously and walked up to the three of them.

"Isn't this a nice surprise," Max announced.

Mike dropped his bike and pointed to El. "What are you doing here?"

"Shopping," El answered.

Mackenzie nodded her head to her. "Look, we even got her some new outfits and everything. Aren't they cute?"

"What's wrong with you?" Mike questioned to her.

"Mike," Will quietly argued.

He ignored him. "You know she's not allowed to be here."

Mackenzie raised an eyebrow. "Last time I checked, she could make her own decisions. You're treating her like she's a piece of property."

"Yeah," El said. "Am I property?"

"What? No!" Mike protested.

"Then why do you treat me like garbage?"

"What?"

"You said Nana was sick," El pointed out.

Mike and Lucas then began to ramble off how Nana was really sick. Mackenzie rolled her eyes and licked her ice cream cone again. She wasn't buying it. Through it all, she locked eyes with Will who was still standing in the back. She offered him a small smile, but he didn't return it. Instead, he looked extremely irritated.

Lucas nodded. "That's why we're here, actually."

"Yeah, we're shopping for her, for Nana," Mike continued.

"For Nana!" Lucas repeated.

Mike then looked straight at El. "Also, we're here to get a gift for you. We couldn't find anything that suited you, and I only have, like, three dollars and fifty cents, so it's hard."

"Super hard," Lucas added. "It's expensive."

El looked a little heartbroken. "You lie. Why do you lie?"

Mike struggled to respond. Mackenzie heard the bus pull up behind them, and she sent an urgent look to Max and El.

El walked up to him slowly. Mackenzie was a little worried at what she was going to do, but she merely looked Mike straight in the face and said, "I dump your ass."

Mackenzie's jaw dropped. There was no way in hell she just did that. El then turned around and stormed off in the direction of the bus.

"Bye boys," Mackenzie said sarcastically, waving her hand.

She followed after El and Max, sitting in the two seats in front of them. Mackenzie turned around to face her friends, all of them giggling at what El just had did. El looked incredibly proud of herself which made Mackenzie so happy. However, the smile slipped off of her face as she remembered Will's expression. He looked . . . annoyed. Was he mad at her?

Max noticed her state. "Hey, you all right?"

Mackenzie snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, yeah, I'm okay."

She definitely was not. There was a bad feeling about everything happening right now, but she pushed it aside and decided to have more of a good time with her friends.

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magic in the hamptons is such a vibey song

also el, max, and kenzie are going to be an iconic trio :)