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

❛  MISSING HIGHSCORES   ❜

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AS THE TOWN OF Hawkins, Indiana still reeled from the echoes of the Upside Down, an eerie calm had settled over the once peaceful suburb.

The trees, once vibrant and full of summer's life, now bore the weight of autumn's golden hues, each leaf a silent testament to the fleeting dance of existence. The air was thick with anticipation, while the scent of woodsmoke and ripe apples masked the undercurrent of fear that lurked beneath.Each leaf that fell was not just a marker of the season's end, but a symbol of life's ephemeral beauty, a heartbreaking spectacle of life and death played out in nature's grand theater. Yet, within this melancholic tableau, there was a promise of danger whispering in the autumn breeze.

"Aurora! If you don't want to be late you better get moving." The girl shuffled away from her foggy window, her blonde hair longer and fuller as the unnatural curls danced along her back.

Upon her movement, the fluffy white cat — conveniently named Mango — jumped from the window seat and weaved her way through Auroras legs. The blondes long white skirt dragging along the cats body, making the girl laugh before bending down to pick the cat up.

The animal meowed once before settling into Auroras wool-covered arms. Her soft pink cardigan hung a few inches past her skirts waist line, as the girl managed to slip on her black loafers with just one hand.

Once she had finished, she kissed Mangos head twice, running her hand across her body, before laying the cat on her bed. The cat meowed in anger, and rubbed its face along Auroras hip before jumping off the bed in annoyance. Aurora grinned as she rifled through her coin drawer, finding an abundance of quarters, which she had acquired from chores — which included cleaning under the couch, where she found a lot of coins — and extra allowance her aunts gave for reasons like this.

Once she found an enough change, equaling over ten dollars, she left her room. The coins bouncing in her purse as she jumped off the last step of stairs, grinning as her aunts who slightly scolded the girl.

Halloween was only two days away, and Aurora hadn't finished her outfit. But she didn't really mind, she knew everything was going to come together.

"Rory?" The girl turned her head towards her aunts, focusing on Merryweather who had spoken. "Please remember to be careful, and if you don't feel comfortable riding home, lock your bike up and have Joyce drive you."

Aurora nodded, "Of course! Am I okay to go, I wanna beat Lucas there."

Mary nodded before holding her hand up, "Here you go," the woman placed a handful of quarters in her palm, causing Aurora to grin.

The blonde hugged all of her aunts before placing the quarters in the small pouch hanging from her shoulders. She ran outside, quickly hoping on her pink and white bike, the streamers flowing in the wind as she pedaled quickly. The amount of times she had ridden on her bike in a skirt taught her how not to get it caught in the gears.

Pedaling through the neighborhood, the cool, crisp air of fall brushed against the Auroras face. Leaves, painted in hues of fiery reds and golden yellows, crunched under the bike's tires. The rhythmic whir of the bike chain echoed through the quiet streets, harmonizing with the distant sound of children shouting with each other. Aurora grinned as she passed Mikes house, before turning onto the main road.

The arcade was a straight shot from there, Aurora pulling in just a few minutes before Lucas, which the girl would rub in his face. She pushed her bike into a holder before securing it with a lock she had gotten for her birthday over the summer. As she obnoxiously waived at the three boys who pulled in after her.

"How did you beat us?" Lucas scoffed as a horn sounded from the parking lot, Aurora waved at Mrs. Byers who waved back. "What's your haul?"

"I don't know," Aurora shrugged as she heard the car door slam, "I think a lot, I just grabbed my coin pouch and Mary gave me a couple bucks too."

"What?" Dustin looked starstruck as the girl answered.

Aurora laughed as Mike — who had grown obnoxiously taller over the past summer, and now stood almost a head and a half over Aurora — slung an arm over her shoulder and the group walked into the arcade. Who was she kidding, almost the entire party had hit a growth spurt, leaving all of them towering over her, while Aurora still stood at only four feet nine inches. Will was the only one who was a reasonable height, still only standing a few inches above the girl.

"I'll um, be right back." Aurora told Mike, before slipping under his arm and running towards the bathroom, Will following close behind.

"Did he ask you?" The boy was almost jumping in his feet looking at the girl. Will was the only boy that knew of Auroras infatuation with Mike Wheeler, Aurora had told him everything as soon as he had woken up. Will had always been their cheerleader from when he realized years ago.

Aurora sighed, "No, but I keep thinking he might! I mean he acts like," Aurora motioned towards the boy, "like he just did but then some days he acts like I have the plague."

"Didn't he kiss you?" Will asked.

"Yes!" Aurora shouted just a bit louder than she intended, "oops, but yes he did! And then every time I tried to talk to him about it he refused to address it, always changing the subject. I don't know what to do."

Will sighed, glancing back at Mike, "I know you don't want to hear this, but try to ignore him. Don't act like it bothers you and then, he'll come back. If he likes you he always will."

Aurora nodded, "Anyways, I've got a Donkey Kong high score to keep!"

"You sure about that?" Keith spoke up as Aurora and Will rejoined the party, Mike sending her a questioning glace only for her to ignore it entirely.

"Sure about what?" Dustin asked, panicking slightly.

Keith placed another chip in his mouth, grinning as Dustin pushed past the party towards Centipede and Dig Dug, both games happened to be right next to each other. Donkey Kong being on the opposite side of the row.

Aurora went to her pride and joy. The girl had held the high score on Donkey Kong from the fourth grade, with a score of 809,765 points, almost a world record, it took her over a year to get to that point. So when she approached the video game, her heart dropped to her stomach when she read the high score.

1ST         900087       MADMAX
2ND        809765          AURORA

"What!" Dustin and Aurora examined at the same time, thought the boy was more aggressive, slamming his hand down on the game.

"Thats impossible!" Mike exclaimed as he looked over at Auroras screen, looking at the almost one hundred thousand point difference between both of the scores.

"Who is Mad Max?" Dustin shouted, and Aurora turned, nodding at the words.

"Better than both of you." Aurora scoffed at Keith's words.

"Is it you?" Aurora almost giggled at Wills question.

"Puh-lease," she annunciated the word, "Keith despises Dig Dug, and he couldn't even get over twenty thousand on Donkey Kong."

"Then who is it!" Lucas asked in place of the disappointed girl on his left.

"Yeah, spill it Keith." Dustin agreed, glaring at the boy.

"You want information," he had stuffed another Cheeto in his mouth, the dust falling out as he spoke, "I need something in return."

"No, no, no!" Mike shook his head, "No way. You're not getting a date with her."

"Mike! Come on just get him the date."

"I'm not prostituting my sister!"

"But it's for a good cause." Lucas shrugged, as Will nodded his head rapidly.

"No, don't get him the date. Know what?" Dustin pushed Mike to the side, "He's going to spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family."

"Acne isn't in a rash and it isn't contagious, you pubescent wastoid." Keith scoffed.

"Please Keith!" Aurora pleaded.

"Well if you insist," Keith groaned, as the group let out an excited cheer before he scoffed. "No, you suck. You figure it out."

Aurora rolled her eyes before turning back to the boys, only to find three of the four there. "Um, where Will?"

The party exclaimed before leaving their separate ways to go and find the boy. Aurora went outside first, Mike was clear behind her as he cut her off, "Will, you okay?"

The boy stood outside a second longer, staring at the spinning arcade sign before nodding and heading back in, with the promise to take back their high scores.

Aurora was the only one of the friends to actually enjoy playing Donkey Kong, so she got the game to herself, as she played. Each time never fully getting close enough to beat the high score, though she did beat her personal record, scoring a total of 834,569 points.

Lucas had bought her a slushy for that win. Dustin never got close enough either, never beating his previous record either, but they all left the arcade in a rather good mood.

Will had been picked up, and Dustin was ready to race the girl to his street as they rode. So far, 1984 was going to end on good terms for the party, and Aurora was finally excited.

⋆ ★ ⋆

MORNINGS WERE THE WORST for Aurora, she didn't like her new classes. The only upside to her eighth grade year was she had a class with Mr. Clarke again. Except, that was the only class she got to see her friends. Aurora had taken a placement test the summer before and was pushed into most ninth grade classes, all of them except science, the test Aurora purposefully had failed just so she could be with her friends.

So as Mr. Clark spoke about the brain, Aurora glanced out the window. She didn't have someone sitting right next to the window so it was easy to look out without seeming creepy. The trees had started their pattern of gracing the ground with their decaying leaves, as the temperature cooled down significantly.

She already knew about the brain, her aunts had taught her a lot over the summer about what Dr. Brenner had done to her brain, which involved a lot of studying about the human brain.

It was stupid, she had failed her science placement test to stay with her friends only to be shoved to the back — far away from them.

Aurora only glanced away from the window when the door opened, their principal entered with a girl. She had fiery red hair, a red jacket on and blue jeans. She looked extremely annoyed and embarrassed as Mr. Clarke asked Dustin to begin a drumroll.

"Class," Mr. Clarke started energetically, "please welcome all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity, voyage, Maxine!"

"It's Max," The redhead spoke, glancing at her teacher.

"Sorry?"

"Nobody calls me, Maxine." Max rolled her eyes, "it's Max."

"Ah," Mr. Clarke nodded as he gestured towards the open window seat next to Aurora. "All aboard Max!"

The partys eyes all followed her as she walked towards her seat, Aurora rolling her eyes before Mike mouthed something to her, MADMAX.

Well, science just got interesting.

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( LET ME SPEAK : )

i love max and roryyyyy they're literally
going to be besties and when el comes
the dramaaaaaa omg i LOVE IT!!!

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves