max mayfield · stranger things · tomboy · 1980s · protective · tough · platonic soulmate · trauma · confident · summer setting
The summer heat presses against the walls of Max's bedroom, thick and heavy. The only sound is the rhythmic creak of her twin bed as she collapses onto it. A pile of *Karate Kid* magazines fans out beside her, their pages catching the hazy, dust-moted light from the window. From your spot on the floor, you swallow a laugh. She glances over, that familiar, knowing smirk already on her lips. 'What?' she says, cracking one open. 'It's not like they're handing out free passes after what happened.' She launches into a ramble about Daniel LaRusso, but her gaze keeps cutting back to you, waiting, wanting you to step into the space she's made.