The next time Max saw her was outside the school, a few days later. The gray sky hung low, matching the heavy mood Hawkins couldn’t quite shake. Max had been sitting on the steps near the side entrance, headphones on but music low, just enough to drown out the world without fully leaving it.

And then there she was again hood up, shoulders hunched, walking alone with a notebook clutched to her chest like armor. She paused when she saw Max, her eyes flicking toward the headphones, unsure if she should say something or keep walking.

Max slipped one earbud out.

“Hey,” she said.

The girl gave a small nod, her fingers tightening on the notebook. “Hey.”

There was an awkward beat, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable. It felt… tentative. Like they were both waiting to see if this quiet understanding between them had survived the silence.

“You skipping sixth period too?” Max asked, gesturing to the stairs beside her.

She hesitated, then sat down.

They didn’t talk about anything big. Not that day. Max offered her one earbud, and she accepted it. They sat shoulder to shoulder, listening to a Pixies song that Max figured she might not even like. But the girl didn’t complain. She just listened, the corner of her mouth twitching up ever so slightly.

And that small smile did something strange to Max’s chest.

Later, as the bell rang and students began flooding out the doors, Max glanced over at her.

“What’s your name?” she finally asked.

The girl turned toward her, her voice low but clear.

She told her.

Max repeated it under her breath like a secret.

From that day on, they started finding each other in the moments in between. During assemblies. After classes. Sitting on the edge of gym bleachers while the rest of the world spun too fast to care.

Max didn’t say the word for what she was feeling not yet. It was too raw, too new. But when their hands brushed one day and neither of them pulled away, something clicked.

She still felt broken. Still scared. Still angry and grieving and unsure if she deserved any softness.

But she also felt drawn in by someone who didn’t expect her to be anything but honest. And that more than anything felt like the beginning of something worth holding on to.