Sardines

Mike didn't really care if he moved to a new town. To him it didn't make any difference if he had no friends in this new town, because he wasn't leaving any friends in the old town.

This new place was called Hawkins, his dad had gotten a job in some lab that was here. Mike figured that instead of sleeping on the La-Z-boy at home, he'd be sleeping on some cushy office chair at the lab. Either way he'd be sleeping his life away. Mike wondered if his dad knew how many kids he'd had. He was sure that he didn't know about Holly.

After the moving truck had pulled away the whole family had been exhausted after a full day of unpacking so they'd ordered out for pizza they had fallen asleep on the newly put together beds.

Mike had too much nervous energy. He would have been lying to himself if he'd said he he wasn't interested in the group of kids that were sitting on the lawn next door.

It looked like three guys and a girl, they were occasionally glancing his way. A new kid in town always drew a certain amount of curiosity for neighbourhood kids.

Mike tried not to look too often and concentrate on his D&D manual. He didn't know who he'd play with, but he always found solace in the intricate rules of the game.

They weren't exactly ignoring him, but they weren't coming over to talk to him either. Mike wasn't really good at meeting new people. He didn't think of himself as a good judge of character. In the past he'd tried to be friends with a few people, but they turned out to be little assholes within the first day of talking to him so he hadn't bothered with them again.

He'd had a crush on a girl in the last town he lived in, but she never knew and Mike was too shy to even let her know. I'll be single until I'm ninety, Mike thought to himself. He couldn't keep his hair neat, it always seemed to be a chaotic dark mop. He hadn't lost his pale freckles yet. One thing was for sure, girls were not tripping over themselves to come over and talk to him.

Mike gave a deep sigh. Yup. New town, same old shit.

The last time he looked over at the kids, they were all looking at him. The curly haired one waved him over. Mike just looked at them. He was waved over again.

Mike jumped up and ran over.

The guy with the curly hair said, "see Lucas, I told you he was reading the Dungeon Masters Guide."

He looked at Mike and said, "I'm Dustin, I'll be your Bard. This is Lucas, your Ranger. Our Cleric Will isn't with us today, the annoying redhead is Max, she's your Zoomer."

Mike got his back up, "that's not even a real thing."

"It could be." Max said, she was sitting close to Lucas.

"Like I said, annoying," Dustin continued, "but, not our problem, she's Lucas's girlfriend… and the quiet one is El. She's our Mage."

Mike looked at what he thought was the other guy, but it was a girl. She had buzzed hair, doe eyes that made Mike's heart quiver a little. Her shy smile almost knocked Mike off his feet. He sat down because he didn't think his knees would hold him up anymore. Mike didn't do it on purpose, but he seemed to sit a lot closer to her than a brand new acquaintance probably should.

She didn't seem to mind.

"I'll be your Paladin." Mike meant that for the group, but he was only looking at El when he said it. She turned red and nodded slightly.

"Ok," she said in a hushed voice, "you will be my paladin."

Max rolled her eyes at Mike. "oh, here we go. There El, you see, boys will talk to you." El's face reddened another shade or two. Mike just gave her his "it's ok" smile.

"We were just about to play Sardines, are you in?"

"What's sardines?"

"It's like a reverse hide and seek. One of us goes to hide, and each person that finds the first one, hides with them. Obviously it will get to the point where the second last person is going to have a hard time hiding in the same place 'cause everyone is crammed in the spot like sardines...get it? . Last person to find the group loses and gets to do the hiding the next round."

"Ok," Mike smiled, "I'm in." Sitting really close to El would not be the worst thing he could think of. Max on the other hand…

"Ok, El will start first, she's good at being quiet and hiding. Ok, El?"

She nodded and stood up, smiling at Mike.

"Ok everyone," Dustin said, "hide your eyes and count to one hundred."

They counted.

"...99 ...100. Ok split up." Dustin said.

Mike ran off in the direction behind his house. He dropped off his book, and has he went around to the back yard he saw the half height tool shed. It wasn't very big, probably empty, and he thought it would make a good hiding spot.

He opened it up, the hinges creaked a little from disuse. El's large eyes looked up at him. His heart fell when he saw that she'd been crying.

"Are you ok, El?"

She hesitated and nodded. "I'm ok… now"

Mike tried to crawl in with her, but he didn't quite fit. "Hmmm, let me think" Mike really wanted to sit close to her. Finally his face brightened.

"Oh, I know, hold your left arm out, ok, that frees up enough space for me to squish myself in there. Um, uh, my right arm is going to have to go around your shoulders, is that ok?"

She looked at him with another shy smile and nodded.

Once they were in place, Mike closed the tool shed door. El's arm was around his waist, and his arm was over her shoulder. Their sides were pressed up against each other. Comfortably. One thing was for sure. Nobody else was getting in there with them.

"This is a first for me. I'd never thought I'd move to a new town and have my arms around a pretty girl the very first day." Mike could feel his face burning.

In a whisper he heard El say, "you think I'm pretty?"

"Uh, yeah… pretty… really pretty." Mike thought he might as well get that out there right now. Better to be shot down in flames now, instead of pining for her for a whole year without her knowing.

Kind if fast for you isn't it Mike? He thought to himself. New town, let's try something different for a change. He'd never pursued a girl before. He'd always worshipped from afar. That had never worked for him.

The sun hung low in the sky creating shafts of light through the tool shed. He followed one of the shafts that fell on El's beautiful eyes, one had shed a tear.

Mike turned his head and looked forward so she wouldn't feel self-conscious.

He felt her move, and then a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you Mike."

"I meant it El. Friends Don't Lie. And we're friends now."

"Ok… I won't lie to you either… I think you are…," she was struggling with the word, "... handsome. I never thought I'd have my arms around a boy. Ever."

And now Mike's face was on fire.

No girl had ever said that to him.

"Um, El?"

"Yes, Mike?"

"I don't think they're going to find us. Uh, I don't think I want them to."

"Neither do I."

"If it's ok, we'll just wait here until everyone goes home. I'll walk you home when the sun goes down." Mike didn't want her walking alone at night. Not even in a quiet town like Hawkins where he'd heard that nothing ever happens.

"I'd like that." Mike could not see El's full smile in the waning light that was losing its battle to enter the tool shed.

"Um, El? Where you crying just before I found you?"

"Yes. I don't like small dark spaces. Or being alone in them."

"It's ok, I'm here with you now. Um, maybe we shouldn't play this game. Nothing where you have to be in a small space. Next time we're all playing game, I'll make sure, ok?"

"Thanks Mike."

He figured they'd been sitting with their arms around each other for over two hours. They didn't talk, they just enjoyed each other's company. Every now and then he felt El squeeze his waist a little, and he would squeeze her shoulders back, a little. Then they would both sigh. It was now dark out, and neither one really wanted to leave and disturb the sense of peacefulness they felt.

"I should get you home, your parents will be worried if you are out after dark."

"It's just me and my dad Mike, he knows I'm with friends."

"Still, I'll feel better if you are home safe."

El smiled in the dark. "Ok."

"Ordinarily I would let the lady out first, but we are squeezed in here, so I think if we just reverse the order we entered."

Mike opened the tool shed door and crawled out. The night air was cool. He helped El get out of the shed, and could see she started shivering. He took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders.

"It's cold now that we aren't sharing body heat."

El giggled, "you were nice and warm."

Mike looked down smiling. He really liked this girl and he didn't know anything about her.

"C'mon, I'll walk you home." He started walking, and within a few yards realized he didn't know where she lived.

El grabbed his hand, and pulled him in the direction of her house. Somewhere along the line their fingers intertwined, if either had noticed they kept it to themselves.

El's house was behind his parents house on the next street over. He could probably see her window from his if he looked.

They were walking towards the porch stairs of El's house, when a deep voice said, "she's good at hiding isn't she?"

Both El and Mike jumped. "Hi dad, Mike is the only one who found me."

"I know. The rest of the party, that's what they're calling themselves, said if you decided to come home I should tell you that you two won."

El looked at Mike than at her dad, "yes, I won the prize."

Hopper just rolled his eyes at his daughter, he looked over at Mike and growled. "You treat her with respect. Are we clear?"

Mike answered him, but was looking at El, "I promise."