Chapter 1: August 31, 1985 Back to School Shopping

"Okaaa-ay, let's see, we've got #2 pencils, two-pocket folders, spiral notebooks, eraser, calculator, uuuuhh." Hopper paused squinting at the list in the middle of the school supply aisle at Hawkin's General store. "Kleenex? What the hell do you need Kleenex for?"

El's eyes scanned the supplies lining the shelves taking it all in. Pencil pouches and binders and notebooks, and glitter pens —she'd never seen anything like it. Over Hopper's grumbles and groans surveying the list, she had excitedly placed each item in the basket.

"She needs a lunchbox," Mike rounded the corner holding up five different hard plastic and soft vinyl lunch boxes. "Which one do you like, El?" El's eyes lit up as she hurried over to Mike touching each one with her hand; a Star Wars one with Luke and Leia hunched and ready for battle, a comic book one, an ET one, one with horses and sparkles and rainbows, and a plain green and white striped one.

"Kid, she doesn't need a—," Hopper groaned as El deftly placed the Star Wars lunchbox into the basket against Hopper's protest. Mike beamed and hurried back around to the other aisle to return the other lunch boxes. El turned back to the school supply aisle scanning the contents carefully, taking everything in slowly.

This wasn't her first foray out into the main town of Hawkins. Over the summer, Hopper had slowly but surely let her wander farther and farther from the double-wide on the lake. They had moved back into the double-wide at the beginning of the summer. Baby steps, Hopper had called them. Testing the waters, he'd said under his breath as they unpacked the minimal boxes they brought back from the cabin. The rest of the summer was spent decorating El's room, making the double-wide more homey and warm with hand-drawn pictures courtesy of the party (mainly Will). New rugs and blankets adorned most surfaces while picture frames were scattered around every part of the house. They were slowly filled with familiar faces; faces of the party crowded around the gaming table in the Wheeler's basement; Joyce and Jonathan beaming in their backyard while tilling their new garden; Will and El laughing at the Hawkins carnival with popcorn shared between them; Mike and El wedged close on the ferris wheel (Joyce had bullied her way onto the platform in front of them, snapping a quick picture with Jonathan's Canon before being ushered away by the irritable carney); Hopper standing behind El with his hands on her shoulders, her hands reaching up to cover his and smiling broadly up at him; Steve, with a mouth full of pizza with Dustin laughing and pointing beside him while Steve unsuccessfully reaches for the camera snapping the shot; El and Max holding sparklers on the fourth of July, wide and mischievous grins on their faces; Lucas steadying El on his bike as she pushes the first pedal down uncertainly with Mike just off to the side with his hands deep in his pockets and a downturned frown of worry on his face.

Memories of their first real summer together.

And now, it was the first day of 8th grade tomorrow and El was being allowed to start with the rest of the party despite the one year warning from Dr. Owens. Mike had been the volleying cry in that discussion: "That's so stupid! She'd start in January then, that's already halfway through the year! She'll make more of a scene showing up halfway through than just starting with the rest of us anyway!"

Hopper couldn't deny that logic, but he had still been restrictive with curfews and rules when entering school:

1. Stick with the party when at all possible. Never be left alone.

2. Hopper would drive her to and from school—no biking.

3. No afterschool activities until next year, that meant no AV club with the boys.

4. When at school and out in public, it's always Jane, never El and definitely never Eleven.

5. At least for the fall, if anything fishy starts happening, she'd be yanked from school right away.

El had listened to these with a narrowed gaze across from the kitchen table, much like she had listened in the cabin to the Not Stupid rules after Hopper found her. She tried negotiating some of the terms: But what about the arcade? Or if I want to do with homework with Mike after school?

"We'll see, but for now, these are the rules. If you can't follow them then we'll have to revisit the option for school. Got it?" He tapped a finger lightly on the page with the written rules. She nodded, her gaze softening as she reread them in her head.

"Okay, last but not least, a backpack. Hey, kid you got any old backpacks El could use?" Hopper glanced around the list at Mike who was having El choose what binder she wanted. They were discussing the merits of a plain colored one that she could decorate herself versus one covered in stars and glitter.

"She needs to pick her own backpack. It's half the fun of actually school supply shopping. Come on, El, I'll show you where they are." He grabbed her hand softly and she slid the sparkly starred binder into the basket giving Hopper a reassuring look. Hopper pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled sharply. He knew having Mike come to help pick out stuff was going to cost him.

He rounded the corner and watched as Mike helped El try on a backpack that was pastel tie-dyed with greens, blues, pinks, and yellows. She beamed, nodding her head emphatically at Mike when he asked if she liked it. He knew she would.

A smile stretched over Hopper's face, "Looks good kid." El was buzzing with excitement. They carried their purchases to the counter and Joyce clasped her hands in delight as she rang them out, tacking on her family discount, and commenting on the beautiful backpack and her Star Wars lunch box ("Great choice!"). Hopper mouthed a quiet 'thank you' to Joyce before leaning his back against the door and pushing it, holding it open as Mike, laden down with bags, and El gripping her new backpack, slipped through and piled into the chief's truck.

Back at the double wide, El spread all of her school supplies out on her bed. Mike perched at the head of her bed, sharpening her pencils and dropping them into her pencil bag chattering away about school assemblies, the cafeteria, and the best way to get to the AV room without being spotted by mouthbreathers. She kneeled in front of her bed, listening carefully and pulling out singular sheets of loose leaf paper, laying them one by one into her binder. Mike grinned, watching her:

"You excited?"

"Very much." El nodded keeping her eyes glued on centering each of the papers holes over the rings before sliding it on.

"You're going to do great. With all the practice we've been doing. They're going to love you. It will finally feel real, having you there."

"I think so too." She breathed out happily glancing at Mike. He hadn't looked away from her since he started talking. Her breath caught in her throat and he smiled lopsidedly before resuming his sharpening task.

Hopper knocked on the open bedroom door, leaning in the doorframe: "30-minute warning Wheeler, then we got to take you home. It's a school night."

El's lips twitched into an ecstatic smile. Not once had that excuse been levied at her and now, she was like the rest of them. She wouldn't just have to hear their stories from afar about the gossip factory that was Hawkins Middle, she'd actually be there, in the thick of it, holding onto Mike's hand and navigating those halls, clutching her textbooks, and actually feeling 13.

That's what it would be like, she was certain.