Hopper remembered that El had mentioned wanting to ride a roller coaster one time, so for her 15th birthday, he had an idea.
"So, I was thinking. Your birthday is coming up," he casually mentioned over their dinner one evening.
El nodded excitedly. He had her complete attention now. She had never really celebrated her own birthday because, until this year, she didn't even know when it was. Hopper did some digging earlier in the year and found out that her birthday was officially June 29, 1970. She had asked if she could have a party, which months ago, he had said yes to.
"I know I said you could have a party, but I thought of something else we could do. If you wanted," he began.
El was a little disappointed because she had really been looking forward to having a party with her friends.
"What is it?" she asked anyway, with skepticism.
"So there's this place called Kings Island in Ohio. It's an-"
"Amusement park!" El exclaimed interrupting him. "I remember. The Brady Bunch went there," she continued.
"Yeah, so, I was thinking, if you wanted to, I could take you there for your birthday."
El's eyes lit up and she jumped up from the table. She ran over, knocking him back in his chair with a hug.
"Yes! I want to go, yes!"
"Okay, okay," he laughed. "You can bring one friend," he added after she sat back down.
"Mike! I want to bring Mike!" she said without any hesitation.
"Are you sure? Maybe you and Max could have a girl's day," he suggested. In no other circumstance would he want to be involved in a girl's day, but it would be better than spending an entire day with two love sick teenagers.
El shook her head no. "I definitely want to bring Mike. When are we going?" she asked.
"Your birthday is on a Saturday this year, so we can go on your actual birthday," he explained.
"That's in…" El thought about what today's date was and counted the days until June 29. "10 days!" she beamed.
"Yeah, 10 days," Hopper agreed.
El gobbled the rest of her food, even the mushy peas, so she could call Mike to tell him the good news.
Mike was almost as excited as El. He had never been to Kings Island either, but he had gone to Holiday World before and it was a lot of fun. It would be even more fun with El.
Every day when El woke up, she crossed off one of the days on her countdown calendar. It was the longest 10 days ever. Hopper had explained that because Kings Island was over three hours away in another state, they would be staying in a hotel for the night afterwards. El had also never stayed in a hotel before so that just increased her excitement.
Mike spent his days mowing neighbor's lawns for cash, even though Hopper had told Karen he would pay for everything. Mike still wanted to have some money for fun stuff, plus, he had been saving to get El's birthday gift.
Hopper finally convinced Joyce to go with them too. Though her and Hopper weren't officially together, they more or less co-parented El and spent a lot of time with each other. Mutually enjoyable time at that. And he really didn't want to be the only adult on this trip.
Hopper had also hoped Will would want to tag along too so it wouldn't be just El and Mike, but ultimately Will decided that he would stay home with Jonathan. He didn't want to be the third wheel, even though the two of them promised over and over that he wouldn't be.
When Hopper came home from work on Friday, he found El in her bedroom, packing her suitcase. He had told her it was going to be hot and they would be walking a lot, so she would want to wear something comfortable. She already had her Saturday morning clothes laid out on her bed, a no sleeve, white romper that had four colored buttons down the middle and a thin purple belt around the waist.
"Is this good clothes?" El asked pointing at the outfit. The only part she wasn't sure about were the shoes. Her white Converse had certainly seen better days, but she hoped they would hold up. She really wanted to wear them.
"Yeah, sure. It's fine," Hopper agreed. El didn't stop talking about how excited she was all night. She asked Hopper about all the rides that would be there, and he had to repeatedly tell her that they would have to wait and see because he had never been there either.
Hopper was glad when 9 pm came and he could finally send her to bed because she would have to get up early the next morning. El knew that, but she still couldn't sleep; she was far too excited about the next day, about her birthday. It was finally around midnight when she crashed, though she was awake already at 6:00 AM when Hopper came in to get her up.
"Happy Birthday, kid," he told her, turning her lamp on. He sat down next to her on the bed and handed her two wrapped packages.
"Presents?" El grinned, quickly sitting up. He nodded, and she eagerly tore the first one open.
She pulled out a pink fanny pack. It had a purple and teal compartment on the front, and a larger zipper along the top. "Thank you!" El squealed. She had always wanted a fanny pack.
"Open it up," Hopper instructed.
El pulled out a twenty-dollar bill from the larger pocket.
"AND money?!"
"That's so you can buy a souvenir or whatever," he explained.
"Sou-ven-ir?" El pronounced carefully.
"Yeah. A souvenir is something that you get when you go someplace special that you want to remember."
El nodded, carefully placing the money safely back in her fanny pack; she knew she would want to remember this day. "Can I open the other one too?" she asked, picking up the second box.
"Of course. They are both for you."
El ripped open the next one and found a shoe box. She opened it and pulled out a brand-new pair of white Converse high tops. El dropped the box on the bed and climbed out of the covers to hug Hopper. "Thank you," she whispered, already feeling overly emotional and her birthday had just started.
"You're welcome, kid. I wasn't sure your old shoes would get you through the day," he laughed, patting her back. "Ready to eat breakfast? We've gotta get going soon."
El pulled away, and he thought he saw her wipe a tear off her cheek, but still, she was smiling.
El ate both Eggos in under 2 minutes and carried her packed bag out to the front door. They were only going to be gone for one night, but she had packed extra clothes and sandals, just in case. She was already wearing her fanny pack around her waist. Hopper laughed at her eagerness and picked up their bags.
He drove to Joyce's house and they switched over to her car, since it would be better than the Blazer for the long trip.
El proudly showed off her new shoes and fanny pack to Joyce and Will.
Will went to his room and came back with a birthday gift bag. "It's from me, mom, and Jonathan," he explained handing it to her. El pulled out the tissue paper to reveal something that she recognized. It was a small hand-held camera and 2 rolls of film.
"This is for me?" she asked incredulously.
Will nodded with a smile. "Thank you so much!" El said, giving both Joyce and Will a hug. "And tell Jonathan thank you too."
She ran to show Hopper and insisted on taking a picture with Will, who was still in his pajamas.
"I wish you were coming," El said sadly before they left.
"It's okay. You and Mike are going to have a lot of fun. And now you can take pictures, so I can see them all later. I'm…kind of scared to ride roller coasters anyway," Will revealed.
"Well, maybe next time," El said hugging him goodbye.
Hopper transferred their bags to Joyce's car, and the three of them pulled up to the Wheeler house just before 7 o'clock. El ran inside and gave Mike a huge hug when she saw him. "Happy birthday," he told her hugging her back.
"Thank you," El smiled up at him, giving him a quick kiss. She pulled her camera out of her new fanny pack and also showed him her new, white shoes.
"I uh, got you something too," Mike said, nervously handing her a small box.
El gently tore away the paper, revealing a small jewelry box. She lifted the top open and saw gold chained necklace with a purple jewel.
"It's so pretty." El smiled.
"You like it?" Mike asked, looking embarrassed. It wasn't real gold, but it was all he could afford to get her. He wasn't sure if she would like it because she didn't wear a lot of jewelry.
"I love it," El answered, pulling it out of the box.
"It's your birthstone," Mike replied.
"What's a birthstone?"
"Every month of the year has a different colored gemstone. This one is for June," he explained.
"I'm glad I was born in June." El admired the shining purple jewel. "Thank you." She hugged him tightly. "I'm not going to put it on yet because I don't want to lose it on a roller coaster," she explained, tucking it carefully back into the jewelry box.
The kids said goodbye to Mike's parents and both ran out to the car.
El showed Joyce and Hopper her gift before she put it safely in her suitcase.
Though she knew that the car ride was going to be three hours, El didn't realize how long that was going to feel until they were about a half an hour in; she thought they would never get there.
"It always feels longer when you are excited for something," Mike explained to her.
They stopped at a gas station and Hopper let them pick out a road trip snack. El couldn't decide what she wanted, so she met Hopper at the checkout counter with everything she had wanted in her hands, expecting him to tell her to put it back. He laughed, and surprisingly let her put it all on the counter. She had picked plain M&Ms, Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, Pringles, and an Astro pop.
When they were back on the road, Joyce pulled out her Auto Bingo cards and handed one to each of the kids, promising a candy prize from the front seat for the winner.
El realized when she saw her tenth silo, just how boring Indiana and Ohio were. Corn fields and more corn fields. She'd only ever been out the state one time, but Hopper hadn't known about that yet, so she didn't mention that Chicago had been much more exciting to look at.
When the clock hit 10 AM, El knew they were almost there. The two kids in the back were both exploding with excited conversation about what they were going to ride first. El wanted to ride the roller coaster from TV, so they decided that would be their first stop. She wished she could remember what other rides she saw on the show, but she had been sick when she watched it and she'd never seen the episode again, so it was all kind of a fuzzy memory.
After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled in to a parking lot with a big sign that read Kings Island. "Mike, look!" El shouted, grabbing his arm.
"You can see the Eiffel Tower," Mike pointed.
"Maybe we should do that first," El said, unbuckling her seat belt to stick her head out the window. She took a picture of the sign while they waited to get in the entrance.
The sun was bright and already hot for a mid-summer morning. El grabbed her sunglasses out of her fanny pack and put them on. After they parked, she climbed out, ready to run inside.
"We all need to put sunscreen on," Joyce reminded them, digging through her jean backpack. She pulled a bottle of it out and everyone passed it around. By the time Hopper had purchased the tickets at the front gate, El was practically bouncing with excitement. She liked seeing all the other families there with kids just as excited as she was, and she could already hear screams coming from the roller coasters.
"Here you go." Hopper returned and handed everyone a paper ticket.
"Let's go!" El squealed.
The front gate attendant took their tickets and then El was finally inside Kings Island. It was even more exciting than she imagined. Right inside the front gate were enormous fountains and all kinds of little shops. People were everywhere, and it was much louder than she had anticipated. It was almost overwhelming. They stood just inside the front gate, and Hopper handed her the park map. El unfolded it, and her and Mike each held one edge, so they could look at the whole thing.
"There's the Racer," Mike said, pointing out the one thing that he El knew wanted to ride. "I think we are right here." He pointed at a spot near the bottom of the map. Joyce and Hopper stood behind the kids while they decided where to go. "We could stop at the Eiffel Tower on the way," Mike suggested.
El nodded, looking up at the tall blue structure. She remembered seeing it on The Brady Bunch episode, and it looked just like she imagined.
"Let's go." El folded the map and put it in her fanny pack before she took off, practically running.
"Hey, slow down kid," Hopper laughed. El turned around to see him already far behind. "You have all day," he reminded them.
"Can you just walk a little faster? Please," she added sweetly, trying to remember her manners. She took Mike's hand and they started walking, still faster than Hopper and Joyce, though she did look behind a few times to make sure they were still coming.
"They're really cute," Joyce smiled. Meanwhile, Hopper was pretending that it wasn't his kid in front of them, walking so close to a boy that she bumped into him with almost every step.
"Mm-hm," he groaned sarcastically.
They arrived at the Eiffel Tower and turned around to wait for Hopper and Joyce. El stared at all the water fountains, splashing loudly in front of them. She'd never seen anything like it; it was beautiful.
El got out her camera and asked if they could all take a picture in front of it. Joyce stopped another woman who agreed to take their photo. Had anyone looked on, they looked like one happy family.
"Alright, where's the line?" Hopper asked when their photo op finished.
"Line?" El repeated.
"Yeah, you have to wait in a line for your turn on the rides," Mike explained. That had been obvious to everyone else, but El hadn't considered that you couldn't just walk right up and get on everything the way it seemed on TV. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait too long to board her first amusement park ride ever. An elevator arrived to take them up to the top of the tower rather quickly. They squeezed in with a few other people, and it started moving. It was just like any other elevator she had been in, except when she stepped out, she was much higher than she'd ever been, and it was sort of windy way up there.
"This is higher than I thought," Joyce whispered uneasily to Hopper. She'd never been a big fan of heights.
Hopper wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I won't let you fall," he teased, as the entire platform had fencing completely around it to prevent anyone from falling.
El walked right over to the edge and looked out. "Wow, you can see all the rides," Mike commented following behind. They walked all the way around the square so El could take pictures of everything.
"C'mon Joyce. It's actually kind of cool," Hopper commented.
"No, Hop, I'm good right here," Joyce told him, though he dragged her a little closer to the edge anyway. She looked down at the ground, and then turned to bury her head against his chest, closing her eyes. "Mm-hm, really cool," she mumbled.
"Alright, alright," he laughed. They eased their way back towards the elevator to wait for the kids.
"I saw the roller coasters that go upside down!" El exclaimed when she found the two of them again. "Are you guys all done looking around?"
"Yeah, I think we're good," Hopper laughed, looking down at Joyce for confirmation.
"Do you not like heights Mrs. Byers?" Mike asked, realizing how uneasy she looked.
"Apparently not so much," she replied. She turned to look at the inside of the building, so she could forget about just how high up they were.
Once they were safely back on the ground, Mike and El directed them towards the racing roller coaster. On the way, El passed a spinning ride called the Monster; she tried to remember to come back to it later. She'd seen a lot of monsters in her life, but this one actually looked like it would be fun.
When they got to the Racer, Joyce agreed to ride it with them because it didn't look that big, and it was El's first real ride.
El thought she was just very excited, though she felt a strange feeling as they moved through the orange railed queues. She hung back and let Hopper walk ahead of her next to Mike. "Did being up high make your stomach feel kind of funny?" El asked Joyce quietly so the other two wouldn't hear her.
Joyce nodded. "Why? Does your stomach feel funny?"
"Yes," she said quietly, looking to Joyce to help her.
"You're just feeling a little nervous. It's normal before you get on a roller coaster, especially when you have never been on one before. But I really think you are going to like it," Joyce explained, taking her hand reassuringly.
"Okay," El agreed.
Though she tried to hide it, Hopper could see that El was growing apprehensive as they approached the station. "It's going to be fun," he promised her. El tried to nod confidently.
On this roller coaster, you had the option to ride on the forward train, or one that ran backwards. Since it was El's first time, they decided on the one that went forward. Her and Mike picked seats in the middle and sat down, getting strapped in. El adjusted her fanny pack over the lap bar, so her camera wouldn't get squished. She took a deep breath, while the ride operator explained the instructions.
"Ready?" Mike asked.
El smiled nervously and shook her head yes. Her breathing sped up, while the chain rattled underneath, pulling them up the first hill. El gripped the handle bar in front of her tightly.
"Here we go!" Mike yelled, as the train pulled over the top.
El never understood why everyone screamed on roller coasters, but as they were flying down the first hill, she found out that she couldn't help it. They sped down the track, going over hill after hill, before turning around at the end to come back. Mike looked over at El. "Do you like it?!" he yelled.
"Yes!" El screamed back. The nervous feeling in her stomach was replaced by another feeling, one that she really liked. She felt like she was flying, and it was awesome.
When they pulled back into the station, Hopper and Joyce turned around from their seats in front of the kids to see how El's first roller coaster went. Her hair was crazy, and she was laughing. "So you liked it?" Hopper asked.
"I want to go backwards now!" She smiled, pointing at the other train in the station.
"I'll take that as a yes," he laughed.
El and Mike rode on the backwards side twice, while Hopper and Joyce waited for them at the ride's exit.
Just as El was asking to ride again, Hopper reminded her that that were other roller coasters to ride too.
They had to wait almost an hour for their next ride, a standup roller coaster called King Cobra. El was so excited to ride one that went upside down. She wanted to ride this one with Hopper, so Mike rode with Joyce. El screamed the whole way, and even though her head rattled back and forth against the over the shoulder restraints, she still asked to ride it again when they got off. Mike and Hopper gave each other the same look. The standup aspect was apparently a little painful for the guys.
"It's getting kind of hot. Do you want to try one of the water rides?" Mike suggested hopefully instead.
"Oh yeah!" El answered, forgetting that there were rides where you got wet.
They stopped at the petting zoo on the way to the back of the park. El hand fed the baby goats, and she made Hopper take pictures of her with her new furry friends.
They also rode a giant swinging pirate ship called Viking Fury. All four of them were able to fit in one row of the ride together, which made El happy that she didn't have to choose who to sit with. She sat between Joyce and Mike. Joyce gripped the metal bar across their lap, while El felt brave enough to put her hands up, screaming as the ride went higher and higher each time. At one point, she thought they were going to go all the way around. When they got off, they walked past all the water fountains and back through International Street again.
"Are you ready for lunch?" Hopper asked.
"Lunch?" El asked grabbing Mike's wrist to look at his watch. She didn't believe that they had been there long enough for it to be lunch time already, but it was almost 1 o'clock. "I guess I am hungry," she agreed. She looked around at all the options, having a hard time deciding what to get. She finally settled on pizza. They ate under an umbrella table outside next to the fountains, and though they were currently sitting in the shade, it was still pretty hot. "I can't wait to ride the water rides," she told Mike.
Even though the two kids spent the entire time with the map in front of them planning out where they were going to go next, she still managed to finish her food before Hopper and Joyce.
She asked to go look around in one of the shops while they finished eating. Hopper felt strange letting her go off by herself, but they were so far from home that he figured it would be alright. Mike was there, and she was 15 years old. Hopper reminded her that she would have to carry around whatever she bought and recommended waiting until later that night until just before they left to buy something.
When Hopper and Joyce finished, they went in the shop to find Mike and El. El did find something she really wanted to get so she tried to remember what store they were at, so she could come back later to buy it.
On their way back towards Rivertown where the water rides were, they stopped to ride on the Smurf's Enchanted Voyage ride. It was an inside ride and presented a nice relief from the heat. Even though the ride was just silly animatronics and a little cheesy and boring, El loved it, so Mike loved it too.
El and Mike rode Kings Mills Flume, which was a smaller log ride, while Joyce and Hopper sat in the shade on a bench nearby, not really interested in getting soaking wet. The kids came running off laughing. They were barely even damp, so when they got to the larger log ride a few minutes later, Hopper and Joyce agreed to go on too, thinking a few drops of water wouldn't be too bad.
The line for this one was longer, forcing Hopper to have to watch the two kids together in line. He realized a clear difference between the kids and adults at that time. It was blazing hot and the last thing Hopper and Joyce wanted was another person's sweaty body hanging all over them. However, El didn't take her hands off Mike the entire time; she was always leaning on him, or holding his hand, or fixing his hair. Hopper had to commend Mike, as the kid just put up with it, never once even looking annoyed. He had a special kind of patience for El, something even Hopper didn't always have.
Before they got on the ride, El suddenly remembered about her camera, but Joyce promised her that it was safe in a plastic bag in her backpack. She came prepared in case of rain…or apparently, water rides.
After what seemed like an impossibly long wait, they all entered the rotating platform and made their way over to the next empty log boat. There was a divider in the center of the seats, so Hopper and Joyce took the back, while Mike climbed in with El in front. There was no seat belt, so El leaned back against Mike and he slid his hands around her waist, kind of hoping that Hopper wouldn't be able to see them. El turned her head back and smiled at Mike; she really liked this kind of ride.
Their boat started going up the hill, and all the water sloshed to the back, soaking Joyce and Hopper's feet. When they got to the top, it looked like they were almost in the tops of the trees. "Are you okay Joyce?" El yelled back to her. "We are up kind of high!"
"I'm good sweetie," Joyce laughed, though she leaned back against Hopper. His hands wrapped around her, much like the two in the front seat.
"Still won't let you fall," Hopper promised her softly.
"Thanks," Joyce mumbled back. The boat lazily drifted through the canal, splashing El occasionally when it bumped into the sides.
"Kind of relaxing up here huh," Hopper joked, knowing relaxing was not the word Joyce would use to describe it.
Soon El could see the big drop coming, and it almost looked like it was straight down. She thought this ride was scarier than the others because she didn't have any type of restraints, so she wrapped her arms around her body, holding on to Mike's hands. She squealed and closed her eyes as they went down. Then she heard the enormous splash of water around them and their boat bumped along the bottom of the hill.
El opened her eyes and burst out laughing along with everyone else. They were all wet, but somehow, being in the front had saved El from most of it. She was the driest of them all. Since they figured they couldn't really get any wetter, the adults even agreed to ride White Water Canyon next, a raft style water ride.
Apparently, they were wrong.
The raft had three sets of two seats, so El sat next to Hopper this time. The ride started off gentle enough, with the big raft rolling along the river. But soon the current sped up, and they bounced over the rapids, water splashing over the sides and into their laps.
"Oh come on!" Hopper yelled, when him and El were hit a third time by a huge splash over the edge. Joyce and Mike laughed from their much drier side.
As they moved along, water splashed up from hidden cannons, causing everyone to yell in unison as they all got equally as drenched.
"I'm soaked!" Joyce laughed, looking down at her clothes.
"About time," Hopper smirked.
They stepped off the ride and adjusted their very wet clothes. Hopper grabbed the front of his shirt and wrung it out, amazed at just how much water hit the pavement. El and Joyce did the same with their hair.
As they were walking up the path to exit the ride, El noticed she had one problem. Perhaps white was the wrong color to wear on a water ride. She looked down at her romper and pulled it away from her body, hoping it would help. Once it laid flat again, the problem was back.
"Mike!" she hissed, jogging to catch up to him. "My clothes are see-through!"
Mike looked down at her and saw her light blue underwear now clearly visible through her clothes.
Yep, they were incredibly see-through.
Mike pulled her romper away from her wet skin just as El tried to do, but it clung right back on. Joyce and Hopper turned around when they noticed the kids falling behind.
"What's going on?" Hopper asked, watching Mike try to adjust El's clothes.
"Um, well," Mike called back. "We just have a little problem."
Hopper and Joyce approached the two of them and immediately saw what the problem was.
"Of course something like this would happen to my kid," Hopper sighed, running his hand through his soaking wet hair.
"I didn't know this was going to happen!" El argued, though she couldn't hold back a smile. El saw a group of people approaching and quickly moved to the side. Mike, being the good boyfriend he was, stood in front of her to block her from their view. "I have more clothes in the car, but we are all the way in the back of the park," said El.
"I could go get them," Joyce offered.
"No, no, it's fine. We'll just try to find something for you to put on over your clothes," Hopper reasoned. They all walked quickly to the first store they came to. It was a store dedicated to merchandise for a wooden roller coaster called the Beast. Hopper pulled a black t-shirt with the Beast logo on it off the rack and held it up to her. It was too short, so he switched it out for a bigger size. "This'll work," he finally decided.
After he paid for the shirt, El slid it on over her romper. "A souvenir!" El laughed. She looked a little ridiculous in the oversized t-shirt but it successfully covered her problem.
"Yep, your first souvenir," Hopper laughed in agreement. El asked Joyce for her fanny pack back and clipped it on around her waist outside the shirt. It almost looked like a fashionable dress. El asked another mom waiting with her young child in a stroller to take their picture in front of the Beast sign. Everyone was wet and disheveled, and she knew she would want to remember this part of their trip.
Since they were already at the roller coaster, they decided to get in line for the Beast next.
Most of the line was covered by a roof, so it was nice and shady. "At least we are all a lot cooler now," Joyce said to Hopper, not totally regretting the water rides.
As they approached the station, the line split off into two directions, one for the front and one for the back. "I heard the back is the fastest," El overheard the kids in front of them say.
"Do you want to ride in the back?" El asked Mike.
"Yeah. I mean, if you do," Mike responded. Almost all of the roller coaster was back in the woods and hidden from their view, so El wasn't sure what they were getting into, but she knew she wanted to ride in the faster seats.
When it was their turn, El and Mike buckled up in the very last seats of the train. "Let's put our hands up," she dared him. It seemed like the lift to the top of the first hill was extremely slow; it felt like it took 5 minutes. She started getting a little nervous, but she didn't want Mike to think she was scared so she kept her hands up. However, it lasted only until the tunnel at the bottom of the first drop for the both of them.
They came flying back out of it both gripping their lap bars. El was sure she was going to fly out if she didn't hold on as the train whipped and raced through the woods. The green leaves rushed past them, until the train finally slowed, going up a second hill.
"This ride is crazy!" El yelled over to Mike.
Going into the turn down the second hill started slow, but then the track banked, and the train turned almost sideways going into a tunneled double helix turn. El screamed as loud as she could, along with almost everyone else on the ride when everything went black in the tunnels.
Finally, the ride came to a slow stop before it reentered the station.
"I LOVE this ride!" gasped El to Mike.
"Me too!" Mike agreed. It was the best roller coaster he had ever been on.
"We have to ride it again!" She looked down at her shirt with the Beast logo on it. "And I'm really glad I have this shirt as a souvenir," she laughed. "Did you like it?" El eagerly asked Hopper and Joyce as they were exiting.
"It was a little rough," Joyce complained.
"Rough?" El asked.
"Yeah kid, just wait 'til you get old like us," Hopper cautioned. El wanted to ride it again, but Hopper reminded her that the last dolphin show for the evening would be happening soon, and she really wanted to see it.
It felt nice to finally sit down, and El loved watching the dolphins. She had never seen a dolphin in person before, and she decided that she wanted to be a dolphin trainer and work here when she got older. It looked like a lot of fun. By the time the show was over, everyone was nearly dry.
"You can probably take that shirt off now," Hopper told her.
El shook her head no. "I really like it," she smiled.
They left the dolphin show and rode some smaller rides like the Carousel and the Monster. El couldn't stop giggling on the Monster. Her and Mike's car spun and spun around, not stopping for the entire ride. Her hair flew back in the wind, and she was sure she never felt happier.
El even bribed Hopper into getting her a bag of cotton candy, though it wasn't that hard. Mike tried playing a couple of games, finally winning a stuffed Smurf for El that she carried for the rest of the night.
Eventually they ate dinner and soon the sun was setting. El picked up her pace again, moving quickly from ride to ride like she had when they first got there that morning.
El and Mike chose one last ride on the Beast as their last ride of the night. Hopper and Joyce weren't up for another ride on it, so El and Mike got to ride it alone, while Hopper babysat the Smurf. The kids ran straight to the back seat again, and El was sure the ride somehow went even faster now that it was dark out.
As they headed back up to the front of the park, El suddenly remembered that she didn't get any souvenirs yet.
"Don't forget, I still need to go to the store," she reminded Hopper. With her twenty dollars, El picked out a Kings Island picture frame and a ceramic mug. The picture frame was for her and the mug was for Hopper. Since souvenirs were for remembering, she wanted him to take the mug to work to drink coffee in.
"What'd you decide on?" Hopper asked when she finally came out. He was leaning against the building outside holding a large funnel cake with powdered sugar on it.
"I got this," she said pulling the picture frame out.
"Oh great idea," Joyce smiled. "I'm sure you'll have some perfect pictures to go in it."
"And this. For you," El said showing the mug to Hopper. It was white, with the Kings Island logo across the front.
"You didn't have to get me anything, kid."
"I know, but I want you to take it to work, so when you are there not having fun, you can look at it and remember how much fun we had today," she explained. "I'll carry it around," El added, remembering what he said earlier about having to carry your own souvenirs.
Hopper set the funnel cake down on the ledge of the building and gave El a hug. "Thanks, kid," he told her quietly.
"I had the best day ever," El told him. "It was the best birthday ever," she corrected after a moment. Even though she had nothing to compare it to, she was sure this really was the best birthday anyone has ever had.
"Well you have a lot more birthdays to come," he promised her. "And hey, it's almost time for the fireworks," he told her, pulling away. They found a table near the fountains and sat down, all sharing the enormous funnel cake while they waited. El was starting to get a little tired and giggly and couldn't stop laughing when Mike somehow got powdered sugar on his nose.
A woman selling light up necklaces walked past, and El ran up to her, deciding to use her last few dollars to get one for her and Mike. She took a picture of her and Mike, and then one of her and Joyce, and then one of her with Hopper. She even made Joyce and Hopper take a picture together too. She wanted to remember everything about this day.
Right at 10 o'clock, the fireworks started. El took a few pictures of them, but Hopper warned her that pictures of fireworks never looked as good as they did in person, so El put her camera away. She laid her head down on Mike's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her.
Her feet were sore, and she was started to get really tired now that they were sitting down, but she never wanted this day to end. When the fireworks ended, El saw everyone heading towards the front gate to go home. El sniffled, and Mike looked over at her.
"El, what's wrong?" he asked gently.
"C'mon kids," Hopper called back to the two of them, not noticing that El was having a moment.
"I – I don't want to leave," El cried. Mike wrapped both arms around her, hugging her tightly. He didn't like it when she cried.
"I know. I don't want to go either, but everything's closing," Mike said.
El tried to say something else, but only started crying harder. It made her feel really stupid because she was 15 now, and she knew teenagers didn't cry over their birthdays ending, but she couldn't help it. She'd been looking forward to this day and now it was almost over.
"El," Hopper called again, annoyed when he saw her and Mike still sitting at the table hugging each other.
El turned around and they could see now that she was crying. Joyce and Hopper walked back to the two of them. "She's just feeling a little sad about having to leave," Mike explained.
"Sweetie, I know," Joyce told her rubbing her back. "But maybe you can come back another time. It's really not too far from Hawkins."
El took a shaky breath. "And, I get to stay in a hotel tonight," El remembered, wiping her cheeks. She still had one thing to look forward to. "I'm sorry," El finally apologized after a minute.
"It's okay sweetie. Being in the sun all day just makes you extra tired," Joyce told her patiently.
"Do you need one last ride?" Hopper offered, holding his arms out.
"Really?" El laughed.
"Mm-hm. Hurry up before I change my mind."
El stood up and he hoisted her up on his hip, the way he'd carry a much smaller child. El wrapped her arms around him and laid her head down on his shoulder.
She also knew that 15 year olds didn't get carried out of amusement park by their dads, and especially not in front of their boyfriends. But her legs were very tired, and so she really didn't care. Mike carried her cotton candy and souvenir bag, while El held onto her stuffed Smurf.
"Please keep all hands and arms inside the ride at all times," Hopper announced, making El giggle as they headed towards the exit.
El picked her head up to look at the park one last time. She watched the Eiffel Tower get smaller and smaller the farther away they got. When they got back to the car, Hopper set her down and she climbed in. She moved over to the middle seat and laid her head down on Mike's shoulder, watching the park lights disappear out the window next to them.
It was a short ride to the hotel, but El had almost fallen asleep.
Joyce and Hopper left the kids in the car in front of the lobby while they checked in at the front desk.
"Happy birthday," Mike said to El once they were alone.
"It was the best birthday," El told him.
"I had a lot of fun today too," Mike said. "Hey, maybe we can go to the fair together next week," he suggested.
"Fair?"
"Yeah. It comes to Hawkins once a year around the 4th of July. It has rides and games and food and stuff. It's not as fun as Kings Island, but there are fireworks on the 4th of July and they are actually kind of good."
"I would like to go," El smiled up at him, pleased that she had something new to look forward to.
Hopper and Joyce came back out and they unloaded their bags from the trunk. They went inside while Hopper went out to park the car. The three of them took the elevator up to the second floor where their room was. Mike set his stuff next to the bed furthest from the door and El flopped down on it next to him. She opened her cotton candy and tore a big chunk off for Mike. Hopper sighed when he got to the room and saw the two of them on the same bed. "I was going to have her sleep with you," he explained to Joyce.
"Hop, look at them. They are totally exhausted," she said, stating the obvious. They were both laying down, lazily munching on the cotton candy, staring up at the ceiling. "It's just one night. You'll be right here next to them. Plus, it's her birthday," Joyce whispered.
"Well, not for much longer," Hopper argued, pointing to the clock.
"El, you should get changed for bed," he said. El didn't argue and disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes, not taking any of her stuff with her. She took off her romper and washed the sticky cotton candy off her hands.
She returned in just the Beast t-shirt that she had gotten that day and climbed under the covers before Hopper even had the heart to tell her that just a t-shirt was not appropriate pajamas, especially not if she would be sleeping with Mike.
Mike changed into his pajamas too and approached the bed El was laying on. "Is it okay if I sleep here?" he asked Hopper.
"Yes," El answered for him. Hopper rolled his eyes.
"It's fine," he finally grumbled. "But you both need to keep your hands to yourself tonight," he warned. Now El rolled her eyes and turned over, cuddling with her Smurf. Mike awkwardly climbed in bed, keeping an obvious distance from El. Hopper and Joyce changed their clothes and climbed in bed together too. They also hadn't slept in a bed with each other before, and he hadn't even thought about it up until now because he had planned for her to be sleeping with El instead.
"I had a good day too," Joyce whispered to Hopper once the lights were turned off. Though she couldn't hear what they were saying, El listened to them whispering back and forth for a few minutes, until they both grew quiet. She looked over and saw Hopper laying behind Joyce with his arm draped over her. She wondered why they didn't have to keep their hands to themselves.
El moved a little closer to Mike and rolled over on her stomach. She slid her foot and bare leg between his. After all, Hopper never said anything about keeping their other body parts to themselves.
"Night Mike," El whispered with a content sigh, wondering if he was even still awake.
"Night El," he whispered back.
El closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep with a smile, dreaming about her best day ever.