Heyyyyyy! So I just randomly got an idea for this story... it will most likely be a one-shot with a cliffhanger. However, I might continue it after Gone Gone Gone is finished. Speaking of that story, I am so sorry I haven't updated! I can't really write on the weekdays, this is just a rare occasion, and last weekend was really busy, so I never had the time to write/update it. But the new chapter will be up either Saturday or Sunday. Anyway, enjoy!

Mike tapped his pencil on the edge of his desk. It was the first day of senior year, and Mike was fed up with school. He was fed up with life. It had been 4 years since Eleven, and he grew more and more impatient each day. Sometimes Mike was even convinced it was all a dream. But it wasn't. He knew it wasn't. He still called her, every night. Although most of him had convinced himself that she was... dead, something, deep inside of him knew that she was still out there. Somehow. So he had called her. Every night.

Today was day 1,754. 1,754.

The teacher had written her name on the board in swirly cursive. Mrs. Lorel. She opened her mouth to speak, the door swung open. A girl walked in. She was wearing blue overalls over a gray t-shirt and button up flannel. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and reached down to almost her waist. Honestly, Mike didn't care. Until she turned around. Her eyes, a dark, chocolatey brown sparkled in the light. He recognized those eyes. Beautiful.

"What is friend?" El asked as she sat in the blanket fort, Mike kneeling in front of her.

No. It couldn't be. El was dead. The girl examined the classroom, looking around carefully. Then her eyes fell on Mike. She let out a little gasp, eyes widening. Mike blushed. Dustin sniggered beside him.

"Looks like the new girl has the hots for you, Mike," Dustin leaned over and whispered to him. He shook his head and looked down at his desk. But he couldn't stop thinking about those eyes.

"Everyone, meet our new student, Jane," the teacher announced to them in a loud tone that seemed to be commanding them to listen. "You can take any open seat," she told the girl, Jane, softly. Jane nodded and looked around for an open seat. Coincidentally, the only open seat happened to be in front of Mike. As she walked to take her seat, he heard Dustin and Lucas giggling. Mike rolled his eyes, and just kept tapping his pencil. 1,754 times. For 1,754 days.

Mike walked into the high school cafeteria, going towards the table that the 4 of them sat at since they had claimed it in freshman year. Lucas walked over to them from Max's table, blushing hard.

"Now two of us have girlfriends!" Dustin teased as Lucas sat.

"Shut up," Lucas grumbled. Mike had never let Max into the party, especially after even more time passed with El. The events of fall, 1985 were catastrophic. Somehow, they managed to close the gate. Nobody knew how. Hopper had said that he knew a way, and when he came back, the gate was shut. The one thing that Mike noticed that the rest didn't is that when Hopper pulled in the Byers' driveway, he had come from the opposite direction of the lab. After that, Mike had especially resented Max, saying that the other boys were using her as a replacement for El. In the end, the others realized that Mike would not give up. They stayed friends with Max, but she was never included in the party. Mike and Max hated each other with a burning passion. Mike had been sad and angry all the time after El went missing. He began to get into fights often and his grades dropped. He became arrogant and hot-headed. His temper and mood had improved slightly in the pst months, but he didn't talk often. When he did, it was only because no one else was saying it.

Mike looked up from his lunch and noticed that the new girl, Jane was standing in the cafeteria entrance, looking around for somewhere to sit.

"Maybe three of us now," Dustin whispered to Mike, finding his gaze, "If you invite her to sit with us."

"I'm not going to invite her to sit with us!" Mike responded, turning his attention back to his lunch.

"He didn't need to," Will murmured.

"Oh no," Lucas groaned. Mike looked up and saw Jane walking towards them.

"Do you mind if I sit?" she asked tentatively when she arrived at their table. Mike couldn't stop looking at those eyes.

"How about we call you El, short for Eleven?" he asked the girl, still not believing the bizzarity of it all.

No, he reminded himself firmly, El is DEAD.

"Yeah, sure!" Will said for them, always the sweet the group. She gave a small smile and sat. "I'm-"

"Will," Jane finished, "I know."

"Oh," Dustin frowned. "We'll I'm-"

"Dustin. And that is Lucas, and that's Mike. I know," she whispered, staring into her lap.

"How do you know?" Mike finally asked. The girl hesitated before finally answering.

"People talk. I put two and two together."

Mike nodded, fascinated by this beautiful girl. Wait, did he just think- no, he couldn't have. No. As he looked at her, he realized that she was beautiful. He quickly shook his head, and went back to eating his lunch in silence. He couldn't help but notice that she was tapping her fingers. He also couldn't help but count. She tapped for about 20 minutes, before stopping. Mike looked up at her in alarm. She didn't notice. But what he noticed is that she tapped 1,754 times. Today was day 1,754.

Mike couldn't stop thinking about Jane the rest of the day. There was something about her... he wasn't sure what it was, but there was something that made him wonder. No, Mike. Stop it. It can't be. It's just a number. Just brown eyes. But how could it be that it was 1,754?

When the day ended, Mike walked over to his locker, and was shocked to see that the locker was occupied by none other than Jane. He walked over to his locker and entered the combination. 11-07-84.

"Hey," he smiled at her. She looked over at him and smiled back.

"Hi."

"I... um... never got your last name..." he said awkwardly.

"Oh. It's Hopper. Jane Hopper," Mike frowned.

"Like... Chief Hopper?" She both shut their lockers and began to walk out of the school together.

"He adopted me over the summer." That was when he noticed her bracelet. It was a beautiful blue. But that's not the thing he was thinking about.

"Hey, can I see your bracelet?" She frowned.

"Um... I don't know... It's kind of special to me," she murmured shyly. He let out a forced laugh.

"I know I'm clumsy, but not THAT clumsy," he smiled at her. She looked around nervously at the empty field.

"Ok... I guess," she muttered, reluctantly putting out her arm. He looked at the bracelet, wondering if he should do it. He looked around again, making sure there were no people, before reaching to touch the bracelet. Before he could, however, she snatched her arm away.

"Um... I'll see you tomorrow!'' She told him before turning around. But now, he needed to know. He needed to see, so that he could finally push aside even the tiniest hope that she was alive, that she was still there, watching him.

"Jane, wait!" he called to her, grabbing her arm to slow her down, pushing her bracelet down in the process. He lifted her arm to his eyes, expecting to see just plain skin, but that was not what he saw. Instead, he saw what he thought was the impossible. Instead, he saw what he thought he would never see.

011.

"A friend?" she asked him, wanting to know what he was trying to say.

"Not a friend, a... uh, uh... Someone like a..." he started, not surely knowing how to explain. But when he looked at her, her eyes looking right at him with a sparkle in them, waiting for him to explain the world to her, he didn't think. He leaned forward, and their lips met. And he felt like he could stay there forever.

He dropped her arm, in shock. He looked up at her, tears in his eyes. He saw the tears forming in her eyes too. 1,754 days he had waited. 1,754 days, calling her every night, waiting for a sign, a message, anything, to know that she was ok. 1,754 days to look at her one last time, to hear her say his name. 1,754 days to kiss her again. 1,754 days to have her.

"El?"

AND... CUT! I DID IT! YAYYYY! This was horrible. But all my writing is, so that isn't saying much. So, PM me or review if I should continue this or just leave it like this! I'll see you guys on the weekend with Gone Gone Gone! I hope you enjoyed!

Rose