El was acting different all day. When she comes back from the bathroom, she whispers quietly in Mike's ear. The other boys, so engrossed in their video game, don't even notice that her and Mike suddenly disappear.
"I'm bleeding," she tells him worriedly.
"Were you using your powers?" he asks, searching her face for blood.
"Not on my face," she tells him slightly embarrassed, because she realizes it's coming from an area that you aren't really supposed to talk about, especially to a boy. "In my pants," she adds softly.
"Oh. OH," he says with more emphasis, understanding now what was happening. Unfortunately for Mike, El didn't have the same revelation.
"Let's see if Nancy is home," he tells her, dragging her upstairs immediately.
He hastily flings Nancy's door open without knocking, but her room is empty.
"Shit, um okay. Come with me," he says taking her by her hand to the bathroom.
He flips open the doors to the counter under the sink and starts rummaging around. He pulls out a pink box and sets it on the counter.
"So um, uh, you just need one of these, and you'll be fine," he tells her, awkwardly motioning to the box.
El looks at him like he's grown 2 heads. She carefully picks up one of the packages out of the box and looks to him for guidance. She didn't see how this was going to stop the blood.
Mike dives back under the sink for a moment and returns with a second box.
"Or, um, one of these," he suggests, setting a second box down on the counter.
"I don't know how," El finally tells him honestly. Mike never made her feel stupid for not knowing something; no matter how dumb El felt the question was, she always knew she could ask Mike.
"Well, these things are kind of just for girls, so I don't really know either. So um, let's see," Mike says opening the box and pulling out one of the square packages. El doesn't miss that his cheeks have gone pink, and she feels bad for making him embarrassed.
Just as Mike is opening the package, they both hear the stampede of footsteps coming up the stairs. "Mike! El!" Dustin calls. Their friends catch the two of the in the bathroom, and just as Mike is rushing to slam the door shut, Dustin catches it with his arm.
"What are you two doing?" he asks, flinging it back open, oblivious to the fact that Mike was trying to keep this private.
All three boys are standing in the doorway now.
"Uh, Mike?" Lucas asks, realizing what the pink package was in Mike's hand.
"I need one of these, but we don't know how." El steps in almost immediately, trying to save the obviously embarrassed Mike.
"Oh-kay," Lucas says after a minute of silence.
"Alright you dumbasses. This is a perfectly natural thing that Mr. Clarke taught us about in biology. How hard could it be?" Dustin says pushing everyone out of the way to approach the boxes on the counter.
He quickly unwraps something that looks to El like a tiny torpedo. "So you see," he says, as he pushes the cotton part of the tampon out and it falls onto the floor. "Oh! Hang on, I think I got it now," he says, quickly unwrapping a second one. "Ha, hey look," he laughs picking up the tampon off the floor. He starts swinging the two of them around by the string. "Nun chucks," he says and starts laughing at his own joke.
El pulls her eyebrows together, and Mike hits Dustin.
"Stop it you idiot! El really needs to use these," he reminds them.
"Okay, okay," Will speaks up for the first time since entering this situation. "Aren't there like directions or something?" He approaches the box and finds a folded up piece of paper inside.
He unwraps it and starts reading it out loud. "Here we go. Wash your hands and unwrap the package," Dustin demonstrates by unwrapping a third one. "The tip should be rounded and the strings should hang out of the bottom," he says, looking up once to see if Dustin is holding it correctly. "Try sitting on the toilet with your knees apart or standing with one foot on the toilet seat. Hold the applicator plunger with your thumb and middle finger. Place the applicator tip inside…" El catches that Will's cheeks turn pink like Mike's and he stops reading. "Um, maybe we should try the other kind," he suggests putting the directions down. All the other boys quickly agree, and tear open the box of pads looking through the instructions for any embarrassing words like 'vagina.'
"Yeah, yeah, this looks a lot easier," Dustin says, tearing the backing off the pad almost immediately, sticking it to back of his hand. "See, it's just like a sticker thing."
El nods her head in agreement.
It actually did look a lot easier than the torpedo nun chuck.
"You forgot the little accessories," Lucas points out, pointing at the wing tabs.
"I didn't. You don't have to use those," Dustin says.
"Man, yes you do. Why else would they be there?" Lucas argues.
"Guys!" Will interrupts their argument. "Maybe we should give El privacy and let her figure it out," he says, hinting that they need to leave her alone.
"Oh yeah, right, right," they all quickly agree, stepping out into the hallway, closing her in alone.
El picks up the instructions for the sticky one and reads them, carefully placing the pad in her underwear, even though her underwear are already blood stained.
She pulls her underwear and jeans up and wonders if she did it right because of how uncomfortable it felt.
She steps out of the bathroom and all 4 boys are still standing in the hallway outside the door.
"So uh, how'd it go?" Dustin asks.
El shrugs. "It feels…weird."
"I bet it feels like wearing a diaper," Dustin replies, and Mike hits him.
"I'm sure you did it right," Mike tells her softly with confidence.
El nods hoping he's right.
"Man, we are SO lucky we don't ever have to deal with that," Dustin sighs as they all walk back downstairs.
Mike hangs back to walk down the steps next to El.
"This only happens to girls?" El confirms with Mike.
"Yeah, and when Nancy or my mom comes home, I'll have them explain everything," Mike tells her, and El nods her head in agreement.
They all sit back down in front of the tv. "Do you uh, like, need anything else?" Mike asks her once the other boys have resumed playing the game.
El shakes her head. "I'm okay."
They play games for the rest of the afternoon, and El tries to move around as little as possible.
She didn't like the leaking feeling she got when she stood up, and her stomach was starting to feel strange. She wondered if that was part of the bleeding too.
It's only a little after 4 pm, when they hear a knock on the front door. Mike looks out the curtains before he answers.
"Oh, it's just Hopper. He's early," he says with a depressed tone, opening the door for him.
"I'm early, I know," he replies in response to the sad look on Wheeler's face. "Work was slow, and I thought we could go out for dinner tonight," he suggested to El.
She nodded, though not really in the mood for dinner, despite feeling hungry.
"El, I'm sorry my mom didn't get home yet," Mike told her quietly as he was saying goodbye.
"It's okay Mike," she said with a smile.
She hated seeing him worry. And besides, she already had the diaper thing in her underwear, so she figured she was all set anyway.
"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow then," he tells her, giving her a quick hug. He tried not to kiss her in front of Hopper because he always looked like his head was about to explode when they did that.
Karen came home about an hour later, and Mike suddenly remembered that he forgot to clean up everything upstairs just as she was shouting, "Michael!"
He stopped in the doorway of the bathroom as red-faced as he could be. "What's going on in here?" she demanded.
He sighed. "Um, well, Jane needed some for the first time," he explained. "So we were just trying to help her."
He used El's "official name" when he talked to his parents since that's what the town of Hawkins was supposed to know her as, though she would always be El to him.
"Oh, that poor thing," Karen responded, softening her one. "Did she get it figured out?"
"Yeah, yeah. I guess so," Mike replied, hoping to end this conversation as quick as possible.
"Alright. And that was very kind of you to try and help your friend," she says kissing the top of his head before Mike rushes out of the bathroom.
Karen cleans up and decides she should call Jim to see how Jane was doing since she didn't get to talk to her today. The phone rings 4 times, but apparently the Hoppers weren't home yet, so she just left a message on the answering machine instead.
It's a half an hour later when the two of them get home from dinner. El immediately goes to her room and shuts the door. Though she seemed to be in an okay mood, Hopper realized something had been off with her.
He pushes play on the blinking red answering machine and hears Karen Wheeler's voice.
"Hi Jim, Michael told me what happened today, and I was just calling to check in. If you two need anything, please don't hesitate to call."
Hopper listened to the brief message twice, hoping for more information. El hadn't mentioned anything happening today, and he that realized she probably wouldn't, so instead of interrogating her, he picked up the phone and called Karen back.
"Oh, hello Jim. How is she?"
"She seems to be doing alright. And maybe I'm just not up to speed, but Jane didn't mention anything strange happening today."
"She hasn't? I'm so sorry. I'm not exactly sure if it's my place to tell you," Karen apologizes.
"Did they get into trouble or something?"
"No, no. Nothing like that. It's just, Jane started menstruating today," she explains quietly as if it were a secret.
That sentence was not at all what Hopper was expecting to hear.
"Oh, I see," he replies caught off guard.
"Yes, and Nancy and I weren't home, so the boys decided to help her figure out how to use the feminine products."
Hopper could almost see it now. "Oh boy."
Karen laughs in agreement. "Well, anyway, I'm so sorry for intruding and spilling the beans on this, but if you two need anything, just let me know."
"Yeah, thanks Karen. Thanks for checking in," Hopper says again before they both hang up.
Well shit.
He didn't know how to handle something like this. He knew something was up with El, but he didn't realize it was something like this. He knew he probably should check in with her to see if she needed anything.
He approached her door and lingered outside it for a few minutes before finally knocking. This was all just part of being a single father he told himself.
"Come in," El answers She's lying flat on her bed staring up at the ceiling. Hopper sat down on the bed next to her, leaning back against the wall.
"So I just got off the phone with Karen Wheeler," he began.
El didn't respond.
"She told me something happened today while you were there. Anything you want to talk about?" he asks.
El sat up next to him and shrugged her shoulders. "The bleeding?" El asks.
"Yeah, that."
El shrugs her shoulders, but doesn't elaborate.
"Do you need to go to the store, you know, for supplies?" he finally asks.
El shakes her head no. "I have a diaper thing already," she tells him.
"That's good," he sighs. "But do you need any more for after that one?"
El sits up and turns to look at him, concerned. "It isn't going to stop?"
Oh lord. Apparently he had a bit more to explain.
"Yeah, yeah. Uh, it stops, but it can take like a week."
"A week?" she asks incredulously.
"Well, sometimes less I guess," he explains, though he didn't really know how that exactly worked for different women.
"I guess I will need more diapers," she tells him solemnly.
Hopper laughs this time. "I think the word you are looking for is pad."
"Pad," El repeats.
As much as he hated to ask the next question, he knew he had to be the grown up here. "Did uh, well, did anyone explain what's going on?"
El shrugs again and shakes her head no. "Mike said it only happens to girls?"
Hopper knew most girls wouldn't want to be discussing their period with their dad, but the embarrassment of the topic was lost on El.
"Yes, only girls. It's probably a good thing too, because I don't really think men could handle having a period," Hopper tells her with an honest laugh.
"Period?"
"Oh uh, yeah. So every month you will bleed a little bit like you are now and it lasts for about a week. That's called your period."
Hopper briefly contemplates calling Joyce. He knows she would do a better job at this, but he tells himself that despite not wanting to talk about it with El, he's been around women long enough to be able to explain a period to a 13-year-old.
"Every month?" she asks sadly.
"Yeah, sorry kid. Around this time every month."
"Why?"
"Well, it's so that, someday, way in the future," he clarifies, "you'll be able to have a baby."
"Then why is it happening now?"
"Technically, your body is saying it's prepared enough that you could get pregnant now."
"Oh."
That was easier than he thought.
"How about I find you a book from the library that could explain it all a little better than I can?" Hopper adds.
El eagerly nods yes.
"I guess we should head to the store to pick up some things," he tells her.
"Yes, I will need more pads," she declares simply.
"Okay kid. Let's go," he tells her.
They both make their way through the woods and out to the Blazer.
When they get on the road, Hopper looks over at El, who's still quiet and has her legs up on the seat with her arms wrapped around them.
"You okay?" he asks, glancing over at her.
"Does period make your stomach hurt here?" she asks, moving her legs so she could point at her lower abdomen.
"Yes I suppose it can. It's called cramps. We can pick up some medicine to make them go away," he tells her, instantly feeling sorry for her; he hated seeing her in pain, and he figured that must be why she was also so quiet.
"Good," she replies.
They arrive at the store, and the two of them spend too much time in the aisle of all the pink boxes that Hopper normally avoids. He wanted to be sure he got her all the right things, but he didn't know what the right things were, so he eventually settled on 4 different boxes of products. He picked up a bottle of medication targeted towards period pain, and they stopped in the frozen food aisle to grab some Blue Moon, El's favorite ice cream.
When they got home, Hopper dished out two tablets of medication, and El went into the bathroom with all the boxes. He was pleased to see that she had come out rather quickly, dressed in her pajamas. She pulled the blanket off the arm of the couch and curled up.
"Everything okay?" he asks vaguely.
El nods. "Time for ice cream?" she asks hopefully.
"Yes. Definitely time for ice cream," he agrees.
He brings back two overly filled bowls of ice cream and sinks down next to her on the sofa with a sigh, glad that today was almost officially over. Though today's events had been unexpected, he realizes that this was just the beginning of all the talks that they would have that would make him wish El could be aging in reverse instead.
After they both finish their ice cream, El snuggles up closer to Hopper and he pulls his arm out from between the two of them, wrapping it around her shoulders. She lays her head down on his chest, and he presses a kiss on the top of her head.
They had both made it through El's first official puberty talk, and he was pretty sure that he didn't fuck it up too badly, so he considered today to be a win.
"Will you turn the channel?" he asks her when the episode of Cheers ends. He often allowed her to use her powers for simple things like that and had grown accustom to her being a channel changer for their nightly tv shows.
But the station doesn't change, and he looks down to realize that she's already asleep. It looked like he would be stuck watching Night Court because he didn't have the heart to wake her up and send her to bed just yet.
Seeing her sleeping peacefully sent him into a sudden bout of anxiety. It was as if he could almost feel his time left with her as a kid slipping away, time that he took for granted over the past year when he would often wish that she would grow up.
Now he recognized how unfair that wish was.
It wasn't fair for her to have missed out on all the nights that every other kid had falling asleep in mom and dad's arms as a child. It wasn't fair that she had to awkwardly learn about her first period from her friends who were all teenage boys. It wasn't fair that some nights she would wake up in tears over the images of dead bodies that haunted her in her dreams.
There were so many things that weren't fair.
So tonight, just this once, he would compromise and watch Night Court if it meant keeping her a little girl even for just a few more minutes.