353 Days.
353 Days he waited for Eleven. 353 days since they sat in the lunchroom together. 353 days since they…
They kissed. And God, did he cherish the split second he got to do it again. But this time, this time it almost seemed like she understood what a kiss meant. Granted, it was in front of about 250 middle schoolers with a backdrop of blue and white balloons; but looking into her eyes made the rest of the world disappear. She had been gone for so long, and naturally changed so much. It took him an awkward amount of time to recuperate from that kiss.
"Say something!" His mind managed to scream. Eleven looked up at him patient as ever. Her hands on his shoulders was enough to make him want to buckle down like a nervous wreck. But he knew how much this meant to her, and it meant a lot to him too. So he guided her and they learned how to dance together. Fake it till you make it right?
"S-so," Mike half-heartedly laughed, breaking the silence, "What have you been up to this whole time?"
That probably wasn't the best question to ask, but it was a start. Even while feeling on top of the world, his mind still attacked him with doubt. What if he was just a disappointment to her? Maybe she expected something better after being gone so long.
But that didn't seem right. Looking down at her gray dress softly swaying to the music, she seemed more peaceful than he had ever seen her. Eleven had on soft makeup, her hair (which she now had) was done up nicely, and for once in her life, it seemed like the world was alright for her.
Mike really didn't know what he was expecting her to say, but he couldn't stop a smile from forming when she answered.
"T.V. And Eggos." El said, her voice soft and low. She moved her hand to brush back a wavy brown lock, and briefly looked around the room before returning a smile.
"You know, I still never figured out why you like Eggos so much." Mike joked. "Have you ever had real waffles?"
The school cheered behind them as Tina Turner came over the loudspeaker.
"I like Eggos better. Hopper made me waffles once." Mike adjusted their swaying to the music. He hoped she didn't mind. Mike smiled.
For a reason he couldn't place, his fear of disappointing her dwindled when they talked. Her vocabulary had really grown, and she used fuller sentences now. He had barely seen her over the past month since she closed the gate, and there were so many questions he wanted to ask about her year. He felt like now wasn't the right time. He diverted his attention to the punch bowl.
"Have you ever had punch?" Mike asked.
"Punch?..." El asked. "Like this?" El moved a hand from Mike's shoulder and made a small fist.
"No no no, not that kind of punch." Mike smiled and placed his hands over her fist to lower it. "Like, you know, punch. Sorta like a fruity drink you get at parties."
El still looked confused as they stood talking on the dance floor.
"Come on, you should try some." He took her hand and guided her to the punch line. He poured a cup for her and himself. They gravitated towards the gym bleachers.
Eleven sat down next to him, her fingers curled around the white plastic cup. After a few seconds, Mike realized she hadn't even stopped for air, and was practically inhaling the sweet drink. She looked at him wide eyed with the cup still to her mouth.
"This is good." Eleven bubbled.
Mike laughed and leaned over his knees. "You grew a mustache El!"
Eleven looked down and gently touched her upper lip; it left a red liquid on her finger. Her happy complexion had turned to one of concern.
"Bleeding?" She asked Mike. She thought her nose was bleeding again. Her sad eyes hit Mike hard. She sure had been through a lot, hadn't she.
He was quick to correct her and himself, reminding his face to smile. "Oh no you're not bleeding. It's just because you tipped the cup back to far, you know? The punch left red around your mouth."
"Oops." El said, wiping her lip.
The two of them went silent for a while. Something about El's demeanor had changed, and Mike felt his stomach dip. Had he upset her with the mustache joke? Or was it just the reminder of….?
Mike looked up as Tiny Dancer came on the loudspeaker.
"Oh! I like this song." He chattered, trying to make small talk. "Did you listen to any music over the summer?"
El paused for a moment, thinking hard. She looked down with a furrowed brow before looking back up at Mike.
"Jim… Jim Croce. I think." El wavered, questioning herself. "Hopper played it on the box."
"Jim Croce huh? Thats old. And I think you're talking about a record player." Mike laughed and held up Eleven's empty plastic cup.
El went quiet again, and looked down.
"H-Hey!" Mike interjected, concerned. "Looks like you're outta punch El, I'll go get you a refill."
Mike pushed himself up hastily from the old, worn, pre-teen stained bleachers. Trying to stand up, he was stopped by a hand grabbing his sweater. Before he had the chance to protest a small, but assertive voice rang out.
"...Jane."
"What?"
"Jane." She came again. "My name."
Mike dropped his cup. His black curls bounced as he snapped his head to look at her.
He immediately thought of her 011 tattoo…. She was sitting on her left hand. That must have been what was bugging her.
"I don't-
"Hey! Hey Mikey!" Came a shrill voice. Mike and El (Jane?) turned their heads.
Dustin waved wildly at them from the dance floor, and pointed at Nancy, who was dancing with him. He gave a huge toothy grin.
Nancy laughed and rolled her eyes. She winked and pointed to the left. With his attention momentarily diverted from the fact his best friend was dancing with his sister, he turned just in time to see Lucas and Max lock lips.
Mike looked panicked. "Dustin!? What are you two…. Lucas!?" He put his hands on his head while watching Dustin laugh maniacally at him. The crowd simultaneously groaned as Weird Al came on over the loudspeaker. Mike didn't know whether to laugh or cry now that the slow songs were over.
Behind him, Eleven sighed. Her mood was brightened when her friends walked her way. She decided to stand, joining Mike.
"Hey Mikey! How's it going!" Dustin glided over to join the couple. His curly mohawk bounced with every step. Nancy returned to her punch bowl duties.
"How's it going? Why were you dancing with Nancy!?" Mike fumbled.
Dustin put his hands behind his head in a cool guy stance. "I don't know, why don't you ask her that yourself? After all, she's the one who asked me to dance!"
Mike dropped his animated hands in defeat.
"Annnnnnd how's the lucky lady?" Dustin threw his arms around Mike and El in an awkward sandwich.
"Squished." El squeaked. Mike couldn't help but giggle.
"Don't leave us out of the party man!" Lucas called. He ran up to them with Max and Will laughing in tow. They all dogpile-style hugged on the three of them. This was probably the most positive life-threatening situation Eleven had ever found herself in.
"Let a guy breathe!" Mike wheezed from the middle of the group.
"Never!" Will cried.
"Surrender is for the week!" Max only squeezed them all harder.
"Homicide through friendly love! I can see the headlines now!" Dustin remarked from the pack.
An unfamiliar laugh arose from the center of the group. Then another. And another. At the sound of this the group stepped back, suddenly quiet. Eleven was standing on her own, rubbing her eyes of tears from laughing so hard.
They had never heard Eleven give an actual, genuine laugh before. Seeing her so loud and so happy, to see her body shaking with laughter was…..unexpected to say the least. Mike couldn't take her eyes off her. His face flushed.
El noticed the silence quickly and her laughter stopped. But It was okay, because everyone else suddenly broke into hysterical laughter to.
The night went fairly quickly after that. They enjoyed punch, bad music, good music, and many many more laughs. Dustin showered them in bad puns, while Max and Lucas found it hard to stay off each other. (No matter how much Max denied anything had happened between them.) (Because it hadn't, and you're all just stalkers.) Eventually the long anticipated Snow Ball had to end, and the stampede of middle schoolers filed out of the gym.
Out by the street lights, waiting for rides, Eleven and Mike found themselves alone again.
The air was cold, and the ground was rough. You could see your breath in the air.
There was a familiar tension in it. You could hear a pin drop.
Mike decided to drop that pin first.
"So…..Jane huh?" Mike tried to look at her. She looked away.
"My name," She shuffled her feet, kicking up gravel and rock, "Yes."
Mike sat on the concrete steps behind him, and pulled her gently to sit with him.
"You really have been busy lately then, haven't you?" Mike said to her. Her eyes looked sad. "You found her then? Your mom, that is."
Jane nodded. "Yes."
"That's….. good right? So, you don't have to be sad then, right?" Mike just wanted to see her smile again. But it didn't seem like what he just said had helped at all.
Jane shook her head and inhaled."No. Not good. They hurt her bad. They hurt her bad, Mike." She paused for a moment… then the tears started to fall. The corners of her pink stained lips turned down.
Mike instinctively went to embrace her. Jane dug her face into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry El….." Mike held her close, before tensing and correcting himself. "I-I mean Jane."
"But really… it's not all bad." Mike reassured her, stroking her back. "Now you know where you really came from. Now you know you have a family and a real name, not just a number. It's almost like the beginning, you know? The start of a normal life."
Jane lifted her head from his shoulder. Mike reached out a hand and wiped tears from her eyes.
"The beginning?" She asked again.
Mike smiled. "Yeah, you can start over now." He shrugged. "Try and put the bad stuff…. The bad men, behind you."
Two cars pulled up into the middle school drive. Lights flashing, ready to pick up the two kids. Mike ignored it and shook his head.
"Here, give me your hand." Mike took Jane's right hand in his. "Let's pretend today is the first day of your real life."
He paused. Then looked up at her with a familiar smile. It looked into her eyes and spoke softly.
"Hi, my name's Mike Wheeler, short for Michael." He shook her hand and smiled. "And it's really nice to meet you Jane."