"That I was still me? Um, I don't understand, El. I was just going to ask you if you and your friend Max wanted to sit with us at the Party table. Uh, that's what we call the table we sit at."

"I'm sorry Mike. I'm pretty sure one of your friends… isn't one of your friends. Can you do me a favour. Can you check under your bed tonight for something… weird?"

"Um, El, I haven't been scared of monsters under my bed for at least ten years now."

"Mike," she grabbed him by the shoulders and looked at him her beautiful eyes boring into him. "Please Mike, check underneath your bed tonight."

"What If I do see something… weird?"

"Sleep in the basement, or outside the house in a tent if you can. You can't tell anyone else in your family."

"Uh, El. I'm finding this whole thing kind of… odd."

"I know, Mike, I'm not a weirdo. I… want us to try and hug each other every day. If it gets worse I'll try to explain more, until then, trust me. Ok?" El was looking around to see if anybody had taken notice of their conversation.

"I don't know, El." Mike didn't know what to do. He really really liked El, but this was… strange.

El looked at him, the agonized look in her eyes made Mike's heart skip a beat.

She sighed, "a hug isn't going work Mike. We can't be sure with just a hug." She leaned in, tilted her face up towards him and gave him a soft kiss, lingering for a few seconds in time for Mike to kiss her back just as softly.

Neither knew their hearts beat in synchronized time with their promise to each other.

"That is what a real kiss from me feels like. Can you remember that?"

Mike looked down, "probably for the rest of my life." El smiled at him and nodded. "Me too Mike."

"Are you ok if we do that everyday?" El looked at him turning a shade of red and then looked down.

"Did you just ask Mike Wheeler if it was ok for him to kiss the prettiest girl in the school? Everyday?"

The crimson in El's cheeks deepened.

"The hardest part..." El had that serious look in her eyes again and her voice was a little shaky, "the hardest part Mike, is that if either of us don't feel that. We have to let that person go… forever. If my kiss leaves you cold Mike, I'm gone, the real me is gone, and I'm never coming back. And if," Mike saw a tear roll down her cheek, "if I don't feel your kiss, you will never kiss me again. You will never talk to me again." El wiped her eyes,

"Promise me, Mike."

"I don't' understand, El. But I promise." Mike was back to feeling off about El. What the hell was going on?

"I like you Mike, we don't have to kiss just for that reason. We can kiss anytime you want." She gave him a brilliant smile, "like this."

Her kiss stopped Mike's heart. He couldn't catch his breath. His kiss must have matched hers because when they parted. El put her hand over her heart and was breathing deeply. Her eyes looked back and forth between his, filling with wonder. She laid her head on his shoulder her mouth inches from his ear.

"You're my first kiss." They both said it at the exact same time. They both broke into a chuckle.

"Mike, I will act different at lunch. I have to. I don't mean anything by it. I'm just being careful. Don't make a big deal out of it, ok?"

"Ok, El, I don't understand. I'll… play along."


Mike felt off at the Party table. Will was quieter than normal, not engaging in the conversation. He seemed indifferent to the the topics the the rest of them were animated about. Mike tried to get his attention a few times. Will continued looking around the room at various people.

Will was Mike's best friend, and Will looked at him, through him, as if he didn't exist. Maybe he was having problems at home? Ordinarily Mike could ask him what was going on, and after some coaxing Will would open up. After what El and said earlier, Mike was beginning to feel a little funny about talking to him.

And then there was El. She was acting just like Will. She barely looked at him, and when she did, it was like he was an uninteresting shaped rock sitting on the ground. Not even worth picking up to throw away.

Mike had never felt so alone in his life. His best friend, the girl he liked, the girl he had kissed, and who had kissed him just a few hours before, looked and acted cold. Unfeeling.

One thing Mike knew for sure, he didn't really want to be around Will if he was going to be like this. A friend is supposed to be a friend. If they have a problem with you they should just come right out and tell you. Not make you guess, or wonder, or feel like shit. That's not what friends did. Well, that's not what they were supposed to do anyway.

And he didn't really want to be around El when she was like this. Mike was positive that his heart was physically hurting, in some kind of distress.

He didn't like that version of El at all, he wasn't supposed to make a big deal out of it. He was having a hard time. He felt like shit. The whole day felt like shit. He really wished he knew what was going on.


At their lockers, El turned to him. Her cheeks were stained with tears. "I'm sorry Mike. That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

His El was back!

"I'm not going to pretend I liked it, El, you did say you were going to do that. It didn't feel very good. If I never have to see you that way again it will be too soon."

Fresh tears sprung from her eyes. "When I saw you looking at me like that…" El shook her head, "I need a kiss." Her voice was scarcely above a whisper.

Mike held her face in his hands and brushed away the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. He looked into her eyes, they pulled him towards her. Mike had no choice, he leaned in and kissed her. His lips felt her soft yielding ones respond. They kissed like that for a few minutes.

When they parted, El, her eyes wide and breathless said, "wow, when I said I needed a kiss, I wasn't expecting that. Thank you Mike."

Mike looked down, "um, El, uh, are we going out now?"

"No girl can be kissed like that without saying 'yes' to being asked… if that's what your asking." She was suddenly shy, unsure of herself, and blushed a little.

Mike nodded. "You're the first girl I've ever asked, El. I've liked you for a long time. It was hard for me to come over because you were always with Max. Max doesn't look like anyone you want to get pissed off at you."

"She's very protective, she's kept the mouthbreathers like Troy away from me."

"Think I could hire her as a bodyguard?" Mike chuckled, " I got lucky this morning, he was clumsy and paid for it."

El looked at him with absolutely no expression on her face. "Thank goodness he was clumsy then."

"Mike, it's important now that we are together. I need you to check-"

"Under the bed, El, I promised I would." Mike was smiling.

"I'm serious Mike," she looked into his eyes. "I can't protect you if we aren't together. I can't lose you. Not now."

"You won't lose me, El. I'll be careful."

"I'm going to tell my dad I have a boyfriend now."

"Oh, um, ok, so what's my life expectancy going to be?" Mike said only half joking.

"If you treat me right, a good long life. If not…" El said her eyes twinkling.

They held hands as they walked outside to the bike rack where El was waiting for her ride.

Mike felt his hands get a little sweaty when he saw Chief Hopper's truck pull into view.

"Relax Mike, I'll give my dad the seal of approval."

Mike wasn't expecting Hopper to get out of truck and walk towards them. Up close Hopper was an imposing figure, he towered over the two of them.

El stood in front of her dad and just looked at him. She began playing with a blue band on her wrist, just staring at him. Hopper and El nodded at the same time and she melted into him and hugged his middle. He kissed the top of her head, his eyes closed for a moment.

Mike knew that something necessary and unspoken had just happened between them. And something had happened in their past. Something important and life changing.

"Dad, I want to meet my boyfriend, Mike Wheeler. It's really him."

Hopper nodded. He looked at El, "did you tell him to check-"

"Yes, dad. Told him to sleep in the basement or outside if he could. And not tell anybody."

Hopper walked away, stuck his head in the driver's side window. It looked like he was rummaging around for something.

He pulled his head back out, walked back to them and handed Mike a police radio.

Mike took it and looked back and forth to Hopper and El.

"You are important to El, so you are important to me. If you see anything weird, you call me." Hopper leaned forward and stared into Mike's eyes with a scary intense gaze. It could have melted steel.

"You call me."

"Uh, what channel, Sir?"

"Eleven," Both Hopper and El said at the same time.

El and Mike were drawn into another kiss, Hopper turned away and got into his truck.

When they parted, El reluctantly turned away from him went around to the passenger side of the truck.

Both Hoppers nodded to him before the truck shifted into gear and sped off.