(WARNING: brief mention of violence)

« Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives… » declared Macdonald Carey's voice, as the familiar hourglass was rotating to the music of the soap opera's opening credits.

That was El's guilty pleasure after school, once her homework was done. There was nothing better, in her opinion, than escaping her own life for 40 minutes to watch her favorite characters argue, cry, laugh, fall in love… All these plot twists and crazy adventures they were going through made her life seem pretty boring in comparison, but she couldn't help it.

« I really don't get why you always watch this stuff. Who would dream of having a life filled with so much drama? » often said Hop. But that wasn't what it was about for El. She didn't want a drama-filled life. Having experienced first-hand what drama felt like after all the students started treating her like an asylum escapee after the bathroom incident… she knew it wasn't something to long for. Sure, nobody was talking to her, but at least people were leaving her alone and her life was now gloriously uneventful.

The fact was, soap operas made her feel things.

After Hopper had adopted her, it was all she had looked for. At first, she'd spent hours in front of the television, wondering what it was like to have a life where your only problem was the infidelity of your husband, bored to death as she waited for her new father to come home from his work at the police station. But episode after episode, she had started to feel for these people and their misfortunes. She had cried with them when one of their family members died. She was excited about their upcoming weddings and pregnancies.

Therefore, she had started to look for the same feelings elsewhere: in movies, in music, and, most of all, in books. Even though she still loved watching soap operas, she found that books were the only form of storytelling that could depict the raw emotions of the characters so well that she could feel them in her guts. She felt like her favorite heroes were right there next to her as she went through the pages, making her feel all kinds of things she never felt before, and, some other times, taking her back to her own memories with such accuracy that it felt like the author had peeked through her soul.

That was why English Literature was her favorite subject in school. It always made her discover new authors she'd never heard of before. Last semester, for example, she'd been completely transfixed by Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, so much that she decided to ask Hopper for more of her books for Christmas. To her delight, he had gifted her not only Shirley and Villette, but also Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and in just a week El had devoured them all.

Hopper was pleased when she decided to take a small job at the local bookstore after school, to help him make ends meet. They weren't exactly rich, she knew that, and he made sure she didn't feel forced to work if she didn't want to. But she told him how happy it would make her to be around so many books a few times a week. She even hoped that maybe she could read some of them there in her free time. He definitely preferred her reading all day than watching « poorly acted none-sense » on TV.

But still, that was the scene he walked on when he arrived home from work that night: Eleanor sitting in the navy blue couch of their tiny living room, eyes glued to the screen, an empty plate on the coffee table in front of her (that certainly must have contained Eggos at one point).

« Hey, kid. Had a good day at school? » he asked as he took his hat and coat off and placed them on the hook next to the door.

« Yes » answered the girl. « How was work? »

« Amazing… Today's big incident was a howl attacking old Eleanor Gillespie's head, which is pretty much the most exciting thing that ever happened here » he answered sarcastically, helping himself to a beer in the fridge.

For a long time after they came to Hawkins, El thought that Hopper missed his work in Chicago. Things sure weren't as interesting here, for a city cop. But with time, she had come to understand that it was exactly what he was looking for when he suggested that they moved back to his hometown. Yes, things were more interesting in the big city, but they were also more gruesome, more macabre. Here, at least, he wasn't getting nightmares from the things he saw during the day. So when he came home in the evenings and complained about how bored he was, El knew that, deep down, he wasn't really complaining at all.

He came back into the living room, cold beer in hand, and sat down next to her on the couch, whose springs sighed under his weight.

« I also had your school counselor on the phone. »

Oh.

« Do you mind if we turn this off for a minute? » he asked gently, gesturing to the TV.

She executed herself, so worried about what was coming next that she didn't even care that she was going to miss half of the episode.

« Mrs. Andrews said she'd spoken to your teachers. Apparently, you're not participating in class. »

El shrugged, looking into her lap.

« Why is that, El? » he asked, reaching for her hand to get her to look at him.

« I don't know. I don't like it. »

« You don't like what? Participating? »

She nodded. Hopper sighed:

« Nobody likes it, kid. But it's a thing you gotta do. It shows the teachers you care. »

« And what if I don't care? » retorted El. The man in front of her frowned, seemingly confused.

« What do you mean you don't care? You don't care about school? » He marked a pause before continuing with hesitation: « Is it still about those girls bullying you? »

El shook her head, looking irritated.

« No, it's not about that! »

But the sheriff didn't seem very convinced. He let out a sigh and put his beer can down on the wooden coffee table before looking at her again.

« Look… I'm not gonna pretend to know how you feel. I don't. There's a good chance I never will. » El looked down once again. « But I know why you react this way. Opening yourself to the world around you is still hard… but it's something you need to do. That's why I took you with me. To offer you a chance at a normal life, something you never had. » She felt the familiar tightness in her throat and tears started to fill her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. « I don't want to push you. I just want you to try. You can go one step at the time if that's what you need to do. But you need to take the first step, at least. Even if it's the hardest one to take. » She felt one of his hands on her cheek, wiping away a tear she didn't feel escaping. « You understand what I'm trying to say, kid? » he asked gently.

She nodded and scooted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. His shirt smelled like beer and cigarettes with a tiny hint of sweat, but, as gross as it seemed, she always found some reassurance in that scent. It felt like home.

He placed a kiss on her forehead, his beard tickling her skin.

Then, he watched the end of Days of Our Lives with her and didn't complain once.

What had he gotten himself into?

Bouncing his leg up and down in nervousness, earning annoyed looks from the students next to him, Mike was sitting in English Literature class wondering how he could ever get himself out of this mess.

Two rows before him was the source of his troubles: Eleanor Hopper. She was sitting on her chair, in a baby blue sweater, biting the end of her pen absentmindedly as she listened, completely absorbed in Mr. Wyatt's class on Shakespeare's sonnets.

What a fool he had been to think this was going to be easy. Never in his life had he talked to this girl, and now he was supposed to ask her out on a date? To make things even worse, he only had four days to do it, otherwise, Lucas wouldn't be able to go to Jennifer Hayes's party with Max Mayfield. And he wasn't going to get the money he was promised.

Girls weren't his forte, no matter what the other boys in the party thought. Yes, he'd been kissed by a girl once but it didn't happen exactly like he'd said to his friends. At the last Hawkins Middle Snow Ball before high school, Sarah Zimmerman had come up to him and told him she had a secret to tell him. She'd dragged him to one of the empty halls, Twist of fate by Olivia Newton-John resonating from the gym next door, and had pressed her mouth against his, covering it in her sticky lip gloss. He hadn't moved, too shocked to know how to react, and then she had slipped her tongue into his mouth and awkwardly poked his with it. The whole thing had been a wet, uncomfortable experience and Mike was actually pretty thankful that it hadn't lasted long. Of course, he was proud to be the first one to have kissed a girl and didn't hesitate to show off in front of the rest of party. What he didn't tell them was that he saw Sarah's friend give her a 20 dollar bill right after.

There was no way he was ever going to tell them that his first kiss was just a cruel bet.

Of course, he'd had crushes before, but only small ones. Never in his life had he liked a girl enough to risk rejection, so he'd always kept it to himself. Asking a girl out was something he had no idea how to do. But it was too late to go back now, for a number of reasons he had listed in his notebook in order of importance: 1) he really needed the money 2) Lucas counted on him and when a member of the party requires help, we must provide that help 3) he would look really fucking stupid if he came back saying he didn't at least try 4) he couldn't lie and say that he tried because friends don't lie.

He was too absorbed in his thought to notice that the bell had just rung and that the people around him were beginning to clear up their desk. As he started to do the same, his eyes looked for the Hopper girl, who was putting back her books in her red backpack, taking her time.

She was pretty, he wasn't blind. Like all of the other boys in school when she arrived at the beginning of the year, he was impressed that a pretty girl like her could have been hiding in Hawkins for two years without him ever seeing her. He had witnessed the interest she had gathered before it was revealed how much of a basket case she was. Maybe if she wasn't so crazy he might have had a small crush on her. That would at least make things easier for him.

Just talk to her about something easy, just talk to her about something easy, just talk to her about something easy, he repeated to himself as he gathered the courage to walk up to her. She didn't even notice him, but he decided to go for it anyways.

« Hey », he heard himself say. « That was a - um - pretty interesting class, right? »

She looked up at him and the first image that came to Mike's mind was one of a deer caught in headlights. The fact that her eyes were literally doe-like didn't help, big and light brown, with long lashes that were thick but still looking soft like feathers.

She looked around, slightly confused and Mike realized that she was making sure he was talking to her and not someone else.

That's awkward.

« What? » she asked, her voice softer than he imagined.

He smiled, trying to be friendly, as he reformulated:

« Shakespeare's sonnets. It's interesting, don't you think? You looked like you really enjoyed this class. »

Yes, it was pretty lame, and yes, he was aware of it. But he had to start somewhere, after all.

Only, his attempt at conversation failed completely. She looked at him like he had just insulted her or like he was being incredibly rude and said, in a calm but firm tone, looking straight into his eyes :

« Leave me alone. »

She put her backpack on without looking at him and walked towards the door, her shoulder brushing his softly before she disappeared into the hall.

« It's not like she attacked you or anything! » said Lucas. « She probably thought you were going to be mean to her or something. »

The weather was starting to get warmer and the feeling that the of the end of the school year was approaching was floating in the air. The boys had decided to go and have lunch on the grass near the school parking lot, the pale skin of their arms soaking up the sun as they laid down of sat cross-legged, squinting their eyes at the rays of sunshine above them.

« She was an ice cube, Lucas! », replied Mike, exasperated. « I can try again if you really want. But if it doesn't work, sorry but I give up. »

« I think you need to show her you're actually interested in her », said Dustin, chewing his bologna sandwich thoughtfully. « You need to learn what she likes and dislikes, what her interests are. »

« Yeah, like pushing people away, you mean? She does seem to enjoy that », Mike rolled his eyes. « Besides, how am I supposed to get to know what she's into if she refuses to talk to me? »

« Can't you just ask Max this sort of thing? » asked Will to Lucas, who shook his head no :

« I highly doubt she's going to help make things easier for me, otherwise I wouldn't have had to ask Mike to help me. This is a big, elaborated, test to see how far I'm willing to go. It's supposed to be hard. »

A long silence fell in the group, each boy lost in their thoughts, trying to come up with a plan. It was what they always did together, for as long as Mike remembered. They were like one brain divided into four bodies, elaborating theories, experiments and drawing conclusions for whatever scientific question was intriguing them. He never would've thought that one day, asking out a girl would be their new mystery needing to be solved. But, truthfully, Eleanor Hopper and Max Mayfield were not regular girls, they were enigmas themselves.

« I have an idea! » suddenly shouted Dustin, the rest of the party sitting up straight, all of their attention on him, waiting for him to explain.

« Will, your mom is friend with the sheriff, right? » he asked.

« Yeah » answered Will.

« Okay. You have access to some insider knowledge about the life of the Weirdo. You need to use it! Ask your Mom about her, and see what info you can get. As for me, I have Spanish with her and Mr. Sanchez gave us a super hard story to read. I can ask her to help me - she always gets good grades for reading exercises - and she will not be able to resist this smile » Dustin said, grinning, the rest of the party rolling their eyes. « I can get to know her a little bit and Will and I can report everything to you, Mike. And then, all you'll have to do is transforming yourself into the Weirdo's dream boy and voilà! » he finished, quite please with himself.

The dark haired boy looked unsure.

« And if this doesn't work, we forget this whole thing and you'll still pay me for trying? » Mike asked Lucas.

« Deal! »

Max's heart skipped a beat when she saw that he was there already.

She knew what was about to come.

There'll be silence as she'll climb into the car with him. Then there'll be a simple phrase, stating the fact. « You were late again ».

She will not answer. There was nothing to answer. Nothing she could say will be enough anyway. She could say that she was just 2 minutes late, what was the big deal? She could say that she just had to go to her locker real quick to pick up a book she needed for tomorrow's biology assignment. She could say that there were a lot of people in the halls, that it was crowded, she couldn't go any faster unless she pushed people out of her way. She could just say she was sorry. Instead, she'll say nothing, her mouth unable to form words, her hands trembling on her lap around her biology textbook, her eyes fixed on the road.

He'll say « You know how much I hate to wait ». He'll say « You hear me, bitch? I hate to wait for your stupid ass. Next time you can skate home, you little shit. ». She'll feel a single tear on her cheek, on the side of her face that he couldn't see. She'll make no move to wipe it away, too scared that he would notice she was crying. He'll grab her wrist, maybe. Maybe he'll hold it so tight that his nails will pierce her skin again. « Hey, did you hear me this time? ». Maybe he'll just wait until they arrive home to do it. Maybe this time it's her that he'll hit in the face instead of her mom, his breath stinking of cheap whiskey. Maybe she'll be the one to leave the house with a black eye tomorrow instead of her mom. Secretly, she hoped it would be the case.

Max held her books tightly on her chest, her knuckles almost turning white. She kept her head low, eyes on the concrete of the school parking lot, avoiding his eyes, the brave mask she put on at school every day slowly crumbling with every step she took. She wasn't Mad Max in front of him, she was weak, she was fragile, she was powerless.

She sat on the passenger side, still avoiding his gaze. He climbed in as well and a strong smell of liquor filled the vehicle as the door closed behind him, so strong it almost made her feel dizzy.

She was a mouse, he was the cat. She was trapped.

« You were late again. »

Eleanor loved the smell of paper.

Every time her boss, Mrs. Altman, got a box full of new books to open and sort in the right shelves, El always asked to it herself just so she could be open them one at a time and have a quick sniff when none was looking.

That was what she was doing that Thursday afternoon, after school. The store was only open for a few more hours and as always, they weren't more than two customers.

Hawkins was not a place were people enjoyed reading, El had come to understand. People were more into TV these days, and even Mrs. Altman was currently watching her favorite program from behind the counter.

Eleanor was taking her time, organizing copies of Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood, when the store's door opened and she turned her head, ready to say her usual shy « Hello » to the arriving customer.

But it wasn't a client. It was that boy from her English Literature class, the tall, lanky one with dark hair. The one who tried to talk to her the other day.

Mike Wheeler, she remembered. He seemed like one of those people who just belong perfectly where they are, unlike her. Hawkins born and raised. He always participated in class and, even though Eleanor knew he wasn't hanging out with the popular kids, he was always surrounded by his group of friends. There was the black one, whose name she didn't know, the one with the curly hair, Dustin, who she knew from her Spanish class, and the shy one with the bowl cut, Will. The last one was the son of the lady Hopper was friend with, Joyce, the one who sometimes came home and had a few cigarettes with him when she was already in bed.

She had no idea why he tried to talk to her after class, she didn't even give it much thought. It was probably nothing good. Nobody ever talked to her unless it was to be mean. Except Dustin, from her Spanish class. That boy was nice to her. She had helped him the day before for an assignment and he had walked her home. They had talked about a lot of things, even though she never said more than two sentences, but it was one of her little victories. There were now 2 people that she liked at Hawkins High that seemed to like her too: Max, the tomboy from American History, and Dustin. But the way that boy Mike had come to her after class, attempting to make small talk, she had found it very obvious that he wanted something from her and she had felt very unsafe.

Mike's dark eyes found hers and she almost dropped her pile of books. He had a satisfied look on his face, like her confusion was exactly what he expected when he came here. It became clear to her that he didn't come here looking for something to read. He had been looking for her.

She quickly turned her back on him, her face becoming redder than the traffic light outside.

His voice, low but still a little boyish, replied politely to Mrs. Altman salutations, who was still absorbed in the commercials on her TV screen. El heard his footsteps coming closer and closer to her, and then, felt a small tap on her shoulder. She turned around, her face, hopefully, back to its normal shade.

« Hello! » the boy smiled and Eleanor noticed how big and goofy his smile was and the little freckles that dusted his cheeks and nose.

« I'm looking for a copy of A Midsummer's Night Dream. Can you show me where it is? » he asked.

Their English Lit teacher had asked them to pick a play and write an essay about it for their final exam, which would be in a few weeks. Coincidentally, she had picked the exact same play. Of course, she had already read it and analyzed it, her copy full of pencil notes in the margins and highlighted quotes.

Strangely, she felt a little disappointed by this. Sure, she had told him to leave her alone the other day when he tried to talk to her after class, but that was because she was sure he was going to mock her a few seconds after for the remaining people in the class to see or something. That was what she was used to. But when he had walked through that door and their eyes had met, Eleanor had hoped for just a second, that maybe, just maybe, there was someone who was actually willing to talk to her, so much so that they had searched for her outside of school, in a place were nobody else was around.

She led him to the shelves in the back where all of the plays were stored in alphabetical order and looked for A Midsummer's Night Dream. When she found it, she held it out for him and he took the book in his hands, turning it over to look at the back cover.

« Have you read it? » he asked.

« Yeah », she answered and he smiled again, gently. It was like he was trying not to be too aggressive, like he knew that he needed to be patient with her, to not pressure her.

« I'm Mike by the way. Mike Wheeler. »

I know, she wanted to say.

She wondered for a moment if she should introduce herself as well. He probably knew who she was, considering the reputation she had at school. Finally, she decided to say:

« I'm Eleanor. Hopper. »

« I know », he said, smiling again. « Do you mind if I call you El? »

She shook her head no.

What was this? El was confused. What did a boy like Mike Wheeler want from her? Why did this remind her of the soap operas she watched, when a man was trying to seduce a woman without looking too obvious?

« What's the play about, El? » he asked, leaning against the shelf a little awkwardly, like it wasn't the type of thing he usually did.

Oh. That definitely reminded her of soap operas.

Something about this boy, maybe his own uneasiness, made her feel calmer. Like she was the one in control of the situation.

« It's about four Athenian lovers: Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena during the wedding celebrations of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, the Amazon Queen. Hermia is supposed to marry Demetrius but her and Lysander are in love. Helena, on the other hand, is in love with Demetrius but he doesn't know it. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee city and Helena reveals that plan to Demetrius in the hope that he will fall for her instead, but he goes to look for them and they all end up in an enchanted forest where a fairy manipulates them with love juice and messes with their feelings for each other », she said, practically out of breath.

Never before had she talked to someone who wasn't Hopper for that long. Mike seemed to realize that as he looked half surprised, half impressed, his mouth slightly open in shock. She cleared her throat and added, to fill the silence:

« It's really good »

Mike came back to his senses and smiled at her again, his eyes sparkling in amusement, making her tummy all tingly.

« I'm looking forward to reading it. »

He then looked suddenly shy, like he didn't know what to say next and she mentally slapped herself for being so awkward and making people uncomfortable.

« You can pay for it at the counter », she said, turning back before she could make the situation even worse.

« Wait, El! »

He still seemed very nervous and Eleanor didn't understand why. It couldn't possibly be because of her, could it?

« I was wondering if you were going to Jennifer Hayes's party tomorrow night? » he asked, his voice trembling a little at the end.

A… party?

Did he not hear about her being a total weirdo? Did he not hear everybody at their school say mean things behind her back?

A million questions marks were dancing in her head until it all clicked into place.

Him trying to talk to her after class.

Him coming all the way to the bookstore and looking like he was happy to find her there.

The fact that he called her El and leaned against the bookshelf like he was trying to be a hero from a romance novel.

The fact that she compared this situation to a romance novel.

His nervousness.

Him talking about going to a party.

El almost gasped when she realized: Mike Wheeler was flirting with her.

Oh, God.

Mike Wheeler was asking her out.

« I… I don't know », she answered, amazed that she was even able to talk.

It was a lie, of course. There was no way she was invited to a party.

Mike's hands were tapping the book cover, probably to calm himself down, as he asked what she knew was coming:

« I was wondering if you would like to go with me? »

That was the one thing she hadn't thought about.

The fact that a boy - a cute boy, she had to admit - was apparently interested in her was pretty pleasing. But did she really want this? Did she really want to go on dates, and even worse, to parties, when she barely had friends… when she barely knew how basic human interactions worked? She was tempted to say no. It was okay for her if her life stayed the exact same way until she died: flat, uneventful. Safe.

But then she thought about her discussion with Hopper a few days prior.

You need to take the first step, at least. Even if it's the hardest one to take.

And damn, it was going to be hard.

So she took it.

« Okay »

Mike smiled, taken by surprise.

And, incredibly, El smiled back.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello! I'm really happy so many of you liked the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed the second as well! A few things I would like to say:

- I've never written a multi chapter fanfic before and I've never written for the stranger things fandom, so sorry if things seem a little messy sometimes

- English is not my native language. I'm sorry if there are some mistakes, I'm truly doing my best and this is a good exercise to improve my English!

- I'll upload once a week on Fridays/Saturdays, maybe more if I finish a chapter earlier than expected

- There will be no Billy in this fic, simply because he's not relevant to the story. The big asshole in Max's life is her stepfather

- All the chapter titles are named after a song that would have been on the radio at the end of the party's junior year. The first one was after George Harrison's song, this chapter is after the Billy Ocean song and *spoiler kinda* next chapter is going to be named Need You Tonight, in reference to the INXS song

- *little self-promo* my tumblr is weedsareflowerstoo if you want to follow me there, I post about a lot of things I love, including ST.

Have a nice week!

C. xx