"Oh man, I think I bombed that algebra test," moaned Dustin, as the quintet of friends walked out of the school building. The bell had just rung, and everyone was flooding out through the hallways, making navigation through the school for the five friends nigh impossible. Still, the group managed to make it to the bike racks more or less intact, though certainly more ruffled than when they had just left class. All five of them – Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, and Will and El Byers (legal name "Elle", but she always wrote it as "El") – had their own bicycles, the king of transportation at age thirteen.
"Cheer up! At least it's the weekend. It's D&D time with a sleepover!" Lucas exclaimed. Previously, it would've been hard to see Dustin as the downer and Lucas as the optimist, but since El's stunning entrance into their lives less than five months ago, Lucas had become a lot more upbeat, which perhaps was a justifiable reaction to facing an extraterrestrial monster and living to tell (or in this case, not tell) the tale.
"So I'll see you two at five?" Mike queried Will and El, as he swung one leg over the seat of his bike. The two murmured their agreement, before mounting their own bicycles and heading home. Mike caught El's glance for a moment – she smiled at him and his heart fluttered a bit – before she pedaled off with Will back to the Byers' home, and the other three did the same towards their own homes.
All along the route home, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas biked at a leisurely, cozy pace, enjoying the late March sunshine on their faces, the comfortable mixture of warmth and cool air from winter's last reaches, and each other's company, as they talked about ideas, interests, and cool things in general.
"So, El and you," Dustin suddenly said out of the blue, as they rode along the right side of a street of houses. Mike did a potentially dangerous double-take on his bike, tilting forward while riding before regaining his balance. Lucas laughed off to the side.
"Yeah, when are you going to ask her out?" Lucas teased, following Dustin's lead. Mike scowled somewhat.
"She's just a friend, like you all. Come on, you've been bringing this up for months," retorted Mike. His blushing cheeks, however, did little to hide his thoughts, betraying him to his feelings.
"Well, I don't see you doing googly-eyes at me or Lucas or Will, and I definitely don't see you blush at any of us. I'm pretty sure that you have a serious crush on her, dude." Dustin's impeccable logic pierced through the air, and Mike snorted as he tried to keep his cool and ride on. The three continued their bike ride as they neared Dustin's street. When they arrived at the intersection of Dustin's house, the trio stopped to split up.
"Hey, look, you like El, and she definitely likes you. It'll work out. I'll see you two in a bit," Dustin finished, as he rode off down his street to his home. His "see you two later" was quickly thrown backwards in the wind toward the other two as he rode off, and all Mike – who had no time to make a meaningful reply to that - and Lucas could do was wave their hands bye a bit before Dustin rode past the hill on his street.
Lucas leaned back into the couch that sat in the Wheeler's basement, his backpack abandoned by the stairs. Mike, on the other hand, was setting up snacks, drinks, and the entire D&D space, to prepare for the imminent arrival of the other three members of the group. The Wheeler's basement was hosting a sleepover as well, so sleeping bags and blankets had been laid out for the five of them all across the floor. Finally, Mike stood up straight at the D&D table, his tasks finished and the basement ready for the start to a lengthy campaign. Silence stood in the basement for several moments before Lucas decided that he had seen enough of the obvious (to everyone but Mike) and that he had to address the elephant in every room Mike was in.
"Dude, seriously, ask out El already." Mike's head whipped around.
"Not you too, Lucas."
"Okay, I can see where this is going. You, Wheeler, think that she doesn't like you, and you're scared. Oh come on! El killed the Demogorgon to protect you. Didn't Dustin say she saved your life by keeping you from falling off the quarry? Like seriously, it's obvious to everyone but you apparently, but if you ask her out, she'll say yes!"
Mike contemplated Lucas' words for a moment, before opening his mouth to make a reply. Before he could utter a retort, however, the basement door opened, and an enthusiastic "hiya!" came down from the top of staircase. As Mike turned his head, he expected to see an exuberant and excited Dustin at the doorframe; instead, he saw the top of Dustin's head – in front of him was a smiling El, wearing a fairly loose dress that went to her knees. Mike's mouth went dry, as he stared at what he thought had to be an angel. Lucas coughed and snickered, bringing Mike back to reality as El, with Dustin and Will behind her each toting an over-night pack (Will had two – his and El's), came down the stairs. They all greeted each other, but Mike focused on El.
"Hey, uh, El! You look nice. You weren't wearing that earlier," Mike stuttered, his naturally shy personality creeping through.
"Oh, Jonathan ended up giving us a ride over here, so I decided to change into something more comfortable." She gave a little twirl. "Pretty?"
"Uh, yeah, pretty. Really pretty." Mike blushed, and El's cheeks reddened along with him. The others, on the other hand, felt awkward and out of place. Will stood there, smiling. Lucas was on the verge of snickering. Dustin coughed.
"Alright, let's get this campaign started!" Dustin yelled, hoping to break up the awkwardness. It worked, as Mike and El broke out of their own little bubble to rejoin the rest of them, and they all took a seat at the table, transitioning from 1980s suburban American children into great warriors and mages of legend as they sat in for what was to be a long and fulfilling campaign to save the world. Mike glanced at El one more time before starting, and she had a small smile on her face as she looked at him and nodded.
Mike cleared his throat.
"You start in a great hall…"
A/N: I've been wondering whether I should reformat the first chapter, which is currently in first person, to be third person like the rest of the one-shots (or two-shots) Promises will be. Leave a thought in a review on what you think, and thanks for reading! Fun and Games will be continued in chapter 4.