"Psssh Jane"
Her amber eyes darted away from the teacher and over to her left where she could see the rapid motion of long blonde hair swish as Jennifer Hayes spun around in her seat.
But before she could even say anything, the preppy cheerleader slid a folded neon yellow paper over onto her desk.
El scrunched her face in confusement. She had shared this class with Jennifer since school started and the girl had barely even acknowledged her. She could probably even count on one hand the amount of times they had even exchanged words, and now she was passing notes? What?
El slowly opened the folded paper under her desk, her eyes glancing up one last time, wary not to draw attention from their teacher.
"Party at Jennifer's this Friday at 8! Be there or be square bitches!"
Her forehead wrinkled slightly as she finished reading the flyer. "You're inviting me to your party?" she whispered turning her attention back to the cheerleader.
"Obviously." Jennifer rolled her eyes. "But trust me you'll wanna be there, it's gonna be the biggest party of the year." she mentioned as her pink glossy lips turned into a coy smile.
"Can Mike come too?"
"Yeah, sure. Bring whoever you want." The girl waved her off as she turned back around in her seat. "As long as they're not complete losers or anything I don't see why not."
El smiled to herself as she folded the yellow flyer back and put it into her pocket. She had to admit she was actually kind of excited. Especially since the last party she went to was for Dustin's birthday and she remembered how much fun that was.
Steve had attempted to barbecue and even though he almost caught the grill on fire, the hamburgers were still somewhat edible. Lucas had purposely smashed Dustin's face into the cake and the curly haired boy got his revenge when he pulled out a huge bucket of water balloons. The whole party ran around the yard, laughing, and throwing water balloons at each other until the late summer sun set. After they had dried off, they all went inside Dustin's house and watched movies well into the night.
And Jennifer said her party was gonna be the biggest of the year?
Wow. El couldn't wait.
.
.
"So you're saying you got invited to Jennifer Hayes party?!" Dustin practically yelled across their lunch table now more intrigued in the group's conversation than before.
The brunette nodded with a smile.
"THE Jennifer Hayes..?" He asked incredulously. "We are talking about the girl who is captain of the cheer-leading team right?
"Yes."
"The girl who was the first freshman ever to win homecoming queen?" Lucas added, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"Uh.. I think?"
"The girl who could potentially ruin our reputations for the rest of our highschool career if she really wanted to?!" Dustin's hands flew up quickly, barely able to contain his excitement.
Max couldn't help but scoff. "Please.. what reputations?"
Unfazed by the quip, Dustin eagerly proceeded "The girl who-
But he was quickly cut off as El shoved the flyer in his face to prove her point
"No way! He exclaimed, his eyes reading it over greedily. "I can't believe it.." his mouth dropped. "you actually scored an invite."
"What the hell! why would she invite you?" Lucas asked as he snatched the flyer from Dustin's hands.
Max jabbed him in the side allowing for him to catch his mistake. "I mean no offense El," he guiltily muttered. "but it's not like you're any cooler than the rest of us or anything."
"Well she kinda is.. by default." Will joined as he curiously glanced over the invitation. "Mike and El are still talked about because of that whole fight thing with Bryce remember?"
Will did have a point.
Even though Mike and El were not even near popular, they definitely had leeway that they hadn't had before. The kids from their grade held some respect for the couple and if it wasn't for them hanging out with the rest of the party, they might have even been bumped up in social status, but honestly that didn't even matter to them.
"Speaking of the devil, there he is!" Dustin toothily smiled, pointing at the lanky boy walking towards them.
Mike hesitantly set his lunch tray down, noticing his friends eager expressions. "Um, what's going on?"
"Dude! did you know El got invited to Jennifer's party!?" Lucas waved the bright flyer around.
Mike's eyes widened as he looked to the girl beside him. "Really?"
"Yeah." El excitedly smiled. "And she said you can come too."
"Sh-she did?" He choked out in unbelief. Mike knew Jennifer's parties were considered legendary among the kids in their grade and an invite to a party of hers was like finding a golden ticket or winning the lottery, definitely a fat chance for "nerds" like them.
"Wait hold up." Max stopped them, grabbing the invitation. "If Wheeler gets to go. Then we're going too." She stated definitively, gesturing between herself and Lucas.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dustin waved his hands catching their attention. "If those two are going, than better believe I," He then cleared his throat, deepening his voice for emphasise. "our party's bard and sole connection to Jennifer Hayes should have the right to be there."
Max shot a glare at the curly haired boy. "Sole connection? Yeah right. You were only paired up that one time in chemistry because her original partner got the flu."
"Connection I tell you!"
"Man, you could barely even talk to her without stuttering like an idiot and knocking over all the test tubes." Lucas laughed at the memory. "If anyone here has a connection, it's Will, since she actually cried at his fake funeral back in middle school."
"Yeah, so in that case.. Will you should come too!" Max insisted.
"GUYS!" Mike cut them off. "First of all, do you hear yourselves? El never said she was going, you all just assumed. So what makes you think we can even go? Second of all, even if we could go, what would be the point? We could probably find something better to do anyways instead of wasting our time at some dumb party.
"What would seriously be better than a once in a lifetime opportunity like this? Lucas retorted annoyed. "Hmm, lemme guess another day of wasted quarters at the arcade? or maybe an excruciating long campaign? Or wait.. I know, maybe we can walk in circles at the mall again, that's always a great time." he huffed, crossing his arms.
Max nodded. "All offense intended. I agree with Lucas."
"I second that." Will stated, his hand slipping up in the air. "Well.. uh without the offense part." he guiltily mumbled.
"Honestly learn to live a little Mike." Dustin said, chomping an apple as bits flew from his mouth. "You're just making excuses because you're kind of freaked out by this being our first high-school party. Yeah I get it.. so what? We deserve a night to just let loose for a change and your girlfriend clearly wants to go too, you're just being a tight ass. Isn't that right El?"
"I mean, I think it would be fun.." El spoke up softly, feeling bad for causing unnecessary tension between them.
Ignoring the slew of I-told-you-so's from the others, Mike looked at her for confirmation. "You really want to go to this?" he sighed uneasily.
"Yes." the brunette replied certain, her voice then dropped slightly in disappointment when she saw the look on his face. "but you don't have to. It's okay, I'll just go with our friends."
It was a punch to the gut, especially since El really wanted Mike to be there. However, she could tell that he really didn't want to go. But she had no idea why though especially since they had so much fun at Dustin's party together or well, so she had thought anyways.
"Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen." Dustin slowly clapped. "The mage has spoken and now we are officially on our way to becoming living legends." he then high fived Will, Lucas, and Max. "Hell yeah baby!"
"I was thinking maybe we could even convince Steve to drive us." Max whimsically smiled at her idea. "and since Mike isn't going, we'd all probably be able to pile in his car."
"No, I'll go."
"What was that? Did you guys hear something?" Lucas teased, purposely ignoring his friend.
"Hmm.." Max stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Sounds like somebody feels left out if you ask me." she joked, joining along.
"Shut up, that's not it." Mike retorted. "I just changed my mind is all."
"Surrreee."
"You really don't have to come if you don't want to." Eleven reassured him, not wanting him to feel pressured by the others.
"It's fine, I'll go." Mike repeated, sounding a little harsher than he intended. He then awkwardly smiled back at her hoping to convince her otherwise. "I mean, it's just better if the group sticks together anyways.. You know, safety in numbers."
El wasn't completely convinced but she would be lying if she said she wasn't even a teensy bit excited that he'd be there with her. But who knows maybe he'd actually change his mind when they got to the party. Maybe then he would see how fun it was.
Yeah, that's what would happen. She was certain of it.
.
.
"I know you and I know you don't want to go to this. So what gives?"
The two boys had been waiting patiently on Mike's front porch for about thirty minutes for their ride. They were the last ones to be picked up and by none other than Steve Harrington himself. Somehow the kids had had managed to convince Steve to be their chauffeur for the night. Well more so Dustin did the convincing but regardless it had worked in their favor. Now Steve was making his rounds going from house to house. But of course he was running late.
Mike hesitantly stood up after he finished lacing up his shoe. He had even tried to dress nice and casual. He wore a simple blue polo and his best pair of jeans. Honestly he really didn't know what to wear to a party like the one they were going to, but he tried regardless.
"It's just, it's gonna be El's first party and I…"
"You want to watch out for her, huh?"
Mike cringed, knowing his friend was undoubtedly reading him like a book. "Is it that obvious?"
"Like I said, I know you." Will gently chuckled. "Worried she'll be jock prey?"
"Pfft.. no.. it's not.." He embarrassingly sputtered.
"It's fine man, I'm just messing with you."
"I know she can take of herself and all it's just.." Mike looked down, caught in his thoughts as he absentmindedly kicked at the ground. "this party will be so different than what she's used to and well, I just want to make sure she's okay."
Will couldn't help but smile at the boy's good nature. "I see. well-"
He was disrupted by the sound of tires screeching to a halt in the driveway.
They could see all their friends stuffed inside the beat up red Volkswagen, one practically on top of the other with their eager faces pressed against the windows.
"Are you little shit heads coming or not?" Steve suddenly shouted from the driver's seat, his face not nearly as amused as the others.
Well, this was about to be one hell of a night.
.
.
The six of them simply stared at the looming house in front of them not even noticing when Steve had rolled down the window just to yell at them to make smart choices before driving off.
It was nine at night and the party was already in full swing. The gravel shook beneath their feet as the music coming from the house seemed to reverberate through the entire neighborhood while neon lights poured out from the windows, racing across their faces.
"Abort.." Dustin abruptly said, tearing the group from their reverie.
"Nice try." Lucas grabbed him by the shoulder stilling him before he could walk away. "But we're going."
The others followed timidly behind as Lucas led the way, pushing a nervous Dustin along with him.
"Should I have brought a gift?" El asked looking between the others for clarity.
"Something's telling me it's not that kind of party El." Max laughed at her friend's innocence.
"What do you mean?" she asked curiously but her question was drowned out by the roaring music as the group finally entered the doorway.
The first thing El noticed once they stepped inside was the smell.. or smells. One was potent and smelled like beer. The other she couldn't quite distinguish but it smelled pretty bad. It was like a musky scent which faintly smelled like Hopper's cigarettes but not really, it was stronger and smellier.
Jennifer was definitely right about this party being the biggest. El didn't even know that there were this many teens in Hawkins let alone their school. Wait, did some of these kids even go to their school?
However, there were some kids from her grade she definitely recognized. However these were people she hardly associated with. These were the populars and noting some of their judgemental glances she could tell they weren't expecting her and her friends to even be there.
She watched the teens in curiosity.
They were dancing, some wildly like they had just made up their own moves and didn't care about being in sync with the music. The ones who did keep in sync were swaying very close to their partners, their bodies pressed so tightly together, El didn't know how they were comfortable like that.
Some were in groups talking and holding plastic red cups in their hands while flirting, and laughing among themselves. She had no idea why some of them were laughing so hard though.. What was so damn funny?
And still there were some that played some sort of game with those same red cups. It was almost like ping pong but without the paddles. She didn't quite understand it though. Was that the only game here?
El could feel Mike's hand tighten around hers and honestly she was so glad he was there right beside her because for some reason she felt unusually nervous. This wasn't like Dustin's party at all.
"Hellooo Janey!" Jennifer stumbled towards her, steadying herself by holding onto her shoulder. "And is that little Will I seee? Hi! I'm so glad you came!" she slurred, waving at the small boy who awkwardly waved back. She then noticed the rest of the group. "And uh.. Janey's other friends?"
El was almost blown away by the strong scent of beer on her breath. "That's Mike, Dustin, Max, and Lucas." she said pointing to each of them.
Jennifer appeared unfazed as her attention returned to El and Will.
"Oh um, happy birthday." El suddenly blurted, almost forgetting her manners.
"Oh.. silly." Jennifer playfully swatted. "It's not my birthday."
"Then why are you having a party?"
She could hear the faint groans from her friends before Mike quickly shushed them.
Had she said something wrong? Maybe Jennifer was celebrating for another reason than El had initially thought but what would be the occasion? After all it was March and all the major holidays had passed.
"Because I can." Jennifer obnoxiously laughed. Once she settled her eyes drifted back to the others. "So are you all just gonna stand by the door or what?" she bluntly asked. "Don't be shy. There's plenty of drinks to go around." she motioned them further inside.
"Guys, I don't think…"
"I guess I'll go get the drinks." Max spoke up, hoping to relieve the awkward tension.
"And um.. I'll go with her." Lucas nodded, grabbing her hand.
"... we should split up." Mike mumbled dishearteningly.
but soon the both of them disappeared into the sea of smoke, lights, and party goers trailing after the blonde cheerleader.
"We have done it my friends." Dustin swung his arms around the remainder of the group, gaping in awe at their surroundings. "We're at the party that will go down in Hawkins High history forever."
Mike pulled away, brushing him off. "Yeah, and the host doesn't even know our names."
"She was clearly drunk dude. She probably doesn't remember her own name"
Mike deadpanned. "But she remembered El and Wi-
"Anyways!" Dustin quickly changed the topic. "What should we do first?"
The three of them just stared blankly between each each other.
"Um.. what do people usually do at these things?" Will asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Glad you asked." Dustin then pulled out a list from his pocket. "So, I stayed up last night doing my research and well I wrote down some stuff we could do."
"What the hell?" Mike snatched the paper from his hand and read over it.
"Number One- Check out what snacks there are. Really… Dustin?"
"Hey it's important that we have a sufficient amount of energy to get us through the night!"
Mike ignored him and continued. "Number two- show off some cool party tricks. Yeah. no." He shook his head. "Number three- play a round of spin the bottle and hope for the best? Again, what the hell?"
"What's spin the bottle?" El inquired, interrupting their banter. "Is it fun?"
"Nah not really, It's just some dumb game."
"Bet you wouldn't be saying that if your spun landed on her."
Mike swiftly jabbed him in the side. "Shut up. By the way this list is the literal reason why people make fun of us."
Dustin grabbed the list back. "Well I don't see you coming up with any better ideas."
"HEY YOU!"
The four of them whipped around so fast at the sound of the deep bolstering voice.
They could see a husky blonde haired guy walking right towards them and he was pointing straight at Dustin.
And If it wasn't for the Hawkins lacrosse sweatshirt this guy was wearing they would've assumed he was a full grown man and definitely not some kid from their school.
"Me?" Dustin gulped, looking over his shoulder with uncertainty.
"Yeah. You."
He instantly froze in place, his face beginning to turn a ghost white.
El stood up straighter, preparing herself to intervene. What could this guy possibly want with Dustin anyways? They didn't even know him.
"I need a partner for beer pong.. You game?"
Dustin deflated with relief. He then nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah.. Yeah, sure thing." he muttered before soon following after the senior.
"I'm gonna go with him." Will mentioned to Mike and El before hastily leaving to catch up.
The couple stood there awkwardly beside themselves.
El didn't understand this party at all..
Not only was the music insanely loud but so were the people. They were yelling or stumbling over themselves like they had forgotten how to walk.
Not to mention it also stunk in here.. Those weird smells along with the scent of musty body odor masked the entire house. Gross.
And there weren't any games either.. Well aside from that one called beer pong or whatever but nothing that looked remotely fun.
El sighed in disappointment, this wasn't at all what she was expecting. It would probably be better if they just left now then maybe somehow they could still salvage the rest of the night. She turned to Mike to tell him but before she could.
"We come bearing gifts." Lucas chuckled as him and Max approached the pair holding a bunch of red cups in their arms.
"Wheerre's the other dorks?" The redhead asked, her words beginning to slur slightly on her tongue.
"They went to play a game." El answered, noting the change in her friend's demeanor.
Max just shrugged. "Well more for us then." She said, handing the cups to Mike and El.
Mike disdainfully looked inside the red cup. "What's in this?" he asked, cautiously swishing the liquid around.
"I don't know." Lucas smiled, his eyes growing glassy in appearance. "Honestly, it tastes like shit, but trust me it gets better the more you drink it."
El took a small sip and immediately the back of her throat began to intensely burn. She winced at the hard taste. What was the hell was this?
"Dudeee, just try it." Lucas gestured to Mike who was still staring down at his cup. "Look even your girlfriend drank some, don't be such a pussy."
"I'm not." Mike mumbled under his breath along with a swear.
He then took a huge swig in effort to prove him wrong. But it wasn't too long before he started coughing, his eyes beginning to water.
Lucas laughed as he patted his friend on the back. "Better luck next time."
Max hurriedly gulped down the rest of her drink and threw the empty cup down. "Come on, let's dance stalker.' she said, whisking Lucas away once again.
Her friends were definitely acting strange, well more strange than usual. She looked at Mike and she could tell he was thinking the same thing based off the look on his face. Maybe it had something to do with this weird drink?
Mike shifted uneasily as he clenched the cup in his hand. "So um…"
"You want to get out of here?" El finished for him.
She noticed he smiled the first genuine smile he had that whole night.
.
.
They eventually wandered to a secluded spot in Jennifer's backyard. At first they thought about going down the street to Benny's but decided against it, knowing they couldn't just ditch their friends here by themselves.
The two began to become immune to their strong drinks as they took tentative sips from their cups, indulging in the fresh air and lack of noise as they sat together on the porch swing.
"You were right Mike." She said cutting into the air of silence between them.
"Right about what?"
"About this party being a waste of our time." El deeply sighed. "I just thought it would be like the other ones we went to."
"Oh." The sudden realization dawned on him. "Like that Christmas party we went to?"
"Kinda, well I thought this one would be more like Dustin's." El sheepishly looked away. "I'm so stupid.." She was starting to feel a little fuzzy, but weirdly enough, it kind of felt relaxing.
"No, you're not. It's okay, there's no way you would've known."
"But you knew, didn't you?"
Mike hesitated in response unknowingly giving her the answer.
"That's why you didn't wanna come." El replied for him, her legs stopping the flow of the swing. "You knew it would be like this."
"Well not exactly.. I had a guess, but it's only because I've heard things from others. Also Nancy told me about this one party her and Steve went to and-
"These high-school parties..." El quickly cut off his rambling. "Everyone already knows about them." Her face then fell with discouragement. "Everyone but me.." she mumbled, her voice tainted with shame.
"You don't give yourself enough.. credit." He reassured her, grabbing her hand. His words were becoming slower, almost as if his thoughts couldn't keep up with his mouth. "You've caught up so much in the last couple of years. It's honestly.. honestly it's incredible how far you've come since we first met."
"I know." El looked over at him before taking a sip of her drink. "It's just, I wish sometimes I was normal like everyone else."
"Screw normal."
"Wait, what?"
"Normality is bullshit El." Mike remarked, his tone louder than usual. "Look over there." He gestured back to the house up ahead. "That's what's considered the high-school normal."
"A loud party full of mouth breathers?"
"Yup." Mike softly chuckled. "So guess you're not alone. I'm not normal either."
"Well, screw normal!" El stood up and shouted into the open air. A new sense of pride dwelling within her.
Mike laughed along with her as she fell back into the swing, causing it to rock back and forth.
He then looked over at her as their laughter died down. His heart leapt in his chest as he took in just how beautiful she was under the moonlight glow.
"By the way, this night isn't a complete waste."
"How isn't it?"
They literally came to a smelly party with a bunch of people they didn't know well and didn't do anything the whole night so it definitely had seemed that way to her.
"Because I get to be with you." he playfully knocked his knees into hers.
El couldn't help but smile at him. That simple phrase meaning more to her than he would ever know.
And before she knew it she pulled his face to meet hers and she kissed him.
She had never felt so light and giddy.. and bold.
He kissed her back and she only deepened the kiss between them, craving more than what they were normally accustomed to.
He slowly pulled away from her lips. His glazed eyes searching hers for assurance. "Is this okay?"
But she said nothing instead grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and kissing him harder with passion and fervor.
She didn't know what she was really doing but as a new hunger sparked within her she just knew she needed him close.
Her fingers made its way in his dark curls. Her mouth heatedly pressed against his and she could taste the liquor on him as their tongues danced together for the first time.
It was perfect and damn, it felt so good. A delirious happiness suddenly washed over her and she had suddenly wondered why they had never done this before.
He groaned softly against her mouth as his arms encircled her, gathering her up against him.
"Uh…ahem, guys."
They hesitantly pulled away from each other, staring back at each other in wonder like they had just discovered the world's best kept secret.
If it weren't for their impaired judgement they would've probably be on opposite sides of the swing by now trying to hide their guilt ridden faces, but they were tipsy and they honestly couldn't care less.
"Err..." Will looked down at the ground embarrassed. "Sorry to interrupt, but Dustin's currently puking his guts out. Lucas is passed out on the couch and Max keeps trying to pick fights with the football team." he sighed tiredly. "And well, I just really wanna go home."
They turned to look at the boy as though his words had finally registered with them.
"Alright we'll be there in a sec."
Once they watched Will walked away, Mike and El couldn't help but giggle between themselves as they relished in the remainders of pure bliss from their kiss earlier.
This had definitely a night neither of them would ever forget