3
The weekend melted away far too fast, and soon, it was Monday.
Mike spent it trying to find El, glancing around the recess yard and the cafeteria.
El spent it trying to avoid Troy, by hiding in the toilets, getting into detentions, picking the locks of storage cupboards and then squatting behind a mop for lunch hour, plus various other methods that seemed to involve going to the school nurse for repeated nosebleeds.
Luckily for her, his harassment wasn't one that required effort. If she happened to be in the same room as him, he'd stick chewing gum in her hair or throw used cans and candy wrappers at her. If El wasn't anywhere near him, she'd escape school without injury.
Works for me.
El was also determined to keep everything hidden from Mike, and from as many other people as she could manage. Including Hopper.
The fact that Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will had all been dealing with Troy for about ten years longer than she had, and would therefore be able to help her, neglected to cross her mind.
And anyway, if she was holed up in a janitor's cupboard at lunchtimes, it at least gave her a chance to read in peace. They were studying Romeo and Juliet in English.
`I don't like them,' Lucas said, crossing his arms.
`That's ridiculous!'
`No it isn't.'
Mike threw up his hands. `Are we going to end up in a no it isn't, yes it is loop?'
`Depends.'
`On what?'
`Do you agree with me?'
`No.'
`Then yeah, I guess it will. Your turn.' Lucas stubbornly leant back against the musty-smelling sofa. Mike kicked at the carpet.
`You're unbelievable.'
`Guys,' Dustin chipped in, `me and Will are kind of in the match of our lives. Can you keep it down?' He didn't take his eyes off of the screen, his thumbs stabbing the buttons on the controller.
Mike and Lucas moved to the D&D table in the centre of the room. `Is this because Max was messing with you at the diner?' Mike asked, trying to take a slightly gentler approach.
`She just takes everything as a joke, I hate it. And yeah, I'm not exactly a fan of her when she teases me. Or you,' Lucas added.
`I think she does that with everyone, El included. You shouldn't take it personally.'
Lucas pressed his mouth into a thin, hard line, and looked away and then back at his friend. `Look,' he said finally, `you can go out with El, marry her, whatever. But that doesn't mean I have to like them.'
`YES!' Will threw his controller to the side as the TV blared out, Player One Wins! whilst showering the screen with confetti pixels. `Ha! I kicked your ass!'
`Son of a bitch.'
Mike started laughing, and so did Lucas. That was how Mike could tell it would be okay- with Lucas, at least. A new thought kindled in his head like a glowing ember.
I think I'll phone her tonight.
But of course, he didn't have her number. That was how Mike spent an hour going through every damn Hopper in Indiana, most of which were fifty year old men who didn't appreciate being disturbed by a random teenager whose voice hadn't properly dropped yet.
Eventually, he reached the bottom three. By then, Mike's nerves were shot to shreds. He still made a stab at being a little optimistic: `Okay, Luck, you've been kind of useless so far,' he mumbled, `but now would be a really good time to redeem yourself.' He leant his head against the wall, said a little prayer, dialled first number, and waited.
The line crackled, connected, and then a low, familiar voice came out of the phone. `Hello?'
Mike's mouth went dry.
`Hi?' He said, cursing his tendency to pose all sentences as questions when nervous. He balled up some spit in an effort to sound more normal. `I'm Mike Wheeler. Is El Hopper there?'
`Mike Wheeler?' The voice sounded dubious. `As in… the kid who crashed a bike into the Best Buy?'
Shit. Shit. Shit. Mike cursed his luck for the millionth time. `Yeah,' he said reluctantly. There was a long, ominous pause. Then:
`Passing you over.'
On the other side of Hawkins, Hopper covered the receiver with one hand, and leaned back from the kitchen. `Hey, there's a kid named Mike for you.'
El didn't take her eyes off the flickering screen. She was enthralled in Days of Our Lives. Hopper hated how zombified his daughter became in front of the TV.
`Ellie.'
El turned her head slightly away, but kept watching out of the corner of her eye. `Yeah?' Apparently it was key to his daughter's survival that she find out whether or not Drake's kidney transplant saved his ex-wife.
Whilst this interaction was taking place, Mike was jumping from foot to foot, feeling like he was about to puke, and seriously considering the option of hanging up and hiding in his basement until graduation.
One hand pressed against his forehead, Hopper began to lose his patience. `Mike Wheeler's on the phone.' There wasn't a response. `Mike Wheeler, is on, the phone,' he said, loudly and slowly.
You know what, maybe I won't even go to graduation...
Finally there was a response: El jumped off of the couch, almost tipped her dinner tray onto the floor, then jabbed the Off button on the remote.
Hopper was suitably impressed.
`Oh God-' she started running her hands through her hair, `right- thanks, Dad-' El almost sprinted across the room, took the phone, squeezed her eyes shut and said, `hi,' in a voice that was, to her credit, fairly normal. Dad, can you go? She mouthed. Hopper raised his eyebrows, staying exactly where he was. El pulled a face, then said, `Hold on.' She put her own hand over the phone. `Dad. Privacy.'
`No,' Hopper pointed at her, `I wanna know exactly what you're saying to this kid.'
El gritted her teeth. `This violates my human rights.'
`Fine with me. I'm a cop, I can make things happen.' Another few seconds elapsed with her glaring at him- looking as if she wished him a fiery and painful death- until he relented and held up his hands. `Okay, fine. Knock yourself out.' Hopper took his tray into his bedroom, and El made sure the door was shut before putting the phone back to her ear.
`Sorry about that.' She realised she was smiling like the Cheshire Cat, but at least no one else could see.
`That's fine!' Mike said quickly. `I was… I was calling to see if you wanted to come with me to the cinema.'
`Really? When?' Was this a date? El didn't know who to ask. There should really be a helpline for this stuff.
`Tomorrow?'
`School night,' El said apologetically, spinning on her heel and leaning against the wall. `Dad won't want me out too late.' El paused, then, cautiously, said, `I… could come round to yours instead. We could watch a film there.'
`Oh.' Mike didn't say anything for a second. Worry sprang into El's chest, thinking she'd been too daring (she wasn't to know the silence was due to Mike jumping and fist-punching the air like a lunatic). Eventually, he came back on the line. `That sounds great.' El exhaled, and began smiling again. `What kind of films do you like?'
`Anything, really. You can pick.' There was no way El was going to tell him her favourite film of all time was Pretty In Pink, narrowly followed by The Breakfast Club.
`How about Alien?' Mike asked eagerly. El had never seen it.
`Sure. What's it about?'
`Uh…' she could hear Mike licking his lips a little. It had an effect on her that wasn't altogether helpful.
`It's… a bit weird,' he said eventually. `I think it'd be easier to just read the summary tomorrow.'
`Okay then,' El said, even more curious. Well, if it isn't gory, I should be fine. Another thought occured to El, just before she hung up. `Hey,' she said suddenly. `How'd you get my phone number?'
An unsayable word crossed his mind. `Uh. I just… phoned… one or two people. It wasn't any trouble.'
Slightly confused, but not knowing why, El nodded. `That's good.' She paused. `Well. Bye.'
`Bye.'
Neither of them hung up. She started smiling again, and then put the phone back on the wall. The second she did, Hopper re-emerged, most of his dinner eaten.
`You look happy,' he commented. El didn't answer, still grinning like a maniac. He pulled her onto the sofa and ruffled her hair. `He sounded nice.'
`He is nice.' El stretched, pulled her knees up under her chin, leant against Hopper and turned on the TV. The happiness inside her washed through her chest in waves.
Tomorrow.
Okay. She could wait that long.