Chapter Twenty – Brain Candy
Will watched as his brother scooped another handful of the tiny dark fruits into his palm, spreading them generously onto the cooking pancake batter. "See, you gotta make sure every inch has at least one blueberry in it," his brother mused, squinting at the solidifying liquid.
Will grinned playfully, "I didn't know it was such a science."
Jonathan chuckled at this and nodded, "Uh, yeah it is! Blueberry pancakes are no small feat…you gotta make sure they don't burn…" He trailed off, taking the time to flip a few cakes to eye the glorious golden brown.
"Can I flip that one?" Will asked, reaching eagerly for the spatula with the wooden handle.
"Go for it!" he smiled, handing it over as Will switched places with him. The younger boy ended up flipping it onto one of the other cakes, chuckling at the grilling food.
"Oh no…" he chortled, trying to scrape the uncooked batter off the cake. Gobs of it still clung to the warm side, white against dark as the boys snickered lightheartedly at Will's failed attempt. The youngest sighed, grinning at his brother as he took the spatula from him and expertly corrected his error.
"Don't worry. One day, this'll be a piece of cake," Jonathan grinned as Will rolled his eyes.
"Oh God…you're killing me…" he groaned at his brother's horrible pun.
"What?!" Jonathan eyed him, laughing despite not catching what he'd said like Will had.
"Just…just nothing…" Will shook his head at him, still grinning at Jonathan's obliviousness. The eldest scooped the cakes onto a serving platter, reaching back to set the steaming food onto the table. As he was fishing about for two glasses, opening the fridge door with one hand, Will's eyes widened and his posture stiffened considerably. His gut clenched uncomfortably and he grimaced at the familiar sensation. "I'll be…right back…" he mumbled, holding his stomach and slowly exiting the room.
"Hmm? You okay?" Jonathan asked, peering over the door of the fridge. He set a gallon of milk onto the table, peeking out of the kitchen as Will shuffled down their hall and into the bathroom. "Will?"
"…I'm fine!" he replied, though his voice sounded burdened by a heavy object. Jonathan creased his brow, remembering Joyce's words to him before she'd left for the Wheeler's this morning.
"Make sure he gets enough to drink and eat…okay? And if anything happens, call me right away…okay?" she checked, fishing about in her wallet for some gas money. Will was sound asleep in his room, having come home only a few hours before.
"Sure, sure…" he nodded in confirmation. "But Mom…didn't the doctors say he was gonna be alright?"
Joyce sighed, shaking her head and rubbing her forehead. "No, no…they said they didn't know what was wrong with him…" Jonathan noticed how frazzled she was, wishing she could stop and rest for at least a few moments. "I have to go see if El is okay…" Joyce exhaled, her voice trembling a bit with worry.
"Mom…"
"Then I have to…buy gas for the car…and call Hopper, and-"
"Mom!" Jonathan broke in, his hands going to her shoulders. "It's gonna be okay. Nancy told me she was there…she's safe," he explained a second time as Joyce nodded, sighing into the air between them. "Just try and relax a little…Will's obviously healthy enough for them to let him come home."
"…I know, I know…" Joyce rehearsed, nodding assuredly at her son. She gazed up at her eldest, confident in him and everything he did. "Thank you Jonathan…"
"Sure…" he nodded. "I'm just happy he's better now…" he admitted his fears as her expression reflected the exact same sentiments.
"Me too…"
The sound of Will's groans reached him from the bathroom, all the way into the kitchen. "…Will?" Jonathan went to hesitantly peek into the open door and found his brother leant against a wall, clutching his stomach with both forearms. His gut wrenched and burnt with pain, a tearing sensation making his jaw clench shut. Stressed moans and panting were Jonathan's only indication that something was amiss. "Will what's wrong?" he asked, grabbing his shoulder protectively. The anguish of seeing his brother like this painted itself across his face in lines and creases.
"Ugh…" Will groaned, his voice rising in alarm as the pain came to a head. Tears formed in his eyes as perspiration slicked his skin. "…it HURTS…it hurts so bad!" he exclaimed, sinking onto the floor whilst gripping his stomach.
"Let me get you some water!" Jonathan offered, filling a cup with tap from the sink beside them.
"NO!" Will huffed, shaking his head. "That only makes it-" The boy's eyes widened in alarm as the pain left his stomach and began traveling up through his abdomen. This was his only warning, and he ordered his brother, "Get out!"
"W-What?! Why?" Jonathan asked, peering down at him worriedly.
"Just do it!" he stammered, somehow keeping it down long enough to utter these words.
Jonathan eyed him, then the toilet worriedly. "O-Okay, I'll be right outside…" He rose to his feet and closed the door, rushing into the kitchen to put the milk away. On top of everything else that was going on, they couldn't afford letting their food spoil. Will stood to lock the door, gripping the sink and grimacing into the mirror. He battled with his body for a few solid minutes, yearning to be rid of the unwelcome passenger while dreading the stress that came with hurling it up. Then, without warning or any sort of preparation, he vomited a slug into the bowl. Through blurred vision, he noticed it was quite larger than the last. He caught his breath, his eyes pink with exertion and his temples pulsating painfully. The last time he'd done this, Will had drank water and it'd helped the slug crawl out of his throat, quickening the grueling process. So, he'd decided not to drink water for a bit…and it'd parched his throat considerably. Will sucked in a deep breath, noting how (this time) he'd nearly choked on the wriggling abomination. Next time…take the water, he told himself. He remained clutching the sink, gasping for air and collecting himself.
"Will?" Jonathan asked through the door. He could hear the sink running and Will's panting, as if he'd just run a mile. "…everything…come out okay?"
Will sighed at this, replying with an unconfident and shaky, "No…"
"Should I come back later...?" Jonathan looked down at the knob leeringly as it rotated. Will stood before him, an unusual paleness smothering his skin in a ghastly color.
"I'm fine…" Will lied, trying to dress it up with a tired smile.
"No…you're not," Jonathan corrected him, feeling his forehead with the back of his hand. Will rolled his eyes, reaching up to slowly remove Jonathan's hand when his brother's eyes swelled with shock. "You're freezing!" he exclaimed, having expected him to be burning with fever.
"It is kinda cold in here…" Will reasoned, shuddering to himself. "Your hands could just be hot from cooking, too…"
"Maybe…" he trailed off, eyeing the floor worriedly. "…could you eat?" The boy shuddered noticeably.
"…I think so…" Will nodded after a moment's hesitation.
"You don't have to! Only if you think you can handle it…"
"I think I can…" Will said in a more reassuring tone. "I'm actually starving…" he chuckled at the ironic emptiness hollowing his stomach. Jonathan tried to smile with him, but he could only purse his lips fretfully as his brother half-smiled in a comforting gesture.
"Okay…" he finally nodded, walking into the kitchen and sitting with him at the table. He watched Will in a safeguarding manner, curious as to how he'd been thoroughly sick moments ago only to be chowing down on pancakes minutes later. "…at least you don't have to worry about school," Jonathan noted, the optimism in his words cutting down his doubt.
"Yeah!" Will nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with him as he cut the fluffy hotcakes. Jonathan smiled as Will relished the food, closing his eyes to savor each bite. "You make these the best. Don't tell Nancy I said this, but…you make better pancakes than Mrs. Wheeler…"
"What?! No way…" Jonathan rolled his eyes at this excessive flattery. "You do know she's an actual cook, right? There's no way I could make something better than her…"
"You guys should have a cook-off, breakfast food only. I wouldn't wanna risk anything…but I'd put my money on you," he chuckled, nodding honestly at his brother.
"Maybe, one day…" Jonathan mused, chuckling at the mere idea.
"So, have you talked to Nancy yet?" Will popped the question, derailing Jonathan's thoughts on a dime.
The teenager blinked, "…about what?"
"…you know…" he grinned, wiggling his brow and squinting at him. Jonathan watched, smiling a bit in his confusion.
"Wait what?! What are you-?"
"Jonathan…" he sighed, shaking his head. "Mom and I know you like her…" he droned on the word like just to tease his older brother. "Well…I know. I'm actually not sure if Mom knows…" Jonathan was going to say something but he remained silent, his face uncontrollably shading three pigments darker. "Why don't you ask her on a date?" Will asked, knowing his brother could. "There's that concert coming up…"
"H-How'd you find out about that?!" Jonathan burst in. "It was supposed to be a surprise!"
Will rolled his eyes, "Well, I found the surprise on the coffee table last week…"
"Oh…" Jonathan berated himself for leaving the tickets in plain sight. How idiotic of him! "But…it's The Clash," Jonathan reminded him. "I was gonna take you to go see them…"
Will sat in silent contemplation for a moment, his lips pursing thoughtfully. What he really wanted was to discuss his sickness with his friends and see if they could make any breakthroughs about the slugs. "…it's okay. You should take Nancy."
"…but Will, you actually like The Clash," he reinstated, eyeing him confusingly. "Nancy might not even be into that kind of music…"
Will shrugged, "They're only gonna sing the songs from the mix-tape you gave me anyway. Plus, it'll probably sound worse live…no offense…"
Jonathan shrugged indifferently at this true fact. He couldn't deny that his brother had a point…but he was still very distraught over this. He sighed in a downtrodden manner, "It was supposed to be a surprise…for you."
"It's okay." Will went on to add, "Besides, Mom wouldn't let me go to a concert, with everything that's been happening. I'd be lucky enough to go to Mike's place…" Jonathan nodded at this understandably, lowering his gaze to the table. "So ask Nancy! She might not like them, but…who knows if she's even been to a concert? You know?"
"Yeah…" Jonathan smiled at his little brother, who was beginning to sound more and more like an adult every day.
"Mike said he would finish the campaign soon and…I don't wanna miss it in case he does," Will informed him as Jonathan chuckled to himself. No…not an adult. Not yet at least...
Joyce knelt before Eleven in the bathroom, speaking in a low voice to her. She was gently rubbing El's cheek with a warm washcloth as the girl sat on the lid of the toilet, eyeing the bruise angrily. "I swear if I see Lonnie again I am gonna murder him…" she muttered. El tightened her lips at this, having believed she'd already done so when she'd thrown him across the kitchen. Joyce looked down, eyeing the sad-looking bandages and back up at El. The girl stared at her cautiously until Joyce said, "We have to fix them." The woman set about the tedious task of changing the bandages as El flinched every now and then, biting her lip at the pain. She cleansed them with a different washcloth as El gripped the toilet, clenching her teeth, her brow trembling. "Almost done," she promised, helping herself to the Wheeler's first-aid kit a little carelessly. She had to admit, Eleven was doing good. Then again, the first time they'd done this, El had been half-starved and beyond consolation, skittish at every little sound. Now, their bellies were full and Eleven knew she had a home...a warm one, with family that cared for her. Joyce wrapped El's feet comfortably in soft gauze, returning them to the floor. Then she grabbed the first cloth, refocusing her attention on El's face.
"Joyce…" El began in her usual soft-spoken tone.
"What?" she replied, peering into those bright brown eyes.
"…my friends," she gazed over her shoulder at the door as Joyce followed her cheek with the cloth. "Can I, be with them?" she asked, turning back to the woman longingly.
A deep pit formed within her core, and Joyce bit her lip, eyeing her feet worriedly. El watched, her face wrought with concern. "…you wanna stay here for a bit? Then come home tonight?"
"Yes," El nodded. She understood Joyce's fears, so she tried to console her. "Mike…he's here."
"Yes I know…" Joyce sighed, continuing to rub her cheek.
El suddenly said something out of the blue and entirely unconnected to Joyce's train of thought. "I'll protect him…" she vowed, making Joyce stare at her in awe.
"Oh, I know you will sweetie…" Joyce cooed, hugging El to her chest. This girl simply didn't understand that people cared and worried about her. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay here? I'd only be at home, with Will and Jonathan…you could call me and I can come and pick you up whenever you want." El nodded, gazing longingly into Joyce's eyes as they lowered to the floor again. The bandages haunted her. Was she being a good caretaker, leaving El here with another family?! "…okay then," she accepted the request and El's face lit up. She hugged Joyce on her own accord, wrapping her in two tiny arms.
"Thank you," she said into Joyce's shoulder. The woman knew it wasn't this easy. She'd need to talk it over with Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler before anything happened.
"I have to ask Mike's parents first…since this is their house," Joyce reminded her. "…if they say no, then we have to leave," Joyce said. El nodded understandably, looking a little doubtful now herself. "Here, keep this," she slipped the cloth into El's hand and kissed her left cheek. Joyce could see there was a little confusion in her eyes at this simple motherly gesture, but it seemed to comfort her either way. "You go see your friends, in case we do have to leave…"
"Okay," El nodded, shaking the question from her mind. She'd already pressed her luck during breakfast with her first question, and El found a bit of solace knowing she could ask Joyce later. They both left the bathroom and El rushed downstairs, finding Mike sitting on the couch, holding his super-comm to his jaw. She looked over at her fort, realizing it had sat…exactly the same as when she'd last slept there. It appeared untouched.
Her eyes went back to Mike as he pressed a button, saying, "Lucas! Are you there? Lucas, come in! Over."
El crossed the room, sitting beside him as he smiled warmly at her. As the rag began to lose it's warmth, she placed it on the table. Lucas' voice came through the comm, distorted with static and sleep. "Yeah…what is it?"
"I need you to get Dustin and come over her, quick! Over!" Mike demanded.
Lucas sighed, then pressed down the button, "I was trying to sleep in, but I guess I can come over…" There was a moment's pause as he rolled his eyes and added, "…over."
"Great! Make sure you bring Dustin. Over," Mike reminded him unnecessarily. The breaks in his sentence were only slightly confusing as the girl watched him adoringly.
Lucas paused, "…is Will gonna be there?"
"…Yeah! I'll call him and see if he's feeling better…" Mike nodded into the radio. "-over!"
"Good…that way we'll have the whole party and we can finally finish the campaign," Lucas sighed, snatching his figurine off his bedside table and searching about for clothes to wear. "…over!"
"…oh yeah! Definitely, over," Mike chuckled, glancing to El excitedly. He couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when they spotted her.
Lucas squinted at this, eyeing a wall suspiciously. "Umm…okay. Over and out." He retracted the antenna as Mike switched channels, extending his reach with the supercomm.
"Will? Will are you there? Over," Mike's voice came in through Will's super-comm as he hastily snatched it off his bed.
"Roger that! I'm here, over," he responded, much to Mike's surprise.
"Hey!" Mike's voice pitched with glee. "How…how's it going? Over…"
Will tilted his head back and forth, "It happened again this morning, but I think that's it for today…over."
Mike eyed El, continuing to ask, "You mean, you puked again? Over?"
"Yeah…it was really bad…" Will trailed off. "-over…"
"Where'd you…put it? Over…" Mike asked as El eyed him confusingly.
"In the sink…I didn't have time to go anywhere else…over," Mike noticed El's expression and decided to cut to the chase.
"Well…do you think you'll be allowed to come over today? I asked Lucas and Dustin, so we might be able to play D&D for a bit. Over."
Will shifted about with anticipation, "Well…I'd have to ask Jonathan if he can drive me…" Mike eyed the floor, knowing Will probably didn't feel strong enough to bike himself there. "...but yeah! I'll ask. Over."
"Your mom is actually here; you can ask her! I can put her on the radio and-"
"NO," Will broke in, his eyes widening. "No…I'd rather take my chances with Jonathan…o-over."
Mike grinned, "O-Okay. See you in a few? Over?"
"Yep! Over and out," Will nodded, smiling to himself and retracting his antenna.
Mike did the same, turning to El and asking, "Isn't this exciting?" She nodded a little nervously, questions still lingering on the tip of her tongue. "You look…confused about something," Mike observed as El's eyes found the floor a moment, then flitted back up to him. "What is it?"
"What's…puking?" El asked.
"Oh…" Mike nodded. He went on to ask, "…have you, never puked before?" El shrugged, her brow raising unknowingly. "Oh…well, it's when your stomach hurts really bad and you…um," he struggled, trying to describe it clearly. "…cough up, everything you ate and…spit it out."
El grimaced a little comically at this, "Nasty…"
"Yeah! It is…really gross," he mused, a little too excited to be explaining the mechanics of vomiting to her. Mike was simply ecstatic that they were in the same room, so he pressed, "Do you have any other questions?"
El thought about this, her face heating up. She looked off to the side, pursing her lips. "Not…really…" she shook her head, peering back over to him.
"…come on El, I know you do," he chuckled. "It's okay! You can ask me. I won't judge you!"
El smiled, hoping to replace her actual question with another less-intriguing one. "What is…campaign?" she landed on the foreign word.
"Oh…it's like, a story that you follow during a game," Mike explained, smiling knowingly at her. El blinked at this, her brow pinching in the center and he knew something was up. "…what?"
"…what is game?" she asked again, thoroughly confused and a little guilt-ridden. Mike eyed her a moment, realizing how deprived she was of the normalcy he was privileged to every day.
"…oh. It's…something you play with your friends to have fun. Like…I have a game we can play right now! I can show you," he offered, rising to his feet excitedly. She watched him and absently nodded, wishing she could partake in his excitement. "Okay! I'll be right back," he said before rushing to fetch two pencils and paper. Clambering up the stairs, he could hear the parents' hushed voices as they discussed the more delicate matters of Eleven's past.
"…Hopper knows more about it," he could hear a shred of Joyce's explanation, and as he passed the room, their voices quieted. His brow creased irritatingly and he hastily grabbed two sheets and stole two pencils from his dad's desk, descending the stairs and returning to Eleven. Before she could ask what was bothering him, he drew two pairs of parallel lines, making them intersect perpendicularly. It reminded her of the face of an eggo as El's eyes widened and Mike handed her a pencil.
"Okay, so…this is called Tic-Tac-Toe. Do you want to be X's or O's?"
El stared blankly at him, randomly picking, "O's…"
"Okay! I'll be X's," he said. "That means I go first," he drew an X in the center-most square. "The object is to connect your letter's in a line of three, using these boxes," the eraser end of his pencil waved over the boxes as El watched closely. "Like this," he went ahead and drew three X's in a row, connecting them all with a line through their vertices. "You can do it up and down, sideways, or diagonally, like this," he showed her each way as her eyes pored over the squares. Her mind worked on this, and she blinked at the wonderful sensation that always came with learning something new. Her mind eagerly devoured this new information, starved of it for years now. "We each take turns, but X's always start. You wanna try it?" She nodded, confident she'd figured it out. "Okay! You be X's this time," he nodded, drawing a new set of squares. El smiled and drew an X in the center, just as Mike had before. She watched as Mike placed a circle directly above her X, and she – without hesitation – drew another in the top right corner. She's going to go diagonal, he thought, placing an O in the bottom left corner. Expertly, she drew an X in the middle right box, looking up at him victoriously. It took him a moment, and when he noticed her strategy he glanced up to stare at her in awe.
"Your turn," she said, grinning at him a little knowingly. Chuckling, he drew a random circle in the middle left box and she finished her vertical line of X's in the right column, softly smiling at him.
"Aw! You beat me!" he mused, laughing unexpectedly as she smiled back.
"Again?" she asked, shifting anxiously beside him.
"Sure!" he nodded, watching as she drew the squares this time, awaiting his next move. He smiled, witnessing her true intelligence shine through years of mundane routine. Eleven's ability to learn new concepts and ideas set her above the rest in terms of mental capacity…it was something that came along with her psychokinetic powers. Instead of having to be shown something multiple times – like most children her age and younger – she simply memorized it the first time and was able to reproduce it numerous times afterwards. "Here, I have an idea!" Mike shot to his feet, rushing to his garage to sort through his father's old college textbooks. He found a copy of Webster's Dictionary and returned, slamming the thick text onto the table before them. This is when El's expression changed as Mike flipped open to the A section; language was…difficult for her. Having been so isolated her entire life, she never spoke enough as a young child to nurture her vocal abilities, so in this subject, her ability plateaued. Mike saw past this, certain El could learn new words as easily as she could patterns and actions. "This is a dictionary," he introduced the enormous book, tapping the pages. El eyed it wearily as Mike continued, "It's like…a big list of all the words we know. It tells you what they mean…like, here!" He flipped to the word game and read the definition out loud, "…an activity engaged in for diversion or amusement." He looked up at her only to notice her newly lost expression.
"…di-version…?" she repeated hopelessly. Mike watched as her eyes went over the words, squinting at the tiny text.
"…can you read it?" he asked. Eleven eyed him worriedly, shifting closer to the book and staring at the font meekly. Eventually she looked up at him, frowning a bit. It wasn't that she couldn't read…she could definitely read some of them…but there were too many gaps in the sentences filled with unknown verbs and nouns to breakeven. Mike picked up on this, shrugging as he closed the book. He chuckled, "I get it...it's too much like school to be any fun." El simpered as Mike pressed her anxiety, hoping to dissolve it completely. "El?"
"Yes?"
"What happened…at breakfast, was okay," he assured her. She looked doubtful of this, eyeing the blue book disdainfully. "People make a lot of mistakes, all the time! It's okay if you don't know something…it doesn't make you any less smart than us," he consoled her. His ability to know exactly what was pestering her simply blew her mind as she blinked at him, her expression one of discreet, overwhelming adoration. "My mom…she, freaks out like that with everyone. It's not just you…" he added, chuckling at a childhood memory. "My dad doesn't really care, but…yeah! You should've seen how she flipped out on Nancy the first time she accidentally cursed at the table," Mike continued. He stood to place the book beside El's fort, turning back to her and saying, "If you ever wanna go through it, just ask me or Nancy. We'll be glad to help as much as we can," Mike smiled at her as she gazed fondly at him. "…I mean, there aresome words in here that even Nancy doesn't know about!" He chuckled, tapping the book and shaking his head, "Before now, we haven't really used it that much…it was kind of, for homework emergencies only…" El followed him as he rambled on, entering a room dusty with objects strewn everywhere, packed in brown boxes. He noticed her wandering glances, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Oh! This is the garage," he gestured about, realizing he'd never shown her this room during her first tour of the house. "It's where we keep all our old junk and bikes…" he noticed her reaching down to pick up a baseball, turning it over in her hands. "That's my dad's baseball. He used to play games with it when he was in high school and a little during college, and then he stopped."
"Why'd he stop?" she asked, running her thumb over the red stitches.
Mike shrugged, "I don't know…I guess it just, wasn't fun for him anymore…" El pursed her lips, gazing down at the weathered ball in her small hands. Mike's face lit up, "We can play catch later, if you want." She smiled and nodded, handing him the baseball as if it were a precious gem. Once he had it, he bounced it against his palm a few times, then tossed it into a random box. El watched it fly through the air and land squarely within the cardboard. "Yes! Ten points!" Mike cheered in a hushed whisper. El gave a soft chuckle as she continued exploring the room, Mike trailing close behind her. He was eager to tell her what the new objects were. Then, a familiar knock had both their heads jerking towards the door. "That must be Lucas and Dustin!" Mike exclaimed, rushing to open the door.
He stood in the doorway, blocking their view as they held their bikes beside them. "Hey man…" Lucas greeted him. Dustin was still catching his breath, looking more than a little distressed about something.
"Hey! So, guys…there's a surprise waiting for you inside," Mike said in a hushed tone. Lucas and Dustin raised their eyebrows respectively.
"Is it…a new monster?" Lucas guessed, eyeing him a little strangely. Mike was…happier than usual and it deeply perturbed him. Plus, he was still planted before them, blocking their way.
Dustin's eyes swelled as he asked, "Oh! Did your mom bake those snickerdoodle cookies?! They were SO good last time…" Lucas rolled his eyes as Mike chuckled.
"No! No, it's…you'll see," Mike trailed off, unable to wait any longer. Their expressions changed as they tried to process this hint and Mike slowly opened the door…the answer standing before them. Dustin's eyes lit up as Lucas stared in awe at the girl, bruised and battered…but alive nonetheless. And here. She was here, and not there.
"No way…" Lucas droned, rapidly blinking as if she were some fierce hallucination.
"Holy shit…" his profanity caught them all off-guard as El noted his slightly deeper voice. "YOU'RE ALIVE!" Dustin exclaimed, recklessly throwing himself at Eleven, capturing her in a crushing hug. She hugged him back, beaming at Mike as he laughed giddily. "Oh my God…I can't believe this!" Dustin went on to express his amazement. "How…? But you…?" he trailed off, glancing at Mike as the boy shrugged indifferently. He turned back to the girl as she eyed him warmly, "…oh, what the hell! I guess it doesn't really matter!" Eleven eyed Lucas as he approached her, blinking in shock. He stopped before the girl, feeling a tad guilty about the way he'd treated her before she'd left.
"What you did…was brave. You really did save us…and you saved Will," Lucas restated, his eyes turning somber as he softly shook his head. "I'm just sorry, we couldn't save you…" They remembered his valiant – though unquestioningly futile – efforts to stop the Demogorgon, and it had been those efforts that inspired her to put an end to her running. Their uncontainable energy gave her strength and she'd repaid them tenfold, sacrificing herself for their safety. Everyone's eyes went to the floor, all except Eleven's.
"It's okay," she assured him, maintaining her gaze. What she'd done…that night last November; she hadn't expected to survive it, at all. She'd done it to save them, her courageously loyal friends who'd defended her through it all. At that time, it was her turn to be the warrior.
"She's here now, right?" Mike enthused, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah!" Dustin chimed in as El offered Lucas another smile.
"…yeah. You're right," Lucas nodded, embracing the heroine. They separated, a stern look on Lucas' face as he said, "You're still a weirdo…" They eyed him confusingly for a moment until he broke into a tired grin, adding, "...but you're our weirdo. And to be honest," he eyed Toothless and Frogface as they watched him closely, grinning at this welcoming gesture. "…you fit right in with us," he nodded assuredly. Mike laughed as Dustin pretended to leer at him, eventually breaking into childish giggles. Lucas patted her on the shoulder, nodding in a gesture of respect and trust. Then he turned to his friends and calmly stated, "Will is gonna lose his shit."
"I know! I can't wait," Mike laughed with them, their shoulders trembling and their eyes squinting beneath the weight of their smiles.
"So…how did you survive?" Dustin asked the girl as her smile slowly left her. The boys leaned in, eager to know the answer when all El could reply with was a shrug.
"You don't know?" Lucas asked. She shook her head, pursing her lips a second time. "How'd you get out of the Upside Down?" El shrugged, eyeing the floor meekly. All she could remember was spending hours, crouching in the mire, thinking desperately of Joyce and Mike and everyone she had ever come to love, then, out of nowhere, waking up inside of a tree. That single tree had acted as her home for the longest time…she'd been lucky to find the box. It had saved her life.
"What did you eat?" Dustin asked, that being his first thought whenever it came to survival.
"…eggos," El stated.
"Eggos?" Mike immediately chuckled at this odd coincidence as Lucas and Dustin grinned a bit confusingly.
"Where'd you get eggos?" Dustin giggled, setting his bike against Mike's garage wall.
"…the woods," El looked towards the trees as the boys followed her gaze. They stood against the perfectly blue sky, bunched together like kids at a dance, whispering secrets along the gentle wind.
Lucas eyed Mike a little suspiciously, "…the woods?" El nodded in confirmation, and they got the feeling she was telling the truth. Still, it boggled their minds as they tried to picture random yellow boxes dotting the bushes and roots.
"…were they…warm?" Mike asked, simpering a little childishly.
"No," she shook her head, grimacing at the memories currently assaulting her subconscious. The rain…the trap…those horrible sounds in the night…they all came racing back to her and the boys saw her gaze deepen and distance simultaneously. Their smiles dropped a moment until Mike broke the silence.
"So…I was showing El a baseball earlier…do you guys have anything you wanna show her?" Mike asked, hoping to reconnect with her voracious learning side.
Dustin held up a finger, digging in his pockets to extract a quarter, holding it out for her to see. "This is money. A quarter dollar to be exact," he said, placing the metal disc into El's open palm. "We use it to buy things like food and clothes," he continued. She turned it over, studying the intricate designs on both sides. The face intrigued her as she marveled at the length of his silver hair, if the face was a he at all. "And, you can trade it for other types of money. Like, this-" he took the quarter from her, "-can be replaced with twenty-five of these!" A copper coin balanced itself between his fingers, standing much smaller than the silver one. El eyed it curiously as Dustin inhaled, preparing to continue. "Or you could-"
"She doesn't need to know about money!" Lucas rolled his eyes, brushing Dustin's hand down and out of her view. "Besides, this is way cooler than a stupid quarter," he unzipped his bag to reveal a coiled spring laying inside. The boy yanked it out and gave it to her as she struggled with it's expanding and contracting body. "It's called a slinky. Lemme show you something awesome," Lucas offered, taking the spring and rushing over to the stairs.
"Oh, you're gonna love this," Mike guaranteed as they all went to the bottom of the stairs. Lucas had climbed nearly to the top, positioning the coiled wire and peering down at them below.
"You ready for this?" he asked. El nodded as the boys fidgeted about excitedly. With a brush of his hand, Lucas flipped one end of the slinky over itself and it began tumbling down the stairs. They all watched El's face open up with surprise as the slinky descended down Mike's stairs. Once it neared the bottom, El took a step behind Mike and clutched the back of his shirt protectively, half-expecting it to continue walking across the room and wander outside. Instead, it stopped on the landing, retracting into itself, suddenly rendered motionless. While the boys simply laughed at how she stared at the entertaining object, she was working through the physics in her mind, trying to figure it out.
"See? Cool, right?" Mike turned to grin at her as Lucas and Dustin snickered, replaying the slinky's periling journey down the steps, making little noises after each movement.
"…cool," she nodded, eventually smiling when Dustin knocked it over a third time.
"Here! Let's show her the TV!" Lucas suggested, his expression bursting with energy. El remembered watching it last time…and being immediately thrown into an all-consuming flashback.
"That sounds like a good idea! Imagine all the shows she hasn't seen yet!" Dustin enthused, his gaze flitting between the three children excitedly. He gasped, pointing and saying, "And all the movies!"
Mike watched El's expression neutralize and decided it was up to her. "What do you wanna do El?"
She thought about this for a moment, eventually breaking into a small smile. "Tic-Tac-Toe?" she asked. Mike grinned as Lucas and Dustin exchanged various questioning glances.
She ended up beating them all, one-by-one, each time they challenged her. "She just learned how to play, too," Mike boasted for her.
"WHAT?" Dustin threw his hands in the air as she drew a line through three O's, winning the game a fifth time.
"That's insane..." Lucas shook his head. El eyed him, and he quickly added, "Like…in a good way though!"
"How are you this good at Tic-Tac-Toe?!" Dustin asked, giggling at her. A moment passed as the boys awaited some thought-out, methodical answer…and El just shrugged, pursing her lips as her eyes smiled at them. The boys chuckled, overjoyed that their old friend was back…Mike especially. He felt as if they'd simply picked up right where they'd left off, minus the harrowing situations. Just when Lucas had started up a sixth game, squinting his eyes determinedly at the girl, Mike's garage door swung open and Will rushed into the basement, stopping short to stare at the short-haired girl. His mind went about rekindling vague memories of her from last year.
"Will! This is Eleven! She came back!" Mike shot to his feet, reintroducing the girl he'd already met. "She's the one who found you in the Upside Down!" Dustin and Lucas stared excitedly as Will remained motionless, his eyes never leaving hers. El stood up, walking over to Will and watching him suspiciously. "…Will? You okay?"
He blinked as El now stood five feet before him, their eyes locked in some creepy, communicative staring contest. "…I remember you…" Will finally spoke, suddenly snapping from some kind of trance.
"Me too," El nodded, her eyes flitting to the floor. "I'm sorry…" Lucas scoffed at this as Dustin and Mike stared, entirely lost. Why was this undeserved, misplaced guilt gushing from such a selfless girl?
"…for what?" Will asked, his mind still swimming in some kind of haze. "You found me," he chuckled disbelievingly.
"…you fell, on Mirkwood," she pieced together different segments of his memory, igniting them with a match. Eleven shook her head, "I didn't see you…"
Suddenly, it all connected. Those few hours he'd missed were colored into his memory, though artificial and of Will's imagination. "…that was you?!"
"Yes," she nodded meekly.
"…you brought me home?" Will pressed, his eyes lighting up as a smile creeped onto his face. She didn't know why he was smiling…she'd nearly pulverized him beneath the enormous plant.
"Yes…" El confirmed, her brow pinching in the center.
"Well…I guess that means, you kind of saved me twice!" he exclaimed, laughing full-bellied at his near-death experience. He extended a hand to her, and something in her memory clicked, causing other cogs and gears to fall into place. "Thank you! I…I really owe you one," he joked as she took his hand in hers, relieved that she'd finally memorized something she considered to be under the rather broad definition of "normalcy."
"Friends," El declared more than asked, smiling at him gratefully. She turned to smile at the rest of them, her eyes mostly settling on Mike.
"So…wait," Lucas broke the peaceful moment at the very sound of his voice. "…you saved Will…again?"
To be continued...
Authors Note: This is probably one of my favorite chapters...just saying. I actually like and feel confident about what I wrote, so I hope you guys like it too! Follow for more chapters and tell me what you think! Keep on writing! -Nightlock