Chapter 35: Awkward
Mike and Eleven were hanging out at Hopper's house trying to study for the tests they had before summer break. Mike was sitting on the floor, his books spread out on the coffee table resting his head in his hands as he read over the tedious note he had made last semester on American history.
El was sitting cross legged on the couch with a book in her lap but not reading it. Instead she was staring at Mike wistfully.
"This is so boring!" Mike complained.
"What is?" El asked.
"This!" Mike said pushing the book away from him.
"Oh." Eleven said briefly.
Mike got up and sat beside El.
"Mike?"
"Yeah?" Mike said skimming a page of notes El had made to see if he could understand that more.
"What is high school like?"
"It's like middle school but we aren't the oldest. We're right back to being the small runts who get picked on and pushed around." Mike said but stopped once he saw El's terrified face.
"Don't worry though! They only do that to us, you'll be fine. The push around the pretty girls." Mike explained.
"Pretty." El repeated.
"Yeah. You'll be really popular I bet! Everyone at school wants to be your friend." Mike teased although he meant it.
"Popular?"
"It's when everyone knows someone. They have tons of friends and all the guys invite them to home coming."
"Home coming?" El repeated.
"It's like the snow ball. But different. You go when your 16 and I heard most people lose their V card." Mike said laughing but El looked deadly serious.
"V card? Where did they lose it?" El asked which made Mike a bit uncomfortable.
"No, they're virginity!"
"What is virginity?" El asked.
"Did Nancy not teach you?" Mike said and El shook her head. "Oh, well it's when you do it for the first time, you lose your virginity."
"Do it?"
"Have the s word!" Mike whispered slightly embarrassed.
"Ohhh." El said.
A few awkward moments passed.
"If I'm 'popular'," El said pronouncing popular wrong, "Will I have to do that?"
She looked slightly scared so Mike put her mind at ease quickly.
"No! Of course you don't. Besides you won't be going to home coming with one of those jocks, you'll be going with me. If you want." Mike said.
"Good. I don't want to do it. But I want to go to the home coming with you." El said smiling.
"Good!" Mike said turning back to his studying but really both were imagining their last year of school and homecoming.
What would they be doing?
Would Mike be graduating? Would Eleven?
Would they still be Mike and Eleven, would they even still be friends?
What about the others, and after school? Would Mike and Eleven get married and have a normal life? After everything that had happened in the recent months they were lucky to be alive and Eleven deserved normal. They all did.