We're building up to the end now...
With the changing of the year, and with it being his senior year in high school, Mike started to really study a lot harder for the upcoming SAT, which he'd be taking at the beginning of February. He hated not having as much time to spend with El but he needed to focus on getting a better score than he had when he'd taken it the first time. He knew he could do better. He spent a lot of time at the library.
El knew Mike would go to college but she hadn't really given it too much thought until he started studying more. She missed him. She was sitting at home watching television while Hopper read the newspaper when a commercial for Indiana University came on. El watched, seeing the students and glimpses of the campus. She looked hopefully at Hopper, who only huffed and seemed annoyed. El didn't want him to see her cry so she said she was going for a walk.
El walked through the snow, getting more worried and frustrated as she neared the library. She knew Mike would be there but she wasn't going to interrupt his studying. She was only going to wait on a bench outside until he was finished.
She spied a payphone and decided to call Max.
"Max?" El was sniffling. "Could you come to the library and wait with me for Mike to get finished studying?"
"What's wrong? Are you crying? Yeah, I'm on my way. I'll be right there."
Max saw El before El saw Max. To Max, El looked tiny sitting on the bench with her knees pulled up and her head resting on them.
"Hey, Doc. I'm here." Max could see that El had indeed been crying.
"I'm just, freaking out because he's gonna leave and I'll be all alone. I've been alone too much. I can't do it again, Max."
"Who? Mike? El, you can leave too, you know. You're like, the smartest person I've ever met." Max hugged El to her as they sat together on the bench. The hug seemed to intensify El's crying. Max held her and soothed her as best she could. El cried for what seemed like ages. Finally Max saw Mike emerge from the library and she motioned to him to come over.
Mike saw Max and El hugging from the top of the library steps, but it didn't seem in any way sensual. He could see El's shoulders shaking slightly and could see Max's face, which looked alarmed and worried. Max motioned to him and he was there in four long strides.
El was still sniffling and hiccupping sobs as Max placed her into Mike's arms, effectively switching with him.
"El? What's the matter? It's okay," Mike said soothingly.
"She's worried because you're gonna go to college and she thinks she'll be all alone," Max told him.
"It's really cold out here. Let's go to my house and talk about this. El, we're gonna figure it out. Please don't worry," Mike rubbed El's back.
Mike drove the three of them to his house. By the time they arrived El wasn't crying anymore but she was still worried about the whole situation.
"First, we have to figure out what you'd need to get admitted, since you don't have like a transcript or anything," Mike started. "It might just be a little bit tricky."
"It'll be a lottle bit tricky!" El worried aloud.
"I think actually if she gets her GED that works the same. And, Doc, you could ace that on the first try. I'll even go with you to take it if you want," Max assured her.
"Yeah, I think Max is right. Then you could take the SAT at the same time I do. I'll even pay for it so Hopper doesn't get his panties in a wad," Mike offered. "So then you'd be in the same boat as any of us, just waiting to see if you get admitted. But where? I mean, I'd go to whatever school you wanted to go to."
"I don't think it can be too expensive," El said quietly.
"Yeah, and Hopper's most definitely gonna want to keep you here in state. Maybe we could all go here and then for post-grad we could go somewhere more exciting," Mike said.
"I think he's gonna have to be talked into letting me go," El hung her head. "I saw a commercial for IU this morning and he just seemed annoyed."
"Mike and I will handle Hopper," Max promised. "He didn't get you all those books and charts so you could sit alone in a house by yourself. He just needs some coaxing."
"I mean, IU is a good school. And it's public so not terribly bad on price," Mike reasoned. "Maybe we could get Hopper some season tickets to sweeten the deal," Mike grinned at El. "It's gonna be okay. I promise."
"It's already mid-January. We should kick this into gear. El, you said Hopper was home this morning. Is he still there?" Max asked.
"He doesn't work today, so he should be," El replied. "But I think I should do the GED thing first. Ugh, I feel like there isn't enough time."
"Calm down. You're so smart, all you need to do is take the test. They give them all the time," Max said, reassuring El. "I'm sure we can go to the testing center next week. Usually people have to take classes to study for it but I doubt you'd need to, Doc. We can just go and I'll wait for you while you take it."
El sighed with relief. Maybe Mike was right, if she got the GED score she needed then she'd be in the same situation as he was, just needing a good score on the SAT, which she'd been practicing for years.
"Thanks, Max. I'd feel better if you went with me."
"And I'll go ahead and sign you up to take the SAT at the same time as I do. Max? What about you? You're going to college, right?" Mike asked.
Max sighed.
"I haven't really given it much thought. I do fine in school but I don't know what I like, want to be or anything."
El took Max's hand.
"Please take it too? I don't want to be apart from Mike, and I want to go to college, but I want to have you there too. Isn't college supposed to be where you find yourself? You don't have to know what you want to be. I just want you to be there."
Max couldn't deny El's pleading eyes. She looked at Mike.
"Is this some other power she has? Why can't I ever say no to her?" Max asked with fake annoyance.
Mike laughed.
"Yup, it's like you'd rather cut your own foot off with a spoon than to tell her no. I know exactly. Should I sign you up too then?"
"Go ahead. I guess this means I should start studying more," Max admitted.
"We can all study together," El said more excitedly.
A few days later Max took El to the learning center to take her GED test. She had every confidence that El would pass but still found herself worrying. Max needn't have worried at all though.
Instead of the two or so weeks to get the scores back like they'd thought, El and Max were told El would have her scores by the following day. Max knew El was smart, but seeing the scores herself made her jaw drop. El had received a perfect score. She only needed a passable score on the SAT and permission from Hopper and she could be on her way to the rest of her life.
But Hopper…he was possibly the hardest test to pass.
Mike, El, and Max waited until Hopper's next day off before they approached him about college for El. Mike and Max showed up at the Hopper residence late in the morning on a Saturday, the Saturday before they'd be taking the SAT one week later.
Mike felt nervous but Max was in control of her emotions. They sat on the sofa, El between them. Hopper regarded them from his chair.
"You three look like you have something to discuss," Hopper said rather gruffly.
"We do," Max replied. "We think El should get to go to college. She at least should get to apply."
Mike nodded in agreement.
"Maybe in a few years," Hopper said.
"A few years?" El cried, and then literally started crying.
"We know how smart she is, Hop…I mean, Chief," Mike began. He became less nervous and more confident in himself as he spoke. "All those books you brought her to read, she told me about them. And you know she's better at math and stuff than anyone you know. I mean, you've been having her take a practice SAT twice a year for like three years now. Why would you do that if you were gonna just keep her hidden away?"
"Yeah! And she can label every medical chart. Like even the tiny stuff. El could be like, a doctor, or a surgeon, El could be anything but she has to be allowed to do it," Max stated.
"I um, I took the GED test. I passed it," El said meekly, her cries having become sniffles.
"Pshaw!" Max protested. "She didn't pass it, El got a perfect score! The first time! She's brilliant and she shouldn't have to watch her life go by from this house."
"You got a perfect score?" Hopper asked.
El nodded.
Hopper sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"When is the SAT?"
"It's next Saturday. I already signed El up and I paid the test fee so you don't have to worry about it," Mike said. "Just please, let her take it. And we'll like, apply to IU. She'll still be here in Indiana. You like the Hoosiers, don't you, Chief? You could come see her and we'll go to a game. I'll apply there too, and so will Max, so she won't be alone."
"Is this what you want, El?" Hopper asked her.
"I want to do this so much," El replied.
"Okay, but you'll have to apply in Indiana and you'll always have to stay here. Unless I move and then you'll have to be in whatever state that is. Time goes by faster than you think. I brought you all those books because I knew someday you'd want to leave. But you can't go too far from me."
Hopper's speech planted a seed in Max's brain but she thought she'd hold on to the thought and address it later.
"You'll let me go?" El asked hopefully.
Hopper sighed.
"If you can get admitted, you can go to IU." Hopper looked at Mike. "I hope you were serious about those games."
Mike felt a weight lift from him and the room suddenly felt less stuffy. Hopper had agreed.
"Definitely," Mike nodded enthusiastically. "I'm definitely serious."
"Can we go to Mike's to study?" El asked.
"Is that what you'll really be doing?" Hopper shot back.
"The test is next week and while El is brilliant, I am not so I need all the help I can get," Max answered.
"Fine. Go study."
Before they left El hugged Hopper.
"Thanks. I need this," she whispered into his chest.
"I know, kid. I know."
The three of them spent every evening of the following week studying in Mike's basement. After the second day of studying, El decided to take it upon herself to reward both Mike and Max when they got a concept down correctly. She did this by making out with whomever had made a breakthrough.
Mike found it funny, because while he might not be as smart as El, he definitely had the concepts down so El would kiss him just because his handwriting was neat or because he pronounced a word correctly.
And Mike didn't mind El praising Max the same way because it was both hot to watch and he knew the rewards were causing Max to catch on much more quickly.
"We should continue our study group even after the SAT. I like when we hang out," Mike said as he watched El kiss Max.
"I'm fine with that," Max agreed.
"Won't it be so great if we all get in? I mean, I've never been anywhere so IU is fine for me, but I always thought you'd go somewhere more exciting, Mike."
"How exciting could anywhere possibly be if you aren't there too though?" Mike asked genuinely. "Besides, we can go somewhere exciting after college. Where would you want to go if we could go anywhere?"
"Hmm, I don't know. I guess it would depend on what I end up being," El said.
Max coughed.
"Um, cough, doctor."
"Maybe. I think I'd like to travel and see places. Then live somewhere I like that has lots of fun places to eat and things to do."
"Well wherever it is, I hope you'll want me to be there too," Mike said, taking El's hand.
"Well you'll have to be," El stated plainly. "If you're not there then I won't be home."
After taking the SAT, all they could do was wait for the scores to come back. They spent the majority of March trying not to worry about it. Finally in April their scores were mailed to them. El scored a 1600, which was expected but still exciting since it was the real test. Mike scored a 1490, almost 200 points better than he'd gotten his previous time. Even Max was surprised at how well El's study sessions had worked, scoring a 1260.
So all that was left for them was to apply to Indiana University. Of course, all three got admitted. They'd be together in Bloomington for the fall semester.
One Saturday in late April Max went to Mike's house. She had something to discuss.
"Is El here?" She asked when Mike opened the door.
"No, I'm going to go get her and we're going out later. Why?"
"Good, I need to talk to you. Basement?" Max asked.
"Sure."
Once downstairs Max looked around, remembering all the things she and Mike had done in the basement and in his bedroom and in his car and just generally everything. She thought remembering it all would make her sad, but she'd been wrong. It all seemed so different now with El there. She felt like the person she was before El no longer really existed, or had been made better simply by knowing El at all.
Max sat down on the sofa.
"You know what Hopper said? About El always having to be in the same state as him? I was thinking…if you guys were married then Hopper wouldn't really have any say in the matter. I mean, we're all technically adults. After college, why should she be stuck here? If she married you, then like, you know hopefully this would never happen but, if she was on like life support or something, you'd be the one the doctors would look to. Not Hopper. You'd have final say. Bleak as that sounds." Max tried to chuckle but found it difficult having just spoken of El and life support in the same sentence.
"You're right. I don't know why I didn't think of it," Mike said.
"Well you're 18, that's why," Max kidded him.
"I really do love her," Mike said quietly.
"I know you do. I always knew. Hey, Mike? I'm glad we're like, real friends now."
"So am I. You're really cool, Max. And El loves you. Not just because of fooling around and stuff either. She like, loves doing anything with you. And she likes the nickname you gave her. I think you make her feel special in a way I can't really. She loves being your friend."
"Fuck. She really is the best thing ever, huh?" Max asked Mike. "We're really lucky, aren't we?"
"God, I can't wait to see her now, Max. I still have like three hours," Mike cringed.
"Wanna play some Double Dragon?" Max asked, smirking. Then she fell onto the floor laughing. "I'm joking! I just wanted to see your face!"
"Very funny," Mike said, not annoyed but not happy either. To Max his expression looked a lot like the one he'd worn so much when she first moved to Hawkins.
"I've got some errands to run. You'll make it, Wheeler. Just think about what I said. I think it's the answer you're looking for and I have a pretty good idea that it would happen eventually anyway."
Max left and Mike sat in his basement thinking about what she'd said. If he married El, if El was his wife, they'd be a family. They could go anywhere El ever wanted. Mike had never been so down with a plan.
His main problem was that he didn't have a lot of money. He needed to save for the fall and besides, Mike had never been one to think the idea of promise rings was anything but stupid. He was all about promises but he thought the people who would give those sorts of rings didn't really mean it. Mike found it childish and not at all romantic.
He was still thinking on his way to El's house to pick her up for their date. They hadn't planned anything in particular other than just doing something together.
When El answered the door Mike could barely speak. After Max's idea and thinking about it all day, seeing El was like seeing a unicorn. Mike couldn't believe she was in his life.
"Why are you being weird?" El asked.
"Me? I'm not. I just…I just was really looking forward to seeing you today and when I did, I kinda lost all ability to function like a normal person."
El kissed him.
"Is it back now? Your ability to function?"
"I don't know. You may need to be in charge today," Mike admitted slyly.
El grinned mischievously.
"Then we're going to the mall."
Once at the mall they had no interest in shopping. They had planned earlier in the week to eat but once they got there, they wanted something else. El took Mike to the photo booths she and Max had used in December, wanting to take pictures of the two of them.
While in the photo booth Mike and El were able to make different faces for their pictures, making sure at least one of them was of them both smiling. They could hear the snap of the camera and could also hear the sound of the little strip of pictures being printed outside the booth. They didn't bother with them, because by that time they were in the throes of making out. The camera still took pictures while Mike and El rubbed against each other, her on his lap. It was getting very hot in the booth, quickly. El unfastened Mike's jeans and put her hand on his pulsing cock. Then she hiked her skirt up more and placed his dick against her panty clad and very warm center, causing it to push into her slit with her hand.
"Mike, we should go someplace else. Somewhere we can be alone," El said between deep kisses.
Mike scanned his brain for where they could go.
"Okay, I think I know a place."
They reluctantly pulled themselves apart and before leaving grabbed their strips of pictures, three of them by the time they left the booth. The first set was normal, just them smiling and laughing and one goofy face, but the other two were much more passionate, having had captured the couple in the first stages of what could only be considered love-making.
They laughed as they looked at the pictures.
"Come with me," Mike said lowly.
El walked quickly with him to his car and didn't question where they were going. She watched the town fade away after a few minutes and noticed they were heading to a wooded area. She thought she recognized the place. When Mike stopped the car and they got out, El knew why she recognized it.
"You were here with Max once," El said quietly. "I mean, it's okay, I want to be alone with you and there aren't many places to do that, but I remember…"
Mike thought back. He had been there with Max. He remembered the night he thought he saw El and then he couldn't finish so he'd taken Max home.
"We can go somewhere else. God, El, I'm sorry. I…I saw you. That night. I don't know how but I did. I cried."
"Yeah, sometimes when I was stressed out in the void I'd accidentally make myself visible. I was stressed out that night. But…we can stay. Make our own memories?"
Mike picked her up and sat her on the hood of his car, pulling her panties down in one motion.
"Is that okay?" Mike asked.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. You have a lot more clothes on than me now," El said coyly.
"Can you fix that for me?" Mike asked her back.
El smirked before unfastening his jeans once more. She pushed them down over his ass, making sure to push his gray briefs down as well.
"I think now we're even," El whispered. She wanted to look at Mike's face but in the daylight outside she was mesmerized by the size and hardness of his cock.
Mike, not being able to resist any longer, closed the gap between them and started to kiss El. If the photo booth had been passionate then his kiss on the hood of his care was fire.
El thought any second she'd feel him slip into her, but she didn't. She was getting desperate. Mike was just kissing her and while it was amazing, El wanted to feel him even more.
She scooted forward as much as she could without falling from the hood of the car, seeking Mike with her body.
Mike sensed what she wanted but still he held off.
"Want something?" He asked in amusement.
El called his bluff.
"I want you to put your hard cock inside me. I want it right now."
Oh fuck, she's not screwing around!
Her tone was pleasant enough but Mike could tell she was needy and desperate and wasn't above making him do what she wanted if she had to. El had the power to make him her slave.
Mike gripped her ass with his large hands and held her close while he eased his dick inside her waiting and wanting pussy. El sighed.
"Is that better," Mike asked, slowly pumping into her with long, deep strokes that made El whimper with every thrust.
"Uh…huh. Just needed you inside."
"Want this forever? Whenever you need it?" Mike asked.
"Oh, Mike, it's not g-gonna take l-long. You…making me w-wait, I…needed it and n-now it's gonna be qu-quick," El stuttered.
"You can be quick. You can be anything you want. God, you're so beautiful all the time, but when you're about to cum on my cock, you're like…a fucking angel."
El tensed then. She'd been letting Mike hold her hips and her ass and hadn't really been using her legs, letting Mike do the work, but as she felt her climax approaching she moved her calves around his waist and pulled herself as close to him as possible.
"Mike! Oh, just like that. Fuck meeee!" El squeezed her legs, forcing Mike even closer and even deeper into her.
Mike felt the spasms, he felt her throbbing around his cock so deep inside her. He felt her fingernails on his shoulders as she gripped them with the force of her orgasm.
"Yeah, do you know how good it feels when you do that? When I feel you cum on me?"
El panted.
"Is it…as good…as when you cum…in me? Use my pussy, Mike. Make yourself cum really hard. I want to feel you do it."
"Fuck," Mike kissed her again. "You…I love you so much."
Mike thought about how lucky he was. He was still thinking about it as he emptied himself deep into El's body, feeling her still quaking slightly every now and then from her own climax which had happened minutes before.
Mike's luck helped him again one day in mid-May. As he was leaving the library, he ran into Mr. Clarke, his former middle school science teacher.
"Mike! Hey, how's it going?" Mr. Clarke asked, clearly happy to have run into him.
"It's going great! Just got into IU, gonna go there with my girlfriend," Mike said.
"Your girlfriend? Do I know her?"
"Um, you actually did meet her once. But then she was gone for a long time and I thought…I thought she'd never be coming back." Mike could feel his smile dropping away as he remembered the years without her. "But she did come back. And she's the best ever. Like, I think our love is greater than the entire cosmos. I'm gonna ask her to marry me."
Scott Clarke thought back over the years. He remembered the winter of 1983, how Mike's demeanor had changed and had not gotten better the next school year. He smiled, remembering the day in the hallway when he'd met a strange girl and Dustin and Lucas answered for her more than they should have.
"Came back from a bad place, huh? Those Swedish temperatures…sub-zero."
Mike's jaw dropped.
"Um, yeah. She's not really my cousin. But I hope she'll want to be my wife."
"I know. Dustin and Lucas were acting weird even for them. You know? You saying your love is greater than the cosmos makes me think of space. I know a guy who collects meteorites. He really prefers big ones but I know he has a lot of small ones that would look amazing set into a ring. Want to visit him with me? We play cards together on Thursday nights. You could tag along."
"Really? Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Mr. Clarke!"
"Just come by my house before 6:00 on Thursday. And tell Eleanor I said hello," Mr. Clarke smiled.
"You can call her El, and I totally will tell her," Mike said. He couldn't stop smiling even if he tried.
On Thursday Mike went with Mr. Clarke to the home of Mr. Clarke's collector friend. Mike was dazzled by looking at the man's collection. He'd not seen meteorites so big even at the museum, though he'd never been to the Smithsonian or anywhere like that. He told him of El, leaving out parts that would draw too much attention, but basically saying that he thought she'd died, only she hadn't, and now she was back. He told of his depression through the years and how upon her return he felt alive again.
The collector was sympathetic.
"I'm a sucker for true love. Look through these," he said as he removed a metal box from a shelf. "These are the small ones. I can't display them without taking up all of my space, which I'd like to save for my nicer pieces. If you find one you like, you can have it."
"I can have it? Like, for free?"
"Sure thing.
Mike looked into the box of little rocks that had once been in deep space. Some twinkled in the light, their black surfaces ridged with so many cuts from their actual trip through space, through Earth's own atmosphere, to the ground.
"Wow, these are so cool," Mike uttered. His fingers brushed over one that seemed to call to him. Mike wasn't sure how meteorites were measured, he didn't know if it was carats like diamonds, but the one he was holding was about the size of the diamond on his mother's ring. It wasn't ostentatious but it was a good size for a ring.
"Is this one okay for me to have?" Mike asked.
"I think that one will work quite well. Do you have a band for it?" The man asked. "Because I dabble a bit in jewelry making and I could set it for you. Just need to know what metal you like."
Mike thought about it. He knew El liked silver things and this little meteorite would look very lovely on a silver ring.
"Silver?"
The man chuckled.
"I think you'll have to choose something like white gold or platinum, unless you want sterling silver. But personally, I'd go with white gold. Platinum is too expensive and sterling silver is too cheap. Here, let me show you want I have."
Mike and Mr. Clarke followed the man through his house to a small workroom at the end of the hallway. Mike could see that this man maybe did more than dabble at jewelry making.
"You want something engagement-y, right?" The man asked as he brought out a velvet lined shelf from a jewelry case in the closet. None of the rings had stones set into them.
Mike immediately saw one that was so perfectly El that he almost reached for it.
"I really like that one," he said, pointing to a ring.
"Aha! Good choice! That's 14 karat white gold and it will look absolutely stunning with the meteorite you chose."
"How much will it cost though?" Mike asked tentatively.
The man smiled.
"Son, this is only a hobby of mine. The meteorite trade has been good to me. I'd do it for you for free. All of it. When you told your story I noticed your lip trembling. You really do love this girl and it shows. The world is a dark enough place. If my doing this will make it brighter at least for you, then I'm happy to do it."
Mike swallowed hard. Mr. Clarke noticed.
"It's okay, Mike. I've known him for years. He's not kidding."
"Um, okay then. Thanks so much. Actually, thanks doesn't seem like it's enough. I don't know how to thank you."
"Just get your girl, Mike. Take this shooting star and place it on her finger for forever."
"That's definitely my plan," Mike agreed.
"Stop by again in a week or so. I'll give you my number. I'll have it ready for you and you can come pick it up."
On the way back home Mike couldn't contain his excitement.
"It's gonna look so awesome! Mr. Clarke, I don't know how to repay you either. I mean, if I hadn't run into you the other day, if I'd gone to the school library instead of the public one, if I'd done anything differently I wouldn't be about to get the most amazing ring for the most amazing person I know."
"So do you know how you'll ask her?" Mr. Clarke asked.
Mike thought about it, coming up short on ideas.
"I don't know yet. I want it to be special. I need to think of something big."
The next week at school, which was very near to graduation, the Party was in the hallway of Hawkins High School when Will brought up a new subject.
"We should definitely take a senior trip," he said.
"Dude! We so should. This is our last summer together since I'm going to Ball State and you guys are going to IU. Lucas is going to Notre Dame and Will's taking a gap year. It might be the last time."
"Hey, I'm gonna go to school too. I just want to go to Europe and backpack around for a bit," Will assured him.
"Where could we go? It has to be somewhere not too far away so Hopper will let El go," Max reminded the group.
"Somewhere fun," Lucas said.
"Obviously," Max rolled her eyes.
"How about somewhere with like, roller coasters? Like an amusement park, but a good one," Dustin asked.
Hearing Dustin's question gave Mike an idea.
"Hey, how about Cedar Point? Mike inquired. "It's only like four hours away. I mean, we'd have to stay in a hotel one night but I bet we could get Hopper to let El go. Plus it has some of the best roller coasters in the country."
"Ooh, and if we went like right at the end of May it won't be too crowded yet. That would be the best!" Will added.
"I'm in," Lucas said.
"Me too," Dustin and Will said in unison.
"You know I'll go, and as long as he'll let her, El will go too," Max agreed.
"Then I'll beg the Chief. Literally. I will get on my knees and beg the man to let her go with us," Mike said in complete sincerity. He needed El to go, not only because it would be way more fun with her there, but because Mike had just formulated a very enticing plan for asking a very important question.
A/N: In the final chapter they'll go to Cedar Point and El will experience all sorts of rides (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more). Thanks for reading.