An: Hello readers! I am so sorry this chapter took a bit longer. I found it a bit more difficult to write. There were a few scenes I thought about doing that didn't make the cut, I am sorry if it was one that you wanted to see. I just didn't feel I did them justice. I hope you enjoy!
_After the girls got off the bus_
"What time is it?" El asked Max as they walked to her house.
"4:30," She responded.
"I should head home," El said sadly.
"Do you want to have a sleepover?" Max asked wanting to keep the fun going.
"Sleep-over?" El repeated.
"Yeah I can get my stuff and stay at your cabin for the night," Max explained. "We can have fun and play games and stuff."
"That sounds like fun!" El smiled.
"Would Hopper be okay with it?" Max asked.
"Yes," El said confidently.
She knew Hopper wouldn't mind if she had a friend over unless that friend was Mike. She also remembered Hopper said he was having dinner with Joyce tonight so he would be home late.
Max went inside to gather her clothes and things for her first sleepover in Hawkins.
Once the girls got to the cabin, El showed Max around. Once they were in her room Max got out some supplies.
"I brought some magazines if we want to look through them," She said taking a small pile out of her bag.
El instructively turned on the radio, what she used to do anytime Mike was over, and sat on the bed.
"I love this song," Max said getting up to dance along with the music.
El flipped through the pages then found a large signed photo of a boy. El had to admit he was handsome.
"Oh, you found Ralph Macchio," Max laughed as she kneeled beside El.
"Macchio?" El asked not sure what to think of that name.
"Yeah, he's the karate kid," Max explained then lifted her arm only to bring it down quickly. "Hiya!"
The action made El jump but she couldn't help but laugh at her friend.
"He's so hot right?" Max sighed. "I bet he's an amazing kisser too."
El looked at Max with wide eyes. She couldn't believe she just said that. El thought of kissing as something that people who really liked each other as "more than friends" did. She found it silly that Max thought about kissing this boy she didn't even know.
"Hey ugh," Max began as she sat next to El on her bed. "Is Mike a good kisser?"
Yes, El wanted to say immediately but stopped herself. She felt a bit embarrassed that Mike was the only boy she's ever kissed. She figured Max had plenty of boyfriend experience.
"I don't know," El shrugged. "He's my first boyfriend."
"Ex-boyfriend," Max smirked.
She was still so proud of how El handled Mike at the mall. She really gave him a taste of his own medicine.
El didn't respond she just looked disappointed. Her heart ached a little when Max brought up her breakup. Max claims it was the right thing but El wasn't so sure anymore. Yes, Mike did something wrong, he lied, but El wasn't sure she wanted to be without him this way. It made her feel lost.
When Max saw the look of disappointment on El's face she knew how to cheer her up.
"Hey don't worry about it okay?" She said giving her friend an encouraging smile. "He'll come crawling back to you in no time begging for forgiveness."
El responded with a small smile as Max continued. She hoped Mike would explain himself and everything could go back to the way it was.
"I guarantee you him and Lucas are like totally wallowing in self-pity and misery like ohhhh I hope they take us back," Max said while doing an impression of the boys. Both girls giggled at the thought.
"God what I wouldn't give to see their stupid faces," Max sighed.
El then got an idea, she technically could see their faces right now, if she used her powers.
"What is it?" Max asked when she saw her friend's expression.
"What if I could?" El smirked.
"What do you mean?" Max asked intrigued.
"My powers," El tried to explain. "I can go into the void; a dark place and I can find people and watch what they're doing if I concentrate on them."
"No way!" Max said getting excited. "Okay, what do we need?"
"Turn the radio to static and I need a blindfold," El explained looking around her room.
El went to get a piece of black fabric that she used to use when she visited Mike while she was stuck in the cabin. Holding the fabric in her hand brought back all the memories of Mike calling her for 353 days. She really hoped when she saw Mike now, he wasn't angry and that he wanted her back too.
"Got it!"
El was brought back to reality by her friend managing to get the radio onto a static channel. El went over and sat in front of the dresser and tied the blindfold over her eyes.
"Is this really gonna work?" Max asked taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
El just nodded her head confidently, trying to get ready for her task.
"Holy shit this is insane-" Max began to ramble.
"Max," El warned as she tried to concentrate.
"Yeah quiet, sorry." She said quickly as she watched her friend sit on the floor.
As she concentrated El could slowly start to hear Mikes voice. She tried to block out all the other noises and focus on him. Before she knew it she was in the void. Ahead of her, she saw Mike, Lucas, and Will.
She stepped closer and took in the scene. Mike was laying on the couch in his basement while Lucas paced in front of him. Will looked distracted in the corner setting up a game of D&D.
Max continued to watch El, unable to tell if her powers were working.
"I see them," El said to Max.
"What are they doing," Max asked as she sat on the floor next to El.
"Eating," El said simply.
And they were, El watched with slight disgust and Mike stuffed potato chips into his mouth. It reminded her of what Hopper does sometimes.
"I just don't understand what I did to deserve this," He said with his mouth full.
"Nothing, nothing" Lucas exclaimed. "That's my whole point you were the victim here."
El looked on as she moved closer. She saw junk food wrappers all over the coffee table as well as cans of Coke.
"I know it's just why is she treating me this way?" Mike mumbled. "I don't know."
"Mike," Lucas sighed putting his hands to his face.
"What did I do wrong?! What did I do wrong?!" Mike yelled around his food.
El wasn't exactly sure what was happening. Mike looked upset but she wasn't sure he was wallowing in self-pity the way Max had described. He didn't seem angry either, just confused.
"Mike stop," Lucas yelled trying to get his friends attention. "relax, just relax."
"Stop asking rational questions," Lucas continued.
"I know I know," Mike sighed. "You're right you're right."
"Yeah," Lucas agreed.
"Because woman act on emotion and not logic," Mike said.
"Precisely," Lucas smiled. "It's a totally different species."
It appears Mike is getting help from Lucas the way Max helped her, El thought to herself.
"They say we are species," El said confused to Max.
"What?" Max said not understanding the context of the conversation.
"Emotion not logic," El continued.
"What!" Max exclaimed.
From Max's reaction, El could tell these things weren't good. She continued to watch the boys with curiosity.
"Guys it's ready," Will said finally turning to his friends.
"Will not right now," Lucas said to his friend as if it was obvious, they didn't want to play.
"They broke up with you!" Will spat back. "What else is there to talk about?"
El had never heard Will get so upset. It was a new side of him.
"Tons," Lucas countered.
"Yeah we're trying to solve the great mystery of the female species," Mike said from his spot on the couch.
Suddenly Mike stopped and burped very loud. El scrunched her face in disgust. She knew you weren't supposed to make that loud of a noise in public. And if you did you were to say excuse me.
"Dude you can smell the nacho cheese," Mike laughed to his friends.
Will looked just as disgusted as El was. Lucas smirked and turned to Mike.
"I got that beat," He said.
"What?" Mike asked.
"Oh no," Will groaned.
El watched on, unsure of what was happening.
"No Lucas no!" Both Will and Mike yelled.
The noise coming from Lucas started El into coming out of the void.
"What? What happened?" Max asked.
El couldn't help but fall over in a fit of giggles.
"What's wrong?" Max asked as she joined in on her friend's laughter.
Suddenly both girls heard Hopper's cruiser pull into the driveway.
Quickly El put away the black cloth and wiped the blood from her nose.
"One minute," El said as she laid on the floor with a magazine. She patted the spot next to her. "Dad's going to come check on us."
Max silently turned on the radio and laid down next to her friend. They looked thru the magazine wordlessly.
El heard the door open then some weird grunts she couldn't make out. She heard something about three inches then the door burst open.
Both girls looked up in surprise. Hop has rarely ever barged into El's room this way. Only if something happened or she had a nightmare. Hop looked surprised too, his eyes were wide as he stared down at the girls.
"Do you knock? Jeez," Max said cautiously.
"Yeah jeez!" El parroted.
"Wow wow hey hey I'm sorry," Hop said super confused. "I thought that ughhh…"
El and Max both knew exactly what he thought.
"Mikes not here," Max said simply.
"Max wanted to have a sleepover," El said testing out the new word.
Hop couldn't believe his ears, his daughter having a regular old sleepover with a friend.
"Is that…," El began slowly. "okay?"
"Yeah…yeah yeah," He stammered. "Yeah, your parents know about it?"
"Yup," Max nodded.
El looked at her guardian with her mouth open and her brow furrowed. Something was different about him.
"Yeah it's cool," Hop slurred. "Yeah, that's really cool."
After a few more minutes of all three staring at each other Max decided to break the silence.
"Did you need something?" Max asked as El looked to the floor slightly embarrassed.
"No no no I'll…I'll leave… I'll just let….I'll leave," He said as he shut the door finally leaving the room.
"Sorry," El said slightly embarrassed by her father.
"No worries," Max laughed. "I think he's a little drunk."
"Drunk?" El repeated.
"Yeah when adults drink a little too much alcohol they start feeling a little silly," Max tried to explain in simple terms.
"Oh," El said nodding. Hop was acting different, that was probably it, he said he was going to dinner with Joyce they must have been drinking.
"Okay so tell me what happened?" Max said sitting up from the floor.
"Lucas and Mike were talking, Mike seemed upset," El explained. "He kept 'saying what did I do wrong?' and then they said we are different species and we run on emotion, not logic."
"Shitheads," Max sighed. "They think they did nothing wrong, what about lying, their so stupid. What else?"
"Will got angry and said they should get over it and play D&D," El said sadly. "Then they all started doing gross things."
"Like what?" Max grimaced.
"Burping and farting," El said cringing at the memory.
"God boys are gross," Max said then giggled.
"Even if it was gross it is so cool that you can spy on people that way," Max said. "How did you learn that?"
"Papa taught me how to find people in the void and spy on them," El explained. "I didn't mind because at least then he didn't want me to hurt people."
"Wow," Max said deep in thought.
The gang tried to explain to the best of their abilities what El's life had been like before Hawkins. It was very different hearing it from El herself.
"Hey I have an idea," Max said standing up. "Have you ever played spin the bottle?"
El nodded her head. She had seen it played once in a movie, people sat in a circle, spun the bottle and kissed whoever it landed on. El wasn't sure why Max would want to play that with just her.
"Let's play but instead of kissing, whoever we land on you can spy on them," Max explained with a devilish grin.
"Okay," El smiled.
The girls gathered the few supplies they needed as Max picked people they should spy on. They already spied on Lucas, Will, and Mike. She started with Dustin, then added Billy and Nancy and Steve. She thought some of the adults might be funny. She added Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler and Mr. Clark.
"Holy shit I can't believe we're really doing this," Max mused as she finished the game board. "Ready?"
"Ready," El agreed.
She picked up the empty bottle and spun it around. Once it stopped it landed on a familiar name.
"Mr. Wheeler," Both girls said in unison.
"Ugh boring," Max said.
"Yeah boring," El agreed. She had met Mr. Wheeler a few times and to be fair it probably would be pretty boring to spy on him.
"Spin again," Max offered.
El reached for the bottle then looked back at Max. "Against the rules?"
"We make our own rules," Max smirked.
El smiled, she really liked that idea. No one tell her what the rules are, she could make her own rules even if it was just for a silly game.
She picked up the bottle and spun it around again.
"Billy," The two girls said.
Max seemed unsure about the spin but then got up off the bed.
"Okay look," She started. "I should just warn you if he's with a girl or doing something gross just get out of there right away before you're scarred for life."
El listened as Max brought the radio over to her. She wondered what Billy could be doing that was so gross. Then again what she witnessed Mike and his friends doing was pretty gross too.
"Max," El tried to cut in.
"No, I'm just saying I'm serious he's really gross!" Max explained.
"Max!" El laughed.
"Shutting up now," Max giggled, and she fiddled with the radio.
El placed her blindfold on and got ready to see what strange things Billy was up to.
Max watched as her friend fell silent. She couldn't believe someone she knew had these types of powers. This time El didn't say anything to Max, but after a while, her breathing started to speed up. Max got slightly concerned but tried not to get too worried. After a few moments, she wondered if she should say something to bring El back from her trance. Before she could, El let out a gasp and took off her blindfold.
She looked at Max with wide eyes, the eyes of someone who just witnessed something bad. She shivered slightly and whipped the blood from her nose.
"What is it?" Max asked urgently. "What happened?"
El explained about the girl and Billy and the feeling she got when Billy looked at her.
"Has that happened before?" Max asked.
"No," El said trying to remember. "Not really, Mike sensed me once."
Her body felt exhausted probably from all her time in void today.
"Do you mind if we go to bed," El asked. "I'm pretty tired."
"No problem," Max agreed as both girls got ready.
Max could sense something was wrong with her friend but she decided not to push it tonight. Tomorrow they would talk and everything would get figured out.
_The next morning_
The girls got up early, unable to sleep and dressed quickly, Max brought El something of hers to wear. While she was packing for the sleepover she threw in an outfit she thought El might like to borrow, now that she knew what El's style was. El was touched by the offer and put on the outfit.
"Can we go back to your house?" El asked as they ate some cereal.
"Sure," Max said. "Why?"
"Check on Billy," El sighed.
She couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was very wrong. She knew that Max knew her brother better but El knew that what she saw wasn't…normal.
"Alright," Max said.
Max wasn't sure why El wouldn't let this go. Maybe it's because she didn't understand Billy and what "normal" was for him. If it made El feel better to go to the house and see for herself so be it.
The girls began their journey back to Max's place.
"It's gonna start pouring soon," Max observed looking at the sky. "We should be at the mall or watching a movie or something."
"You don't believe me?" El asked slightly hurt.
"I believe you saw some super weird stuff totally," Max reassured. "But you said Mike has sensed you in there before right? So maybe it was just like that. Maybe Billy just senses you somehow."
Max honestly did not know what El saw but she felt a strange need to defend her brother. Sure he could be a dick sometimes but he had a good side to him.
"But the screams," El cringed as she thought about the girl in the void.
El knew she couldn't get Max to understand without proof. The only person who would take her at her word without question would be Mike. El wished he was here right now.
"I know, but here's the thing," Max sighed trying to figure out how to explain this to El. "When Billy is alone with a girl they make like….really crazy noises."
"They scream?" El asked.
"Yeah, but like…happy screams," Max tried to clarify.
"Happy screams?!" El mused. "What is happy screams?"
"It's like…ugh," Max struggled to explain, she really did want El to understand what she meant. "I'm just gonna lend you my mom's cosmo."
El had no idea what that meant but the thought was soon pushed aside as they arrived at Max's house.
"His cars not here," Max observed but remained unfazed by the statement.
She looked over at El who seemed concerned as she stared at the house. El remembered seeing Billy's car all smashed, maybe she was right after all.
"You really want to do this?" Max checked.
El simply nodded her head, determined to find proof. The girls searched the room and came up with nothing out of the ordinary. When they went in the bathroom El saw the tub filled with empty ice bags.
She could feel her hairs stand on end, she was getting a strange sense of déjà vu.
"Max," She said as her friend followed her.
"Ice," Max said simply. "It's just ice. It's probably just for his muscles or something he works out like a maniac."
El wasn't so sure, but she had to keep looking for something Max couldn't brush off with an explanation.
El turned her head feeling that something was wrong. She scanned the white cabinets to see a few red splotches. She opened the cabinet to find a small trash bin.
"El what is it?" Max asked confused.
She figured some pretty gross stuff might be in that trash can and some of it she wasn't prepared to explain to El.
El slowly lifted a lifeguard FannyPack, Max observed this and realized it wasn't Billy's. She watched as El continued to pull out a whistle. It wasn't until El turned around that Max could see it was covered in blood.
"Now do you believe me?" El asked.
Max just nodded, her mind reeling with questions.
_While the boys are playing D&D_
"Do you guys hear that?" Will asked. "It sounds like thunder, but no wait…that's not thunder its ….a hoard of juju zombies!"
Will was glad that his friends finally came around to playing D&D. Sure he had to pester them a bit and Dustin wasn't here but it was okay.
"Sir Mike your action?" Will asked.
"What should I do?" Mike asked Lucas.
Mike actually didn't mind playing D&D but his mind was wandering to El. What was she doing right now? Why hasn't he heard from her?
"Attack?" Lucas asked sounding rather bored. Will rolled his eyes, ever since Lucas got a girlfriend he acts like he's so cool.
"Okay I attack with my flail," Mike says as he rolls the dice.
Whoosh! You miss," Will smirks. "Your flail clanks the stone, the zombie hoard lumbers towards you and…the juju bites your arm…..flesh tears! AHHH… 7 points of damage."
"Ohh no my arm." Mike teased. "Lucas look my arm."
Mike and the rest of the guys always teased each other during D&D so he was surprised to see Will being put off by it. Will again shrugged it off as Mike trying to be as cool as Lucas.
"Sir Lucas," Will said bringing the boys back to the game "The zombie hoard roars…do you fight back or do you run?"
Will didn't appreciate the smug look Lucas was giving him as he asked his question. He wanted to lean forward and slap him. Lucas opens his mouth to answer when the phone rang.
"No! It's a distraction! A trap! Do not answer it!" Will yelled in desperation.
With no luck, both boys ran to the phone.
"El?!" Mike answered quickly "No sorry not interested…telemarketers"
"Maybe we should just call them," Lucas said at a loss.
"We can do that?" Mike said confused
"I think so," Lucas responded unsurely.
"Yeah, but what would we say?" Mike questioned out loud.
"We'll say nothing!" Will jumped in. "The couazar tribe still needs our help."
Mike felt bad for Will, he honestly did. Mike realized they haven't played D&D in forever, but now wasn't the time. He wanted to play and have fun but he had to fix his mistakes with El first and Will just didn't understand that.
"Alright then I'll use my torch to set fire to the chamber," Mike said trying to finish the game. "Sacrificing ourselves, killing the jujus and saving the couazar. We all live on as heroes in the memory of the calamar."
"Victory," Lucas agreed as he high fived Mike.
"Fine," Will said giving up and throwing down his stick. "You guys win, congratulations."
Will couldn't stand listening to these two go on any longer. He needed to leave. He began taking off his costume and gathering his things.
"Will I was just messing around," Mike explained. "Let's finish for real. How much longer is the campa-"
"Just forget it, Mike!" Will said sharply.
Mike was taken aback, Will never got this upset over teasing. He feared he crossed a line, or rather something was wrong with Will.
"No, we want to keep playing right?" Mike looked at Lucas for help.
"Yeah totally," Lucas said but with far less enthusiasm.
"We'll just call the girls after," Mike said trying to please both his friends.
"I SAID FORGET IT MIKE OKAY?" Will yelled. "I'm going home,"
Mike couldn't believe what was happening, he had never seen Will act this way. Will was always the level headed, quiet one in the party.
"What? Come on Will," Lucas sighed trying to block Will's escape.
"Move!" Will yelled as he pushed Lucas out of the way.
Mike followed after Will up the stairs.
"Will come on you can't leave its raining," He said finding Will in the garage. "I said I was sorry alright? It's a cool campaign it's really cool. We're just not in the mood right now."
"Yeah, Mike that's the problem! You guys are never in the mood anymore. You're running our party." Will said letting out all his frustrations.
"That's not true," Mike said getting defensive.
Why was he getting the blame for everything? What did he do?
"Really?! Where's Dustin right now?" Will shot back.
Mike looked around trying to remember when the last time he spoke to Dustin was. He felt bad that he couldn't remember but Dustin has also been gone for over a month. Mike didn't forget about him because he doesn't like him, but because he forgets his home from camp. When Dustin first left for camp the party called him all the time then remembered he wasn't home. It just took time to remember.
"See you don't know and you don't even care and obviously he doesn't either and I don't blame him!" Will yelled at Mike as tears welled up in his eyes. "You're destroying everything! And for what? So you could swap spit with some stupid girl?"
"El's not stupid!" Mike said angrily.
Will hasn't gotten to know El very well. Whenever she was around he was in the upside-down/being flayed…etc. But Will knows how much El means to Mike. Mike knew that Will was just frustrated but there was no reason to bring El into this.
"It's not my fault you don't like girls," Mike spat out before registering what he said.
Will looked as if Mike had slapped him in the face. What Mike had meant to say was "you don't like girls…yet" He knew Will has constantly heard from all the bullies at school and even his Dad that he was gay. It was a hurtful comment that Mike never meant to say. The fact that it could be taken that way, torn Mike up inside.
"I'm not trying to be a jerk okay?" Mike said softening. "But we're not kids anymore. I mean what did you think really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends, that we were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?"
"Yeah," Will said as tears began to fall. "I guess I did, I really did."
And with that Will rode off on his bike into the rain.
"Will…..Will," Mike said in desperation. "Will come on!"
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to make suggestions for missing moments, I love reading them. Please review! Thanks!
