JANUARY 8 1985

"Mike… where are you? Didn't school end 30 minutes ago? I got all dressed up and you're not here!" El told Mike through the walkie talkie.

El waited five days for this particular moment. Mike was finally gonna take her out into the world thanks to the deal he made with Hopper.

But here she was, sitting on the steps outside the cabin, patiently waiting for her boyfriend.

"Mike… are you there? Hello? Is this even working anymore?!" El said, feeling irritated while doubting the walkie talkies productivity.

"El? I hear you. We were waiting on Lucas and Max, but we decided that they can catch up. We'll be there in a couple minutes, OK?"

"Alright!" El replied, taking a breath of fresh air.

A couple of minutes later and the whole gang arrived besides Lucas and Max. Once they all got off their bikes, El ran up to Mike like her life depended on it. She jumped into Mike's arms and they enjoyed a romantic hug.

"Awww, the two lovebirds are back together," Dustin said, teasing both Mike and Eleven.

El giggled, already missing Dustin's constant jokes.

She broke off the hug with Mike and hugged Dustin.

"I missed you, Dustin."

All of the sudden, Dustin wasn't so funny anymore, too bewildered by the amount of passion El was showing him with a hug.

"I… missed you too, El. Really."

They released from the hug and El smiled at him again.

Mike walked over to Will and thought it would be nice to introduce Will to her.

"El, this is Will. You saw him at the Snowball… and obviously in the upside down."

Will shrugged off the comment and extended a hand out, wanting to shake El's.

"Nice to meet you, Eleven. I've heard a lot of things about you from Mike!"

El looked at Will and casually smiled, then looked down at his hand like it was a different species.

El didn't know what he was trying to do. Instead of a handshake, she caught Will off guard by hugging him tight.

"I'm glad we can finally talk to each other, Will!" El sounded so happy to be around her friends again.

Will felt awkward but toughed it out and got through the hug. He looked over to Mike who had a goofy smile on his face.

El put both hands on Dustin and Will's shoulders who were standing side by side.

"Friends!" El sighed happily and closed her eyes to enjoy this day of freedom.

Dustin and Will both looked at each other and shook their heads like something was wrong with Eleven.

All four of them engaged in a group hug.

They were interrupted by a screaming Lucas accompanied by Max riding her own bike.

"You guys! You guys!" Lucas shouted as he quickly stopped to get off his bike.

"What?"

"There's a Karate Champ tournament at the arcade next weekend! Entry fee is $15!" Lucas said as Max also got off her bike.

"So?" Dustin replied, wondering why this was so important.

"So?! So Mike and I have been training for this moment for months! Get this. Whoever wins the tournament gets $300!"

Lucas got Mike's interest with that statement. Mike walked over to Lucas, almost not believing the words coming out of his mouth.

"$300 to win a tournament of Karate Champ?! And it's only $15 to enter? I must be dreaming."

In the middle of Mike confessing his amazement, Lucas noticed El standing behind him and couldn't ignore it.

"El!' Lucas walked up to El and embraced her with his own hug.

"Lucas! You're all here!" El said in a dreamy tone while rubbing Lucas' hair during the hug, which slightly annoyed Max.

"We should go enter the tourney, man!" Mike pleaded to Lucas.

"Already did. There are a couple of spots left. You better go now while you have the chance."

"Shit. OK, OK."

Mike fast walked to his bike, making the others get back on theirs. El just stood there beside Mike who was sitting on his bike, confused as to where they were going.

"Mike?"

"What is it, El?"

"I'm going to the arcade?"

"Huh? No. I'm just gonna enter the tournament. I'm gonna make a stop at my house and ask my mom for money first."

"Oh. OK. Good luck, then," El said, feeling defeated as she began to walk back into the cabin until Mike stopped her with his voice.

"El, what are you doing?!"

"I can't go to the arcade, remember?"

Mike nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know. You can just wait outside the arcade, no big deal. Won't take long. Now get on!" Mike pat the space behind him for her to sit down on.

El got on behind him. She turned her head to Lucas who was beside her and smiled. El placed her hands on Mike's hips as he peddled his way to the house.

It didn't take long for him to collect the money. He got in and got out. Then they made it to the arcade.

They all parked their bikes and stood up, except for El. Mike needed to reassure her that this wasn't gonna take long.

"Look, El. I promise I'm gonna be in and out. Then we'll figure out where to go. Just wait here, K?"

"OK," El said, being a little shy around all the cars and people.

El felt so weird… all alone and exposed in the town of Hawkins. She felt paranoid and kept turning her head to the left and right, making sure the bad men weren't on to her.

Mike kept his word and entered the tournament as fast as humanly possible, then got out.

As everyone got back on their bikes, Mike stood by his bike and stared at Eleven. Eleven looked confused.

"OK, guys I haven't told any of you this yet… but… we have a problem."

"Oh, shit," Dustin said.

"What kind of problem?" Lucas asked.

"We can't take El anywhere with a high profile," Mike explained.

"Then what do we do?" Will asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we can go to that place about a mile away with the huge field and just chill for a while."

"Chill in January? Come on, Mike!" Dustin replied, not wanting to leave the arcade.

"Come on. For El, let's just do it!" Mike pleaded with everyone.

"Mike's right. It's actually sunny and warm for it being January and all. Let's go," Lucas said.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement except Dustin.

Dustin eventually caved in when he saw everyone riding their bikes away from him and followed their lead.

When they made it to the huge grassy area, they got off their bikes and set them down on the grass. They started walking around the huge field. They started walking together for a couple of minutes before splitting up into pairs so that the couples could have some private time together. Lucas went with Max, Eleven went with Mike, and Will went with Dustin.

It was a little chilly, but the sun was out and it felt great.

Mike and El were holding hands as they walked through the field together. They started swinging their arms back and forth with their hands connected. She was finally outside, away from the horrors of the cabin for at least a few hours.

Mike noticed something unusual about what happened earlier when they first met up. He had to bring it up to El.

"Uh. El?"

"Yes?"

"I noticed back at the cabin, you forgot to say hi to Max."

"Did I?" El did a terrible job at acting.

"Yeah. Do you still have something against her because you thought she liked me?" Mike asked.

El felt ashamed of having a lot of negative feelings for Max. She knew Mike wouldn't want her to hold a grudge but she couldn't help herself.

"I saw the way she flirted with you in the gym. I don't hate her. I know she's with Lucas now. But I'm not stupid, Mike. I could tell she liked you."

"How? She was just being friendly!" Mike replied, strangely coming to Max's defense.

"I just know."

Mike shook his head and decided to sit his butt down on the grass. El followed and sat down beside him.

"I'm telling you, El. You don't have to like her, but you can't keep holding this grudge. She's with Lucas now. Whatever intentions you think she had in the past is over now."

El always listened to Mike. At the end of the day, he was the one keeping her together, so she had to really think about it.

"I… I guess… that… maybe"

El was saying each word really slow as Mike kept nodding his head, wanting her to get it out of her system.

"Maybe…I've…. Maybe I've been a little mean. I'm sorry, Mike."

Mike chuckled.

"Don't say it to me, say it to Max."

El's eyes widened with fear. Mike immediately knew she was frightened of apologizing to Max and tried to cool her down.

"Whenever you have the time… whenever it feels like the right time. No pressure."

El still felt scared about the idea but Mike was able to settle her down a bit.

"OK…"

El wanted to think about something else quick.

"What's a tournament, Mike?"

"Oh, that's when people compete against each other in something. But there's like a bunch of other people in it and multiple rounds. Let's just say it's for people who want the ultimate competition," Mike passionately explained.

El nodded her head, barely understanding him.

"Right…"

"I know it sounds complicated, but it's simple really."

"I wanna watch you… at the tournament. I want to cheer you on, Mike," El said, giving Mike a heart warming smile.

Mike kissed her hand while holding it.

"I want you to be there too. But you know the rules."

"Now you sound like Hopper," El replied and giggled.

"Hey, he's the one who has the ultimate say in things."

"What happened to doing whatever we want?" El had a smirk on her face.

"In the cabin. Not out in the real world. I can't risk losing you, El…"

"No! I want to go!" El shouted.

Mike was startled by El's sudden anger.

"Just talk to Hopper. Maybe he'll allow you to go just one time."

"Maybe," El agreed.

They hung out for another two hours before taking El back to the cabin. They all said their goodbyes to El. While the boys were having a heated debate about something, El walked over to Max who was on her bike.

"Hi," Eleven awkwardly said.

"Hey?" Max said, sounding equally as uncomfortable.

"I just wanted to say… sorry for treating you bad. Mike told me to not have any grudges so I won't. I hope we can be good to each other," El had a sincere smile on her face.

Max felt somewhat relieved. She thought El walked over to her so she could snap her neck.

"Yeah, definitely. I'm sorry for whatever you hated me for," Max said.

"Bye, Max…"

"Goodbye, Eleven."