JANUARY 16 1985
El was in a terrible mood. Mike's tournament was gonna start in less than two hours and she was forced to stay in the cabin. Not even looking at his ghost busters photo could calm her. She was pacing around her room, worrying about how she would survive a Saturday without Mike.
Hopper suddenly barged into her room, fully dressed in his uniform as he smiled at her.
"Hey, kid," Hopper said.
"Hi," El said, showing no emotion.
"I've been running behind on some work so I'm gonna stay at the station for a while. Probably won't be home until 10:00."
El's eyes lit up.
"Oh…"
"Yeah. I just wanna make sure that you're good here? You don't need anything, right?" Hopper asked, showing concern.
"No…. I'm fine," El said, trying to play it cool.
Hopper stared her down, looking for something wrong with her, but he couldn't.
"... Alright. Well I gotta go now. I'll see ya tonight, okay. Maybe we can watch a scary movie when I get home? If you want?" Hopper asked.
"OK…"
Hopper bent down and kissed the crown of her head.
"See ya later, kiddo," Hopper said as he leaned back up in his normal posture.
El smiled and embraced him with a hug. Hopper hugged back with just one arm around her.
"Be safe," El said, sounding sincere.
"I'll try…"
El released the hug and Hopper quickly ran out of the cabin.
El walked to the porch outside and watched Hopper drive off as she waved him goodbye.
When Hopper was out of sight, El ran into the cabin and grabbed the walkie from her room.
"Mike.. are you there?" El asked, sounding giddy.
She waited for him to pick up. He eventually did.
"El? Is something wrong?"
"No. I just thought I should let you know that Hopper won't be at the cabin until 10:00."
"Uh. Okay. And?" Mike replied, clueless to what she could be getting at.
"And you're the one who's been telling me to sneak out. How about I meet you at the arcade in an… hour or so?" El said, smiling over the phone.
Mike was flustered. First of all, when he told her to sneak out, he never really meant it. He usually just said it out of anger because of something Hopper said or did to her that day. But now was his chance to have El there with him, supporting him during this big event.
"I don't know. If Hopper finds out, he'll be pissed. And… and… I don't know if you should risk your safety just to see me in a tournament," Mike replied.
El didn't expect him to be so hesitant about it; she expected an immediate yes.
"I know you're worr-ied about me, but I'll be fine. It's just one day, Mike."
"Right. Just one day couldn't hurt," Mike said, but still had a questionable tone in his voice.
"So I can come?" El asked.
"Look, El…. I'm not gonna tell you what to do. The fact is… I really want you to see me… but I also know what Hopper would want. I'm not gonna make that decision for you; that's up to you, El," Mike explained.
El didn't waste any time responding.
"I'll be there soon. See you there."
"See ya there, El."
El got cleaned up and ready to see Mike as quick as she could. She spent ten minutes trying to make her hair perfect for Mike, then she left the cabin and walked all the way to the arcade.
By the time she made it to the arcade, the tournament was less than thirty minutes away from starting. She stood still in front of the door entrance to the arcade. El closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then she opened the door and went inside.
The place looked incredible to her. Eleven vividly noticed the difference between the dull cabin and the colorful arcade. Not only was it colorful, all the games were making unique sounds that she never heard before, causing her to open her mouth wide in awe.
After initially looking around the arcade to get a good look, she noticed a big crowd of people huddled up together, so she went to them.
She heard a man shouting at the group.
"Alright. First round goes as follows: Marsh vs Anderson, then Sinclair vs Brown, Davis vs Stewart, Jones vs Morgan, Cooper vs Adams, Turner vs Edwards, Stevens vs Kennedy, then finally, Hamilton vs Wheeler. You guys get that?"
All the boys nodded their heads, including her boyfriend, Mike, who she was able to spot during the man's rambling.
"Remember, when we call you up, you have to show up on stage within the first minute, or else you're disqualified. Since the fights are so short, we're doing a best of 7 games. The tournament starts at 1:00 PM which is around twenty minutes from now. Good luck, gentlemen. Be prepared and ready. Also, good luck again."
The man walked away from the group of boys. Mike and Lucas got together afterwards and started talking. El felt too shy to confront them at first, knowing she wasn't supposed to be there. But she wasn't gonna let this moment pass her by. She took courageous steps in order to get closer to them.
"Mike," El said softly, catching the attention of the two boys.
Mike suddenly got a huge smile on his face as he hugged Eleven.
"El! You came!"
"I did."
Mike was unable to wipe the smile from his face, realizing that he had his favorite person in the world in his favorite place in the world.
"You should play a game El," Lucas suggested.
"Game? What kind of game?" El asked with a look of curiosity.
"A good game to start off with would be Pac-Man. Right Mike?"
Mike nodded his head.
"Yeah. Pac-Man is easy but fun. I think you'd like it."
"But… I came here to watch you in the tournament?" El said, feeling confused.
Mike and Lucas exchanged glances at each other before smirking.
"Yeah, I know. It's just that the tournament doesn't start for another twenty minutes or so. You should………. Just follow me," Mike said while grabbing her hand.
El let him take her wherever he wanted to go. He stopped at a yellow arcade machine that said Pac-Man at the top of it. El looked astonished at seeing such a colorful thing, but she was even more amazed by the screen she was looking at.
"See. This game right here. You just insert quarters down here, then you play," Mike said as he pulled a couple of quarters out of his pocket and stuck them into the machine.
"Quarters? Like… money?" El asked, wanting to know more.
"Yeah, money comes in different forms, like dollar bills, quarters, pennies, nickels, and whatever else I don't really want to name off right now," Mike explained as he couldn't stop smiling at El's face of confusion, which reminded him of how pure she was.
"Oh," was all El could say to that.
"How do I play?" El asked as she looked at the game, then back to Mike.
"It's easy. You just… well, you just eat all the dots while also trying to avoid touching the enemies chasing after you. You start with three lives, and you lose a life when the enemy touches you.
"Okay…"
Mike still noticed how lost she looked.
"Why don't I just show you. It'll be easier."
Mike started the game up and El's eyes immediately widened.
"Oh. I see. You get all the dots?" El leaned her head on Mike's shoulder as she watched him play the arcade game.
Mike felt flustered from the physical attention she was showing him but didn't lose concentration on the game
"Yeah….. You have to watch out for the enemies though. If they touch you, you die"
"I don't want to die," El said, making Mike chuckle.
"Exactly, so run away from them at all times."
As he played, she kept looking at his determined face. El got that tingly feeling again from just looking at his face. When she focused back on the game, she noticed something odd.
"What is that big dot?" El asked.
"Oh, that? When you run into it, it gives you a limited amount of time to where the enemies can't kill you, and you can even eat them!"
El laughed at how intense Mike made that sound, and she found him very cute at that moment.
Mike completed the first level, then stepped aside and signaled for El to play with.
"Alright. Show me what you got, El," Mike said.
El was still shy and didn't know exactly what to do.
"Just grab this and flick it in the direction you want the yellow guy to go," Mike said while moving the joystick around as a demonstration to Eleven.
"O-Ok," El nervously said as she slowly walked up to the machine and put her hand on the joystick.
The round just started as soon as she grabbed it which caught her off guard. She panicked, not knowing how to react.
"Oh, no. No. Where do I go?" El asked.
"Go down, El! Get away from the ghosts!" Mike shouted, making El even more nervous.
El got caught fifteen seconds into the game, then got caught again within the next twenty seconds, then she finally got the game over screen twenty seconds afterwards.
After losing, she gave Mike a frustrated look.
"That's hard!" El said.
"Yeah. It's your first time, you'll get better. Here, take these quarters and put them in your pocket."
Mike grabbed a handful of quarters out of his pocket and put them in El's open hand. She did as Mike said and put the quarters in her pocket.
"Alright, El. I gotta get ready. See ya," Mike started to walk away but a panicked El made him stop.
"MIKE!"
"Yeah?!"
"Why are you leaving? The tournament doesn't start for another ten minutes and I heard you go last in the first round?"
Mike walked back up to her and grabbed her hands.
"Trust me, El. There's no better way I'd like to spend my Saturday than playing games with you, but… I have to really have my head in this tournament if I want to win. There's a lot of money on the line, and I have to be prepared and focused. Do you understand?" Mike asked.
El nodded her head yes but still looked sad about it.
"Don't worry. When it's over, we'll spend the rest of the day doing whatever you want, alright?" Mike replied, making El slowly bring her smile back as she nodded her head again.
"You better win," El said as she made Mike chuckle.
She gave him a kiss on the cheek for motivation.
"Go and win!" El said with enthusiasm.
Mike had a huge goofy smile on his face. He put his fingers in her hair, making her blush hard.
"Guess I have to win now," Mike said, then he pecked her on the lips.
El was shocked that he would just kiss her like that in a public place like the arcade.
They both nodded their heads, then Mike walked back to Lucas.
El spent the next several minutes playing Pac-Man, trying to get better at it. By her fourth attempt she was able to beat three levels in a row. Just as she was starting to really get into it, she hears someone talking into the microphone.
"It's time for the Karate Champ tournament. The first round is starting now with…. Marsh vs Anderson. Hurry on up."
El watched as a crowd gathered around the open area where the tournament was taking place. She saw serious looks on Lucas and Mike's faces. The first match started and everyone got really silent. El wanted to go back to playing Pac-Man, but the unusual silence in the arcade made it too awkward to start up a game. The first game ended.
"Anderson wins! He goes on to the second round. Next up, Sinclair vs Brown."
Lucas nervously walked up to the machine and glanced at his opponent beside him. Lucas started off bad but ended up winning.
"Sinclair wins!"
El started to get bored of just watching random people playing and decided to play more Pac-Man. She got to level 5 this time before getting the game over screen. The matches started to fly by.
"Davis wins!"
"Jones wins!"
"Adams wins!"
"Turner wins!"
"Stevens wins!"
But all it took was one last name to snap her out of her Pac-Man craze.
"Alright, final match of the first round. Hamilton vs Wheeler, let's go boys."
El stopped playing in the middle of a game, not caring about wasting quarters; Mike was much more important than Pac-Man.
She gathered around the already packed crowd. She didn't remember it being this packed; 5x the people must of came in when she was busy playing Pac-Man.
Mike was standing by the machine. His opponent offered to shake hands. Mike hesitated before awkwardly laughing and accepting his handshake.
El couldn't stop herself from shouting something to Mike.
"MIKE!! YOU CAN DO IT!!"
Mike turned his head and gave El a thumbs up.
"Young lady, settle down and be quiet so the competitors can concentrate!" The man in charge of the tournament said.
"SORRY!" El shouted again.
The game started. Mike was having no problem beating up this Hamilton guy. Hamilton raged as he kept losing. He would eventually get swept 4 - 0.
"Wheeler wins! We're gonna have a 15 minute intermission before we start the quarter-finals. Intermission starts now."
Mike got a wide smile when he won, but refrained from yelling of joy. He shook Hamilton's hand and ran to El.
"Did you see that?! I won!" Mike said with excitement.
"You did. But you still have more, right?" El said, still not knowing exactly how a tournament works.
"Well, yeah, but the way I won that match….. I freaking destroyed him! You see how angry he got?!" Mike asked as he made El giggle.
"Keep it up!" El caressed his cheek and started smooching him on the lips.
Mike was too shocked to kiss back at first, but he returned the smooches.
El and Mike broke up the make out fest after a minute or so, unable to get the silly smiles off their faces.
"Are you gonna do that every time I win?!" Mike asked.
"I came here to motivate you."
"That is some damn good motivation, not gonna lie," Mike said, making El laugh.
"Go get ready for the next round," El said while running her hand through his hair.
Mike nodded his head and gave her a kiss on her forehead, then he returned back to Lucas.
The tournament went on. El would take turns between playing Pac-Man and actually paying attention when Mike and Lucas were playing. Lucas beat Anderson to move on to the Semi-Finals. Jones beat Davis, Turner beat Adams, and Wheeler beat Stevens.
The Semi-Finals had a more intense feeling to it. Lucas and Jones were tied 3 - 3. This last game would be it. Lucas ended up missing a kick and taking the loss.
"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Lucas shouted as he started hitting the machine out of anger.
"HEY! WE only have one of those so STOP!" The man running the tournament said.
"Sorry."
Lucas shook his head in shame while walking up to Mike.
"That dude Jones! He's unreal. He must of spent months and months playing this game!" Lucas frustratingly explained to Mike.
"You mean like us?" Mike replied.
"Well, yeah, but still!"
Mike took care of Stevens pretty quick, beating him 4 - 1.
It was the finals. Mike and Jones were in an intense battle as it was tied 3 - 3 after Mike managed to win two games in a row.
"COME ON, MIKE! YOU CAN DO IT!!!" El shouted, annoying the people running the tournament.
"YOUNG LADY, PLEASE, BE QUIET!"
El nodded her head and laughed at how angry they were getting.
The last game started. Mike was playing very conservative, not taking any chances. It felt like the match was going on forever. Then something happened.
"What the? I can't move my joystick!" Jones shouted, unable to physically move the joystick.
Mike took a quick glance at Jones, knowing he had to take advantage of this opportunity. He hit a final blow to Jones. The crowd started cheering.
"Congratulations, Mike Wheeler! You've won the tournament and have officially won $300!"
"THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!" Lucas shouted while pointing at Mike.
Mike, too happy and in the moment, looked at El to see what she what her face would look like. She had a bloody nose and quickly wiped the blood off when Mike locked eyes with her.
At that moment, he knew. It was too convenient with the joystick not working for Jones and all. El had to have helped… and he couldn't exactly be mad right now; he just won $300! But it lingered in the back of his head for the rest of the day. It got so annoying that Mike decided to leave the arcade just an hour after winning. El was confused by the way he was acting. When she rode with him back to the cabin, she lay down in bed and pat the empty spot beside her, welcoming Mike to join her. Mike couldn't hold back any longer.
"El," Mike said as he rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"Yes?"
"Did you… did you… help me win the last game?" Mike asked, not wanting to believe she would do that but definitely knew it was the case.
Eleven remembered the motto: Friends Don't Lie. She didn't lie. Instead, she remained silent and got a scared look on her face.
"I…. I… I…. I just wanted to help," El finally said in a soft voice.
"I didn't need help!" Mike raised his voice a little while shaking his head.
"I just…. I knew how hard you worked to get that far and I didn't want you to lose…"
"El, I don't care. I wanted to win fairly. What you did was so uncool! I don't need you to constantly use your powers to help me!" Mike said as his voice kept getting louder.
"Mike…"
"NO, Don't 'Mike' Me! You think I can't fight my own battles?!"
"What?!"
"I SAID DO YOU THINK I CAN'T FIGHT MY OWN BATTLES? YOU THINK I'M A PUSSY?!" Mike yelled.
"No," El quietly replied, scared of how angry he was getting.
"WELL IT SURE DOES LOOK LIKE YOU THINK I CAN'T HANDLE MYSELF!"
El wasn't used to Mike being so angry. She started crying, which immediately silenced Mike and caused him to regret everything.
"El?! Please don't cry…"
As El sat on the edge of the bed, Mike walked up to El as he looked down at her.
El couldn't stop. She was sobbing so bad, Mike had to hug her to calm her down just a little bit. She was crying into his chest.
"I'm sorry. I'm so stupid, I can't do anything right," El said into his chest, her voice being muffled.
"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't of yelled at you like that. I just… I don't want you to fight my battles when it isn't necessary. You're still the most important thing to me in the world!"
"You lie," El said, refusing to stop crying as she looked up into his eyes
"I don't. Friends don't lie. You are beautiful. I shouldn't of yelled at you like that. It was over the line and I'm sorry…"
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't of helped you win. You could of won it yourself.."
Mike gave her a beautiful smile that she would never get tired of looking at. He put his hand on her face and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.
Mike and Eleven shared one of their most passionate kisses yet. Mike picked up Eleven and she naturally wrapped her legs around his waist. She grabbed his face a little too roughly for his taste and he couldn't stop kissing her, couldn't stop loving her after making her sad. He wanted to make sure that she was his number one priority in life.
Mike threw her on to the bed, making El squeal before giggling afterwards.
Mike jumped on the bed and stared at her, appreciating her gorgeous smile. He always realized how lucky he was, to meet a girl as perfect as El.
Mike leaned in for some more make-out action, but El wanted to get something off her chest.
"Mike?"
Mike opened his eyes and awkwardly leaned back.
"Uh, yeah?"
"There's something that's been on my mind for awhile. I... I haven't told anyone about it besides Hopp since it happened."
"What is it?" Mike asked, being legitimately curious.
"It's about Mama…"
