JANUARY 26 1985

Mike and El were making out in her bed. Mike was being more aggressive than usual, moving his hands all over her body as their tongues battled for superiority. Mike felt like asking her a question.

"El?"

"Yes?"

"Can I fuck you?"

El got confused and hesitated to reply.

"What is… fuck?"

Mike would usually be embarrassed to explain something like this to El, but not this time.

"It's when a guy and girl get naked and the guy sticks his penis in the girls vagina. So can I? Can I stick my penis in your pussy, El?" Mike asked, having a confident demeanor along with a smirk as he held her hands, waiting for her response.

He thought El might say no or not know how to respond, but she simply smiled and nodded her head.

"OK."

El started taking off her shirt-

Mike's eyes opened wide as he woke up. He looked at his clock and it said 7:02 AM. Mike sighed out of frustration. He was frustrated for many reasons. That dream was so not Mike; he wouldn't just ask if he could fuck her. He'd make it sound as sweet as possible while stumbling over his words. He hated that his mind would predict him being an inconsiderate douche to El. The other thing he couldn't stand, and he had to admit it, was how the dream ended. It just started to get good! That's how dreams were though.

Mike's thoughts got drowned out by his mom's loud voice.

"MIIIIKE!!! MIIIIIKE!!! GET READY FOR SCHOOL!!!!" Karen shouted from downstairs.

"OK, MOM!!!!" Mike shouted back, sounding annoyed.

Mike went through his usual morning routine. After taking a shower, fixing his hair, brushing his teeth, he picked out whatever clothes spoke out to him at that moment and went downstairs to eat waffles. He had five minutes before he needed to leave for school.

The table featured Nancy, Holly, and Karen. Ted just got done eating and put his plate in the sink. He grabbed his newspaper and sat back down at the table. Mike thought that was odd because he'd usually leave for work right after breakfast.

Mike's plate was waiting for him at his usual seat and he slowly sat down. Mornings weren't very talkative but Mike felt it was too quiet, like someone died. Mike was in a hurry so he started eating the waffles with his hands. Nancy hated when he did that. Karen and Ted looked at each other before nodding their heads.

"Michael," Karen softly said.

Mike didn't hear her voice and continued eating like an animal.

"MIKE!" Karen shouted.

Mike dropped his half eaten eggo waffle and directed his eyes to the second most important female on this earth. El took first place last year.

"Your father and I have been talking… and… we are… wondering what's been going on with you lately?"

Mike didn't know where this was going. He gave odd looks at everyone around him.

"Nothing's going on with me…"

"It's just that… we hardly see you anymore, Michael. We hardly saw you as it was but in the last few weeks, you've been coming home late, and it's worrying me."

Mike forced out a chuckle.

"I've been going to the arcade a lot more is all."

"Oh really?" Nancy blurted out with a smirk.

Mike raised a brow at her before hearing Karen's voice and directing his attention back to her.

"Mike, I've had Nancy check on the arcade for the past week while you were apparently supposed to be there, and you weren't there. Sometimes your friends were, but never you."

Mike's face couldn't hide the guilt he felt. They caught him in a lie, a big lie. He was too embarrassed to say anything.

"Mike, we need to know what's been going on? Where have you been going?" Karen asked, extremely concerned for her beautiful boy.

Mike couldn't just outright tell them about El, but it would be his ass if he wasn't' somewhat truthful. Being in a vulnerable position, he had to tell the truth.

"Your mother is worried sick, son. Please, tell the truth," Ted said, finally breaking his silence when Karen gave him a look to say something.

Mike sighed and finally gave in.

"I've been seeing this girl…"

Ted and Karen's eyes widened in shock while Holly kept on doing what she usually did. Nancy had a smirk the entire time, already knowing who the girl was.

Ted almost spat out the milk he was drinking when he heard Mike say that.

"Girl? Like, girlfriend?" Karen struggled with her words, trying to hide the relief and excitement she had.

"Yes. I… have a girlfriend," Mike confirmed,

Karen started clapping maniacally, scaring Mike to death. Karen always wanted him to find a girl. She wanted to be a grandmother one day. She most certainly needed to meet this girl that Mike's been spending a lot of time with.

"Girlfriend? Are we sure it's female?" Ted joked.

Karen felt too relieved to even hear what Ted said.

"That's great, son! We thought you were doing drugs!" Karen laughed out loud.

"So this girl. Do I know her?" Karen asked, not attempting to hide her excitement any longer.

"No. She's uh, new here."

"Can I meet her?!"

"MOM!" Mike shouted in annoyance.

He knew she would immediately want to meet El, and that was the problem with her knowing.

"Can you at least tell me her name? Anything? I just wanna know if this girl you're spending a lot of time with is good for you."

"She is, don't worry," Mike simply replied and stood up to show he was done with the conversation.

"How about a phone call? I just want to talk to her. I promise I won't embarrass you," Karen said.

Mike sighed again, facepalming as he realized she wasn't gonna stop annoying him about El. A phone call would be perfect. She wouldn't have to know where she is, who she is, who she's with. It's just the two of them talking. And then hopefully his mom can shut up about the entire thing when she knows how sweet El is.

"Fine. One phone call… tomorrow! And that's it," Mike said, sounding like he was the authoritative figure.

"Of course," Karen smiled and nodded while watching Mike march out of the house.

Mike went to the cabin after school like always. He had a lot of things to explain to El. Instead of immediately saying that his mom is gonna talk to her on the phone tomorrow, he decided to ease her into that conversation. By easing El into the conversation, that basically means kissing her ferociously as she says the magic word 'Eggos' four or five times, not getting enough of Mike. But the time for play had to come to an end, he ended up staring into her eyes as they sat up in bed, and he realized that now was the time to break the news.

"My mom wants to talk to you," Mike blurts out, completely changing the tone.

"Huh?"

"My mom. They ended up forcing me to confess that I have a girlfriend and now my mom really wants to talk to you."

"So I can meet her?" El wondered, surprisingly taking in the news well.

"You'll talk to her over the phone. Like, she doesn't need to know WHO you are or who you live with it," Mike explained, unsurprisingly stumping El.

"What do I say then?" El asked.

"Just like, talk about when we met and how long we've been together…"

Mike had to think about what he said. If El honestly told his mom how long they've been together, she would say over a year.

"On second thought, I'm just gonna be by your side. If you ever get confused or don't know how to answer, just ask me, all right?"

El hesitated before nodding.

"Here's the number, put that somewhere safe so you don't lose it."

El stood up and put the slip of paper on her desk.

"Is your mother nice?" El asked with a smile.

Mike stood up from the bed and walked up to her.

"She's really nice, like, annoyingly nice. She'll like you, I just know it!" Mike said as he grinned at her.

Mike wanted to be optimistic, hoping everything would turn out fine, but at the same time he knew how easily this could turn south.