XXIV
Time passes.
In August 1980, Eleven starts school.
The first few months are not particularly bad, but neither are they what she expected: she stays in a corner of the classroom, avoids making eye contact as much as possible, and doesn't talk to anyone.
It doesn't help that, every time her name—Jane—is called, she fails to answer (she's not yet used to it).
She is soon labeled as the classroom weirdo, which, of course, is not at all pleasant.
However, Eleven hides it from Henry: if he asks, she assures him that everything is fine. That yes, of course she has made friends—something she knows he considers unnecessary but which he at the same time expects from a girl her age.
She assures him, in short, that there is no problem.
She would like to think he believes her. After all, he cannot penetrate her mind without her consent—not only because she has made him promise, but also because her barriers have become too strong for him to breach. However, every time he inquires about school and she responds evasively or in a very clipped way, he ends up reminding her: "Easy there, Eleven; remember that this is temporary. School, society, the world as humans have designed it... They're simply not made for us."
Eleven takes this advice to heart: she decides to apply herself as much as possible to her assignments and resigns herself to the fact that, as Henry says, she will never quite fit in with the others.