35- The Nail Polish
Summary: El comes over to hang out with Mike but ends up spending time with Karen.
Requested by: Boris Yeltsin
El stepped over a fallen tree branch in the middle of the path.
She was excited. She was going to see Mike and the others today.
El made her way through the woods, making sure she wasn't seen.
That was the hardest part of it all.
It was the fall after spring break of 1986, and everything went back to normal. Well as normal anything could be.
The Byers moved back to Hawkins, Will planning to become a sophomore with the rest of them, El planning to do homeschooling. Max was okay, just a broken leg and some horrific nightmares. Eddie was sporting some demobat scars with Steve, but he was okay.
El was currently hiding from the governments, with a schedule that was similar to the one she had after the whole fiasco two Novembers ago just with the ability of being able to go to the Wheeler's any weekend no matter who there.
El clambered up the Wheeler's front steps and rang the doorbell.
Mike opened it, giving her a hug. He led her to the basement, El giving Holly a smile when she passed the younger girl coloring.
They both jogged down the stairs, El greeting everyone with a hug.
Max, Dustin, and Will were all there. Erica was accompanying Lucas and Steve, Eddie, and Robin was chaperoning to whole thing.
They all planned to hang out in the Wheeler's basement, watching movies and playing board games.
El had just finished dominating them at Mouse Trap when the Party decided to start watching movies.
El looked around realizing that there weren't many snacks, so she turned to the Party and told them that she was heading upstairs to get some.
She climbed up the stairs getting mumbled replies from her announcement.
El turned the corner and entered the kitchen.
Karen turned when she heard footsteps.
"El!" she exclaimed, wishing her arms weren't full of bags so she could give the girl a hug.
"Hey, Mrs. Wheeler," El greeted. "Let me help."
El grabbed a couple of grocery bags and set them on the counter.
"Oh, thanks honey." Karen said, setting down the rest of them. "And you can call me Karen."
El shrugged, starting to put the chips away, having been there enough times to know where they go.
"You don't have to do that sweetie." Karen told her, putting the milk away. "You can go down and play with your friends."
"That's alright." El said. "I was getting some snacks anyways." El started to pour some chips in a bowl.
While she was doing that, El noticed Karen's nails.
"I like your nails." she commented quietly, even though she had been around Karen for a while, she still was nervous making conversation.
"Thank you!" Karen said. "Would you like me to do yours?"
El looked down at her bland nails. "Really?"
"Yeah! I have all the colors of the rainbow. We can do them when I finish with the groceries."
"Okay!" El started helping Karen.
Soon they were in Karen's bathroom, El going through nail polishes, trying to figure out which one she liked.
She soon picked out a dark lilac color.
"This one." El declared. "I want this one."
"Okay, you got it!" Karen said, starting to paint the polish on.
While she was doing that, El eyed a pearly white color that she liked almost as much as the purple.
Karen noticed this, and told her, "You can do that color too, you know."
El's eyes widened. "How?"
"Well, you could alternate fingers," Karen suggested. "But since we already did some, we can paint your toenails if you want."
El nodded.
Karen smiled, then continued her work.
They were about 10 minutes into Jaws when Max registered something.
"El's been gone for a while."
Everyone looked around, realizing that the statement was true.
"It shouldn't have taken that long to get snacks." Steve said.
"I'll check on her." Mike decided.
When he got upstairs, there was no sign of El.
"El?" Mike called.
Mike heard footsteps upstairs and starting to ascend the stairs.
"El?"
"Mike?" El asked behind him.
"Where'd you go?" he asked her, acknowledging his mom.
"Your mom offered to paint my nails." El told him, showing off her fingers and toes. "Aren't they pretty?"
Mike smiled, glad that El was excited about something.
"They are pretty." he agreed.
El squealed and went downstairs to show everyone else.
Mike turned to his mom.
"Thanks, mom." he said.
"It was no problem." Karen said. "No problem at all."
AN: Hope you liked it, Boris Yeltsin! Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! Any Marvel fans out there, I saw Wakanda Forever this weekend, and OH MY GOSH! It was amazing! Requests are open!
