Stranger Things: Rebuilding

First chapter of story 2 of my Stranger Things series, hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or its characters.

Reflections

The usual post school racket surrounded Eleven as she exited Hawkins High School through the front doors, flanked by her friends. She smiled as she listened in on the boys discussing a game they already had planned to play at the Wheeler house.

"What about you two, are you coming?" Lucas asked her and Max.

Max shook her head. "Sorry, I've gotta get home."

"Ah, okay...El?" Dustin replied.

"Maybe another time, I just...Wanna savour my new freedom, yeah?" She told them.

They all smiled at that, it was finally the end of her week long grounding after the incident in the park where she had saved Anton, the Alzheimer's suffering homeless man who spent most of time at the park beating anyone who dared sit across from him at the chess tables, and Eric Gibson.

'God, Eric...I can't start thinking about him now.' She told herself.

She tried to shake the thoughts away, but still remembered the fight she had got into with the gang that had attacked Anton and then tried to attack her and Eric landing all three of them in the hospital.

"Yeah…Is the chief still mad?" Will asked.

El shook her head. "No, he's calmed down a lot now. Anyway, I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

They all nodded, Mike smiled warmly but El was sure that there was a strange flicker in his eyes, but didn't comment on it. Soon the boys had gone to their bikes and rode off, Max turned to El.

"Well, take care, see you tomorrow." She said cheerfully.

El nodded, smiling while Max readied her skateboard and rode off. Now alone El turned and made her way into the depths of Hawkins.

El knew where she was going instinctively, without even thinking about it. But before she did, she careful fingered the crumpled bill in the pocket of her overalls. She took the chance and ducked into the nearby deli. While it was well known and a standing joke amongst her friends that El had an embarrassingly large fondness for Eggos, bagels were a close second and she quickly made her choice, purchasing a fresh bagel which she then carried with her as she made her way towards the park.

'Haven't been there since...the incident.' She reflected. 'But still, it hasn't changed apparently. I...I might see if I can get a chess game.'

She wasn't too sure if that was a good idea however, mainly since, everything that was currently rushing through her mind since that incident still plagued her. With that she would be unable to focus and would therefore not be able to play her usual game. She continued to dwell on how things had changed in the past week as she stepped into the confines of the park.

She sighed. 'The rest of the group have been doing their usual thing, while still reaching out to me as much as they could while I was grounded. Mike's been acting kinda strange lately. I don't get it though, why?'

Shaking her head she sighed and made her way towards one of the benches in the park.

XXXXX

Making their way down to the basement as was their usual routine, the boys began setting up for their latest campaign. As they did so, the other three glanced at Mike before looking at each other furtively. Through silent communication it was soon decided for Will to be spokesperson for their concerns.

Clearing his throat Will turned to Mike. "Mike, you okay?"

Mike started out of his thoughts, not expecting the sudden question. "Huh, wha-?"

"You've been kinda, distracted this past week, has something happened?" Will asked.

Mike bit his lip, looking from Will to Dustin and Lucas and back, all of them looked at him with concern and he grimaced.

'Urgh, I didn't think anyone had noticed. Now what do I do?' He wondered worriedly. 'I can't tell them I've been, feeling so strange lately around El, that I've been...thinking about her, romantically. Besides, it's not like El's interested in me anyway, she likes that Eric guy.'

He fought to keep himself composed, even as Will spoke up again.

"If there's something bothering you, you know you can tell us, right?" He said.

Mike shook his head. "It's nothing, really. I just...I've been overthinking things I guess. Sorry to worry you guys."

"Well, if you're sure…" Will said hesitantly.

"Yeah, but like Will said, if there is something, or if anything does happen, you can tell us." Dustin added.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, we've got each other's backs, right."

"Right." Mike agreed. "Thanks guys."

All the same he felt guilty for lying to them, but wasn't sure if now was the right time to bring up his complicated issues of the heart. He instead focused on joining the guys as they got ready to begin their game.

XXXXX

El took a bite of her bagel, smiling lightly as she looked around the park. It was quiet right now, nobody was really about. She'd heard the park still emptied rather early these days, despite the fact that the gang who made the place dangerous at night had more or less disappeared since the incident. The park was a strange place for El, on one hand it was indeed dangerous. Jessica Myles, the school's popular girl and Eric Gibson's girlfriend, thus El's rival for his affections, had been slashed here not too long ago, then there was that incident she had recalled not too long ago. Even when those incidents were not taken into account the gang had still been a menacing presence. But lately, thanks to one of the gang, someone from El's school, James Dante, turning themselves in and giving evidence to the police, many gang members had been arrested, severely weakening them.

'And that's not all...something bad has happened to them.' She noted as she glanced at the fountain.

Although she wasn't well versed in gang signs for obvious reasons, she realized that the relatively new graffiti on the fountain indicated that a member of the gang had recently lost their life. Eating the last of her bagel she mildly wondered who it was before pushing the thoughts away. Like issues involving Eric and Jessica, that was not something she wanted to dwell on right now. Instead she let out a slow breath and leaned back on the bench, only stopping when she felt the cold metal press into the back of her neck.

'Click'.

End of chapter and already we have a cliffhanger, read and review please.