Stranger Things: Rebuilding
Chapter 18 of my Stranger Things story, enjoy.
Reviews
Boris Yeltsin: Well, it's a diary entry so, obviously.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or its characters.
Unexpected Surprise
El sighed as she stepped out of the cabin that Friday morning, it was yet another day and although her sleep had been undisturbed by any strange dream this time and although she had so far avoided any further drama involving Tory, although she had spotted him snooping around town, clearly trying to get her alone to kill her, she had to admit things seemed alright and she felt calm.
'Just another day, I wonder if…' She thought to herself, before realising.
There was something in the mailbox, a letter. El had to admit she was curious, there rarely was any mail beyond bills or such, to see a regular letter was surprising. She approached and her surprise grew, for as she took it out she saw, it was addressed to her.
"What the…?" She whispered.
She opened the envelope and found a note inside, she unfolded it and read the precise neat handwriting.
"Jane.
I have to admit, I've been thinking about you a lot lately, I can't help but feel there's some kind of connection between us. But it's been confusing, trying to figure things out on my own hasn't exactly been successful. So I'm wondering if you can help me.
If you feel the same way I do, maybe we can talk and finally find our answers together. If so then please, meet me in my dorm at half-eight on Saturday night, be careful as you'll have to get past the guard. Hope to see you there.
Eric"
El gasped, eyes wide, hope began to fill her as she realized what this meant. She quickly tucked the note away in her pocket and hurried to school.
Arriving at school, El fought to catch her breath, having hurried most of the way there. As she caught her breath she looked around for any of the others, even so she knew she needed to find one of her friends in particular.
"El?"
She started, not used to hearing that voice using her nickname. But she still smiled when she turned to face the girl.
"Hi Jennifer."
Jennifer Hayes smiled back. "Wow, you okay, you look like you ran all the way here?"
"I kinda did, I'm looking for the others." El explained. "Mainly, I'm looking for Max, I need to talk to her."
Jennifer nodded. "Well, I ran into Mike earlier, he was heading for the AV Club room, but I don't think any of the others are here yet."
El smiled gratefully at this. "Okay, thanks Jen. I'll go and see Mike and wait for the others to show up."
"If I see any of them I'll send them your way." Jennifer offered.
El was grateful for that and hurried for the AV Club room. Opening the door she saw Mike right away, he looked up and smiled when he saw her. It seemed tired, slightly strained and she had to admit that worried her. Unbidden her mind went back to the dream, but she pushed it back, she couldn't et it distract her right now.
"Hi Mike."
He straightened up. "Hi El, what's up?"
El quickly explained. "Was just looking for you and the others, Jennifer told me you were here and the others hadn't arrived yet.
"Yeah, I'm waiting for them too." Mike replied.
They lapsed into silence for a moment.
Finally, El couldn't help but ask.
"Are you okay, you look pretty tired?" She wondered worriedly. "Still having trouble with your family?"
Mike sighed. "Yeah, I...it's alright, everything will be alright. I just...I've got some extra stuff on my mind too."
It was then El noted the folder Mike had on the desk next to him, she read it and tilted her head, a little confused. There were still some aspects of normal life, some terms, that she wasn't too familiar.
"Choir…?" She muttered the word, her confusion obvious.
Mike smiled at that. "Ah, it's a...singing, I…"
He cleared his throat and considered for a moment before explaining to her about choir and what it involved.
"The teacher asked me to join a few days ago and I'm preparing for the audition next week." Mike explained.
El smiled at that. "Wow, that's...I hope you get in, it sounds fun."
Mike nodded. "Y-yeah…"
She noted his hesitance and began to wonder, worry even, those family issues, could they be connected. Before she could even ask him, Mike stashed his choir folder in his bag and at that moment, the door opened and the others all entered.
"Hey." They greeted, all cheerfully. "What's up?"
Mike smiled and replied. "Hi."
El grinned and replied positively too.
After talking to each other for a while, Max turned to El.
"Hey, Jennifer said you were looking for me, what's up?" She asked.
El bit her lip, glancing over at the boys, then back at the door behind her, which led into the backroom.
"Follow me, this needs to be private." El explained.
Max nodded, the boys had heard it too and looked at them, Max sent them a warning glare before following El into the back room, closing the door.
"Okay, just us now." Max said. "So, what's up?"
El bit her lip and then sighed. "So um...you remember how, when we went out after school to hang out and we spoke, one of the things I told you about was my...troubles, regarding Eric?"
Max nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, this arrived today, look at it." El said, pulling out the letter and handing it to Max.
Max took it and read it. "El...this is…?"
"I know, Eric wants me to come and talk to him at his dorm tomorrow." El explained. "This is...Max, this could be my chance, to finally make sense of things, for the two of us to…"
Max bit her lip, noting that El was getting perhaps a little too excited. Yet she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Despite Max's warning glare, the boys were indeed listening in to what was being said and the revelation that the note was from Eric and was inviting El to his dorm room was devastating to Mike. He had held onto even the slimmest of hopes that he might be able to tell El the truth about his feelings, in spite of all the confusion and difficulty he was facing. But hearing this, he couldn't say anything now, he knew.
'It's, it's over...there's no way she'll even consider talking to me now. It's too late.' He reflected in dismay. 'I can't say anything now, it would be wrong. I shouldn't do that…'
His internal agony did not go unnoticed however, the other guys all noticed it too, the pain written plain as day on his face, they all couldn't help but feel sympathy for their friend. Meanwhile, Max was concerned, noting her friend's behaviour.
"El, are you sure about this, I meant…"
El turned to her, confused. "Of course I am, what do you mean, why would I not be?"
Max bit her lip. "It just seems kinda...fishy, ya know. What if it's some trick…?"
"Trick, who would do something like this for a trick anyway?" El asked.
Her hopes were high and Max couldn't help but be worried by that, as it seemed El would not be open to reason, she just prayed that El wouldn't get too badly hurt.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.