Hello everyone! Welcome to the second chapter of this AU...enjoy ;)


The Next Day

"Good morning Mike!"

He sheepishly smiled when he saw El walk into their history class. "Same to you, El."

It was disappointing; even though they shared the class together, they did not sit near each other. To combat this grave evil, although her seat was on the other side of the classroom, El stayed by his desk until class started and after it ended. And Mike loved it.

"I've thought of a question!"

Mike didn't know how to respond. Part of him wanted El to forget about the whole ordeal because, ultimately, it could cause a lot of unnecessary drama. And if there was one thing Mike Wheeler hated (besides taking out the trash), it was drama. But, there was another part of him that was happy that he and El had this little thing going. Not like it was a secret, but it was a fun activity shared by them.

He simply responded with, "Oh, have you now?"

She nodded, and a small smile started to form on her lips. "I was thinking about it last night, and I finally got it."

"Hit me with it."

"What's the color of her eyes?"

He looked into her brown eyes. Mike saw warmth in her eyes, warmth that would always comfort him on the worst of days. He saw what he could describe no other way than a mischievous glint in her eyes, and if Mike didn't know better, he would say that it was flirting.

They say that the eyes are the window to the soul. Well, El's windows were very clean, because in her eyes, he could feel what El was feeling. He saw the complete openness, the complete trust, that El had through her eyes. He was attracted to her eyes, like they had a magnetic field that pulled them to one another.

If he looked into her eyes for too long, he would be in a trance. Maybe that's why Mike fell in love with El: her eyes. Maybe—

"Mike?"

He cleared his throat. "She's got brown eyes."

She wore a thoughtful face, like a child trying to solve an impossible riddle. "Hmmm...so you share one core class with her, and she's got brown eyes?"

"That is what I've said," he chuckled.

"Alright, gimme a second."

El pulled out a miniature notebook and a pencil. Before Mike could ask, she looked around the classroom and wrote down the names of girls with brown eyes. Janet, Melissa, Mary, Jessica...

"El, you are not…"

She grinned, "Oh, I take this very seriously, Mike Wheeler."

"But she might not even be in this class!"

"Well then," she grinned again, "you shouldn't be worried about this."


The day after, El did not ask Mike during History. Mike was beginning to think that El had forgotten about their little game, and he debated with himself whether or not he should bring it up in their conversation (ultimately deciding not to). However, when they sat together at lunch, waiting for the rest of the party, Mike realized that he was mistaken.

"Hey Mike, is she funny?"

He chuckled, "Well I mean now everyone's funny."

"Yeah, I guess so," she smiled, "but is she, you know, very funny?"

By then, the rest of the party arrived at the table. He tensed up a little bit, as he didn't want the rest of the party to get involved in his love life.

"Humor's subjective, El. Watching Lucas get kicked in the nuts by Max is funny to me, but it ain't to him."

"Hey! What the heck?" Lucas protested.

El gave out a quick giggle, a slight tint of red showing on her cheeks. Mike smiled at her reaction, and when she looked at him, his cheeks started to light up. He quickly looked away, but when he heard her talk, he looked back up.

"Okay, then let me ask you this," El grinned, cheeks still noticeably red. "Does she make you smile?"

"Oh absolutely."

She pulled out her notebook again. Mike immediately took note of it and asked, "So now are you going to write down the name of every girl that makes me smile?"

"Nope," she grinned, "only those that also have two classes with you and have brown eyes."

He smiled. Another thing about El was that she had a great sense of humor. It would always put a smile on his face when he was feeling down, and it would lift his spirit to new levels. She didn't need to be inappropriate to be funny, she was already funny just naturally.

She started tapping the pen against her lips. "Why does she make you smile?"

Mike shook his finger. "No no no, El. That's two questions."

"Please…"

"Nope."

"Pretty please…"

"Nope."

El sighed, "Alright, look at it this way. This is not a question to guess who the lucky lady is...I'm just curious why you like her. You know, friend to friend."

From her eyes, Mike could see that El was trying to tell the truth. As a friend, of course she cared about him, and she wanted him to be open with her. She wasn't like one of the guys who would tease him about it; she would help him. So he answered her pleading. Or at least tried to.

He truly thought about it for a minute, and El kept her focus on him the whole time. They made kinda-awkward eye contact, and she smiled. Then suddenly, it hit him.

"I mean, I guess it's her smile that makes me smile. The way she smiles, it lights up the whole room. And when it's at me...I don't know how to describe it. It's like the world stops, but at the same time it's spinning a million miles an hour."

She grinned, "Wow, you're really in love..."

"No!" he quickly rejected, but then saw El frown. "I mean, it's just that her smile is very reassuring, and I can't describe it, but it's all I want in a smile. So yes, it does follow suit that I am attracted to her."

"So you fell in love with her because of her smile?"

He sighed, "Maybe."

"Very interesting."


It continued like this for a few more days, ranging from physical traits to those that were more personality-oriented. Slowly, most of the people on her list were being crossed off. When Janet, the last person on her list, was crossed off, she was awfully confused. Mike would never lie to her, right? Especially not over something silly like this.

But then she looked in the mirror. And then it occurred to her...just maybe.

The next time, El met Mike before class and stopped at his locker. It was still early in the morning, and she could visibly see the bags under his eyes. She gave a cute little cough to alert Mike of her presence. His eyes shot up immediately and his face brightened upon seeing her. Seeing Mike's face light up naturally lit hers up.

"Good morning, Mike," she gleamed. "How are you doing?"

He smiled, "Much better now."

When he said that (which was truly a ballsy move on the part of Mike), he could've sworn he saw a flicker of something in El's eyes. But as quickly as it came, she looked away and cleared her throat. What remained, however, was a tint of red on her cheeks.

"I've got another question."

He locked his locker. "Alright, let's hear it."

"How long have you known her for?" Gulp.

It was a question like this that would get Mike busted. He couldn't tell her because, well, then it would be way too obvious. He couldn't lie to her because, well, friends don't lie. And if he didn't answer, well she would be suspicious.

"A long time," he simply said.

"Like…?"

He sighed, telling her the truth, "I've known her since elementary school."

"Wow," she exclaimed. "That's a really long time! Like, that's when we met."

"Yeah," he smiled, or at least he tried to.

Because unknown to him, El's suspicions were just confirmed. She was the last remaining girl on the list. She was Mike's crush.

And she couldn't be happier.

She decided to dig deeper, to exert a confession from him or give her a chance to do so. "And have you always liked her?"

He froze for a second, picking his words carefully. "Not like I do now."

"But why now? What changed? What did you realize?"

"That, Eleven," Mike chuckled, "is the million dollar question."

"Well are you going to ask her out?"

"I don't know El," Mike sighed. "I guess I'm just...unsure."

El frowned, but before she could speak, the bell rang. So they left for class, and the topic was dropped, leaving Eleven stuck.


See you next time!