Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or any of the characters in this story.
Chapter 9: Hearts on Fire
"So, Hopper…spill," Max demanded, fixing El with a serious expression that meant no room for arguing.
"Spill what," replied a confused El.
While they were waiting for Mike to come back with the burgers and shakes, Max wanted to use the time to her advantage and get the juicy details from El's date last night.
"I want to hear about you and Mike's dinner last night, obviously!"
"Oh…" El trailed off, a giddy smile appearing on her face. "What do you want to know?"
"Um, everything…duh! What was he wearing?"
"A light blue shirt, red tie, and a tan jacket." El's eyes lit up as she remembered getting that first look at him as she walked around a corner.
"Nice. Good color combo," Max said. "OOOH. You guys matched! How cool was it that you ALSO had blue on?! So…what happened next?"
"He stood up and pulled my chair out for me."
Max put her hand on her heart. "Oh. My. God. That is so sweet. What a gentleman. And you told me about the wine glasses, which is super cool. Was he easy to talk to?"
"Totally. He's super funny. He does these silly voices…"
"Oh yeah," Max interrupted with a chuckle. "I remember now. 'Ello 'Awkins!'"
El laughed along with her. "Yes, there was lots of that. But it was such a magical night. I never wanted it to end."
They sat in silence for a moment, until Max raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Okay, so…what else happened?"
El's cheeks reddened as she thought of their kiss outside the restaurant. She never wanted that to end either.
Max saw the telltale blush on her cheeks and leaned forward, eyes wide. "Oh my god…did you guys kiss?"
El couldn't hold back the squeal that erupted from her mouth, similar to when she got in from her date last night. Max joined in and gave her a giant hug.
"Holy shit! Was it short? Was it long? Tell me EVERYTHING. Did he kiss you first?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…slow down," El began. "I kissed him first."
"That's my brave girl," Max replied with a fist pump. "Is he a good kisser?"
"Uh huh," El said with a dreamy look in her eyes. "We must have been kissing for a while. We got outside at 8:30, and Hopp didn't pick me up until 9."
"Wait a second! You were kissing outside?"
"Yeah. And it was a little chilly, so Mike gave me his jacket. He smelled so good…" El was going to have to give him that jacket back eventually, but only if he asked for it.
"El! Damn, girl! Good to know you aren't afraid of PDA's."
"What is a PDA?"
"Public Display of Affection. It's when people make out in front of a restaurant like you guys! Or in any public place for that matter. It's even as simple as holding hands."
El nodded in understanding. Then remembered something she needed some assistance with. "Max, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Well, when Mike came over this morning and we were kissing…"
"Wait, you kissed AGAIN?!"
"MAX," El admonished.
Max held her hands out in front of her in surrender. "Sorry, sorry. I'll shut up. Okay, so you were kissing…"
"Yeah, then Mike said he had to use the bathroom. When he came out, he looked weird."
"I'll bet," Max snickered. She had a feeling she knew why he might have looked strange.
"He said he had to 'take care of himself.' What does that mean?"
This time, Max full-on cackled. "Oh my god, oh my god." She shook her head in disbelief. "Well, El, it means that he was spanking the monkey."
El frowned. "A monkey? I don't have a monkey here."
"No, no…" She stood up and made kind of pumping motion with her hand. "Like…jacking the beanstalk."
"Jack in the Beanstalk? The story?"
"NO! Jack – ING, not 'Jack in.'" Max sighed. "Okay, this is a very important question I'm about to ask you, because I'll be seriously surprised if you don't know." She scooted close to El and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hopper told you how babies are made, right?"
El remembered that extremely embarrassing day, as she'd been watching one of her soap operas on TV. It wasn't long after she moved in with him. Two of the characters on the show had begun kissing passionately and started to remove each other's clothes.
"Hopp, what are they doing," El had asked.
"Who's doing what," Hopper asked back from the kitchen. He glanced over to the living room, took one look at what was on TV, and quickly strode over to turn it off. "Nope, not happening," he said sternly.
"But what were they doing," El persisted.
Hopper sighed heavily. This was not the kind of discussion he'd planned on having with her today, but he sat down with her and explained. It had been painful for them both to say the least, but it helped her a lot. He also explained to her that she should be expecting her period to start soon, that she couldn't have a baby if she hadn't started it. This knowledge came in handy when it appeared several months later…much to Hopper's dismay.
"EL!"
She was broken out of her memory by Max's shout. "Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you knew how babies are made."
"Yeah, Hopp told me."
Max let out a sigh of relief. "Well that's good. We can start with that. Sex obviously is what you do when you want to have kids. But people also do it because it feels good."
El was surprised. "But Hopp said you should wait to do it until you want to have kids."
"Hmph…figures he would tell you that," Max replied with a shake of her head. "Well, it's true that you should definitely wait until you're ready. But you don't have to do it JUST to have kids. You can have fun with it, too."
"Okay. So, what was Mike doing this morning in the bathroom? Sex?"
Max chuckled. "Sort of. You can make yourself feel good without another person there to help. Since you and Mike were kissing, he probably felt aroused."
El tried to put the pieces together in her head. "Like he wanted to have sex?"
"Exactly. So, if you're alone, you can touch yourself in a certain way that can make you feel the same way as when you're having sex. I bet Hopp didn't tell you THAT."
"No," El confirmed. She was quiet for a moment, her brain spinning a mile a minute. Sex was something she had never really thought about before. Hopper described it as sort of a means to an end. But now it sounded like it could actually be enjoyable.
And speaking of enjoying…
"Max, you said that Mike felt like he wanted to have sex. What does that mean?"
"Well physically, he got a hard-on. Like…you have to be physically aroused to have sex. He's got to get it up to get it in…" she trailed off, burying her face in her hands in embarrassment. Much as she liked helping her friend, she also felt very awkward talking about Mike's dick.
El couldn't help but wonder what that might have looked like. Her face got red at the thought.
"But," Max continued, "You also have to be ready emotionally, not just physically. Remember what I said about waiting until you're ready? Our bodies might be ready, but WE have to be ready, too. We're only 15, and sex is a big deal." She slung her arm around El. "You're my best friend, and I want you to be okay."
El smiled. "Thanks, Max. For the talk, and for being my friend." They lapsed into silence for a moment, until El remembered she had another question. "Max?"
"Yes, El?"
"How do girls know if they want to have sex?"
"Well, it's a little trickier since we don't have dicks," Max cracked. "But seriously…the only way I can describe it is like an ache. I get it sometimes when I look at pictures of Ralph Macchio," she offered helpfully.
El's mouth popped open. "That happened to me today, too, when Mike and I were kissing. I felt it between my legs."
Max grinned. "Sounds to me like your body wants to have sex!" She leaned in conspiratorially. "And hey, just remember that it's totally cool for girls to feel good, too. Mike shouldn't be the only one getting his rocks off in this relationship."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you should touch yourself, girlie!" El hesitantly began to undo the button of her shorts, much to Max's surprise. "Well not now, geez! Wait until later or something. And pro tip," Max began, "Your clit and your nipples are super sensitive. Don't limit yourself to just one area."
"What's the clit again?"
"It's that thing down there that looks like a bean. It's got a ton of nerves – really sensitive."
Just then, the secret knock sounded on the door. El had been so wrapped up in their discussion that she'd forgotten burgers and shakes were on the way. But she'd definitely have to remember her and Max's talk, and file away that knowledge for a time in the not so distant future.
Meanwhile, Max ran over to the door and pulled it open. Before Mike could even utter some sort of greeting, she snatched the bag with the food out of his hand and took it to the kitchen. He looked at El with amusement.
"Nice to know I'm good for something," he quipped.
El giggled and pulled him inside. "Welcome back," she said happily.
"I'm glad to be back. Benny's was nuts."
"Told you," chimed in Max, already taking a big bite of her burger.
Mike and El chuckled at the sight of Max stuffing her face, but Mike's smile quickly went away as he remembered the worrisome conversation he'd heard. This change did not go unnoticed by El.
"What's wrong," she asked.
He took a quick sip of chocolate shake before talking. "I heard something weird at Benny's while I was waiting for the food. Some guys were talking at a table nearby. I guess someone didn't come home last night – he's missing."
El nodded. "Hopp mentioned that earlier. Said he needed to sleep-it-off," she said slowly, remembering the phrase used.
Max snorted. "Then the guy's not missing. Just has his head in a toilet somewhere."
"No," Mike said with a frown. "These guys were saying how his car was found at the edge of town, behind a gas station. The car was empty."
"How would they know that," Max asked.
"They heard it from someone at the police station."
Max rolled her eyes. "Hmph, I guess good news travels fast."
"But it's NOT good news," replied El, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"I was being sarcastic, space cadet," Max explained. "It's definitely not good news. I think it's stupid how customers at Benny's would use it for gossip fodder."
"Well you know how it is in small towns," Mike began. "I'm not saying it's right, but it's happened before – stupid old guys with nothing to do. Nothing ever happens here. The last time anything big happened was probably…" he trailed off and looked guiltily at Max, his cheeks reddening.
Max nodded in understanding. "Yeah," she said quietly. It had been a while before the town shut up about Billy.
The three teenagers ate in silence for a few minutes, trying to let the awkwardness pass. El eventually spoke up.
"Well, I hope they find him."
"I hope so, too," Mike replied, catching a bit of stray ketchup from her upper lip with his finger. He stuck it in his mouth and crossed his eyes at her, making her laugh.
Max smiled at their interaction. "You guys are cute."
"Why thank you," said Mike. He flipped his hair, cheekiness coming out in full force. "I think it's the shirt. Brings out my eyes," he trilled in his British accent.
"You know I wasn't referring specifically to you," Max shot back at him.
"I know, I know." After a couple more bites of burger, Mike was done. He balled up the wrapper and threw it out, fist pumping as it sailed right into the trash. "So, what were you guys up to while I was gone," he asked, taking another sip of his shake.
Without batting an eye, El innocently replied, "We were talking about sex."
Mike spewed his mouthful of shake into the air, as Max practically choked on her bite of burger.
"WHAT?!"
LOL! And I'll just leave you with that. Sorry for the slightly shorter, filler chapter. I know it's probably not by best, but we are in the process of moving. I'll pick up right where I left off at the start of the next chapter. What did you think? I wanted this chapter to just be light and fun for the most part. It's important to remember that these are teenagers, and they are allowed to have fun…when they're not battling forces from another dimension.
I've been reading that there are quite a few new characters to be introduced in season 4. What do you think of them? In the meantime, please leave me a review. It's always helpful to know how my writing can be improved.
