A/N: Hello and welcome! I want to start by thanking everyone who read my most recently completed story Tied Together With A Smile and those who are reading my collection of Mileven one-shots. If you haven't read my previous stories yet, feel free to do so. But this story is not connected to any of my previous stories. As the summary says, this AU takes place in modern times (well, let's say 2019, as 2020 has been less than pleasant). It is completely different from anything I have written before, so I really hope you all enjoy it. Please remember to leave me a review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or any of its original characters.
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"I can't wait to see you, Suzie-Poo," Dustin gushed in the front seat of his mother's car.
"I can't wait to see you either, Dusty-Bun," Suzie's voice filled the car.
When Dustin had insisted on facetiming his girlfriend with forty-five minutes left of their car ride, Mike had practically begged his friend to use headphones. To Mike's disappointment, Dustin had refused, insisting that headphones somehow make voices sound different, and he wanted his conversation with Suzie to be authentic. So, Mike had endured nearly thirty minutes of listening to the two lovebirds swoon over how much they missed each other and what a romantic summer they were going to have.
Mike rolled his eyes when Dustin and Suzie exchanged "I love you"s for probably the hundredth time, and he opened Instagram on his phone, hoping to scroll aimlessly and tune out his friend's conversation for the remaining fifteen minutes.
It's not that Mike wasn't happy for Dustin. Of course he was. When Dustin had returned from Camp Know Where last summer, he was head over heels for this Suzie girl. Mike had originally thought it would fade out and that there was no way Dustin and Suzie would last because of the distance between Indiana and Utah. He was proven wrong as Dustin and Suzie persisted through constant texting and snapchatting and, of course, their daily facetime dates. Sure, Mike was happy that his friend was happy. But that didn't mean that he was particularly thrilled about the idea of six weeks of hearing "Dusty-Bun" and "Suzie-Poo" go gaga over each other.
As he was scrolling through his Instagram newsfeed, Mike was hardly paying attention until one photo in particular caught his eye. His thumb halted its movement as he stared at his phone screen. Looking back at him was a photo of a petite blonde girl with ocean-blue eyes and the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face. She was being held around the waist by Troy, the quarterback of their high school football team and Mike's childhood bully, while he kissed her cheek. The caption below the photo read "happy one month to this guy," and then some cliché crap about how much he makes her smile and here's to many more months.
Mike scoffed but did not move on from the photo. One month? That means it was just over a month ago when she ended things with Mike due to her newly increasing social status at school. Never mind the two years of his life that Mike had given her, all the tests he had helped her study for and ace, the hours he had spent carrying her shopping bags through the mall, the chick flicks he had let her drag him to, all the kisses and firsts they had shared together. When she made the cheerleading squad during spring tryouts, all of that seemed to fly out the window. Suddenly, all she cared about was her raising social status, her new popular friends, and getting invited to parties with the cool crowd. These were all things she had never experienced before, and Mike never knew she had thought she was missing out. He learned real quick how wrong he had been.
"Mike! You alive back there?" Dustin called over his shoulder.
"Unfortunately," Mike deadpanned.
"What's the matter with you?" Dustin asked.
"Nothing, it's just…" Mike sighed, still looking at the photo on his phone. "Stephanie posted on Instagram. I guess she's been with her new boyfriend for a month now."
"Screw that bitch," Dustin said with a wave of his hand.
"Dustin!" his mother hissed from the driver's seat. "Language!"
"Sorry, Mom, but if you knew the whole story of what she did, you would agree that word is warranted," Dustin explained before turning back to Mike.
"Look, all I'm saying is maybe it's a good thing that things ended with Stephanie when they did," Dustin said. "She showed her true colors, and you deserve way better than that."
"Thanks," Mike sighed as he closed the Instagram app and laid his phone on his lap.
"Plus, now you're free to meet someone new. Six weeks with all those female camp counselors," Dustin wriggled his eyebrows, and Mike rolled his eyes at his friend's insinuation.
"I don't think it's going to work like that for me," Mike said.
"Why not? I met Suzie at camp last summer, and it has been a dream come true. The same thing could totally happen for you," Dustin encouraged him.
"I doubt it," Mike muttered.
Dustin was about to respond, but the entrance sign for Camp Know Where appeared to their right, and as Mrs. Henderson turned onto the long paved lane, Dustin turned back to the front to help guide his mother toward the camp counselor check-in.
Mike leaned his head against the headrest and watched out the window as they slowly drove down the path surrounded by thick lines of full green trees on each side. The deeper into the woods they got, the more peaceful Mike felt the place becoming. Maybe Dustin was right. Not about meeting a new girl, but about talking him in to this whole camp counselor thing in the first place.
After returning from camp last year, all Dustin had been able to talk about – other than Suzie, of course – was the fact that he finally qualified to apply to be a camp counselor for the younger campers. Apparently, the age requirement to be a counselor to the ten-to-thirteen-year-old range of campers was sixteen, and the age requirement to be a counselor to the fourteen-to-fifteen-year-old range of campers was eighteen.
Dustin had tried his hardest to convince Mike, Lucas, and Will to apply to be counselors with him, insisting that it would only deepen their love of science. All three of them had shot Dustin down rather quickly, much to Dustin's disappointment. However, last month when everything went downhill with Stephanie, Mike reconsidered Dustin's idea. Getting out of Hawkins for a while would mean Mike would have no chance of running into his ex-girlfriend or the meathead she left him for. Plus, it would get him out of the house, and as Mike was seeing now as they drove deep into the woods, cell service was bound to be spotty, so he was very likely not to be bothered by the outside world. Maybe six weeks in the woods with one of his best friends and a bunch of little kids excited about science would be just what Mike needed.
Up front, Dustin directed his mother around another curve, and then the lane they were driving on opened up into a parking lot where Mrs. Henderson parked the car. Dustin hopped out of the car and yanked open Mike's car door right as Mike was reaching for the handle. Mike stepped out next to his friend, and Dustin put an arm around his shoulders, patting his shoulder as he used his other arm to dramatically gesture toward the clearing beyond the parking lot.
"Behold!" Dustin said with a sweeping movement of his arm. "Our domain for the next six weeks!"
"Domain?" Mike repeated, amused.
"Yes, Michael, domain," Dustin replied. "We're the camp counselors. We're in charge here. We are the ones responsible for molding the young minds who come here."
Mike nodded and looked around. At the edge of the parking lot was a check-in table under a banner that read "Welcome Counselors!". Beyond that in the grassy clearing was a tall flagpole flying the American flag in front of a large wooden building with a sign in front which read Administration Hall. Along the edge of the clearing were several paths leading into the woods and wooden signs with arrows pointing in the directions of several locations. The sign in front of the path farthest to the left simply read Boys Cabins. Another path had a sign in front that read Classroom A and Classroom B. The next path was behind a sign reading Physical Activity, Lake, Volleyball Court, Basketball Court. Next was a path with a sign which simply read Cafeteria. Then Classroom C and Classroom D. Finally, the path farthest to the right was accompanied by a sign reading Girls Cabins.
"You boys should get your things and head up there before the line gets much longer," Mrs. Henderson suggested from where she stood by the trunk of the car.
Dustin and Mike each grabbed their suitcase from the opened trunk. Mrs. Henderson pulled Dustin into a tight hug, careful not to let it last too long so as not to embarrass her son too much.
"Thanks for the ride, Mrs. Henderson," Mike said as the woman gave him a brief hug.
"You're welcome. After you check in, you should call your parents and let them know you made it. You probably won't have very good service on your cell phone, but if you have some change, there is a payphone in the admin hall," Mrs. Henderson said matter-of-factly as she pointed toward the wooden building.
"They still have a payphone?" Mike asked, scrunching his forehead.
"Just for us peasant counselors and campers," Dustin explained. "Their goal is to keep us off the phone as much as possible so we focus on what we're here to do. So if your cell phone doesn't work, your only option to call anyone is with the payphone. But the director and assistant director have normal office phones in their offices."
"Well, you two boys have a wonderful time. I'll be here to pick you up in six weeks," Mrs. Henderson smiled.
Mike and Dustin thanked her again and began walking across the parking lot while she drove away. They reached the line for the check-in table, and there were only four people ahead of them.
"How many counselors are there?" Mike asked.
"Ten," Dustin replied. "Five male and five female."
Ahead of them stood a girl with her arms crossed, waiting patiently. Her wavy strawberry-blonde hair was pulled completely over her left shoulder. In front of her was a curvy blonde girl scrolling through Instagram and trying to get her newsfeed to refresh despite the poor service. Next, there stood a thin boy with red hair wearing jeans and a polo despite the summer heat. Finally, at the front of the line currently checking in was a petite tan girl with her curly brown hair pulled into a ponytail.
"See anything you like?" Dustin teased quietly as he gestured to the line in front of them.
"Shut up, Dustin," Mike warned and nudged his friend with his elbow.
"Not the blonde. We don't need her triggering any PTSD… post traumatic Stephanie disorder," Dustin couldn't help laughing at his own joke.
"You really are an ass, you know that?" Mike said through pursed lips.
"All right, all right, I'm sorry," Dustin surrendered. "I'm just so excited to be back here and for you to meet Suzie, and I just really hope you have a good time whether you meet a girl you like or not."
"I'm sure I'll have a good time," Mike said. "And I can't wait to meet Suzie. When is she getting here?"
"When I was facetiming her, she had just left the airport," Dustin said. "So she'll probably be here within the hour."
The line moved forward as the ponytailed girl stepped away from the check-in table holding a packet of paperwork and started walking toward the path toward the girls cabins. As the red-haired boy began checking in, a blonde boy with toned but not overly bulky muscles took his place in line behind Dustin and Mike. He was soon followed by a very muscular dark-haired boy, which meant all five male counselors had arrived. Mike heard a soft whistle from behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see the dark-haired boy smirking while slowly moving his eyes up and down. Mike followed the boy's gaze and saw that he was checking out the blonde girl near the front of the line.
The line moved forward again as the red-haired boy walked away from the table with his own paperwork, and Mike heard the dark-haired boy snort.
"Fucking nerd," he muttered, and Mike knew he was watching the thin redhead who was walking toward the path to the boys cabins.
Mike looked at Dustin out of the corner of his eye, and Dustin rolled his eyes to say that he was thinking the same thing. This guy was not going to be pleasant to be around.
"Hey, man," they heard the dark-haired boy say.
"What's up?" the blonde guy right behind them greeted.
"I'm Jason," said the first guy.
"Eric," replied the one closest to Mike and Dustin.
"You doing this shit to look good for colleges, too?" Jason asked.
"Pretty much," Eric chuckled. "I thought I was set with my grades and football, but my mom insisted on using this for volunteering or whatever."
"Yeah, I told my old man football will have college covered for me, but he made me do this anyway," Jason said.
"You play football?" Eric asked.
"And baseball," Jason added.
"Great, the jocks have found each other," Dustin muttered into Mike's ear.
Mike clenched his teeth and didn't respond. There were two of them? Mike had kind of been expecting one jackass to be thrown into the mix. Statistically, there was always that one guy who just had to be there and ruin everything. But two? Mike did not want to spend the next six weeks listening to these guys become bros by talking about sports and most likely objectifying the girls behind their backs. It didn't particularly help that this was exactly the type of guy that Stephanie left him for. Honestly, what did girls see in these assholes?
"Oooh, well, what do we have here?" Jason's voice suddenly broke through Mike's thoughts.
"Holy shit," Eric added.
Mike glanced over his shoulder and saw them both looking toward the parking lot. He looked that way, too, and what he saw nearly made his heart stop.
Standing next to a dark red minivan was a tan girl with a petite frame and wavy chestnut hair that fell just below her shoulders. She was wearing denim shorts and a simple black tank top which hugged the curves at her waist. Mike watched as the girl hugged the woman who had stepped out of the driver's seat, and even from so far away, he could see her pearly white smile. She pulled open the sliding door and leaned in to hug another woman before waving goodbye and starting toward the table, pulling her suitcase behind her.
Mike was frozen in place, his eyes wide and his mouth open, as he watched this girl walk across the parking lot. Her sun-kissed skin was glowing, and her chestnut waves bounced with each step she took. Suddenly, she met his eyes, and Mike felt all the blood drain from his body as he held her gaze, unable to move. It was like she was walking directly to him.
"I say again, see anything you like?" Dustin teased.
Mike jumped and looked at his friend, the color coming back to his face as he felt the hot blush creep across his cheeks.
"I-I-I… I just-"
"You were staring, nay, gawking, my friend," Dustin interrupted, rather amused by his friend's stammering.
"She's beautiful," Mike breathed, looking back toward the girl who finally reached the end of the line.
When she reached the end of the line, El stopped behind a muscular boy with dark hair who immediately held out his hand and introduced himself as Jason.
"Hi Jason, I'm El. It's nice to meet you," she replied politely, shaking his hand.
"I'm Eric," said the blonde boy next to Jason.
"Nice to meet you," El repeated.
"Are you from around here?" Jason asked.
"No, I actually came down from Chicago," El replied.
The drive from Chicago to Camp Know Where, which rested just on the Indiana side of the Indiana-Illinois border, had taken just under three hours that morning, which had given El plenty of time to try and convince herself that she would have a good time. El didn't particularly want to spend six weeks of her summer being a camp counselor at a science camp. Not that she wasn't smart in school, but math and science were not subjects that El enjoyed as much as history, English, and the arts.
El's aunt Becky had strongly encouraged El to volunteer as a camp counselor. Becky had argued that not only would it look good on college applications, but it would strengthen her resume in general, and it would be a good way to get out of the house and enjoy nature and meet new people her own age. El had firmly said no, stating that she would rather stay at home this summer and work longer shifts at the diner where she was a server so she could start saving for college and help Becky with the household expenses. Becky insisted that the household expenses were not El's responsibility and that El should take advantage of summer breaks while she still had them. After days of back and forth, El finally broke down and admitted to Becky that she felt scared and guilty at the idea of leaving her mama behind for six weeks.
Terry had been in an accident six months after El was born, leaving her with a traumatic brain injury and in need of constant care. Becky insisted from the beginning that Terry and El live with her, and Becky had a nurse who came by the house three times per week. While El knew many of her mother's expenses were covered by the settlement she had been awarded after the accident, El still felt guilty that her aunt's life had been uprooted and she had been forced to raise her niece since infancy. El wanted to give back to her aunt, but Becky insisted on El having as normal of a life as possible.
So, El had given in and applied to be a camp counselor at Camp Know Where, where she knew absolutely no one. In a way, El was looking forward to being surrounded by people her own age that didn't know her. At her school in Chicago, she wasn't exactly the coolest person. She had a few friends, but she was by no means popular. El felt fortunate that she wasn't unpopular enough to ever be a target of bullying either. Essentially, she was a wallflower. But here, no one knew her. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to make some more friends. It would make the six weeks more enjoyable.
"Chicago, huh? Cubs or White Sox?" Jason asked.
"I don't really care that much about sports," El admitted.
"What's your favorite place in Chicago?" Eric asked.
"I try to stay away from the touristy areas, but I really do like the Adler Planetarium," El replied.
"Me too! I spent hours there when I went to Chicago last year," Eric said. "I think astronomy is really cool."
"So do I. Did you go in the Atwood Sphere and learn about the constellations?" El asked, her hazel eyes sparkling with her smile.
"Yeah, that was my favorite part," Eric said, flashing her a wide grin of his own.
Mike turned back toward the front of the line, turning his back to what was happening between Eric and the girl who he heard was named El. The line had continued to move, and now the girl with the strawberry-blonde hair was checking in, which meant Mike was next.
"When do you think you're going to make your move?" Dustin asked quietly.
"What move?" Mike asked.
"Um, hello? Your move on the girl you couldn't take your eyes off of!" Dustin said.
"You mean the girl that's currently bonding over outer space with the blonde-haired, blue eyed athlete behind us? He's an athlete, and apparently he actually has a brain. I can't compete with that," Mike said bitterly.
Dustin frowned at the sad expression on Mike's face.
"Stop being so hard on yourself," Dustin said. "So they're talking about one thing they both happen to like in Chicago. Big deal. Introduce yourself to her and let her see what a great guy you are, and I bet six weeks from now, we'll have to pry you two off each other when it's time to leave. That's what happened to me and Suzie!"
Almost as if on cue, there was a loud gasp followed by a high-pitched squeal of "Dusty-Bun!" coming from the parking lot. Everyone in line turned to see a dark-haired girl with glasses running across the parking lot, pulling her suitcase behind her as her Uber pulled away.
"Suzie-Poo!" Dustin exclaimed, his entire face lighting up at the sight of his girlfriend who he had not seen in person for nearly an entire year.
Suzie sprinted toward Dustin's outstretched arms and jumped into them, letting her suitcase fall to the ground behind her. Dustin squeezed her tightly and planted kiss after kiss to her temples, cheeks, and forehead before landing on her lips.
"I'm so happy you're here. I've missed you so much," Dustin said, releasing Suzie from his embrace but holding onto both of her hands.
"I've missed you too," Suzie said through the smile that took up her entire face.
"How cute. Nerds in love," Jason smirked toward Eric and El before turning toward Dustin and Suzie. "Back of the line, Suzie-Poo. You and Dusty-Bun here are holding everyone up."
"Excuse me, but don't tell me girlfriend what to do. And it's just Suzie and Dustin to you," Dustin said, narrowing his eyes.
"I'm thorry, Thuzie and Duthtin?" Jason repeated, mocking Dustin's minor lisp.
Dustin's eyes fell to the ground in embarrassment, and Mike felt his blood begin to boil. He clenched his fists and opened his mouth to say something, when someone else beat him to it.
"Leave them alone. They're obviously happy to see each other, and they aren't hurting anyone," El said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked over at Suzie. "Suzie, I don't mind if you cut in line a little bit. I have plenty of time."
"Thank you," Suzie smiled at El.
Suzie and Dustin turned back toward the front of the line, ignoring the shocked look on Jason's face. Mike met El's hazel eyes and gave her a small smile and nod of appreciation for standing up for his friend, and then he turned toward the front of the line as well.
Mike smiled happily to himself. It seemed like El was not impressed with Jason at all. He was sure that Jason had been expecting to flaunt his muscles, talk about sports, and make her laugh by tearing down the nerds at science camp. It probably worked on most girls that Jason went after. Mike couldn't help but feel thrilled that El wasn't like that.
When the girl in front of them finished, Mike stepped forward to check in and receive his paperwork and camp information. He stepped to the side to wait for Dustin and Suzie, and Mike felt a pair of eyes on him. He glanced up to see El looking at him, and she quickly looked away when he met her stare.
"Mike, do you want to walk with us to the female counselors' cabin to drop off Suzie's stuff before taking ours to our cabin?" Dustin asked when he and Suzie joined Mike.
"Actually, I want to wait for her," Suzie interjected and gestured toward El. "She stood up for us, and I don't want to leave her alone with those two cretins."
Suzie saw Mike looked rather taken aback by her choice of words, and she chuckled.
"I know it was just the one guy who said anything, but I just feel like that blonde one isn't any better," she explained.
"Sure, we can wait for her," Dustin said, wrapping his arm around Suzie's shoulders. "I'm sure Mike would really like that, wouldn't you, Mike?"
"Uh, y-yeah, yeah sure. We can wait. Yeah, if that's what you want to do, that's fine," Mike stammered as his cheeks blushed pink.
"Does someone have a crush?" Suzie teased quietly, her eyes widening.
"What? No. I don't have a crush on her. I haven't even said one word to her," Mike replied.
He was slightly surprised that Suzie was already teasing him so comfortably, but on the other hand, in the brief time since he had met her, Mike felt like he was really going to like Dustin's girlfriend, so he let her teasing slide.
Eric finished checking in and waited for Jason to check in as well before the two of them started toward the path leading to the boys cabins. As they passed, Jason shot a seething glare toward Dustin and Suzie, and Mike rolled his eyes.
"I understand why the blonde guy is here. It sounds like he actually has a nerdy side to him, I guess. But what is that asshole doing as a counselor at a science camp?" Mike asked in reference to Jason.
"He's probably leading the physical activity portion for the kids," Dustin replied. "The ten counselors are paired up, one guy and one girl, so there are five sets of counselors. Four of those pairs lead the kids in the academic portions, and the fifth pair is strictly here for physical activity. So that asshole is probably here for that."
"They'll explain the pairing up and everything else a lot better during the welcome presentation this afternoon," Suzie added.
"Welcome presentation?" Mike asked, furrowing his brow.
"Yeah. After we all get settled into our cabins, there's a welcome presentation for the counselors where the director and assistant director explain the whole agenda for the next six weeks. All the way from setup and training week, which is this week, until the end," Suzie explained.
Mike nodded and opened his mouth to respond, but then he saw that El had finished checking in and was walking their way pulling her suitcase behind her.
"Hey!" Suzie exclaimed and waved at El. "I wanted to thank you again for stepping in earlier."
"No problem," El shrugged. "That guy had no reason to be such a jerk. You were clearly just excited to see your boyfriend."
"I'm Suzie, by the way," Suzie said, realizing they had not formally introduced themselves.
"I'm El," El smiled.
"This is my boyfriend Dustin, and this is Dustin's friend Mike," Suzie pointed at the two boys next to her, and El shook Dustin's hand and then reached out to shake Mike's.
As soon as Mike's hand closed around hers, El felt shocks ripple up her arm. She looked up and met his dark eyes, and El found herself speechless. Suzie's voice faded into the background, and it took a couple moments for El to realize that she had been shaking Mike's hand and staring at him for longer than was acceptable.
Say something! she scolded herself.
"It's nice to meet you, Mike," El choked out slowly.
"Nice to meet you, too, El," Mike said just as slowly.
"Hello?!" Dustin hollered as he waved his hand up and down between Mike and El.
They both jumped and turned to face Dustin.
"Did you guys not hear anything Suzie was just saying?" Dustin asked.
"Uh – um – er" Mike and El both started stammering, much to Dustin's amusement as he watched both of their faces turn pink.
"Suzie was just saying that we can all four walk to the girls cabin and drop of Suzie and El's stuff then go drop of our stuff at the boys cabin and then head back to the admin hall for the welcome presentation," Dustin recapped, still smirking at Mike and El.
"Oh, yeah! That sounds good to me. Does that, uh, sound good to you?" Mike looked at El.
"Definitely," El agreed.
There was a brief silence as El finally looked down at her right hand to see it still joined with Mike's from when they started shaking hands. She started to pull her hand back, and Mike instantly dropped it.
"Oh, shit, I'm sorry," he said, blushing even harder.
"It's okay," El smiled.
"Guys, can we please get going?" Dustin asked.
Soon, the four of them were walking down the path toward the girls cabins to find the female counselors' cabin. When they reached the cabin, Suzie and El went inside to drop off their luggage, and Dustin and Mike waited outside.
"So," Dustin began, a smirk on his lips and his eyebrows raised. "Rethinking what you said about making your move on El?"
"Shut up," Mike mumbled, but he couldn't stop himself from blushing and smiling.
"Oh my god, you can't even think about her with a straight face," Dustin teased him. "You are so falling in love with her."
"Don't be ridiculous. I don't even know her. She's obviously pretty, but…" Mike trailed off.
"But nothing, my friend," Dustin said, clapping Mike on the shoulder. "You have got it bad for our new friend from Chicago, and if I interpreted that insanely prolonged handshake correctly, she's got it bad for you, too."
"You don't know that," Mike said, shaking his head.
"You don't know what?" Suzie's voice chimed in, and Mike and Dustin turned to see the girls rejoining them.
"Uh, nothing. Not important," Mike said quickly. "Ready to go?"
Dustin grabbed his suitcase in one hand and took Suzie's hand with his other and shot Mike a knowing look before turning around to lead the group back up the path. Mike chuckled to himself and turned to glance at El, only to find her already looking at him with a dreamy expression on her face. He smiled at her, and the two of them followed side-by-side behind Dustin and Suzie.
Mike snuck another glance at El out of the corner of his eye, and he started to think to himself that maybe Dustin was on to something after all. Only time would tell, of course, but luckily, they had the next six weeks ahead of them.
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A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. Let me know what you think so far with a review, and I'll talk to you all again soon! Thanks for reading : )