hopefully you like this chapter. sometimes its hard to write out what i'm thinking so i hope i was able to describe what mike was feeling good enough
Words w/out AN: 7000+
Pairing(s): Mileven, Lumax
I own nothing.
the social system: chapter nine
Mike was waiting in the library for El after school Monday.
He was sorting his textbooks and binders on the table he usually sat at. He had spare pencils in his bag, with the pencil he usually used beside the piece of paper in front of him. He reached into his bag to set his textbook on the table, but frowned when he couldn't find the right one.
Where was his calculus textbook? He swore he remembered his textbook being in his bag when he packed up for English class. He was talking to El as he gathered his things at the end of the class. He actually would have walked with her to the library but he needed to make a stop at the... AV Club.
Mike must've left his book in the AV room when he quickly stopped by.
He stood up and rushed to the AV room, wanting to get back to the library as fast as possible. Mike didn't want El waiting for him, or anything.
He also really wanted to talk to El. She had told him that they were going to talk about them during their tutoring session. Mike both wanted to talk to her about it and not talk to her about it.
It was a bit confusing.
On one hand he really wanted to know how El felt about them, as in their relationship. She had told him earlier that she really liked him, which was great. Mike felt the same way. (Unless she had spontaneously changed her mind throughout the school day, which would not be great.)
But on the other hand, what if she didn't want a relationship with him? Because there was a difference between liking someone and dating someone. If she ever decided to date him, it would probably tarnish the way people thought about her. Mike was a total nerd, after all. And yes, deep down in his mind, he knew she liked him. He knew she didn't care about her reputation or popularity in Dustin's stupid social system. He knew he was overthinking this and all of his doubts and worries were creeping to the forefront like they always do when he was given too much time to think. He knew he was being irrational.
But that's exactly what Mike did!
He was always nervous. He was always overthinking everything. From his first day of school, where he thought Mrs. Sanders was accusing him of cheating on the test, to right now, where he didn't know if the girl he had a crush on liked him back, even though she had specifically said that she really liked him.
And the only thing that was a constant, that was always on his mind, was El and his feelings for her. Because if he doubted anything else, he knew he would always like her.
Which seemed a bit drastic, since he has only known her for like a week, but he was being sincere. He hasn't felt like this about anybody else before. El was always on his mind. He felt twenty different emotions all at once when he was around her, it was kind of jarring.
Mike felt anxious, nervous, scared, happy, excited and so many more. She made him feel jittery, unable to sit still. He was always tapping his fingers or bouncing his leg.
And when El was around, like physically next to him, his nervousness increased tenfold. But instead of being unable to keep his tapping fingers still, he had to force himself to not reach out and touch her... Because that was something that happens now. Ever since they kissed, he's wanted to do it again. He's wanted to touch her again, feel her in his hands.
He was kind of obsessed.
And sure, he was obsessed before they kissed, but now... Now that he's had a taste of El. He can't think of anything else but her lips on his and the way she felt in his hands.
Mike sighed.
Hopefully having a conversation with El about whatever it is they were would help alleviate some of the stress he felt.
It couldn't make him more stressed, right?
He made it to the door of the AV room, reaching forward to turn the handle. He frowned when it wouldn't budge.
The door was locked.
Which wasn't a problem or anything, he'd just have to hunt down Mr. Clarke, get a key, come back, unlock the door, grab his book, re-lock the door, return the key, then go to the library.
Which wasn't that many things to do.
But Mike was kind of in a hurry. He wanted to see El as soon as possible so they could talk. Maybe she was already in the library waiting for him?
It turned out he would hear her before he would see her.
He had started walking back to the library to check if she was there waiting. If she wasn't, he would send her a quick text saying he needed to get his textbook. If she was, he would hope she had her textbook on her.
Although that was unlikely since she barely kept any books on her.
He almost rounded the corner ahead of him but Mike stopped when he heard some voices.
It was El. He smiled.
He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but El had continued speaking before he could decide whether or not he should make his presence known.
"They're really smart." She said. "They're smart and I need to pass."
"Oh," Was that Troy? Why was El talking to Troy? "So you're just using them for a good grade? That's pretty badass."
"Thanks, they're just a bunch of nobodies. Nerds." El said. Mike's grin dropped and a horror-filled look took its place.
He wanted to step away, to cover his ears and pray that she was talking about some other group of people.
But Mike couldn't move. He was locked in place and his feet wouldn't obey him. The only thing he could do was stand and listen as El continued talking.
"That's right." He heard Troy agree with her.
Mike could imagine his malicious grin when he said that. The idea sickened him.
He couldn't take it anymore. Mike knew El was talking about him and his friends. It couldn't have been anyone else. Mike was the only one tutoring her in school.
How could she say that stuff?
Mike wanted to believe that he misheard her but nothing could explain why she said those things.
El knew how Mike felt about Troy. She knew what Troy did to him, to his friends, the history behind them. But here she was, talking to Troy, insulting Mike and his friends.
He stopped listening to what she was saying, too lost in his thoughts.
El was no better than Troy, he thought. She was just like every other popular person in their school. She was just like every bully that he and his friends had encountered.
He wanted to believe otherwise, but here she was, saying the same things everyone else said.
He wanted to believe there was a hint of doubt in her voice. Maybe she was lying to Troy?
Mike shook his head. He knew what his ears just heard. Even he wasn't that pathetic to try and convince himself he was hearing things he wasn't.
Mike felt himself shaking. He tried to stop but tears started pooling at his eyes.
The talking between El and Troy stopped. He heard footsteps echoing through the hallway away from him.
El stumbled around the corner and Mike gaped, staring at her.
He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say.
"Mike?" She said, shocked. As if she didn't expect he would hear her when she was talking about him and his friends behind his back. "What are you-"
"Save it." He interrupted. He didn't want to hear anything else she was going to say. He didn't want to hear any more of her lies.
All of this time she was calling herself a friend, saying to his face that she liked him. But then turning around and stabbing him in the back the first moment she got.
It was all just a facade so she could use him to pass. So she could get a passing grade and then drop him and their friendship when it was convenient for her.
Mike didn't like being used.
He tried to hold in his tears. But it didn't seem to be working.
"I thought you were my friend. I heard what you said. About us. About me."
Because that's what Mike cared about the most, deep down. She had played him. Strung him along and manipulated his feelings for her.
Just so she could pass calculus.
He watched as she tried to reach for him. He watched her eyes. They seemed broken.
Caught in her lies, he thought.
"It was Troy! He-" She tried to say.
"I thought you were different." Mike said, trying to hold his resolve, but it didn't work as tears streamed down his face.
"I thought you were different." He whispered again.
"Mike-"
"I gotta go." He muttered, turning away from her. "Tutoring is cancelled."
He couldn't bear to look at her again. He needed her gone, right now. She would just lie to him again. Try to convince him that this wasn't what it seemed like.
That's what manipulative people did, right? Blamed other people.
He stormed down the hall. He heard her call his name behind her, but he didn't bother turning around. Nothing she could say would make him stop.
She had told him they would talk about their relationship after school. They would get the opportunity to figure out what they were.
Mike figured she just decided what they were.
Mike was just a nerd and El was just using him to pass.
That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.
He exited a side door, breaking out into a sprint when El couldn't see him.
Mike wasn't proud, but he cried the entire way home.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Mike pulled open the door to his house, ignoring the greetings from his sister and rushing to his room.
He closed the door and flopped onto his bed, quietly allowing the tears to stream onto his pillow. It got to the point where it was soaked, so he flipped it and continued crying into the barren side.
Why had he let El worm her way into his heart? He was perfectly happy with the three best friends he already had. Why did he have to go and make a new one?
Why did he have to care about the pretty girl with a nice smile? It sucked.
He sucked.
She sucked.
Mike wished he had never gotten to know her. He wished he hadn't started to develop feelings for her.
He wished he never developed a crush on her.
Because yes, he did have a crush on her. It was stupid now, but he thought things would work out between them.
He hoped things would work out between them. He had gone as far as to plan out the conversation they would have during their tutoring session.
He would gather all of his courage and tell her that he really liked her. He would ask how she felt and then suggest if they could try dating.
That is assuming, she would say she liked him back.
But that was obviously a lie. She didn't like him. She just liked how he was good at math.
He heard his phone ringing from where he threw it on his bed. He picked it up and set it to silent, quickly checking who was phoning him.
Of course, it was El. She probably wanted to explain, say how it was some misunderstanding that way Mike would continue tutoring her so she wouldn't fail.
He threw his phone back onto his bed, satisfied that he couldn't hear the incessant ringing.
He didn't want to talk to her right now. Didn't he make that obvious enough?
Mike felt tired. Although, Emotionally exhausted was probably a better way to explain it.
He had stopped crying a few minutes ago, replaced with a quiet sniffling. He closed his eyes, letting them rest. He knew it was stupid to cry. He was supposed to be a man. Men don't cry.
At least, that's something his dad would say.
But Mike really couldn't help it. He was just feeling too many things at once and the tears just seemed to slip out on their own.
Before he knew it, he was drifting to sleep.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Mike woke up with a groan, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
He groggily checked his phone and saw eleven missed calls from El. He ignored them.
There was also a couple of texts in the Party group chat. They had asked about some homework earlier.
He checked the time and saw it was past seven pm. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. He had homework to complete still. Now he just had less time to do it.
He unlocked his phone and quickly typed a message to the rest of the Party.
Mike: code red. don't talk to el or max. meetup asap
He needed to explain to his friends as soon as possible what was happening between him and El.
He had to include Max, too. Although she seemed like a good person.
Then again, so did El. So obviously his judgement couldn't be trusted.
Mike thought about it more and all of his friend's judgements couldn't be trusted. El had managed to sneak into his friend group, under the noses of everyone.
She had obviously tricked them as much as she had tricked him.
After all, she had insulted them, too.
A text had lit up his phone screen.
Lucas: whats up? im omw
He quickly typed up a response.
Mike: ill explain when we're all here.
Dustin: your basement right?
Mike: yeah
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
"Dude, are you alright?" Lucas said as he entered the basement.
Mike was already waiting, sitting on the couch deep in thought.
"Because you look terrible." Lucas continued. "Have you been crying or something?"
"Yes." Mike muttered, not meeting Lucas' eyes.
Sure, Mike could've lied about the crying thing, maybe saved himself some embarrassment. But the Party has a code, a set of rules.
One of those rules was that friends don't lie.
If there was ever a time to be serious and tell the truth, a code red meeting was definitely one of those times.
"Shit..." Lucas said. "What happened?"
"Where's Will and Dustin?" Mike asked, ignoring his question.
"Will's mom is driving him." Lucas said. "He's picking up Dustin on the way. They should be here soon."
"Alright."
Mike could see Lucas pacing nervously out of the corner of his eye.
"I'll explain everything when they get here." Mike said, in an attempt to ease his friend's comfort.
Lucas nodded, taking a seat on the recliner beside him.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Dustin and Will barged through the door, wildly looking around.
"What's happening? What's the matter?" They exclaimed.
"Mike was waiting for us all to get here."
"Well, we're here?"
Mike stood up and all of his friend's eyes turned to him.
"El lied to us."
Mike explained everything he heard her say. All of the emotions he felt earlier came rushing back and Mike found it hard to speak properly.
His friends had awestruck expressions on their faces. They couldn't believe him. Mike would've had a hard time believing it too, if he hadn't heard her say it himself.
"There's no way she would do that, right?" They had protested.
Mike shook his head, quickly looking down and wiping his eyes. "Well it's true! She lied to us. She lied to me..."
Will's face fell. Lucas was shaking his head in disbelief and Dustin was looking down, muttering to himself.
"She used us." Mike said, his voice cracking. "She was never our friend."
"She was nice to us, though." Will said. "Her and Max."
"Yeah, Max is pretty cool..." Lucas said. "There's no way they were just using us."
"Well I don't know how else to explain it." Mike sighed. "She was talking to Troy! She knows how I- How we feel about him."
Mike waved his injured arm in the air exasperatedly, trying to get his point across to his friends.
"It makes sense, though." Dustin resolutely nodded. "She's popular, higher up in the social system than us. There was no real reason for her to hang around us unless she had something to gain."
"So what, then?" Lucas asked. "Do we just ignore them in class? Pretend they don't exist?"
Will nodded. "What are we supposed to do?"
"I- I don't know." Mike said. "I have no idea..."
The Party sat around the coffee table in silence.
Nothing more needed to be said. They were each in their own separate degrees of shock, taking the news and processing it.
"Well, what do you want us to do?"
"Ignore them." Mike said. "They betrayed us. We don't need them."
"Are you sure that's the right choice?"
"I'm not sure of anything." Mike said. Usually he had the answers, whether it was some homework questions or a test. But now? Knowing El had easily played him, making him unable to trust himself? He didn't know.
"Maybe we should try talking to them?" Will suggested. Lucas nodded along.
"How do we know it won't be a lie?" Dustin protested. "As much as I want to believe they're our friends, if Mike said she went behind our backs and betrayed us…"
He didn't need to finish his sentence. Everyone got the point.
"And you're sure it was El who said this?"
"Yes! I'm sure." Mike exclaimed. Of course it was her. She was the one who had said those things. He knew it was her voice. "Do you not believe me?"
"We believe you…" Will amended. "I just don't think we want to."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Mike skipped school for the first time in his life the next day.
He had missed school before. He didn't have perfect attendance. But all of his absences had a reason behind them. Whether he was on holiday or sick in bed.
He didn't mean to skip school that day, it just kind of happened.
Since he accidentally took a nap when he got home yesterday, it made it so he couldn't fall asleep at the time he usually goes to bed. So he ended up staying up later, and therefore waking up later.
It was probably a good thing, since he didn't know if he would be able to even handle seeing El that day. He had gotten extremely anxious the night before, thinking up all of the possible situations he might find himself in.
He imagined himself walking into calculus class, awkwardly making eye contact with El. He would rush to his seat, ignoring her. Maybe she'd try and get his attention a few times.
Mike figured she'd probably be able to get it.
He'd have to sit through the entire class knowing El was just a couple feet behind him. At that point it'd just be better to stay home. Mike knew he wouldn't be able to focus on the lesson.
When the bell would finally ring, he could imagine himself shooting up and immediately leaving the class, giving El no time to catch up to him like he usually would. Mike would go straight to the AV room for lunch with his friends and try to pretend that everything was alright.
When clearly, everything was not alright.
Fast-forwarding to English, Mike was anxious even thinking about sitting beside El. Sharing a book with El.
He didn't think he'd be able to survive calculus, and she wasn't even in his field of view in that class.
Sitting beside her, knowing he could see her out of the corner of his eye would be way too much.
No. It was probably better that he woke up late that day, considering just the thought of El made him sick to his stomach.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Mike felt raw.
He was sitting in his bed, staring at his ceiling.
It's not like he had anything else to do. All of his homework was finished, so he just had to wait until his friends got home so he could get a copy from them.
He could feel his heart beating in his chest. Every thump a reminder of El.
His phone was beside his head, resting on his pillow. Mike was replaying a voicemail over and over again.
Around lunch time, El had phoned him. He didn't answer, but she left a voicemail. Which was new. She hadn't done that before.
Mike shakily held the phone up the first time he listened to it.
"Uh, hey… Mike. It's me, El. I just wanted to let you know that… That I have a copy of the homework from Mrs. Sanders' class for you. I'll give it to Will, unless you don't mind me bringing it?" There was a gap in the recording, as if she was waiting for a response. "If you don't call or text me, then I'll just give it to Will during English."
"I, uh… I know you're probably mad. At me. At what I said… but there's an explanation, if you're willing to hear it." El said, her voice was soft and quiet. She sounded just as raw as Mike felt. Mike couldn't help but think that she was genuinely sad. "I'm sorry. I just… If you're willing to hear me out, let me know. If not… I don't blame you."
The voicemail ended and Mike was left with the drone of the dial tone.
He had listened to it a few more times, analyzing each word for… For something. Mike didn't know. Maybe he was trying to spot any lies, checking to see if she was being real or not.
Maybe he just wanted to listen to the sound of her voice.
Mike really didn't know at this point.
He considered texting her a response. What would he say?
She said she could explain, but it seemed pretty self-explanatory to Mike.
Mike shook his head. He didn't want to hear whatever it is she wanted to say. Not yet, at least. Mike needed some time to cool down. Even he could see that his judgement was clouded.
But after some much needed sleep, he felt a little better.
Although he was laying in bed, repeatedly listening to a voicemail she left him. So maybe he wasn't that much better.
His stomach growled and Mike took that as his cue to get some food. He had stayed in his room all day to avoid his mother, who was probably in the kitchen right now.
She would no doubt interrogate him about why he wasn't at school, and then Mike would have to explain everything, and at that point, it just seemed like too much effort for just some food.
But unfortunately for Mike, he needed food to live. So his need to survive outweighed the trouble he could possibly get in.
He rubbed his eyes as he got up, walking out of his room to the kitchen.
He lightly stepped down the stairs, but halfway through realized what was the point?
It's not like he'd be able to sneak into the kitchen, where his mother is, and make himself a sandwich.
Mike walked into the kitchen, where he saw his mother, just as he expected.
She turned around and frowned at him.
Mike looked to the ground, trying to avoid the scolding he was about to get.
"Michael? What are you doing…" She started to say. "What's wrong?"
Mike frowned, looking up. Wasn't he about to get in trouble? "Uh, nothing?"
She gave him a look. "Don't lie to me. You look terrible. You have bags under your eyes and you seem pale. Are you sick?"
"No." Mike shook his head, rubbing the bags out of his eyes. "I'm not sick."
"Well, what's wrong?" She asked, pressing when he wouldn't answer. "I am your mom."
Mike took a seat at one of the stools, debating if he should tell his mom the truth.
"Is this about those girls you had over on the weekend?"
Mike looked up, shocked. "How'd you know about that?"
Mike was stunned at how quickly his mom figured out what he was thinking about. Mike wondered if it was that parental instinct his mother always said she had.
"You've had your friends over almost every weekend for the past four years. I'm pretty sure I'd notice when the voices coming from downstairs are from girls. Especially when you were all yelling and screaming about that game you play." His mom said, crossing her arms.
Mike blushed. "Sorry I didn't tell you I invited them."
"Oh, it's no problem." She said, waving her arm. "Bring them over again. It sounded like you guys had fun."
Mike got a bad taste in his mouth. He doubted he'd invite them over to finish the campaign after what happened. "Yeah, I don't think they'll be coming over again…"
"Are they the reason you skipped school today?" His mother said sternly.
Mike nodded, looking down.
"What's wrong?" She urged. "I'm here to listen."
Mike was silent for a moment.
"We got in a fight." Mike admitted.
"Who did?" His mom asked. "You and the guys? Or those girls you invited?"
"Her name is El." Mike said. "I was tutoring her for math. That's how we met."
"Oh…" His mom cooed. "El? Huh?"
"Yes." Mike blushed.
"So what happened?"
"Her and her friend, Max, started to become our friends." Mike explained to his mom. "They had lunch with us a couple times. They seemed super cool. I, uh, I enjoyed hanging out with her- them."
"Uh-huh." She nodded. "I'm sure you were just tutoring her, too."
"Mom!" Mike said, blushing. "Now is not the time to talk about that…"
"Oh, so something did happen between you two..." She said, mainly to herself. "So what happened?"
"I don't know…" Mike muttered. "I overheard El talking to Troy."
Mike watched as his mom frowned. She had never liked Troy. Especially when she saw what Troy did to his arm.
"She was talking to him about how me and my friends were nerds and stuff. Saying things like how she was just using us to pass her calculus class."
"Oh my gosh, sweetie. I'm so sorry." His mom comforted him. She stepped forward and put an arm around him. "That must've been terrible to hear from someone you thought was a friend."
"I-It was…" Mike said, his voice cracking. "It seemed like it came out of nowhere. Before that, she was totally fine to be around. Great, even. It doesn't make sense."
"Some things in life don't ever make sense." She said. "It's weird how she would do something like that since you guys were getting along so well."
Mike's face turned a deep shade of red. He did not want to talk to his mom about kissing.
"I thought things were good, too." He said. "But I guess I'm not that good of a judge of character."
"You are a smart kid, Michael." His mom said. "The decisions you've made have always been good ones. There must've been something about her that you liked. Don't let what happened define what you think you are."
"Wow." Mike deadpanned. He sarcastically said, "That was inspiring."
"Well, I guess I'm just an amazing mother." She said jokingly. "So have you tried talking to El?"
"Not yet. It happened yesterday and I think I need some time, first. I don't even know if I can face her…"
"When it comes to the affairs of the heart-"
"Affairs of the heart?" Mike interrupted.
"It's best to listen to your gut." She continued on. "What does your gut say?"
Mike looked down at his stomach, silent for a minute.
It loudly rumbled and Mike remembered the reason he had come downstairs in the first place.
"Food." He said. "My gut wants food."
His mom laughed and walked over to the fridge. "I can whip something up real quick?"
"Sounds good." Mike nodded, he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, thank you. For the advice. I think it really helped, talking to you."
"Anytime, sweetie. I'm always here to help." His mom chirped. She looked at him, more serious this time. "If you ever skip school again… Just tell me, first… Okay?"
Mike nodded, glad his mother wasn't mad at him. "Yes, of course."
"Oh, also, don't forget you have that doctor's appointment on Thursday." His mom reminded him. "Wow, aren't you lucky? Missing school twice in one week."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Mike heard a knock on his bedroom door, before watching it swing open.
"Hey." Will said, setting his bag down on the ground by Mike's bed.
"Hey." Mike nodded, looking up from the campaign he was working on. "What's up?"
"I have the homework that you missed." Will held a stack of papers in front of him, placing them down beside Mike on the bed. "El gave me the homework that you missed from calculus."
"I know."
"So, uh… How are you?" Will asked. "You didn't come to school today."
"I know." Mike repeated. "I'm okay. Better."
"That's good." Will nodded. "Have you talked to El, yet?"
"Yet?" Mike asked. "No, I haven't talked to her."
"Okay. Yeah, Okay..." Will nodded again.
"Uh, should I have talked to her?"
"Well… Maybe you should?" Will suggested. "You haven't really listened to her side of the story. Maybe you should give her a chance?"
"I know what I heard. Why are you defending her? After what she said about us?"
"I'm not defending her." Will said, holding his hands up. "You could at least hear her out, though."
Mike sighed, unsure of what to do. Unsure of what to think.
The only thing that he knew for certain was that he was hurt. And even then, if it turned out El had an explanation for why she said those things, that would be put into question, too.
"I'll think about it, okay?" Mike said, compromising. "Just give me some time…"
"Yeah, sure man. No problem." Will said. "Do you plan on coming to school tomorrow?"
"I only missed today because I overslept." Mike muttered. "Although I don't really wanna see her right now. So I guess it worked out.
Will nodded.
"Is it cool if I hang around for a bit?." He said, probably in an attempt to change the subject. "Do some homework?"
"Yeah, of course."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Mike went to school the next day and he liked to think he was prepared for it.
He had all of the homework that he missed finished and organized in his binder, ready to hand in.
He also had a copy of the notes that were taken in class.
What he wasn't ready for, however, was seeing El.
He wasn't prepared to hear her voice or watch the way her lips moved.
He had tried avoiding her, although it was hard since he sat fairly close to her in two of his classes.
Calculus was alright, since he sat in front of her. All he needed to do was stare straight ahead and not think about the person roughly two feet behind him.
She made it hard when she kicked the back of his chair to get his attention.
But Mike managed to power through it, promptly focusing as much as he could on the lesson.
Lunch was also fairly easy to avoid El. He simply rushed out of Calculus, making a beeline for the AV room. He heard El's voice calling out his name behind him, but he didn't turn back.
She didn't attempt to go to the AV room, either. So Mike was able to eat lunch with at least a small sense of peace.
English was actually a lot harder to avoid her in, considering they shared a book and sat beside each other. If Mike sat in his usual seat then he'd be able to constantly see her out of the corner of his eye.
Mike didn't know if he could handle that.
And yes, Mike knew he'd have to look at her one day, but for now he was perfectly fine living in a world where the hole in his heart didn't exist and the person who caused it also didn't exist.
Truly a win-win.
Mike waited as long as he could before entering the class. He pictured El sitting in their regular seats, their regular book on the desk in front of her.
The briefest glimpse of an idea, skipping the class, flitted into his mind but he quickly dismissed it. He had gotten way too lucky yesterday. Where his mom wasn't mad at him for skipping school. He didn't want to test his luck again.
Mike closed his eyes and deeply exhaled. He walked into the classroom.
El's eyes instantly shot to him. She seemed hopeful. Mike watched her sit up a bit straighter as he walked closer to her.
Mike felt his heart beating and looked away. He glanced at Will, who was also watching him.
Relief flooded his system as he saw the person who usually sat beside Will wasn't in class today. He quickly rushed into the open desk.
He felt El's eyes on his back for the rest of class, but he didn't turn around.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
When it came to the independent reading, Mike pulled out his own, unused book for the first time.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
"Are you guys coming over?" Mike asked his friends as they walked out of the school towards their cars.
"I am." Will nodded.
"I can in a bit." Lucas said. "I need to do a couple things at home, first. It should only take like, ten minutes."
"I can't." Dustin shook his head. "My cousin's visiting so I need to be home to spend quality time with them."
"Spending quality time with your family is terrible." Will joked.
"It is when all they wanna do is play with my action figures." Dustin whined. "Do you know how long it takes to set them all up?"
"Whatever, man." Lucas said. "We'll see you at Mike's Thursday, though, right?"
"Actually I won't be at school Thursday." Mike piped in.
"Skipping school again?"
"I have a doctor's appointment, actually."
"I didn't know a broken heart was something you went to the doctor's for."
Mike grumbled, figuring it's better not to respond.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
"I'm here." Lucas called out, entering Mike's basement.
Mike hummed in response.
"What's up?"
"Just doing homework." Will replied.
Lucas nodded, taking a seat beside Mike on the couch. "Did you get all the homework from the day you missed?"
Mike nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, by the way. I couldn't read Dustin's terrible handwriting for Advanced Functions, so luckily there was your copy, too."
"Anytime…" Lucas said. "Anytime. You're gonna need another copy for tomorrow, right? Since you won't be there."
"Yeah. If you guys don't mind?"
"Not a problem." Will and Lucas said.
"Uh… What about the class you don't have with us?" Lucas innocently asked. "Y'know… Calculus?"
"What about it?" Mike asked carefully, setting his pencil down.
"How are you going to get a copy of the homework from that class if none of us are in it?"
Mike eyed Lucas suspiciously. He was acting weird. "El gave me a copy. She'll probably do it again…"
"Oh, El!" Lucas said, as if he had totally forgotten she existed. "How is the whole thing? Have you guys talked yet?"
Mike heard Will sigh beside him, looking down at the ground and shaking his head.
"Things haven't changed…" Mike said. "We haven't talked."
"Okay…" Lucas nodded.
"What's going on?" Mike asked, looking between Will, who was avoiding all eye contact and Lucas, who was nodding too much. "First, Will asked me if I had talked to El, now you?"
"Uh…" Lucas said, looking at Will. "Nothing's going on?"
"Why are you guys insisting I talk to El?" Mike pressed.
"We aren't insisting…" Will said. "But you haven't heard her side of the story."
"And you have?" Mike asked. "What is going on?"
Will sighed. "El told me about what happened from her point of view. I think she's telling the truth. She asked me if I could ask you to talk to her."
"You talked to her?" Mike asked, kind of hurt since he specifically asked his friends not to.
"I didn't mean to." Will reassured him. "She cornered me after English."
"And you?" Mike asked, looking to Lucas. "Did you talk to El, too?"
"Max, actually…" Lucas muttered.
Mike sighed.
"Well, what'd she say?" Mike asked. "Was there some magic explanation that undoes everything she said about us?"
"I mean…" Will shrugged. "Yeah. What she said makes sense. She was trying to protect us. I think she's telling the truth."
"Well, what do you think?" Mike asked Lucas.
"Uh, I didn't talk to El. Max came up to me…"
"I know." Mike rolled his eyes. "What'd she say?"
"Well, Max asked for a favour…" Lucas explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "She wanted me to convince you to talk to El. I was, uh… I was pretty adamant, saying that was the last thing you wanted to do."
Mike nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
"But then she said something about going to Benny's to talk about it more…" Lucas hastily said. "We got some food, talked about what was happening and Max asked me to at least suggest talking to El to you."
Mike rolled his eyes again. "So you guys went on a date?"
"I couldn't say no, after that!" Lucas argued. "She had, like, a puppy dog face. It was too much. When I agreed she smiled and kissed me on the cheek and…"
"He literally went on a date." Mike said.
"When were you planning on telling us you went on a date?" Will said.
"I was hoping you would convince Mike to talk to El, they'd become friends again. We'd all become friends again and things wouldn't be so tense. And then I'd casually mention that I went to Benny's with Max."
"Wow, Dustin is missing a lot…"
"I know, right?" Lucas agreed with Will. "What a terrible time to have cousins over."
Mike couldn't process his own thoughts with their conversation. He snapped. "Can you guys let me think for a moment?"
Their conversation died down and the three were silent for a moment, the only sound coming from the ticking clock on the wall behind them.
"Do you really think I should talk to her?" Mike quietly asked, fidgeting with the pencil on the table.
Will nodded. "El seemed genuinely sad as she explained what happened. I think you should."
Lucas nodded along. "Max said she hasn't seen El like that before. She said she was desperate to fix her best friend."
"Desperate enough to go on a date with you?" Will joked.
"Hey!" Lucas glared.
Mike sighed, ignoring his friends squabbling. "I need to make a call…"
He stood up, walking up the stairs and heading to his room.
He took his phone out of his pocket, dialing El's number. He hesitated before pressing call.
He heard the phone ring once before it stopped.
"Hello?" El whispered, almost breathless.
"Uh, hey…" Mike awkwardly said. What was he supposed to say?
"Hi…"
They didn't say anything after that. The line was silent for what seemed like too long.
Mike cleared his throat. "Um, I'm not going to be in school tomorrow…"
"Yeah?" El asked, seemingly disappointed. "Is that why you called?"
"Yeah." Mike nodded. He felt his heartbeat racing, just like it did when he saw her in English class. "I was wondering if you could get me a copy of the homework again."
"Yeah. I can do that." She agreed. "Is that all?"
"Um, if you ask Will… During English if you ask him…" Mike repeated. "He can give you the rest of my homework for the day. Maybe you could drop it off at my house for me? If you're free, that is… We could, uh, we could talk after."
"We can?" El asked. Mike heard some doubt in her voice.
"Uh, yeah. If you want. We can talk about… things."
"I would really like to talk about t-things." Mike heard El's voice crack over the phone.
"Are you crying?" Mike asked. "Is everything okay?"
"No, I'm- I'm fine." El reassured him, although she sounded a bit teary. "I'm just really glad you're willing to talk about… things with me."
Mike lightly chuckled. "Yeah… I guess I'll see you tomorrow then? I need to get back to doing homework with the guys…"
"Yeah." El agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Mike didn't hang up, but neither did El. The line was silent between them again.
He heard her laugh on the other side of the call. "Goodbye, Mike."
"Bye." He smiled, before hanging up.
Mike was surprised at the relief he felt, knowing he would be seeing her.
hello here is another chapter. drop a review and tell me what you think. i had to put their relationship through some stress and problems. mainly because things that are worth it in the end are never easy to get. but also because it makes the story more interesting. cliff hanger endings are fun because it lets the reader interact with the story more, too. if i was reading this i'd be wondering how that conversation would go and what could el possible say to explain those terrible things she said.
in case it wasn't clear enough, yes, she did say those things and yes, it was about Mike and his friends. although mike isn't the most reliable narrator because his vision tends to get clouded with emotions and whatnot. so not everything about what he thinks he heard is accurate. (basically he heard all the words correctly, but the tone got skewed a bit)
uh, i tried to show the progression (and also a bit of how mike lets his emotions cloud his judgement) with this chapter. he starts off the chapter completely heartbroken and unable to think properly, but after some time he comes to his senses a bit (although, still very hesitant and insecure) and is willing to talk things over with el. hopefully i was able to show that well (or at least well enough)
this chapter was a lot longer than i thought it'd be. i considered breaking it into two chapters. the story might have flowed better, too, if it was split up. for example if the conflict of this story was two of the the ten chapters might be better than if it was only one, or something like that. (not saying the conflict lasts for two chapters and not saying this fic will only be ten chapters long)
eh, i'm kinda iffy with this chapter. i like the concept but not sure if the execution is in the right place. would love to hear what you all think.
in other news, i just started university. so that's fun i guess. updates will still be every saturday (more like fridays, but okay) but seeing that this fic is nearing the end, i'm not sure when the next fic will be up and running. (actually i think the next fic will be a percy jackson soulmate au.) planning for the future, i'm not actually sure when my next stranger things fic will be. maybe leave a suggestion if you wanna see more stranger things stuff from me? otherwise i think i'll be focusing on other things. although just because university has started, doesn't mean i'll be less active on the site. you can still drop me a pm!
actually, thinking about it. i think i have a one-shot about Mike and El communicating over the phone and radios and stuff that i haven't posted yet. (actually i did post it but i didn't like it so i deleted it almost instantly. maybe i'll do a bit of editing for it and post that)
this all seems like stuff i should talk about on the very last chapter. so i'll save it for then. but speaking of the last chapter, i usually talk about super important stuff during the last chapter of a fic so be sure to check it out, whenever it comes around. looking at the story outline that i've created for this fic, chapter eleven might be the last one? that was also a fun coincidence that i didn't notice until now.
that seems like enough talking for me, so as always, all mistakes are mine (although i have been decently trying with the editing) and i hope you all enjoyed this update