Alone Again

The next morning Mike was at his locker. He was in relatively good spirits considering.

Considering he no longer had a girlfriend.

He knew he had to get over El. Most guys his age went through girlfriends faster than favourite swimsuit models.

Mike was not most guys. He would have thought nothing of being with El forever. He cursed himself. He had to stop thinking that way or he was never going to get over her.

What remained of his good mood was dashed when he heard her voice.

"You don't want to be my friend anymore?"

Mike kept his face hidden by his locker door. He could feel a sarcastic remark coming on but he bit down on it. El didn't deserve that.

"Give me time El."

"How long before I can call you my friend again?"

Mike almost let the sarcasm slip out again, but he didn't want El to feel bad, so he told her the truth.

"I won't lie to you El. It's gonna be a long time. A year. Maybe two."

He still hadn't looked at her. If he saw her eyes he would lose it. He didn't want to do that in front of her. She had to be able to live her life guilt free. Mike did not want to be the source of any guilty feeling she might have. Or was that just wishful thinking on his part? That she actually felt anything for him at all? Friendship aside.

"Ok." Her voice didn't sound sad. At all. He heard her turn and leave.

He steadied himself and took a deep breath a few times because he heard that it helped. To Mike's surprise he felt good again. He had survived his first encounter with El-Who-Was-No-Longer-His-Girlfriend and he wasn't a mess. Well, not a complete mess anyway.

He surprised the hell out of himself by smiling. It felt real, he wasn't faking it. He thought he should feel bad but he didn't. Max was right, El didn't hate him.

Mike's smile disappeared. She just didn't want to hold his hand anymore, or be with him.

"Ah, shit." Mike's good mood was totally gone now. Ok, so maybe it took longer than a day to get over being dumped.

By the prettiest girl in the school.

Not helping yourself Mike. He thought to himself. He'd be happy if it only took a year to get over her.

Mike's first class was Mr. Clarke's Earth class. Today they were going to be assigned lab partners for a project that would have them outside for the whole class for the rest of the year.

Mike was pretty good in science, especially with Mr. Clarke as a teacher, but he hoped he'd get Dustin as a partner, because Dustin was even better in science than he was. They'd get a great mark if they worked together.

Mr. Clarke would want to split up some of the good students with those who struggled a bit with science, so odds where that he and Dustin would not be lab partners this year.

Then a thought hit Mike that stopped him in his tracks. Shit. What if it was El? The way his luck was going so far this school year it looked like he was going to win that lottery.

Could he work with her? Could he seriously work with the girl he was in love with and not feel like his heart was being torn apart by a razor sharp ice pick? He realized he might have to and steeled himself for the news.

"Dustin, you'll be working with Stacy"

"Mike, you and El Hopper will be partners."

Mike barked out a laugh. Mr. Clarke looked up, and the whole class went "oooooooh" and laughed.

When Mr. Clarke was done, he said, "so those are your partner assignments and your new seating arrangements.

"Shit." Mike said loud enough for most of the class to hear but not Mr. Clarke. There was another round of laughter.

Mr. Clarke turned around from the chalkboard he was writing on. "Is there a joke you're going to let your groovy teacher in on?" He was all smiles.

In the back of the room someone said too low for Mr. Clarke to hear. "Hopper hates Wheeler."

"No? Ok, I'm not the cool science teacher I thought I was." Mr. Clarke took it in stride, "You can change your seating now."

Mike was unsure if he should go over to the desk El was sitting at or wait for her to show up at his. He was relieved when she immediately got up and came over to Mike's desk, Lucas had already got up and left.

El didn't look him in the eye as she put her back back down. She sat and turned to Mike but her head was down, "I don't hate you Mike. I could never hate you."

Mike still couldn't look at her, but said, "I know El, that guy was just trying to be funny."

"I'm not laughing," she said, he could tell by her tone of voice that she was pissed off.

"I know you don't hate me El." Mike's voice hitched a little but he recovered.

"Are you going to be able to work with me?" She asked, still not looking at him.

"Yes, I want us both to get good marks." Mike thought to himself. I can work with her, but I'll never be able to look her in the eyes. That's too much for her to ask right now.

"Ok, we need to make some planning notes, I have some ideas." El started talking and Mike wrote down notes.

After listening to her voice for a few minutes, his eyes started to water. He tried to wipe them without her noticing, but she did and said, "I'm sorry, Mike."

Mike shook his head and said, "let's keep going."

Every time he wiped his eyes, she would tell him she was sorry.

It got to the point where he couldn't stand it he got up quickly, gathered his backpack and mumbled, "sorry El, I thought I could, but I just can't do this right now."

He ran out of the class, heading for his locker.

He had his his head in his locker. He was doing some deep breathing again. It wasn't working for him this time.

He was alone again, and it didn't seem like that would change anytime soon. If El wasn't his girlfriend, he wasn't interested in anyone else. He snorted. He'd be single for the rest of his life.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you Mike. I got-"

"Can't do this right now." Mike interrupted, gave her a quick look and shook his head. He could see she was crying.

He wanted to kiss her tears away so badly his heart ached. But that part of their life was over…

He left his locker wide open and ran to the school doors to get away.

He had never felt so alone in his life.