Author Note:
Hey guys!I'm sorry this has taken so long and is probably a little rushed! I have been promoted at work so shit has been crazy lately. My updates might be slow as I get used to my new job but I will try and update longer chapters to make up for it. Anyway, enjoy the beginning of some detention filled fun!
Lots of love. xx
CHAPTER FIVE:
Detention Week One - Monday:
"You have completely lost your mind if you think that the Thing could destroy Wolverine!"
Was the first thing Mike heard when he reached their usual lunch table. Lucas and Dustin seemed to be in a heated debate, not uncommon during their time spent in the cafeteria. They both glanced at Mike as he placed his tray on the table and took a seat.
"Mike, please tell this moron he is crazy." Lucas pleaded with him, his hands moving animatedly with his words.
"It's a known fact: rock beats scissors. Everybody knows this." Dustin explained carefully.
Mike looked to the quiet boy at the end of the table. He shook his head slightly before giving an exasperated explanation.
"They've been going at it for ten minutes now." Will said quietly, only loud enough for Mike to hear.
Mike turned his attention back to the tray table in front of him, cold pizza and a side of what looked like peas from 1970 sat unappealingly in front of him. He was in the midst of memories of home packed lunches when he felt Lucas nudge him slightly.
"Huh, that's an interesting new development." Lucas pointed over to a table a little farther away in the corner.
Mike, Dustin and Will followed his gaze to the usual table of Max Mayfield. She was sitting there as per normal, sketching something on her shoe. But this time there was someone sitting across from her. Mike couldn't make out the other person, their back facing his direction and people walking between them blocking his view. Max's head suddenly lifted from its position and she nodded her head towards the boys table. He watched as the other person she was with slowly turned their head. It was the eyes he saw first, they opened in surprise as she locked gazes with the four boys staring at her. All four of the boys quickly turned their heads into different directions, pretending they were looking elsewhere. Mike saw from the corner of his eye as Elle smiled to herself and turned back to Max, who shared her amused expression.
"What's Elle doing sitting with her?" Lucas was the first one to break the awkward silence that had formed by their being caught, "shouldn't she be over there?" His nodded in the direction of the cheerleaders and football players table as he said it.
"Weird right?! They were together when Mike literally ran into them last Friday." Dustin piped in.
"Not that weird actually." Will said quietly.
The others turned their attention to their soft spoken friend.
"What do you mean?" Mike asked slowly, his attention paramount now that Elle was the topic of discussion.
"I heard mom talking to Jim the oth-"
"Hold up. Jim?" Lucas quickly cut in. Mike gave him a 'shut up' look before Will continued.
"Jim Hopper. The chief of police, Elle's dad. Anyway I heard them talking yesterday Elle. I think Elle punched Billy in the face. After she wrote something on his car with red spray paint. She has detention for the next two weeks because of it. Jim said he deserved it after what he did with another cheerleader or something like that." Will paused while the others stared, mouths agape at him. "So that's why it's not that weird... I guess."
The boys all spoke at the same time.
"Graffiti? Well that explains Max then." Said Lucas.
"She punched him? That's so badass." Dustin retorted admiringly.
"She'll be in detention?" Mike added. The end of day punishment now becoming something he was looking forward to.
Mike was already seated at their shared bench in the biology lab when she walked in. She gave a small wave as she entered through the door. Mike wanted to say something to her about the Billy thing Will had mentioned at lunch. He had rehearsed it in his head on the walk to biology.
'I'm really sorry to hear about Billy.'
'So that sucks about Billy huh?'
'You're better off without him…"
But as he looked down at her seated next to him, her hair curling down and covering her face as she leant over her notebook, all previous thoughts vanished. She no longer had a boyfriend… Everything felt different now.
Mike suddenly become very aware of everything he was doing.
How he was going to sound, whether what he was going to say was going to be stupid...
How his hair looked, did he brush it this morning? Probably not...
Did he smell ok, he didn't use aftershave and usually just put on the dated old spice he dad had given him ages okay…
Oh god, she was looking at him. He hadn't noticed her shift her eyes up to meet his. How long had he been staring at her?
"Mike, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." She asked him, concern etched on her face. He was pale white, well paler than usual and his eyes were wide.
"I'm totally fine!" He replied his voice a little too high. He cleared his throat quickly before trying to get out what he wanted to before. "Actually I wanted to tell you that –"
"Alright everyone, quiet now. This lesson will be on the next midterm. So I suggest you all start listening." Mr. Gaunt suddenly interrupted from the front of the room.
Mike didn't know if he was relived or disappointed. He wasn't really sure what he was going to say to Elle and he really didn't want to make a fool of himself even more. He quickly opened his notebook and began taking notes when Mr. Gaunt started his lecture.
Why am I so lame? Mike thought to himself, internally face palming at his weirdness. She's going to think I'm such a lameo.
He didn't seem to notice her disappointed expression flash across her face when he didn't finish his sentence. She liked talking to Mike, hearing his voice and watching him nervously ramble to her made her feel giddy, like a little school girl with a crush on the boy that pulls her ponytail.
Mike didn't look at her throughout the lesson, too focused on keeping up with Mr. Gaunt's lesson on _.
When the end of period bell sounded, Mike quickly gathered his things before rushing out of the room.
Okay… that was a little weird. Elle remarked to herself before collecting her own books and returning them to her bag.
She didn't couldn't focus for the rest of the day. Her mind preoccupied with why Mike was acting so weird. He seemed scared around her. Maybe Will told him what she did to Billy's car; she knew Jim had something to Joyce. God, she hoped he didn't think she would do things like that often.
She was standing at her locker, freeing her bag from the heavy textbooks when someone grabbed her shoulder from behind her.
"Hey!"
Elle jumped from the persons grasp, her heart pounding against her chest. She relaxed slightly when she saw it was Max.
"You scared the crap out of me!" She gave the other girl a small punch to the arm as she said it.
"Oh you'll live. You ready for detention badass?" Max began punching the air like a punching bag as she said it.
Elle reached out and pulled her friends hands down. "No, and don't call me that. This was a onetime thing. I can't disappoint my dad again."
Max chuckled slightly, "We'll see about that…" she added quietly.
The girls were still giggling when they walked into the detention room. It was a small windowless room in the back end of the school, its musky and damp smell filled the room. It reminded Elle of the basement in her old house in the city. 'It's old and gross and I'm never going down there', she had told her dad. Now she had to spend the next two hours stuck in a room just like it.
There were two other people in the room already. Elle recognized the ebony mop of hair almost immediately. He was sitting at the front; even in detention he was impossibly dorky. She also noticed Dustin sitting beside him, trying to engage him in conversation. Mike seemed to have sensed her gaze; his head lifted slightly and caught her eyes watching him carefully. Dustin also looked up suddenly, noticed Max standing in the doorway and smiled widely at her.
Max noticed him looking and quickly grabbed Elle by the elbow, pulling her friend to the back of the room to take one of the seats there.
"You dweebs know this is the detention room right? AV club is down the hall." Max directed at the boys. She felt Elle nudge her slightly in the leg. She flashed an apologetic look to Mike, who gaze had suddenly shot back to his notebook when she turned to look at him.
"Yeah we know. We are stuck here for the next two weeks." Dustin explained, trying to sound casual as he said it.
"Us too." Elle add quietly in return. Mike couldn't help himself, he grinned to himself. Two weeks he gets to share a room with her for 2 hours, biology never seeming long enough for his liking. I must be dreaming… he thought to himself, giving himself a small pinch on his forearm just to check.
"What are you in for?" Max asked suspiciously.
Dustin turned to Mike with panic, eyes wide. He silently pleaded with Mike not to say anything.
Mike opened his mouth to offer an answer when Vice Principal Turner entered the room.
"Vandalism and theft will not be tolerated here in my school."
"Theft? " Max whispered to Elle.
Elle ignored her snickering. Focusing on Mr Turner as he addressed the four students in front of him.
"You will sit here for the next two hours and hopefully reflect on your past grieviances. Do I make myself clear? Miss Mayfield?" He directed Max specially to Max as he noticed her eyes wandering around the classroom.
"Crystal Mr Turner." She gave him a sarcastic thumbs up. He smirked at her, walked towards the back of the room and stopped in front of Max's desk. He held his hand out and gave her a knowing look. Elle, Dustin and Mike watched as she rolled her eyes and grabbed the black marker she had in her back pocket and placed it on his hand.
Dustin's snicker made Mr Turners head snap back to the front of the room.
"Alright." Mr Turner checked his wrist watch before taking the seat at the front desk. "Detention has now begun."
90 minutes later...
Elle sat bored at the desk, her chin resting on her hand. She had finished her assigned homework 15 minutes ago and was sitting there with nothing else to do. Max had pulled another marker out from her hoodie pocket, winking at Elle before starting to doodle on her white vans. Dustin had fallen asleep almost straight away and was now drooling on his desk, his red cap somehow managing to stay glued to his head.
Mike had taken out a notebook from his bag and began furiously writing, pausing occasionally to scribble something out or mumble to himself quietly. Elle could
Elle had managed to take a few glances at him when he wasn't looking every now and then, but now with nothing else for her to do, she watched him work. She wanted to go over and ask what he was working on, not just because she was curious to know what had him so focuses, but also just to hear his voice again.
She unconsciously made a move to stand up but stopped abruptly when she saw Mr. Turner eyeing her carefully. Elle smiled at him innocently before pretending to stretch out her back, quickly taking a seat back down at the desk.
She brought her attention back to Mike, noticing his eyebrow furrowed while he scribble quickly along the page, which he was doing a lot, and it made her heart jump when he let himself give a small smile when he got something right.
He's so cute when he's focused. She thought to herself, that schoolgirl crush feeling returning to her and awakening the butterflies in her stomach.
Mike could feel her gaze on him. He wanted to look at her, but after the embarrassing moment in biology earlier he needed to keep it cool. He didn't want her thinking he was some dork with a crush on the unattainable cheerleader. But who was he kidding? He was the dork with a crush on the unattainable cheerleader. There was just no way someone like Elle would ever like someone like Mike. They were from different worlds. The realization hit him deep in the pit of his stomach.
You'll always just be lab partners. Get used to it buddy…
Elle and Max exited the school together, Max stopping to get hr skateboard on her way out. She was now riding it beside Elle as they walked across the school parking lot together. Elle saw in the distance as Dustin and Mike hoped into the beat up station wagon Elle assumed belonged to the curly haired boy.
Max noticed the direction of her friends gaze and rolled her eyes. She had seen her staring quite a few times at the taller one. She didn't remember his name, Matt or Mike or something like that.
"What's with the googly eyes?"
Elle's head snapped to Max's direction. "Uhh, what are you talking?" She replied innocently.
"I mean you and the tall kid. He could hardly keep his eyes off you during lunch. And I totally saw you staring at him in detention. You like in love with him or something?"
"Who, Mike?" She questioned, Max gave a quick nod of her head in response. "No, I'm not in love with Mike. We are…" Elle didn't really know what they were. Were they friends? They didn't hang out at lunch or at school, and she didn't really know that much about him, besides what she had heard from Will. But she wanted to, she wanted to know what he liked, his favorite movie, his favorite color, she wanted to know everything she can.
"You guys are what?" Max said, breaking Elle's train of thought.
"We are just lab partners I guess." Her answer seemed to disappoint Max, who was clearly hoping for something else. Elle also felt disappointment wash over her, this wasn't enough for her. She was going to learn more about Mike. She had too.
Detention Week One - Tuesday:
"You're dweeb boyfriend is staring at you again." Max said suddenly, her words breaking the silence that had fallen between them.
Max and Elle were sitting at the lunch table in the back corner of the cafeteria, both picking at the slush that was supposed to be their 'nutritious' lunch.
"Will you stop? He's not my boyfriend okay." Elle spat back. Max hadn't given up on the whole Mike thing. Constantly asking about him. It was starting to get on her nerves.
"Whatever you say…" Max mumbled back, still not totally convinced.
"Don't even start Max. What about you and Dustin huh?"
"Dustin?" Max asked, feigning confusion. Elle glared at her.
"The dork with the hat?" Max retorted in fake shock.
Elle nodded reluctantly. She really didn't like agreeing with her friends name for Will's group of friends.
"I don't think I've ever seen a guy look so love struck before, and I've seen you smile at his charm and every now and then." Elle replied teasingly.
Max purposefully ignored her, not wanting the discussion of her love life to be the topic of conversation any longer.
"You know, one of these days someone is going to melt that ice cold heart of yours." Elle added after seeing the dead eyed expression Max had given her at the mention of Dustin's crush.
"Maybe, but I highly doubt it'll be someone from the nerd herd." Her gaze shifted slightly to something behind Elle. "Speaking of, here comes your nerd prince now."
Elle turned around in her chair just as Mike reached their table. He stood awkwardly beside her chair, his hands fidgeting in front of him.
"Hey Elle." He said shyly.
"Hey Mike." She smiled up at him and the reason he came over here completely left his mind. What did I want to say to her?
"What's up?" Elle prompted when Mike stood quietly without saying anything. "Is that about biology class?" Knowing it was the only thing that they currently had in common, besides detention.
"Biology?" Mike asked confused. What is biology again? His dazed mind thought before snapping quickly back to attention. "Uhh yeah… Sorry, I was hoping to catch you beforehand to let you know to meet at the greenhouse for that period."
Oh right, the experiment. Part of her had hoped that he came over for her, with something non school related. "You know I don't really remember the way there. Maybe we could walk together?" She asked him innocently. She had definitely remembered where the greenhouse was, but she didn't want to miss out on the chance to spend more alone time with him.
"Oh okay… uhh we can meet at your locker?"
"Sounds great. It's in hall C along the left side of the corridor." She explained.
"Yeah I know where it is. "Mike mumbled, barely audible. His eyes widened in horror at his admission. Thankfully she hadn't heard him as she gave him a questioning look. "I mean ill find it…"
Way to play it cool Mike…
He continued to stare at her for a few minutes before he realized what he was doing. He pulled himself together and managed to murmur out a goodbye.
"Well I guess I'll see you later…" He said awkwardly.
"Bye Mike." Elle replied softly.
"Bye Mike!" Max repeated, her voice surprising Mike. He hadn't noticed her sitting there. That seems to happen a lot when he was near Elle.
"Oh hi Max. I uhh didn't see you." Elle smiled at the politeness in his tone.
"Of course you didn't." Max said cryptically. Elle shot her a look quickly.
"Right, well, see ya." Mike said suddenly before whipping around and walking quickly back over to his friends.
Elle heard Lucas yell "That was so smooth" to his tall friend before he slumped into his chair, not daring to look back over to Elle and Max again for the rest of the lunch period.
Mike was waiting for Elle when she reached her locker, his tall frame leaning against them as he waited for to show up. He had on his usual outfit of dark trousers and collared shirt and woolly sweater combo. How many of those sweaters did he own?
He lifted himself off the lockers when he saw her approach, his mouth curving into that crooked smile in greeting.
"Hey, you ready to go grow some plants?" He said excitedly.
She laughed at his dorky comment. "Let's do it!" She replied back with a similar smile, his enthusiasm infectious.
She quickly grabbed the notebook from her locker before starting to follow him down the hall.
"So I thought maybe we could introduce another spectrum of light today for the experiment. It might cause the growth factor of the plant to-"
"Elle!" A voice shrilled from behind her, cutting off Mike mid-sentence.
Elle and Mike turned around to face the direction of the voice. Trina was walking towards them, her high ponytail bobbing as she walked.
"Elle, where are you off too?" Trina took a second to take in Mike standing close to Elle before turning back to her with a confused expression. "And why aren't you in your gear?'
Elle looked down at her jeans and t-shirt combo, unsure what she was referring to. "Uhh what are you talking about?"
"The emergency practice Jennifer called today." Trina said knowingly. "For the cheer tournament next week…"
"Shit, I totally spaced." She also totally didn't care, but she didn't want to let the other girls in the team down. She turned to Mike and winced at the look on his face. His previous smile now disappeared from his face. "Mike I'm so sorry. You've worked hard on this experiment and I've been like the worst lab partner ever."
"It's okay Elle. Go and attend to your cheerleading duties." He plastered a smile as he said it, hoping she wouldn't notice that fakeness behind it. He was really looking forward to a period alone with her, to be near her and talk to her without interruptions.
He felt her squeeze his arm softly and she spoke up at him. "I'll make it up to you, I swear." She began to walk alongside a curious Trina; before she turned around quickly to shout once more at him. "I'll see you in detention!"
Max had dragged Elle to the back of the detention room when she had attempted to take a desk at the front near their detention buddies, Dustin and Mike, who had taken seats at the front again.
"What are you doing?" She whispered harshly, "You don't sit at the front in detention Elle, they see everything." Max nodded to the large desk at the front of the room as she said it. Elle assumed 'they' meant the assigned teacher to watch them.
She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as Max lead her away from where Mike was seated. She had wanted to sit close to him, to watch him concentrate over whatever he was doing, to perhaps catch a glimpse at what had kept him so preoccupied. She found herself fascinated by him yesterday and unable to think about anything else but that furrowed brow that made her heart jump yesterday.
She noticed Mike watching the short exchange between the girls with a curious gaze and offered him a sweet smile and a wave before taking a seat next to Max. His cheeks reddened instantly that she had caught him looking but he managed to return the smile before ducking his head back down to his notebook, his dark hair covering his embarrassment.
Mr Mitchell suddenly walked through the door frame, he had sweat dripping from his forehead and his breathing was erratic. Not surprising really, considering his large size and the long walk from the economics classroom to the back of the school.
Max nudged Elle's side with her elbow. "This is going to be fun." Her mouth reaching up in to a devious smile.
Elle wanted to ask her how the hell detention was going to be fun but before she could Mr Mitchell started to speak from the front of the room.
"Alright, well I guess detention starts now." he stated in an uninterested tone and sat down at the teacher desk, the chair squeaking at his sudden weight.
Elle saw him continuously check his watch for the next few minutes before suddenly standing up.
"I have an important call to make, it may be a while. But I will be back to check every now and then. So, just don't go anywhere." He looked over the room once more, taking a quick memory of their faces before leaving the room and heading down the hall.
Max immediately stood up and walked over to the doorframe and peered her head around the side.
"Like clock work." She mumbled, mostly to herself. "Elle let's go."
Elle stood up and walked over to Max, unsure of where they were going but trusting her friend regardless.
It was Dustin who spoke up. His attention immediately shifting from his trigonometry homework to the red-headed girl standing near the door. "Where we going?" He asked excitedly.
Max sneered at him in disbelief. "WE aren't going anywhere," Max said, emphasising the 'we' he referred, "Elle and I aren't going to stay in this dank room for the next two hours."
Mike was the next to speak. "We can't go anywhere. Mr Mitchell will be back and we will all be stuck here another week."
"Again, not sure how this ended up as a we situation." Max said annoyingly.
"Max, they can come too. We can't leave them here to die of boredom." Elle said quietly, maybe she would finally get the chance to talk to Mike again without being interrupted this time.
"Ugh fine. But if they get us caught, it's on you."
"Hold up!" Mike whispered yelled at the other 3 as they started to move out the door. "Am I the only sane person here right now? Mr Mitchell said he will be back to check on us. Don't you think he will notice all of us missing?"
"Listen Wheeler, Mr Mitchell will currently be five minutes into his hour and a half nap in the teachers lounge, so we have 70 minutes to do whatever the hell we want. Time is ticking. Are you in or out?"
Mike looked at Dustin who was nodding profusely at him, a goofy grin plastered on his face since Max said they could join them. He was about to say no, he couldn't get in trouble again this week, his mom would kill him. But it was Elle's soft voice say his name that made him change his mind almost instantly.
"Please Mike. It will be fun." She pleaded. He braved a look at her. She pulled out the big guns, her face looking like a lost puppy with those big brown eyes and downturned mouth. How could he possibly turn her down when she was looking at him like that, it was impossible.
"Okay fine. But only if we can check the teacher's lounge first. Just to be sure. " He grumbled in response.
"Yay!" Elle squealed, her outward enthusiasm at his decision causing her to blush slightly. Mike's heart fluttered at her reaction. Was she excited he was coming or was she just excited to not have to spend the next hour or so in this dreary room? It's not because of you dummy. She clearly she doesn't want to be in this room any longer. His thoughts answered for him and bringing him back to reality.
They were all huddled around the door of the teachers lounge, their heads squashed together as they all looked through the built in window. Right there on the old beige lounge chair was Mr Mitchell, spread across its length and fast asleep.
"Happy now Wheeler? No one knows detention like Max Mayfield." Max stated matter of factly.
"Did you just use yourself in third person?" Mike snickered back.
"Yes I did so shut up and let's go before you let us waste any more time of your nerdy shit." Mike narrowed his eyes at her before falling in line behind Dustin as they followed Max down the hall.
A few minutes later they had reached the doors to the cafeteria. Mike stopped in his tracks in surprise.
"We have the whole school to mess around in and we come to cafeteria?" Mike asks, the others stopping to stare at him.
"First stop is food of course." Max replied, her hand reached out to open the cafeteria doors. Dustin, who was behind her beaming in delight at her comment, mouthed an 'I told you so' to Mike.
"I don't know about you guys but I'd rather not eat anything else that comes out of that kitchen." Elle said quietly, her face contorted in disgust at the memory of the slop that had served for lunch.
Mike smiled at her in agreement.
"I know for a fact lunch lady Phyllis hoards the good shit for herself." Max insisted confidently.
"Do you think there is pudding?" Dustin said excitedly.
"Probably… Look why don't we go in and you two stay on lookout?" Max grabbed Dustin by the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him through the door.
Mike walked over to join Elle where she stood beside the cafeteria doors. The stood facing each other, Elle having to lift her chin higher to face him, his tall frame towering over her.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help with the experiment today. You must think I'm the worst lab partner ever…" Elle apologized suddenly.
"Why would I think that?" Mike asked, confused by her apology.
"Well I feel like I've hardly helped with the whole project."
"You don't need to apologize Elle." Mike said, ever the gentleman. "I'm happy to do that stuff for you... I mean for us... For the experiment…"
Mike mentally face palmed himself before continuing again. "The plants are all starting to sprout. I have been visiting the greenhouse every afternoon since we planted them to see how they are doing. The hydrangeas have been…" Mike started to ramble excitedly about the experiments progress so far.
Elle watched captivated as his brain ticked overtime to get the information out. God he was so smart. Probably the smartest person she's ever met and she didn't think it was nerdy at all. In fact, she thinks it's kind of cool that he knows so much about this stuff. She didn't know any other boy like him and he fascinated her to no end.
Elle suddenly released that he had mentioned attending to the plants every afternoon. Did he do this by himself? Why wouldn't he ask her to help? She decided to cut off his rambling to ask him directly.
"Mike?"
"Yeah?" Mike replied, a little out breath from rambling.
"Did you just say that you visit the greenhouse every afternoon to water them?"
"Uhh yeah. They have to be watered every day. We don't want them to die and the whole experiment to fail."
"Why didn't you ask me to help?" Elle murmered, a little sad that he hadn't wanted her to come to these little trips out the greenhouse. She thought they were meant to be partners.
"MIKE! I FOUND THE CHOCOLATE PUDDING!" Dustin's voice shouted from behind the doors, covering Elle's soft one.
"OKAY!" He yelled back, annoyed he hadn't heard Elle in front of him.
"Sorry about him. What did you say?" Mike asked, his voice back to its normal soft spoken tone.
"Don't worry about it." Elle began, before quickly changing her mind. "Just next time you go to the greenhouse, how about we go together? I can't let you do everything yourself."
He had never had a lab partner before who actually wanted to help. Most of the time having to do all the work himself and sharing the credit. He pretty much expected it now being the smartest kid in their class. But Elle wanting to work together filled him with so much joy he could no longer hold back and smiled widely at her. He was happy to spend more time with her, even if it was school related.
"Come on, we better go help them." Elle said with a giggle, noticing the goofy grin that spread across his face.
It was Max's idea. She had blurted it at as they were stuffing their faces with chocolate pudding outside on the football bleachers.
"We should go swimming!" She had said suddenly. Thw other three turned to her in surprise.
"Swimming? Its still cold out…" Mike had been the first to speak since she mentioned it.
"It's a heated pool genius." Max offered in response. "I thought you said he was the smartest kind in the school." Max remarked to Elle, nudging her slightly.
Elle lowered her to hide the blush that had formed at her friend revealing that she had told Max about Mike.
She talks about me? Mike thought to himself. His thoughts running wild with what else she had said about him. He had forgotten all about the swimming thing until Dustin spoke up.
"Swimming sounds fun!" Dustin agreed, having so far gone along with everything Max had suggested. Like a new puppy following his owner.
Now here they were lined up beside the pool, Max using her hair clip to open the locked door.
"What are we waiting for?" The red –headed girl exclaimed before stripping down to her underwear and throwing herself into the water.
Dustin stood wide eyed at her before ripping his own clothes off and following her in.
"Are you guys getting in or what?" he said as he came up from underneath the water. His curly water now sticking to the sides of his face.
Mike looked at Elle expectantly.
"Yeah, no way. My hair will look like Dustin's if it gets wet." She explained, shaking her head in response to Mike's questioning gaze.
"Hey! My mum said my hair is one of kind!" Dustin guffawed back at Elle's comment.
"Naw, does your mum also cut the crusts off your sandwiches?" Max teased in response, a chuckle forming on her lips.
"No! She said crusts are for growing boys." Dustin said, the words leaving his mouth before his brain could stop them.
Max burst into laughter before he splashed her with water, she choked slightly as some of it went into her mouth.
"Oh you are dead." She swam over and dunked his head underwater with her hands.
Elle and Mike watched their friends for a minute before sharing a knowingly look.
"Idiots." They said at the same time, both laughing at their similar thoughts.
Elle gestuered to the bleachers to the side of the room. "Do you want to sit down?"
"Yeah, sure." He replied quietly before following her away from the loud laughing and splashing coming from Max and Dustin.
They sat opposite each other, one leg over either side of the bleacher. They were close together, their knees close enough to touch. Mike tried to ignore the sudden wash of her vanilla scented perfume as it wafted towards him.
An awkward silence had drifted over them. Mike had wanted to say something to break it, but he couldn't form coherent thoughts with her this close to him. He was glad when she finally said something.
"You know what this reminds me of?" She pointed to the chaos down at the end of the pool before continuing. "The Breakfast Club."
Mike looked at her clueless. "Is that some sort of school club?"
"What? No." She stated in surprise. "Like the movie? You know John Hughes, Molly Ringwald?"
"I don't think I've seen it."
"Oh you have to! It's like my favorite movie. Molly Ringwald is like my idol. She's so cool and pretty." She said admiringly.
So are you. Mike thought to himself.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Elle asked him, barely able to hear the words that mumbled out of his mouth.
Shit, did he say that out loud?
"I said I don't know it."
"Oh. Well maybe we should watch it sometime." She said shyly, hoping her would pick up on the 'we' part.
Did he just hear that properly? Did Elle just say that they, THEY, watch a movie together? Mike swallowed the huge lump that had formed in his throat, his brain barely managing to form a smile in response.
"What's your favorite movie?" She asked him, not wanting to waste this opportunity to get know the cute guy who was blushing madly in front of her right now.
Mike suddenly felt really nervous. Man why did he have to like such nerdy things. She was going to think he's the biggest geek ever. "It's uhh" He paused slightly in hesitation. Here we go… "Star Wars." He mumbled out finally.
"Oh I love Star Wars!" She replied excitedly. Mike did a double take, shocked at her reaction. Most people thought that Star Wars was for losers like him.
"You do?"
"Of course. Who wouldn't want mind powers like Yoda?" Mike couldn't believe it. If he wasn't a goner before, he was definitely one now. Elle is almost too good to be true.
Mike flashed his famous crooked smile and she felt the butterflies rise in her stomach again. She spent six whole months with Billy and not once did she feel like she did now with Mike looking at her. How can one boy's dorky smile make her feel so…
She pulled herself together, offering a smile that in return sent Mike's heart beating faster. Everything around them seemed to disappear as they smiled at each other, the noises from Max and Dustin turning into nothing but white noise.
The intenseness of his gaze made Elle look away suddenly.
"You probably shouldn't say this to anyone else, but it's also Max's favorite movie too." She confessed to him.
"Huh, I would have guessed something like Friday the 13th."
She shook her head slightly, smiling in the direction of Max and Dustin, who were still dunking each other and splashing around.
"I better not tell Dustin. He will think of something other stupid plan to get her attention and we will end up with another two weeks of detention." Mike added, his eyes rolling at his friends ridiculousness.
"How did you guys end up in detention anyway?" Elle asked curiously.
"It was Dustin's stupid idea. He wanted to put a whole bunch of Red Vines packets into Max's locker for Valentine's Day. But he needed the locker number. So he distracted Penelope while I snuck in behind her and took the combination numbers file from the back office. It probably would have worked had Jennifer Hayes not come into the office with a bright blue face and screamed about calling her mother. Penelope turned around and saw me with the file in hand." He explained slowly, still clearly annoyed at Dustin about getting him in trouble.
Elle burst out laughing at the mention of Jennifer Hayes and her bright blue face. Mike's annoyed expression softened at the sound of her laugh. God she looked beautiful when she laughed.
"I'm sorry about that." She settled down, wiping a tear that had formed at the corner of her eye before continuing. "Red Vines are Max's favorite. That was really sweet of you for helping him." Elle grabbed his hand and squeezed it as she said it before letting it go quickly and returning her hand to her lap. Mike immediately missed the feel of her skin on his, wanting to reach out and keep her small fingers entwined with his. Instead he just let the corners of his lips rise into a soft smile.
"I guess you would have heard why I'm in here then." Elle said quietly. The rumor mill was running wild throughout the school about Billy and his precious truck. Elle hadn't heard anything yet about Billy and Jennifer. She hoped Mike hadn't either. For some reason she felt like a loser, like someone wanting someone else over her made her one.
"Will told us yesterday..." Mike replied carefully. He didn't want to talk about that idiot Billy. And what an idiot he was. How could anyone give up the perfect girl that was sitting before him? "Billy's an idiot. You deserve someone better."
"I do?" Elle asked, lost in her thoughts of self pity.
"Of course! You know, like someone who will make you feel like you're the only girl in the room."
Someone like you. Elle thought to herself. The butterflies roared in her stomach, she could feel her heart beat so fast it felt like it was going to come out of her chest. She wanted to lean over and pull him towards her.
"Shit! Is that the time?" Max shouted from the water at the other side of the room, pointing to the large clock on the wall. "We have to go. Like now!"
They had barely made it back in time before Mr Mitchell walked back in to the detention room. His hair disheveled at the back and a small wet patch of drool on the shoulder of his shirt. He hadn't noticed Max's and Dustin's wet hair and the latter's inside out shirt.
They all burst out into laughter when he left the room after telling them he had checked a few times to see them working quietly throughout the past two hours.
Later that night as she lay in bed, Elle couldn't help but feel giddy about Mike's words to her in the pool arena. She no longer missed Billy or felt sad that he was no longer around. As she drifted off to sleep, it was Mike's crooked grin, the one that turned her stomach into a circus and her heart into a hammer drill in her chest, which was the final thing in her mind. Maybe Max was right. Maybe he was her nerd prince.