CHAPTER 12
Kali was set to arrive in Hawkins the following evening, on Tuesday, two nights before El's operation. Eleven had called Dr. Epstein to schedule a same-day removal appointment for Kali, but he'd explained to her that it would be impossible for the two of them to get their operation done at the same time, seeing as she'd have to undergo a few tests at Hawkins General before undergoing any sort of procedure. So Kali would be staying at the Hopper-Buyers house for an undetermined amount of time, and Mike wasn't sure how he felt about it.
''So we're thinking she'll be here for, like…. for 10 days at most, but surely not two weeks, right?'' asked Mike, twisting his head to the side to look at El, who was lying next to him on the blanket they had laid out in in the middle of his backyard. They were sleeping over at Mike's tonight, and had decided to take advantage of the warm, clear-skied August evening by taking out some snacks and a blanket to stargaze, which was one of their favourite nighttime activities.
El pursed her lips. ''No, two weeks sounds about right.''
Mike's eyes widened as he propped himself up on his elbow, angling his body towards Eleven. ''Two weeks?! So we're not going to sleep together for two whole weeks, and you're okay with that?'' he asked dramatically.
El laughed. ''Mike, it's temporary! Think of poor Kali! She's got nowhere else to go!''
Mike picked up a blade of grass and ripped it in two. ''It just sucks that I'll barely see you the last two weeks before school starts all over again,'' he muttered, proceeding to shred the grass into a million pieces. ''And work. It's a miracle Frankie hasn't fired me for taking the entire month off.''
El offered him a sheepish smile. ''I'm sad summer is ending too. But at least we get to go to school together. And we work together. So it's not so bad, you know? Plus, it hasn't exactly been the best summer ever. Well it was, until this whole thing happened.'' She shook her head thinking about how crazy the past three weeks had been and how it all seemed to be so far behind them now, even though it wasn't entirely. But even though her operation was the last hurdle still to come, getting the confirmation from Dr. Epstein that she was cancer-free was like waking up from a really bad nightmare.
Mike grabbed her hand, and brushed softly it with his thumb. ''I'm sorry. You're right. It's temporary, and I'll just have to suck it up. I'm just going to miss going to sleep and waking up next to you, that's all.''
El propped herself up on her elbow and leaned in closer to his face, so much that their noses were almost touching. ''Do you really think I won't sneak into your room when she'll be asleep?'' she whispered, bumping her forehead against his.
Mike grinned as he leaned down to give her a kiss. ''That's what I wanted to hear,'' he whispered back, keeping his eyes shut.
Eleven kissed his cheek and lowered herself back down onto the blanket. ''You got me thinking about school for the first time in a while,'' she mused, looking up at the night sky. Mike followed suit and scooted closer to El, intertwining his fingers with hers.
''Junior year,'' he declared. ''Two more years, then we're finally done with high school.''
El turned her head towards him. ''Do you think about college sometimes?''
Mike took a minute to look at the stars before giving her an answer. ''I'm thinking I might go into engineering of some sort. Maybe computer engineering - I'm good with that stuff. Plus, technology's the future. I'll be able to get hired easily.''
El beamed at him. ''Mike, that's a great idea! You could go to MIT, or Stanford or something!''
Mike let out a curt laugh. ''El, that's impossible. My parents are already dishing out a bunch of money for Nancy to go to school in New York. And they're already setting some money aside for Holly. Plus, who knows if they'll even stay together that long, anyway? I might end up with two divorced parents, and no college fund. I'll probably end up at some community college two states away and have to take a year off to save up for rent and groceries, but hey - as long as we get our own place, I'm cool with it.''
Eleven propped herself up again and turned to give him a disapproving look. ''Mike, no. I know your parents don't have the most stable relationship right now, but I also know your college fund will stay right where it is, no matter what happens with their marriage. They would never take your money.''
''I know they wouldn't, but they also told me they wouldn't pay my rent or tuition if I chose not to go to college here in Hawkins, which basically means that I'm on my own after high school. Because you know there's no way in hell I'm staying at the house any longer than I have to.''
El bit her lip. ''I'll start saving some money, too,'' she said, resting her head onto his chest chest.
''We'll find a way. We always do,'' replied Mike quietly, stroking her hair absent-mindedly. ''I can't believe we already have to start worrying about money. It's such an adult thing to do.''
El laughed. ''I thought you couldn't wait to be 18!''
''Yeah, well, for everything except for that,'' he retorted.
''Well, I think it's fun to be thinking about college. We can worry about the money when the time comes,'' said El, drawing circles on his chest. ''We'll have a nice spacey apartment, close to the beach.''
''The beach, huh,'' said Mike, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly to his body. ''So you're thinking California?''
''Yes. Perfect weather year-round. You'd go to Berkeley or Stanford, and I'd get into nursing school.''
''That does sound nice,'' he agreed. ''I'd drop you off at school every morning in my brand new 1989 black convertible Mustang, and everyone would be so jealous out on the quad.''
El laughed. ''So our money troubles suddenly disappear, and you've got a brand new Mustang?''
''My dream car, my dream girl, in a dream state,'' said Mike. ''Don't take this away from me.''
''I'm not,'' said El. ''Never,'' she added, squeezing his waist tightly.
''We'd be pretty far from our friends and family, you'd be okay with that?''
El considered this. ''Yeah. It's only for a few years. We'll see what we want to do afterwards, you know? If we want to move back closer, we can move back closer. If we feel like staying in California, we can do that, too. As long as we have each other, it doesn't really matter to me.''
Mike pressed his face into her hair. ''Yeah.''
They made a pause on their conversation for a minute to enjoy the peaceful sounds of the crickets in the nearby field and the quiet drone of the electric lines.
''You never told me you wanted to go into nursing,'' said Mike.
''I've been thinking about it,'' said El. ''It's not set in stone, but I think that's what I want to do.''
''I like it,'' replied Mike. ''I totally see you as a nurse. You've got the heart for it.''
El smiled, giving his body another squeeze in reply.
''Do you think your family's asleep?'' she asked him after another moment's pause.
Mike turned El's wrist upside down to check the time on his old wristwatch. ''Well, it's almost one o'clock in the morning, so yeah,'' Mike replied. ''Why?''
''Want to go inside? I have a surprise for you,'' she wiggled her eyebrows at him, a deviant expression on her face.
This piqued his interest. ''What kind of surprise?'' he pressed, intrigued.
''You'll find out soon enough,'' she replied vaguely, refusing to let up any information.
Mike was on his feet almost immediately. He had a feeling what kind of surprise it would be and he didn't want to wait another minute to find out. El laughed, and rose to her feet, folding the blanket while Mike assembled their trash and leftover snacks.
She followed him into the Wheeler house. The tiptoed their way down to the basement.
Mike took a seat on the old couch. ''So… what's the surprise?'' he asked anxiously.
El set aside their blanket and turned towards him, slowly unfastening the buttons of her plaid shirt. Mike watched her, mesmerized. El discarded her shirt, revealing her purple lace bra she had worn for him earlier in the summer.
''Oh my God,'' moaned Mike, tilting his head back behind the couch. ''You kill me.'' He bit down hard onto his closed fist.
El giggled as she made a turn on herself, batting her eyelashes mockingly at him. Mike shook his head slowly, never tearing his eyes away from her. He wiggled his index finger at her in a ''come here'' motion. El ignored him and proceeded to do a little dance, folding the hem of her pants down with her thumbs to reveal a sliver of her lace underwear, and looked back at him seductively.
Mike couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed her by the waist and yanked her towards him. She let out a yell as she crashed on top of him, laughing wildly. He silenced her with a kiss, placing one hand around her waist and the other behind her neck.
He couldn't think of a better way to spend their last night alone together.