The next day the boys and Eleven were downstairs. The boys played D&D while El was reading a chapter book. Her tutor had already gotten her to read well enough to be able to understand longer books.
"So Lucas how did it go with Reeva?" Dustin asked.
"Shut up Dustin. You know how it went." Lucas replied madly.
Mike stepped in, "Apparently not well."
"She was so stubborn and such a know it all." Lucas stated.
Dustin added, "In other words, you guys are too much alike. Lucas gave him an angry glare.
"Jennifer invited me out to lunch with her parents." Will said.
"Well it went well for Will then. What about you Dustin?" Mike asked.
Dustin replied. "It went okay I guess." El snickered.
"What's so funny El?" Mike asked.
"Dustin kissed Audrey." El explained. Dustin began to turn red.
Dustin replied, "We are going on a date next Saturday. I am taking her to get ice cream and go to the park."
"Good for you Dustin." Will said.
"Yay!" Eleven said.
Lucas asked, "Did you and El leave the dance early? I couldn't find you guys after Reeva and I stopped talking."
"We went to the quarry." Mike said.
"The place El broke Troy's arm. Why?" Dustin asked.
Eleven answered, "The view is pretty at night."
"Oh, I see." Dustin said winking at Mike. Lucas, Will, and Mike all shook their heads at Dustin.
"Shut up Dustin." Mike yelled.
Dustin asked, "What did you really do up there El?"
El replied, "Mike can I say?"
"Whatever I guess it doesn't really matter. Dustin may not know it, but he is going to tell us everything about his little date next weekend." Mike stated.
"Yeah right. Well go ahead Eleven." Dustin said.
El explained, "I wanted to go somewhere private, so we went to the quarry. I told Mike it was the first time I realized I liked him. He kissed me and as we looked at the stars I kissed him. Mike was happy, but we had to rush back to meet Nancy. That's all."
"Ew. Dustin why do you even care?" Lucas asked.
Will agreed, "Yeah Dustin why do you care?"
Dustin answered, "Well I wanted to know if our Mike made a move."
"Ew Dustin. We are a little young for that sort of thing. Also, what makes you think El understands any of that stuff?" Mike asked.
"What stuff? I'm sure I can understand Mike. My tutor has taught me lots of things, and she says I'm a quick learner." Eleven said.
The boys all started laughing. Mike turned red. "Oh nothing. I'm sure you will learn about it with your tutor some other time." Mike stated.
"Ok." El answered. She was confused, but decided she would just ignore the situation. El had only been in tutoring for three months and she could already read as well as the boys. She had done a tiny bit of reading with Papa. Her tutor told her she might get to join eighth grade with her friends if she was tutored all through summer. El agreed, but was keeping it a surprise for Mike.
The weekend ended and brought another week of school. It was surprisingly warm for the last week of February. The weather was perfect for Dustin's date at the park. Mike and El decided to do something sneaky to get back at Dustin for being so nosy. They decided to sneak around the park to spy on Dustin. El was only in, because it involved spending time with Mike.
"You are so funny Dustin." Audrey told him as they sat down on a park bench with their ice cream.
"I'm glad you think so." Dustin said.
Mike looked at Eleven and whispered from behind a tree, "She's the only person who thinks he's funny." El laughed.
"Oops!" Dustin looked down and he had spilt his ice cream on him.
"I've never met someone clumsier than me until I met you. We are both a mess on legs." Audrey stated.
Mike whispered, "El I think Dustin nervous. He's a goofball, but he isn't really clumsy. He looks like he's getting more nervous, because he's sweating."
"I love you Dustin." Audrey said. Dustin smiled. He then leaned in and kissed her.
"Audrey, I'm so happy we went to the dance together. You are the prettiest and sweetest girl out there. I love you too." Dustin stated. Audrey smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
Mike leaned in to El, "I guess we missed the interesting stuff on the walk to the park." He said.
"I have to go. I have a dance practice in half an hour." Audrey said.
"Ok. I'll walk you home." Dustin offered. They hugged and walked off holding hands. El and Mike ran off in the other direction before Dustin got close enough to the tree to notice them.
"Well, sorry that was kind of boring El." Mike apologized.
"It was but this isn't." El said. She kissed him and ran off. Mike ran after her, and when he finally caught her she was out of energy. He carried her into the house and laid her on the couch downstairs for a nap. She looked so cute lying there. He couldn't help himself he snuggled up next to her holding her tight.
He laid there holding her enjoying the moment for half an hour until he fell asleep. Thankfully they would not get caught by any nervous parents. Nancy caught them and told Mike he'd better not let his mom catch them and that it was dinner time. Mike carried Eleven up the stairs to the kitchen. They sat down to eat with the family.
The next day El and Mike pretended they hadn't spied on Dustin and Audrey. They acted curious as if they weren't there the whole time. Dustin was pretty open and didn't lie about a single detail. He likes to over exaggerate, so we never know if he is being truthful. None of the boys ever found out about them spying.