One rainy, May Saturday the boys and El were down in the basement. A conversation that afternoon had sparked Eleven's interest. It started with the new D&D campaign.
"So how hard have you made this campaign Mike?" Will asked.
"As hard as Mike around El…Ooops…..El's here...I forgot." Dustin said laughing nervously. Will and Mike turned red with embarrassment. Lucas and Dustin busted out laughing.
"Shut up Dustin. It's not funny or true." Mike yelled.
Lucas replied, "Sure it's not true Mike and you aren't the president of AV club either."
"Mike isn't hard, he's an open book." Eleven interrupted before Mike could argue what Lucas said. The boys all laughed again. El turned red, she hated when the boys laughed at her. She told Mike she was gonna go talk to Nancy. She had a question to ask her about this whole situation.
"Hey Nancy, I have a question?" El said entering Nancy's room.
Nancy replied, "Sure El. What is it?"
"Dustin said Mike is hard around me. What does he mean?" El asked.
"El, do you remember how I got pregnant? I'm gonna explain everything now and it should answer your question." Nancy said.
El replied, "Ok Nancy."
"Boys and girls are different. They don't have the same private parts as us. They don't have anything on their chest and they have a penis down below. It gets hard when they are aroused." Nancy explained.
"What does aroused mean?" El asked.
Nancy replied, "It means they want to have sex."
"Oh. What sex?" Eleven asked.
"It's something you should wait to do until you are older. It would be good to wait until you are married. The man's private parts go into the girl's. It feels good, but it also causes pregnancy unless you use protection. Condoms can be used for protection and they are put around the penis." Nancy explained.
"Oh." El replied.
Nancy replied, "If Mike ever tries to force you to do anything you don't want to tell me."
"Ok. Mike wouldn't do that he's a good boy. Thanks for the help Nance." El said.
Eleven returned to the basement and her face turned red when she saw Mike. She could barely say hi to him for week, because she felt so awkward around him. All the stuff she had learned had kind of scared her. She definitely wasn't ready for any of the stuff Nancy told her about. El had avoided Mike for about a week when she noticed Mike looked a little sad.
"El did I do something wrong?" Mike asked when he got home from school.
"I'm sorry Mike." El began to say as tears filled her eyes and she gave Mike a hug.
Mike replied, "El it's ok you didn't do anything. I just wanted to know why you didn't talk to me much this week?"
El said, "Nancy explained everything to me after I asked her about what Dustin said about you being hard. I just felt scared and awkward to talk to you."
"Oh El. Dustin says stupid stuff all the time. It happens to all boys as they mature. I will never force anything upon you. It just happens sometimes and I can't help it." Mike explained.
"I never realized that it happened so much when you were around me until now. It was just overwhelming. I do like the power." Eleven stated.
Mike replied, "What do you mean power?"
"You must really like me which is good cause I like you a whole lot. My power is that just by being around you I am able to do that to you." El explained.
"Oh El. Or should I say future Mrs. Wheeler." Mike said laughing.
The awkwardness finally disappeared and everything went back to normal. El had her tutoring and Mike had school. They spent evening watching movies, dancing, talking, and getting closer. Finally, it was the last day of school and Mike ran in the door. It was summer he was so excited to spend all day with his friends. El was going to continue her daily three and a half hours of tutoring in hopes she would go back to school with the boys their eighth grade year. It was the beginning of a fun eventful summer.