91- Acquaintances
Summary: Before leaving California, El sees Angela in danger. After saving her, Angela apologizes.
Requested by: Sailor_Moon
The one good thing in California, was the food.
There was a gas station, not to far from where the lived, which sold something called funnel cakes.
El fell in love.
They reminded her of Eggos, which reminded her of home, which reminded her of Mike.
Will had told her that if they weren't trying to save the world that day and went to the fair, they'd be selling them there too. But once he tasted one of them, he had to agree, they were really good in California.
So, since this would probably the last time she was in California she headed to the gas station. She invited Will and Johnathan, but they both had things to wrap up. So, after asking Hopper and Joyce, she traveled the streets alone, hood up.
It was a quiet evening, just before dusk, and there was a pink tint in the sky. El was walking through the backstreets, meaning really no one was around.
That is, until El heard a very familiar, high pitched voice.
"You took all I had, get away!"
Speed walking to the source of the yelling, she found an alley off the beaten path. She peeked around the corner, and there she was, Angela, queen bee.
And she was getting mugged.
The guy had a small pistol in one hand and Angela's purse in the other. "I know you have more, rich girl." he growled.
"No! You took my purse, so go away!" Angela shrieked, backed up against the wall.
"Do you want me to shoot you?" Angela shook her head fiercely. "Then give me all you had."
El knew she should do something, but what? It's not like she could use her powers. Could she?
Maybe she could.
Glancing around, she saw no one, and the sky was darkening, making the shadows around the entrance of the alley grow. El could make this work. Pulling her hood higher and hid her eyes. She stepped out in the middle of the alley, she took a deep breathe.
"She gave you all she had, mouth breather!" El yelled, and when he turned, she shot out her hand and made him fly back against the wall. He hit his head, knocking him unconscious, not seeing who attacked him.
Angela yelped and scurried away from the man, not before grabbing her purse from his grasp. Slightly jogging towards the beginning of alley. "Thank you! How did you do that?" she asked.
El sighed and dropped her hood. "Hey, Angela."
Angela gasped and almost dropped her purse. "Jane?! How?"
"Yeah, long story." El explained, expecting her bully to laugh, put her down, just walk away.
But Angela stood silent for a moment, then shrugged. "I got time." She started walking towards the gas station El had been heading to.
El opened and closed her mouth a couple times before running to catch up with the blonde girl. "Wait, what? Where are we going?"
"There a gas station up ahead. They sell great-"
"Funnel cakes. Yeah I know." El told her.
"There amazing right?" at El's nod, Angela began rambling, "None of my friends believe me, but they're so good. Like how do they do that?"
El shrugged, uncomfortable at the unfamiliar situation.
After Angela calmed down at the funnel cakes, she asked, "So, what happened to your hair?"
El froze slightly, stopping mid stride. "Uh, nothing."
"Really? Cause it looks like it got shaved off." Angela stated.
"Why do you care?" El asked, suddenly curious. "Do you want to tell everyone at school? So you can embarrass me even more? Make me the freakiest person to enter the school or something?"
"What! No!" Angela exclaimed. "Look, even if I wanted to embarrass you, which I don't, I wouldn't even be able to make anyone believe me. I mean, Jane Hopper having super powers and a really bad hair cut?"
Angela paused. "Well, maybe they'd believe the last part."
Despite herself, El giggled at the statement. The girls both went quiet. The girls still hadn't started walking, neither of them sure what to do next. Angela sighed. "I'm sorry."
It was so quiet El thought it wasn't real. "Excuse me?"
Angela pursed her lips. "Look, I'm sorry okay? I was a total jerk to you. You didn't deserve that."
El was quiet, thinking of how she was going to respond. She was shocked, she never thought this would be happening. "Why?" she finally asked.
"I don't exactly know." Angela spoke after a moment. "But I think it's because you were so happy. You came to school with a giant smile on your face, despite not knowing anyone besides your brother. And I didn't like that."
El tilted her head, questioning the blonde girl once again.
"I wasn't happy at that time okay? And apparently I didn't want anyone else happy or something. It shouldn't have gone on as long as it did, or go to the extreme. It shouldn't have even started. So, I'm sorry."
It was quiet.
"Thank you. For that." El rocked back and forth on her heels.
"Thank you. You stopped that mugger." Angela studied the girl with the buzz cut. "Which I'm not sure how."
El huffed playfully. "You promise not to tell anyone about this?"
Angela nodded sincerely. Somehow, El believed her. She started walking, Angela following her lead.
El began telling her the story.
Not the entire story. She didn't tell her of the Upside Down, that seemed too extreme. But she told her the story of her in the lab, her getting found by the boys, and getting adopted by Hopper.
"That's why I stuck my hand out in the courtyard." El explained. "I wanted to use my powers on you."
"But you'd lost them." Angela finished.
By that time, they reached the gas station, quietly stalking the aisles.
El nodded.
Angela stopped by the chips. This was a lot to process, but the first thing she said was, "I'm sorry about your dad. The things I said about him."
El paused. "Well, actually he's still alive."
"What!?" Angela swiveled to face her. The two girls glanced at the register, where a non-enthusiastic college student was reading a magazine.
"How?" she whispered.
El chuckled. "That's another long story."
The girls went up to checkout, buying their funnel cakes. They walked out of the store, both murmuring how they were so good.
As El licked the powder sugar off her lip she though of something. "I'm sorry about the roller skate."
Angela waited a beat before saying, "No you're not."
El laughed, then shrugged. "It wasn't the best option in that situation."
"Well, it gave me a new nose, which wasn't terrible." Angela returned the shrug. "And I deserved it."
They continued to eat their funnel cakes, before Angela asked, "Why did you stop me from getting mugged? You must have known it was me."
"Because it was the right thing to do." El responded after a moment. "And I couldn't let you get hurt just because you weren't the nicest person to me."
Angela hummed in acknowledgement.
"I'm really glad that I did save you though." El spoke shyly, thinking of the great things that were spoken between them.
"Yeah," Angela smiled. "Me too."
Angela then looked down at her watch. "Oh, crap! Gotta go."
El nodded, giving her a little wave.
Angela turned to go, but then stopped. Ripping out a pen and some paper from her purse, she scribbled something down. She shoved it in El's hands.
"Here. My number. If anyone gives you lip in Indiana, call me. I'll give you some advice." Angela told her.
"Thanks." El replied with a smile. "For everything."
"Same here." Angela smirked. "Well, see ya, I guess."
El gave a firm nod. "Bye." she waved.
Angela waved and turned, walking towards her neighborhood. El did the same, heading in the opposite direction.
That was strange.
But nice.
Angela and her could probably never be best friends.
But acquaintances? They could do that.
AN: Hope you liked it, Sailor_Moon! I know that gas stations probably don't sell funnel cakes, but it was the first thing that came to mind! Requests are open!
