LXXVIII
Christmas passes. The year 1985 arrives. Classes resume.
And Eleven chooses the first week of school to tell Henry: "Mike and I… We are dating."
Henry listens to her impassively, with one leg crossed over the other, his back straight and both hands clasped.
"I wanted you to know…"
"I understand," Henry answers. "That's fine. Are you going to introduce us?"
It's something he's been telling her, and that Eleven has decided to ignore… until now. Now that she no longer has any excuses left.
She nods.
"Splendid." His smile is polite. "What about Thursday afternoon? Invite him over."
Eleven deems it a good reaction on his part.
This changes when she tells Max.
"Uh, what if Henry decides to attack him?" she speculates as they both walk towards the library.
"Attack him? He wouldn't…"
"You don't think him capable?"
She frowns, because it's not that she doesn't believe him capable—she knows he is, but it would be a reckless move, something that could jeopardize their secret.
"He is…" she admits. "But… it wouldn't be smart."
"Oh. I guess you're right. It's just… Well, I might be going overboard with this."
"What?" Eleven asks, curious.
Max seems somewhat reluctant to answer her: she keeps her eyes fixed on her feet for the next few steps of their journey.
"Max…"
Her friend sighs and stops. She looks her in the eyes. Eleven holds her gaze.
"It's just… Henry seems very possessive to me. Over you."
"Possessive?"
"Yes, it's… Uh… Sometimes… he treats you like you're… his property."
This makes her get all defensive. "He takes care of me. Protects me. He—"
"Yeah, yeah," Max acknowledges, "because you're something valuable. Something valuable and his property."
Eleven grimaces.
"Eleven…"
"I don't want to talk right now," she mutters. "Just… Let's just go to the library, okay?"
Max bites her lower lip. Eleven knows she's doing it to force herself to keep quiet.
Even though she feels upset with her friend right now, Eleven appreciates that she respects her wishes.