LXV

"Have fun," Henry tells her as soon as he stops the car at the school entrance. "I'll be back for you at nine-thirty."

Eleven seems to hesitate before getting off.

"Is there something wrong?" he asks her.

However, she simply smiles and leans into him. She wraps her arms around his neck, whispering: "Thank you, Henry."

Before he can process what has just happened, Eleven is already out of the car, on her way to cross the building's threshold.

Henry shakes his head and starts the car. A few hundred feet away, between parked cars, he spots Joyce and her boyfriend, Bob, who greet him enthusiastically. He just nods and offers a polite smile.

Typical Joyce, Henry tells himself, chuckling. Always looking out for her son.

The issue is that he, in fact, understands her, although he knows he must trust Eleven.

And that's why he just returns home.

Eleven watches the teenagers scattered around the room as a song about a man obsessed with the woman he loves plays in the background.

After a few moments, she notices Mike, who is sitting alone at a table, looking worried. He, however, seems to spot her at that very moment, as he stands up. Eleven smiles shyly at him, as if to say "here I am". The boy does the same and walks towards her slowly, as if afraid to scare her.

When they finally meet, he offers her a smile and a compliment: "You look beautiful."

For a moment, Eleven remembers Henry saying those very words to her and lowers her head, blushing. If she's being honest, Mike, however, also looks very handsome, so she rather tries to focus on that.

"You wanna dance?" he invites her then.

This wipes Eleven's smile off her face. Surreptitiously, she looks around: everyone seems to be swaying to the rhythm of the song.

"I… I don't know how," she confesses.

Mike shrugs. "I don't either. You wanna figure it out?"

The sweetness of the boy in front of her makes her smile once again. She nods in response, and their hands find each other naturally as he guides her to the center of the dance floor. As soon as they stop, Mike takes charge of the situation. "Okay," he tells her, gently pulling her hands up and placing them on his shoulders. "Like this. Yeah, like that."

Her face hurts because of the smile she's hopelessly trying to suppress; from the expression of her dance partner, she suspects that he is the same. Wordlessly, they both begin to move slowly—soon they fit into the rhythm imposed by the music.

She takes advantage of this moment to scrutinize Mike: his dark eyes, his freckles… Just as she has thought before, he is really handsome, if a bit clumsy.

But, well, so is she, isn't she?

Either way, she's comfortable with him. And that's why her hands go from his shoulders to join behind his neck; Mike makes her feel calm.

Suddenly, however, something changes. Mike's smile fades and his mouth parts slightly, as if he's having trouble breathing. Eleven realizes, without even meaning to, that she's copying this movement of his. She wishes she could understand what's going on, ask him about it, know what's expected of her at that moment, when Mike leans in…

… and kisses her.