AN: Hi everyone!
I'm sorry for the delay of this chapter, but the inspiration hit me, and I had to write my other story "Breathe" first. However, now I'm fully back to this story and here is the sixth chapter, which is a bit of a lighter one compared to the prior one, before we come to chapter 7, which I'm very excited about, because it's one of my favourites. But this one I like as well, and it contains one of my favourite dialogues in this story at the end of this chapter.
Before we get there, I would like to comment on one of the Guest reviews as I cannot answer those through a message (By the way thank you for all the reviews, I love to read every single one of them!). This specific one was about the behaviour of Mike in this story and was a thought on what might cause him to act the way he does. I really love that you shared your idea on this with me and please continue to do so! I'm very curious what you all think.
Without giving away too much, let me just say, that Mike doesn't mean to hurt El in any way. It's just very hard for him to first realize his feelings (because he loves El his entire life and sometimes it's not easy to differentiate between the love you have for your best friend and being in love), second to accept them (because it's scary as hell) and finally to take the risk to act on these feelings (because Mike suffers from anxiety and self-doubt all the time).
They both do not handle the situation the best way possible, but we come to that in the upcoming chapters. It's easier to understand El in this story, as this fic is written from her perspective, but as I have planned out the whole thing, I know what is driving Mike in each situation and we will get to see a glimpse of his perspective near the end of this story.
But anyway, enough of me rambling on and on again. I hope you enjoy today's chapter and as always, I'm curious what you think, so leave me a review or send me a message :)
Chapter 6
07. October 1987
El stood at her locker and stored the book of the prior lesson. Usually, the end of a school day was a much-awaited event, but today she was dreading the activity planned for this afternoon, and now there was not much left separating her from the inevitable.
She sighed, closed the metallic door with a loud thud and was met with her grinning friend leaning against the neighbouring locker.
"Are you ready?", Max asked her excitedly.
"Yeah, let's get it over with.", El moaned, only barely stopping herself from rolling her eyes.
It was Wednesday and school had just ended ten minutes earlier. The two girls walked towards the exit through the deserted corridors, as most students left immediately with the last ringing of the bell. El was mostly one of those running for the exit as quick as she could, but today she had slowed her end-of-the-school-day-routine down and took some extra time to go to the washrooms and to store her things in the locker.
"What took you so long?", Max inquired, as they strolled down the hallway.
El fidget nervously with the strap of her shoulder bag. Truth be told, she had prolonged the start of their afternoon, even though she knew there was no way out of it now, but she hesitated to voice this out loud.
But no one fools a Maxine Mayfield, and her friend added, as if she could read El's thoughts, "El, don't make this harder than it needs to be. And let's see, maybe you will enjoy yourself."
Before El could come up with a snippy reply, they turned another corner and were nearly knocked over by a large figure, that headed in their direction. The other person, who seemed to be in a hurry, came to an abrupt stop by the collision and slightly staggered before gaining steadfastness again.
Realizing who it was, El let out a scream in a mixture of surprise and warning, "Mike!".
He looked at them, only then recognizing who they were. "El… Max… I'm sorry… I wasn't paying any attention.", he stammered breathlessly.
El eyed him worriedly. He looked stressed, out of breath by the running, but also something in his eyes added to the image of someone being haunted, as if he was being chased by someone, but there was no one else in sight. "Are you okay?", she asked in concern.
Mike sighed deeply. "Yes, I'm fine… Just late for AV club meeting." He looked at El's worried face and sensing her next question, he added sheepishly, "I had an argument with Trish; that's why I'm late actually."
"What's her problem this time?", Max interfered their conversation, exasperated, before El could even open her mouth to reply.
"What does that supposed to mean?", Mike countered astonished and defensively.
"It means Wheeler, that little Miss Drama has always something to whine about.", Max explained, rolling her eyes, not hiding her distaste even in the slightest.
While El had at least tried to get along with Trish, though just for Mike's sake, Max had never bothered one second to even try. She claimed right from the beginning that the girl was a "pain in the ass" and "that she wanted to show her full support for El".
And after they all had spent time together multiple times during the summer break, those feelings had only intensified and Trish had become Max's number two enemy, only slightly lining up behind her ex-stepbrother Billy. Luckily, she hadn't to endure him anymore, after her mum finally found the strength to leave Billy's dad. But even though Max hadn't seen him in over a year, he would always hold up the title of her number one most-hated person in the world. But Trish really did try hard to knock him off the throne by giving the whole party the shits over the summer. While the others tried to endure it, Max was fighting back for all of them. In that regard she was just like a lion mum protecting her cubs.
"That's not true.", Mike glared at Max angrily.
Before Max could come up with a snarky response, El interrupted their starting argument. "Hey, stop it.", she said looking pointedly at Max, positioning her body in between the other two. And turning to Mike she asked, "What exactly happened?"
With her question Mike's angry expression was replaced by a deep shade of red. "Well, she… We had… I don't know it just was…", he stammered. El squeezed his arm to provide some reassurance for him to continue, and after a moment of collecting his thoughts, he started again. "You know, with Homecoming this week… Well, she wants me to join the game on Friday, but… Why must it be on a Friday? You know it's D&D night, but when I tried to explain, she got all upset. Told me I don't show interest about her hobbies and that I don't fully care about her and stuff like that. So now, I will be going to the game on Friday. I guess as a boyfriend I should really support her on this, right?Now I just need to explain this to the boys. I'm afraid they will not like this."
During his speech Max expression changed to a smug grin, as she saw her point proven. When she opened her mouth to make probably a sarcastic comment, El kicked her lightly against the leg and hastily answered before Max could say anything. "I'm sorry Mike. I know how important D&D night is to you. But maybe you can propose to the guys to play on Sunday instead. And about the game, I'm sure it will turn out to be quite good in the end."
"Yeah, as good as last time…", Mike said dejected.
El sensed his inner conflict between supporting his girlfriend and letting down his friends, between doing something that he loved, and hours filled with boredom on his part. She also despised Trish for putting him into this situation, but there was not much she could do. This was something that Mike had to deal with on his own.
Therefore, she just smiled at him sympathetically and said, "I'm sure it will be fine, and the boys will be okay with it.", even though she highly doubted both herself.
Mike looked at her sadly, knowing as much as El did, that this was rather unlikely. Still, he faked a small smile and said, "Thanks, El. I will be heading to the AV meeting now; I must explain my delay and share the news that our game night is cancelled. See you." He tried to form another smile in El's direction and nodded towards Max before continuing his way to the AV clubroom.
El watched him go with a heavy feeling in her gut. When he turned another corner and was no longer in earshot, she said to Max. "I hate to see him like this.", she sighed. "I wish I could help in any way."
Max rolled her eyes at El. "It's his problem if he decides to fuck that bimbo. Then he also must deal with the consequences. You really must stop pitying him all the time."
At her statement El stopped eyeing the corner that Mike had circulated a minute ago and faced Max in shock. "You think they have sex with each other?", she whispered. She hadn't thought too much about it so far, on the one hand she just didn't want to think about the two being intimate with each other, and on the other hand she hadn't thought that their relationship had progressed thus far. But now that Max had mentioned it, her prior assumption was maybe wrong? Her mind immediately formed hundred different scenarios of Mike and Trish ripping each other's clothes of in a heat of passion…
A loud laugh broke her out of her imagination. "El, please…", Max watched her amused. "It's Wheeler we are talking about..."
As El just looked more confused, Max clarified, "El, do you really think Mike would become intimate after just four months of going out with a girl, especially as she's his first girlfriend and he has like zero experience? That's just not his nature. I bet he's already panicking when it comes to feeling her up. So, no reason for you to worry."
"But you just said that he is…", El started to argue.
"Oh El, I just said it like that. Actually, I have no idea why he is holding on to this relationship. As he obviously does not get a good shag from it and she is bitchin him around, I do not see the point. But that must not be our problem, most importantly you must stop worrying about him. He put himself into the situation, so he must deal with the consequences. And you by the way suffer the most from it, so if anything, you deserve pity, but not the other way round.", Max brushed her off.
El remained silent for a while, thinking over Max's statement. She most likely was right, but El couldn't stop herself from worrying about Mike. The one thing she loved the most about him was his smile, that stretched over his face and made his dark eyes sparkle with excitement. But lately she saw it not that often anymore and she wanted to do anything to bring the lightness back to him.
Finally, she answered Max, "You're probably right, but I just can't stand watching him go through all this."
"I know you can't, even though you should. And that's the exact reason why we really must make him see, that you belong with him. Because I have no doubt that this would make you both endlessly happy…", she stated matter-of-factly. "Probably the rest of us will get sick watching you two being sweetly in love, but that is something the boys and me are willing to endure.", Max added as an afterthought.
"We will not…", El made quotation marks in the in the air with her hands, "be "sweetly in love"."
Max only grinned at her and stated mockingly, "Too late.", before turning on her heels and walking towards the school exit.
El watched her bewildered, glued to the spot, unable to form a good retort to her friend's comment. She then decided to let the topic drop and to follow her.
They had been on a mission before running into Mike, that she still needed to accomplish as promised to Max. And promises were never broken, even if El could think of a lot of things she would prefer doing on this Wednesday afternoon, then going shopping with her only female friend.
But Max had insisted that they needed something new to wear for the Homecoming dance on coming Saturday. El originally planned to pick something from her closet, not caring too much about this dance, but Max had begged her and finally she had given in. Usually, shopping wasn't too bad, especially with Max by her side, but shopping for an event was something else entirely. She felt pressured to find something suiting the occasion and from experience she knew that she would most likely get stressed out when not finding something fitting immediately, resulting in buying some piece to get it just over with, but not being what she had envisioned. It was just not the same as shopping purely for fun. And as she wasn't too thrilled about the dance, which she had tried to forget about the past weeks, this only added to her listlessness.
At the entrance doors El caught up to her friend and the two walked over to the carpark. Max, who had gained her driver's license this summer, had borrowed her mother's car for this day, so that the two of them could drive into a bigger town half an hour away. The offer in Hawkins was pretty limited, especially when it came to trendy clothes and elegant outfits for an occasion like a dance. The shops were more specialised in functional wear for the work on the farmlands or outdoor activities like hiking, fishing, or hunting.
Therefore, Max had organized her mum's car and had picked El up this morning, planning on dropping her off at home again later that day.
El sat down in the passenger seat and Max drove out of the parking lot. While they drove through Hawkins, El played with the radio until she found a good channel and soon the two were singing loudly along with the songs that roared through the speakers. At least that part of the trip was to El's liking.
After almost a thirty minutes' drive, they reached Sturton, which was a town twice the size of Hawkins. It was still no big city, but it offered a shopping mall with numerous different shops.
Max parked the car and the two started their shopping mission. They entered the mall through the large entrance area and El was taken aback by the huge offer of shops, restaurants, and leisure areas. Living in Hawkins her entire life and preferring the silence of the woods, resulted in her not being in such colourful and crowded places very often and she always had to adjust to it every time she entered this foreign world.
"Where do you wanna go first?", Max asked eagerly.
"I don't know exactly. But best would be a large department store that offers a big variety." She really wanted to get the outfit as quick as possible to have that off her list and maybe leaving a bit of time for just strolling around with Max.
The redhead followed her advice and dragged her into the nearest department store. But soon El watched in horror as Max passed the leisure section and directly headed for the more formal clothes.
"Max, what are you doing? We do not have to dress up that much.", El argued. She had planned on wearing a skirt maybe added up with a pullover. By that she would be able to wear the pieces again in everyday life and would not spend a fortune on something, that she wouldn't wear ever again.
"Wrong, we do. You cannot go in just jeans and a t-shirt. We need to find something more spectacular, and I thought a nice dress will be just right for you.", Max explained while continuing her way through the racks of clothes.
"Wait a dress?!", El asked shocked. "And why just me? What about you?"
"I will surely look for something for myself, too, but my prior mission today is you, as this will be the bigger challenge."
El rolled her eyes. "Whatever, but no dress. Trousers or maybe a skirt will be just fine."
"El…", Max sighed. "It will look good on you. Trust me!"
"But it's not practical and I most likely can just wear it on this single occasion. Afterwards it will be only wasting space in my closet."
Max came to a halt and fully turned to look at El. "It shall not be practical and there is enough space in your wardrobe for a single dress. It shall make you look stunning."
"But I do not need to dress up. I do not even have a date."
"Sometimes I'm stunned how dense you can be.", Max gasped aghast. "Even if you don't go on a date, don't you want to sweep Wheeler off his feet?!" El couldn't imagine that any dress would change Mike's perception, but her friend continued undeterred, "Believe me, once I'm done with your makeover, he will forget all about his little girlfriend. It already worked perfectly the first time and that was just your hair and some makeup. What I got in mind this time will be a lot bigger." A mischievous grin spread across her face. "And in the unrealistic case, this shouldn't get his attention, other guys surely will notice and by this you can spend the evening with a cute boy and maybe you will realize that Wheeler is not the last man on earth. So, either way, a win-win situation!"
El highly doubted either of the two scenarios were likely to happen, but she couldn't help to think back to the Friday night about two weeks ago, when her straight hair had caught Mike's eye. His intense stare on her still caused goosebumps to erupt on her skin and she couldn't deny that she longed for him to look at her again this way.
So, she finally surprised herself by saying, "Okay, I'll try out some dresses." Max's grin grew even broader. "But I do not promise to buy one.", El added as an afterthought.
"Fair enough.", Max shrugged and turned her attention again towards the thousands of clothes in front of them.
El strolled behind her friend, who got back to business with a determined look on her face as she rummaged through the racks. From time-to-time Max picked something up and inspected the garment further. Whenever she was satisfied with what she saw, Max tossed the piece of cloth into El's arms and soon El was loaded up.
"Max, I think that should do for me.", she glanced horrified down at the dozen she was carrying. "And you still have to pick something for yourself."
Max grinned. "I already found it. One of the dresses you're carrying is for me and I know that it's the one; nothing else is needed. But I guess we found a good variety for you, too. So, let's see how those will look on you."
They walked over to the changing rooms and Max helped El to place all the dresses onto the hangers. Finally, she grabbed a black dress hanging among El's selection and moved it to the neighbouring dressing room.
"That's mine.", she commented. "But I'll wait. Let's get started on you first." With that she closed the curtain and left El alone with the huge amount of clothes. El stood there and eyed all the different colours, fabrics, and cuts. It overwhelmed her slightly, not knowing where to start, but ultimately, she sighed heavily and picked a red one first.
El stripped off and after she had stepped into the smooth material, she observed herself sceptically in the mirror. The dress was rather short, ending in the mid of her thighs, whereas it had long sleeves and shoulder pads. The neckline of the dress was moderate, which El liked a lot, but otherwise she felt disguised.
Nonetheless, she moved the curtain aside to reveal the dress to Max, who gasped when she saw El. "Oh my god, you look great.", she exclaimed.
El furrowed her brows and said, "I don't know… I don't feel comfortable." She pulled at the hem of the red dress to pull it down a bit.
Max saw this and shook her head. "No, if you don't feel comfortable, then try the next one."
El continued for the next twenty minutes to put on one dress after the other. She had two that she considered to be okay and in which she didn't felt completely dressed up. One was a simple midnight blue dress and the other a beige one with a wider skirt and a red belt around the waist. But still she thought that the whole dress idea wasn't working for her.
When she put on the seventh dress, she didn't even look into the mirror anymore, but stepped out of the cabin immediately to show it to Max and get it all over with.
"We found it!", Max squeaked as soon as she lay eyes on El and threw her arms around her.
El was slightly taken aback by the sudden outburst by her friend, who quickly let go of her, but only to grab her by the arm and pull her towards the big mirror at the end of the hallway. Standing there, El looked at her reflection for the first time. The dress she was wearing was a knee length, dark green velvet dress, with off shoulder sleeves, that moved over her chest and formed a V-neckline. The skirt was becoming slightly wider at the knee and was lying in folds.
El looked herself up and down, not comprehending that this was really herself she was looking at. The dress was amazing and El felt pretty in it. She turned a bit and watched the skirt swinging elegantly around her legs.
"You look fabulous, El.", Max grinned at her in the mirror.
El answered looking at her friend's reflection, "Thanks. I indeed feel pretty in it."
Max laughed. "Pretty does not fully describe it. I can't wait to see Wheeler's reaction… This is gonna be legendary. I bet this will shut the big mouth of his."
El rolled her eyes at her friend's exaggerations but couldn't stop the small smile appearing on her lips.
"Okay, wait here.", Max stated. "I quickly put on my own dress."
She hastily moved to her own changing rooms and emerged a few minutes later.
El had to acknowledge that her friend had been right; this was the perfect dress for Max.
The dress was a simple black one with long sleeves and a squared neckline. The upper part of the sleeves was slightly puffed, but not too ornate and the hem ended just above the knee. The dress hugged Max's body elegantly and the black colour made her red hair stand out even more.
Max stepped next to El in front of the huge mirror and El placed her arm around Max's waist. The two grinned widely and while admiring their appearances, El couldn't deny the excitement that arose within her about the upcoming event on Saturday. Maybe the whole dressing up wasn't such a bad idea after all.
They purchased their dresses and afterwards spent the next hour looking for additions to their outfits. El found some silver flats matching the dark green of her dress perfectly and a filigree silver bracelet.
By the end she had spent most of her savings of the past months but couldn't care less.
The two girls finished their trip with a stop at the food court to get something to eat and after they were oversaturated, but happy, they ended their shopping afternoon.
When they left the mall, the sun had already started to go down, tuning the sky into several shades of red and orange.
This time they did not sing to the music but talked about just everything on the drive home.
After a while, Max brought up the Homecoming ball again, "So, shall we meet up before the dance to get ready for it together?"
El looked pleasantly surprised at her friend in the driving seat. "Uh, yes… I thought you would want to meet up with Lucas maybe."
"Oh please, that wouldn't be fun. No, I want to go through the complete beauty routine without being asked every five minutes if I'm done already. And I also have an idea how to style your hair, if you let me do it."
"I would love that.", El smiled broadly. Even though her friend mostly didn't give a thing about her looks, she was still very talented in styling and El knew that Max helping her would result in something amazing. "If you like we could combine it with a sleepover at my place? ", El suggested after a short pause.
Max beamed at her. "Oh yes, we haven't done this in ages. I suggest I come over to your place at 2 pm and we have the whole afternoon for getting ready and just some girls' stuff. And afterwards we have the rest of night to discuss everything that has happened on the party."
El laughed about her friend's excitement but felt giddy herself. "Sounds like a plan. But I hope that's okay for Lucas that I will take up all your time on Saturday."
Max waved her off. "Phew, he gets to spend the evening at the dance with me. He should be thankful for the options available."
El was always impressed by Max's confidence. She was so sure about herself and never questioned her actions. This was something El couldn't say about herself and therefore admired Max for her ability to speak her mind and being completely independent of anyone, even when being in a relationship.
Not that El thought that Mike would ever limit her in a relationship with him, but El was reflected enough to know that she would fully and whole heartedly merge into it, if the unrealistic case would ever happen that they would become a thing.
Shortly after they reached El's house and El hugged the other girl goodbye. "Thanks for the day… and thanks for making me try out all these dresses. It was torture at first, but it was all worth it in the end. I really look forward to the dance now and our sleepover."
With that she picked up her purchases and went inside, wishing it would be Saturday already.
08. October 1987
The weekend was still two days away, but by now the excitement was noticeable everywhere in school. El assumed it had been there all along, only she had successfully shut it out before and had been oblivious to the whispers between groups of girls, rumours flying around about who had asked whom or who had been rejected by whom, and lively chatter among friends making last minutes arrangements. But now that she had found a liking to the idea, she realized it was the hot topic at school for mostly everyone.
When El and Max sat at their usual table at Lunch time that afternoon, the cafeteria was even noisier and the talk about Homecoming was omnipresent.
They had sat there for a while on their own, when they saw the boys approaching from the entrance on the opposite site. The six of them mostly spent the breaks together, but today the guys were a bit later than usual, as they had to check upon something in their AV clubroom, as Lucas had explained to Max earlier in the day.
As they watched the boys walk over, Dustin started to move his arms in a classical 'Saturday Night Fever' move and circled his hips in what El assumed to be an attempt to dance. She couldn't help it but laugh hysterically at his moves.
"Henderson, do you have a seizure or something? Shall we call for a doctor?!", Max called in their direction, while the boys covered the last meters to the table Max and El were sitting at.
They took a seat and Dustin replied, "You're just jealous about my signature dance moves, Mayfield."
Max raised her eyebrows sceptically at that and El still tried to calm herself down. Lucas and Will watched the exchange in amusement, whereas Mike seemed to have zoned out. A deep crease was contouring his face and he was clearly not affected by the general vibe all around them.
"You will see the girls will go crazy about me on Saturday.", Dustin declared. "They won't be able to resist my hip movements."
"I bet.", Max laughed, "But I'm sorry, for me there is only one guy whose hip movements I go crazy about." She lewdly looked at Lucas, who replied with a suggestively wink back at her.
"Ugh…", Will groaned embarrassed.
"Touché.", Dustin commented, seemingly untouched by the sexual reference. "But I can count on you El, right?"
"Sure, I'm all yours Dustin.", El replied playfully.
"I take you upon it. Save at least one dance for me.", he announced and El nodded in agreement. She knew that Dustin meant nothing by it other than a dance between two close friends. El was pretty sure the others knew about her feelings for Mike, even though she had never spoken to anyone other than to Max about it, but she could tell from the pitiful glances they sometimes directed at her whenever Trish threw herself at Mike, that they at least had an idea of her inner turmoil.
But as the boy in question would be preoccupied by his girlfriend, El was determined to spend an awesome night with her friends, including a lot of dancing with all of them.
"You will be surprised by El's appearance, I can guarantee you that.", Max threw in with a wide grin towards Dustin.
But it wasn't Dustin replying. "What's that supposed to mean?", Mike asked, who seemingly had been torn from his own thoughts.
"All I'm saying is that we have been shopping yesterday and this lady over here will knock you all of your feet.", Max gestured widely at El, who felt her cheeks redden as everyone at the table turned towards her. She quickly looked down at her hands, while Max continued. "El and I decided to meet up on Saturday to get ready at her house, but I thought you could pick us up maybe.", she looked expectantly at her boyfriend.
"Sure, Max. Me and the guys can pick you two up and then we will drive to the party together.", Lucas suggested. "Mike, shall we meet up at your place before that?"
By the mention of his name, El looked up from the table at the boy sitting opposite of her. She was taken aback as she wasn't expecting Mike to still be looking directly at her. Her eyes searched his face questioningly until they locked with his and it was like she was hit by a supernatural force.
His intense stare knocked all air out of her with a thrust, and her ears started ringing. It was as if just in a second everything around her disappeared. Her full focus was on his dark orbs, showing an unknown depth and speaking of a wide range of emotions. She wanted to read them, understand them, immerse in them, but her mind was blank, and she could only stare back at him with her own emotions reflecting in her eyes.
She couldn't tell how long it lasted, but suddenly she heard Lucas distant voice coming through. "Mike… Mike?"
The addressed boy subtly shook his head, as if trying to get back to his senses and the spell around the two of them was broken.
He turned to Lucas with a questioning expression, who repeated his initial question.
"Sure, we can meet up at my place, but I will not drive with you.", Mike replied, his hand going to the back of his neck rubbing it nervously. His eyes searched the ones of his friends seated around them, and shortly meeting El's again, before dropping his gaze to the table. "Uhm, I will pick up Trish at her place.", he nearly whispered, "But we can meet again at the gym."
With his words El was harshly taken back to reality. Whatever happened a few seconds ago, was gone and she couldn't stop the disappointment creep up inside of her. Naturally, he was picking up his girlfriend to take her out on a school dance and would spend the evening with her.
For a moment she had given over to the illusion that it would be just them, their little group of six friends, enjoying a night full of laughter, music, and dancing, just like they used to do at previous school events. But she tried to remind herself, that it won't stop her from having a great time with the rest of her friends.
She had looked forward to the evening before momentarily getting lost in his eyes and her wishful thinking, and she was determined to cling to that.
The ringing of the bell announced the end of Lunch time.
El and her friends rose from their stools and walked towards the exit of the cafeteria, following the crowd of students on their way to the afternoon classes. At the double door Dustin and Will parted their way to walk over to the gym for the P.E. lesson that they had together next.
The others walked down the hallway towards their respective classes. Max and Lucas led the way, holding hands and eagerly talking in hushed voices, while Mike and El fell back, silently strolling next to each other.
"So, you won't be spending this Saturday with your dad?". Mike suddenly broke the silence.
El being lost in her own thoughts was momentarily confused by the question, not understanding what he was referring to, until she caught up, that he was still talking about Homecoming. "Uhm, no… But we decided that I will come over on Friday instead."
"That's nice.", he sighed in response. El knew he was thinking about the game he would be attending.
"You'll be fine.", she smiled reassuringly up at him. "I think it's very nice of you to do this. It's a sweet gesture."
"Then you're the only one thinking like this.", he mumbled disheartened and seeing El's questioning expression he continued, "The guys think I'm not standing up for myself and letting her order me around. They were quite harsh at me in yesterday's AV meeting… like, throwing a bunch of utterances at me and questioning my judgement. It, well… Don't know how to say it, but uhm… It was not just that I cancelled our D&D night, you know… It was more like a general impeach of my actions.", he rambled, apparently trying to avoid the details of said argument. "And Max obviously thinks the same or even worse, and Trish… well Trish, she thinks that I'm not doing enough, that I'm not even trying one bit." El didn't know how to respond to that, because it was truly how the others thought about the matter, but Mike just went on, not expecting any reaction. "I mean, no matter what I do, someone will be pissed off by my actions and the harder I try to make it up to everyone, the more they all get angry with me by what I do or don't do…". He was fully engaged in his speech now, the frustration he was feeling apparent in each word he said. "I'm just so confused lately about the situation with Trish and y… the boys, I mean, and yeah… just everything in general. Usually, it should be easy being in a relationship with someone you… like…, shouldn't it?" El noticed his avoidance of the word 'love' but couldn't dwell on it as Mike was not finished, yet. "But all I do is just wrong lately. Only you seem to not think like that. At least you don't judge me like everyone else does and you are just as amazing as you always are. And that makes me think, that I do not deserve you… don't deserve you being my… friend.", he concluded his little speech, as they reached El's classroom.
There were only minutes left before the lesson started and Mike still had to walk a bit to reach the classroom of his next lesson, but El wanted to reply somehow to his monologue, so she quickly reached out for his wrist to stop him from walking away.
"Mike, maybe you should consider doing more what you want." When he tried to protest, she shut him up hastily by continuing, "I know what you're about to say, but you should not care what either the boys or Trish think, or anyone else for that matter. You must do what you think is best for you and everyone must accept that. And if you lo-love Trish and want to spend time with her than no one is allowed to question that. But on the other hand, she must accept when you're spending time with your friends and must respect your hobbies like D&D, in the same way you are respecting her hobbies. And whatever you do, I will respect your decisions and support you as best as I can, but I hate to see you so down.", El finished.
Mike looked wide eyed at her in awe. "You're incredible, you know that?"
El felt herself blushing from his compliment. "Just promise me, you think about what I said."
"I promise.", Mike replied.
"Good.", she smiled up at him. "I guess you should hurry now.", she stated as realizing that the hallway was nearly empty by now.
Mike nodded and threw her a smile, that not fully reached his eyes, but which was in El's opinion an improvement to his downcast demeanour lately, before he turned and quickly strode down the corridor.
El shortly followed him with her eyes, sighing. Then she pulled herself out of her ever-consuming thoughts on Mike and went into the classroom.
09. October 1987
Mike didn't bring the topic up again on Thursday afternoon and so El decided not to approach him about it, too. They spent the afternoon at his house, where Mike continued his tutoring in Maths and El couldn't deny the progress she was making. She felt so grateful for him helping her and Mike never got tired of explaining her everything time and again, always remaining patient with her, even when El herself got frustrated with her lack of understanding every now and then.
He also appeared not to mind that he was bending over a bunch of equations and graphs, that were way too easy for his level of skills, on his four-months anniversary with his girlfriend.
With the game approaching, Trish had not wanted to miss training and Mike didn't seem to be too upset about it. In fact, he didn't mention it once and didn't show any signs of wishing to be at any other place, than his basement with El.
She assumed that the argument Mike and Trish had the other day, might have something to do with that, too.
So, Friday came around, where El did not see much of Mike, as he disappeared with Trish during Lunch time. Just in class, she was able to steal some glances at him and frustratingly she observed that he had reverted to his tense expression and silent musings.
When school was over, she was only able to speak shortly to her friends, before the Sheriff's car appeared and she bid her goodbye, knowing they would all see each other again the next day.
As she walked over to her dad, she stole a final glance backwards at Mike, hoping he would be okay at the game later and sending a silent prayer upwards that she would at least have a bit of time with her best friend on Saturday night.
"Hey kiddo, hop on.", her dad addressed her through the open passenger window. El turned away from the black-haired boy and opened the car door.
"Hi, dad.", she smiled half-heartedly at him, and they set off in the direction of Hopper's cabin.
El observed the school quickly becoming smaller in the side mirror of the car, as they rushed past town houses and neatly kept front yards. Her elbow rested on the window seat and her head on her hand, as she stared at the passing buildings and the never changing architecture of her hometown. The streets were full of people, groups of teenagers on their way home from school, mums pushing their strollers or dragging their whining toddlers along, and men finishing their jobs early on a Friday afternoon in favour of a drink at the sports bar.
"How has your week been?", Hopper asked curiously.
"It's been alright.", El replied with her gaze still turned towards the passing outside, being distracted by the thoughts that were still running around her best friend.
"Fascinating.", her dad scoffed sarcastically. "It feels like I have been right there with you..."
El glanced at him guiltily for her meaningless answer and tried to shut out her prior thoughts. "Sorry, dad. I just have some things on my mind."
He eyed her from the corner of his peripheral vision thoughtfully. "Well, I can guess what you have been thinking about, if your longing glances back earlier were anything to go by.", he grumbled. "A someone of about 6 feet hight, dark hair and puppy dog eyes, am I right?"
El decided not to answer that, sensing that his daughter being in love was nothing her dad felt comfortable with, and she also was not in the mood to discuss any of her thoughts or feelings with her dad right now, so she wisely changed the topic by telling him a bit about her week, not mentioning Mike, and rather focusing on recapping about classes and her shopping trip with Max.
When she reached the end of her summary of the week, Hopper was just opening the front door and let her in.
El went to her bedroom and dropped off her schoolbag. Afterwards she went back to the living room, where her dad had seated himself in the armchair.
"Okay dad, do you have any plans for today?", she asked. For the Saturdays they had established a routine, but El didn't know if he had any other plans for this Friday night or if they would stick to the usual film and pizza evening program.
"Yeah actually, I thought we could maybe go out for dinner. Joyce invited me over to her place not knowing that you would stay with me today, but when I told her she said we could all spend the evening together. Will would be there, too, so you would not be on your own.", he exclaimed a bit on edge. El thought it was quite cute how her dad got all nervous about their two families to officially meet.
Surely, they all knew each other for years. El and Mike had befriended Will in Kindergarten when Mike had decided to walk up to Will, who had been all alone on the first day, and offer him his friendship. From that day onwards they had become best friends, as El quickly warmed up to the idea, too. She was very thankful that Mike had initiated the first contact all that time ago. It had been the start of their little party, that only grew ever since with Lucas joining shortly after, followed by Dustin and finally Max thrown to the mix three years ago.
So, she knew Joyce Byers nearly as long as she knew her son and had spent a lot of hours at the quirky woman's house.
But this meeting would be the first one where Will, Joyce, her dad and she would be together since Joyce and Hopper went official.
"I would love that.", El replied and she truly meant it. She saw her dad release a breath in relief.
"Okay, uhm good. I will quickly call her and let her know that we're in.", he jumped up and walked over to the phone.
El smiled to herself. Ever since the two had started dating her dad was all excited and happy, which was a completely new side to him, that she massively enjoyed. She was really looking forward to spending the evening with the two lovebirds and one of her dearest friends.
For the next two hours she alternated between chilling on the couch and doing some homework half-heartedly. One would think that the teachers would be merciful on the Homecoming weekend, but apparently not.
Finally, it was time to leave for the Byers residence and they drove the way out to their house. Both, her dad and Joyce lived on the outskirts of town, but in different cardinal points. Therefore, the drive took them about twenty minutes, as they had to ride across town to reach the small and slightly ramshackle one-story building. But even though it was getting on in years, she liked this homey and cosy place. And most she liked its residents, who probably were the kindest family that ever existed. Will, his brother Jonathan, and his mum were purely good people and she thought it was humanly impossible not to adore them. Only exception was Will's father, that was the exact opposite, and El couldn't wrap her head around how he was truly related to his two sons.
As they knocked at the door, Joyce quickly opened, a warm smile plastered all over her face. "El, honey. It's so nice to see you!" She closed the distance and wrapped her in a motherly embrace.
"You, too.", El replied kindly once Joyce let go of her. She watched Will's mum stepping up to her dad and giving him a chaste peck on the lips, before inviting them both in.
Will, who had heard the greetings at the door, stepped out of his room and came over to greet them as well. He also hugged El and shook Hopper's hand.
"Haven't expected to see you so soon again.", he grinned towards El, referring to them spending time together just hours earlier at school.
"Me neither. Seems like they have set us up all secretly.", she replied jokingly and pointed at their parents, who were currently in the kitchen, where Joyce prepared the dinner, while Hopper talked to her, one hand on the small of her back.
Will laughed at her comment. "You know they act like teenagers around each other whenever Jim is coming over here. I wouldn't be surprised to see them tie the knot rather soon."
El beamed at him, "I just said the same to Mike the other day."
"But you would be fine with it, right?", he asked, ever the concerned one.
"Oh no, absolutely not. It's so great to see them this happy. Your mum is just what he needed and I'm glad they found back to each other after all these years.", El noted honestly. "And I also do not mind having you and Jonathan as my stepbrothers. I always wished to have some siblings, like you, or Mike do, and by that I would get to call you my brother, which you are anyway already to some extent. But then it would also be official."
Will smiled at her, obviously touched by her kind words. "I would love that, too. And even if you will still be living with your mum, I look forward to spending the weekends with you. We could do countless movie marathons and game nights."
El contemplated that statement. She would definitely miss the days alone with her dad on their hiking trips or alone in the cabin, but the idea of this small family to become a steady part of her life was a thrilling prospect and she already started to draw images in her head of family gatherings and a house filled with laughter of some of her favourite human beings.
And it surely wouldn't mean the end to their hiking tours all together. They would not do it that often anymore, but her dad and she loved them too much, to fully drop that hobby.
"As long as it is not just about Star Wars and D&D, I'm in for that.", she grinned.
"No worries, I do not see neither Hopper nor my mum up for that.", Will responded good naturedly. "And I have other interests apart from that."
El grinned at him mockingly, but before she could come up with a sassy response, Joyce announced that dinner was ready, and they came together at the dining table.
Joyce had done her best to serve a complete meal with steaks, vegetables, potatoes, and gravy. She apologized for the meat being slightly burned and the sauce being rather watery, but El assured her it was all fine. The men were used to her cooking skills anyway and El wasn't too bothered with it either.
When they all served themselves and ate in enjoyable silence for a few minutes, Joyce turned towards El. "So, are you excited about tomorrow?"
"Yes, I think it's going to be fun.", she exclaimed, after putting the cutlery down, beaming at the older woman. "I'm meeting up with Max beforehand to get ready and we will do a sleepover after the dance."
"Oh, that's sounds exciting, honey. In such moments I'm a bit sad that I do not have a daughter. My two boys would never get excited about a dance, and they never put much effort in getting ready.", Joyce smiled lovingly over at her younger son, whose cheeks coloured in embarrassment and who whined, "Mom…".
"I would love to go dress shopping with a daughter and help her dress up for a school dance.", she added without responding to her son's exclamation.
El thought it necessary to defend Will a bit and explained, "To be fair, I wasn't that excited myself earlier, but now I look forward to it."
Joyce looked up astonished. "What made you change your mind?", she asked curiously, "Did someone ask you out?"
Well, that wasn't the direction she expected the conversation to turn…
El heard her dad choking on his steak and he stared wide eyed at her. Joyce turned towards him and clapped on his back until he was able to breathe properly again. She shook her head at her boyfriends' antics. "Jim, calm down! She's sixteen for god's sake. Remember what we did at that age."
"This is exactly what worries me.", Hopper mumbled grumpily.
El agreed with Joyce on that one, but still thought it was better to reassure her dad that there was nothing to worry about. So, she addressed Will's mum, "No Joyce, I do not have a date tomorrow." She heard her dad sigh in relief. "I will be spending the night with Max, Will and the others. We decided to go all as friends and Max convinced me it will be fun. So therefore, I'm looking forward to a great night with everyone.", El concluded, answering Joyces earlier question.
Joyce smiled warmly at her. "And I'm sure it will be a fun night for all of you. And let's see, maybe some boy will still ask you for a dance." She winked at El and ignored Hopper's coughing.
"Yes, maybe…", El replied simply. She didn't feel the need to explain to her dad's girlfriend that the one boy she wanted to be asked by was not available, especially not while her dad and the best friend of said boy were in earshot.
She looked down at her plate for a moment and when she looked back up, she caught Will watching her in concern. He seemed to know where her mind had drifted off to, but he didn't comment on it with their parents being present.
El quickly busied herself with eating her dinner and the topic of Homecoming was dropped by everyone.
Joyce told some story about Jonathan and Will, that the later commented here and there, while Hopper gazed lovingly at the woman next to him.
El had zoned out, not paying attention to the conversation at hand anymore. She thought about her sleepover with Max, wondering what look Max had in mind, how the dance would turn out to be and what she would do if there would be a boy asking her for a dance. Would she say yes or decline politely? She couldn't say for sure. She had agreed to dancing with Dustin, but that was something else entirely. If there would be a boy outside of their group of friends asking her, it would have a completely different implication.
She heard her red-haired friend's mocking voice in her head to just go for it and enjoy herself, while the grumpy voice of her dad told her that all boys only had one thing on their mind, and she should keep her distance.
El guessed, she had to wait if such a situation would actually arise tomorrow to see whom of the two would win her inner battle.
When everyone was saturated, Joyce and Hopper cleaned up, and Will and El excused themselves to Will's room to give their parents some space.
Hopper had just nodded in agreement about their statement where they were going and EL couldn't help but wonder what happened to her dad's rule of El not having a boy in her room. Well, this wasn't technically her room, but the situation was the same. So, she was contemplating if that rule didn't apply because it was Will, whom she was with, and her dad considered him as trustworthy, or if this could have been any boy she went with, as long as it wasn't Mike.
Will turned on his cassette recorder and El made herself comfortable at the end of his bed. Will joined her and both listened to the music playing for a bit. 'Combat Rock' was one of both their favourite albums and their music taste was something just the two of them shared with each other.
"So, El…", Will cut the silence. "You wanna talk about it?"
"About what?", she asked, even though by hearing the hesitance in his voice, she had a vague idea where he was going with his question.
"You know, the situation you're in with Mike.", he started and as she wasn't replying, he continued, "Well, I know you since we were kids and even though we do not talk about it ever, I can tell what's going on. And if I'm not mistaken it has been going on for a while now, but lately it becomes more obvious. I mean, even Dustin and Lucas have realized something is off."
El sighed heavily, sensing that there was no point in denying it. "What do you want me to say?"
"Nothing, if you don't want to.", Will clarified. "But I want you to know that I'm here for you if you want to talk about it. You must know, I'm a pretty good listener. And I can assure you, I won't say a word to Mike, if that's what you're worrying about. You're just as much my friend as he is."
El considered this for a moment. It was true that Will and Mike were super close, and even though she and Will might not share the same level of trust as the two boys did, she still would entrust the boy in front of her with her life, and she knew he thought the same way about her. And maybe it would be nice to confide in someone else than Max for a change, and from all the available options, Will would surely be her first choice.
"I don't know where to start.", El said warily, while looking at the hands in her lap. "As you observed correctly, it has been going on for quite a while."
"Then start there, at the beginning.", Will suggested.
She contemplated his suggestion. What was the beginning to this story?
"Yeah well, I cannot define a day when it started precisely…", she began slowly. "I think it was more a constant development and when I realized what was going on, it was too late already. I was so deep in it by then, that there was no way back anymore." El paused again, sorting through all the memories that came crashing in on her. Will watched her but waited patiently for her to continue.
El took a deep breath to steady her nerves and started again. "In the beginning I thought that it's just a silly crush and it would vanish as quickly as it had started in the first place. Or at least that was what I kept telling myself, because as I know by now it never started quickly, but developed over months and years, and it was never a crush to begin with." Will nodded in understanding but kept quiet.
"At some point I had to face the truth, that my feelings went deep and that they wouldn't just disappear. But from that point onwards, it just spiralled further down. Because accepting my feelings meant I also had to accept that he didn't feel the same way." In that moment, she saw Will's mouth opening, as if he was about to say something, but she beat him to it.
"Don't! I know what you're about to say. Max has said it a thousand times by now; that he has feelings for me, but has not fully figured it out, yet, but that he will come around eventually, blah blah blah… Believe me, I have been there myself. Once I had figured out my own feelings, I kept constantly alternating between hoping for him to wake up one morning and to be in love with me, on the one side, and scolding myself for being such a stupid fool, and trying everything to shut down my feelings for him, on the other side. I even thought sometimes that I saw something in his eyes or interpreted a gesture as something more meaningful, but in the end, I had to realize every single time that I either imagined it or misinterpreted it. I cannot count anymore, how often I felt hopeful, before realization came crashing back on me. But I kept silently waiting for him until he would be on the same page with me, and I told myself I'm content with just being his friend until then. You know, I kept telling myself that he was not ready, yet, and if I would only wait long enough, that he would come around eventually."
She shortly paused and inhaled deeply, preparing herself for the next part. "But last summer I had to learn in the most painful way possible, that I have been kidding myself all along. Because while I had been silently waiting on the side line, he had fallen in love himself, but that someone was not me. And I realized, that ultimately, it doesn't matter how much I wish for something to happen or how much I think it makes sense for us to get together, because I think we belong to each other, in the end he is his own person, with his own feelings and makes his own decisions, and no one has any control over his heart. So bottom line is, I'm stuck with being his best friend and though I would not want to miss one minute of his friendship it hurts so much to watch him being happy with someone else."
El finished her monologue feeling exhausted from talking that much in one go. She looked over at Will, who had attentively listened to her. He seemed to progress all this information and to be searching for the right reply.
Finally, he decided that words were not enough, and he wrapped her in a tight hug. His arms wrapping around her back and pressing her small frame against his own body with determination. El was overwhelmed by the love radiating from him and she felt tears spring to her eyes. She quickly pulled back and rubbed her eyes dry with the sleeve of the pullover she was wearing.
Will waited until she collected herself, before he spoke for the first time. "El… I don't quite know how to respond to all of that. But first, I want you to know that I'm thankful that you shared all of that with me. So, thank you for trusting me and please believe me when I tell you that nothing of what you just told me will ever leave this room." El graced his words with a small grateful smile.
"Now, to the topic at hand. I come to realize, that I might have been wrong with my assumption on how long this has been going on. From what you say, I get the impression that this is rather a matter of years, than months. Truth be told, I first suspected something early this year and got the confirmation in June. But I guess you had feelings for Mike already before this year, right?"
El nodded in response and mumbled sheepishly, "For two and a half years. At least, that's how long I'm aware of my feelings."
"Oh shit, I'm sorry El. If I would have known, I would have approached you a lot sooner. I feel like I let you down pretty much.", Will said sadly and El guessed he was scolding himself for failing one of his friends, so she tried to reassure him quickly.
"It's okay, don't blame yourself. I tried very hard to keep it a secret, so I can be happy that at least that worked quite some time in my favour."
"Believe me, you did a good job in hiding them back then. I guess you arranged yourself with being his friend, like you said, so it wasn't visible to the outside. I only started to observe you more closely when I realized that you kept shutting down any boy that tried to approach you in any way and that you generally showed no interest in any of the guys at school. And since Trish is involved, I see it more clearly now, and even Dustin and Lucas are not fully oblivious anymore. But don't worry they won't mess with you. We discussed it recently and they respect you way too much for that."
El felt herself blushing at the thought that her feelings for Mike were a discussion topic among the boys. She had never thought that they would speak about something so personal behind her back and she wondered what their opinions were on the matter.
"And speaking of Mike, let's just say he wouldn't realize anything until it hits him hard against the head. He's my best friend and everything, but the guy is a genius when it comes to persuading himself that things are not the way they seem to be. So, if he ever had the slightest suspicion on any of your feelings, he surely managed to talk himself into believing the exact opposite, questioning his whole being, his own actions and emotions in the process. And all these insecurities are the biggest problem he is facing right now. Because, even though you were right and he has not always been on the same page as you when it comes to both your feelings, let me tell you that has changed recently."
Upon this announcement, El's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Was Will implying what she thought he was? Had Mike said anything about this towards Will? Her heartbeat quickened just from the mere possibility.
Sensing her questions, Will clarified, "Well, he has not said anything outright to the boys or me, but believe me I know him, and he is the worst when it comes to hiding any of his emotions. He couldn't hide his feelings if his life depended on it; he's like an open book to read. And as an outsider, not being emotionally involved, I observed him, and his face just says it all."
El was eager to learn more and was about to inquire when Will cut her off. "I won't say much else on the topic, as it is not my place to talk about Mike's feelings. But seeing the situation you are stuck in I will just say one more thing. Just recall yesterday's event at lunch. If you think about that closely you will get all the answers you are looking for."
El thought back to the situation in the cafeteria. She knew exactly which moment Will was talking about. How could she ever forget the heart-pounding and intense stare of Mike? She had relived that moment countless times in the past 32 hours and had thought about it from every angle.
Those dark brown eyes that had stared right into hers, drawing her in, making the world around her fade into nothingness, and stopping her body to function. And no matter how much she doubted everything, she was sure he had felt it, too. It had only been the two of them in those precious seconds; so much she knew. But what she didn't know was what had caused it. It was different to the incident in the Wheeler's basement, where her looks had caught his eye. This time they had only sat together like on every day at lunch time. Nothing special had happened that would explain him intensely looking at her.
She had run over the situation countless times in her head, trying to decipher the emotions that were displayed on his face. And she had been asking herself the same questions repeatedly. What had he been thinking before looking at her? What had he thought while staring into her eyes? Or had his mind been as blank as hers? Had his heart been pounding just as loud as her own, threatening to draw the attention of everyone around them? There were just so many questions she didn't have an answer to.
A knock at Will's bedroom door tore her out of her reverie. "El, it's time to go.", her dad called.
They stood up from the bed and walked into the hallway, where Joyce and Hopper were waiting.
El said goodbye to Joyce and afterwards hugged Will tightly. She tried to put all her gratitude into the embrace, for him listening to her matters of the heart and for him being such a good friend in general.
When she sat in the passenger seat on their ride home a few minutes later, her thoughts were still running over the conversation with Will.
Over the past weeks numerous people in her life had hinted that Mike developed some feelings for her that surpassed the normal love for a best friend. And even though she wished for them being right, she had highly doubted their assumptions. But something in the way Will had said it, let her hope that there might be some truth to it.
In the end, they didn't call him Will the Wise for nothing, right?
Lyrics:
And you've got a smile
That can light up this whole town
I haven't seen it in a while
Since she brought you down
You say you're fine, I know you better than that
Hey, what you doing with a girl like that?