Chapter 2: Meaning of Love
"So, Derry evacuees are moving in," Dustin says.
"Did they ever say what was wrong with the town?" Lucas asks.
"Either toxicity in the water or tampons backing up the water main," Dustin says.
Mike and Lucas look at him in disgust, but the mention of such products just flies right over Eleven's head.
"What? They are similar in a lot of ways..."
Mike rolls his eyes.
"Isn't Derry that town where kids would go missing like every other week?" Lucas asks.
"Yeah, I think so," Mike says. "No wonder they wanted to move."
"Like Will?" Eleven asks.
"Yeah, like when Will went missing, but not to some parallel universe populated by Demogorgons and Mind Flayers," Dustin says.
"And most aren't found alive," Lucas says quietly.
"Like Barb..." Eleven whispers and everyone stops talking.
Suddenly, there's a crackle on Mike's walkie-talkie.
"Yo, loser Lucas," a young female voice says through the speaker. "Mom says to get your ass home before she sends the national guard out after you."
Lucas grabs Mike's walkie-talkie.
"Erica, I swear to god!" he hisses. "You break that thing..."
"Or what? You'll tell your girlfriend about your G.I. Joe collection or that you still sleep with a teddy bear?" she taunts.
"You're dead meat!" Lucas says. He shoves the device back into Mike's hands and goes for his bike parked in the Wheeler driveway.
"Bye guys," he says. "I'll see you tomorrow. First Day of High School."
"Bye." All three of them say.
"I think my mom is going to want me home too," Dustin says. "To feed that cat of hers while she's at Bingo."
"Bingo?" Eleven asks curiously.
"It's a game," Mike explains. "A game where you can win money and stuff..."
"And stuff..." she nods.
"Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow Mike. Bye El," Dustin says, going after his bicycle.
Eleven waves as Dustin pedals out of the cul-de-sac, leaving the two on their own.
Mike swallows very hard, wondering what to talk to her about. Even though they spent almost every day of the summer together, it was going to be in vain as he had to start high school tomorrow. Per the head scientist of DOE's request, El still had to law low for at least another half-year and it didn't help that she was so far behind the other kids and social interactions were still very new to her. She would no doubt be a victim of Troy and James' bullying or maybe some female bullies. She'd be called a freak or worse and because she was so far behind everyone, she'd probably be put in the group with kids with special needs. He'd heard that Chief Hopper was trying to improve her vocabulary with a new word each day and teaching her basic math, but Eleven still struggled. Most wondered if she would ever fit in.
"I'm going to miss you when I'm at school tomorrow," Mike admits.
"Me too," Eleven says, brushing some curls out of her face.
"It's high school... a whole new ballgame."
El giggles for a moment at his lame attempt at a joke before frowning again.
"It's only six hours..." he says.
"Too long," she says.
"I know, but Hopper said that you might be able to join us in the new semester. Then we can see each other more."
She smiles. "I'd like that."
"School sucks, you should consider yourself lucky that you don't have to do it yet."
"Sucks..." she chews on the word.
"Is that your new word for the day?"
She smirks and shakes her head. She leans forward and kisses Mike on the lips.
Her lips are soft and smooth, Mike kisses back gently, feeling his heart race and his face flush a bright red. His hands shook behind his back... he cared about her so much. How he was going to miss her tomorrow.
"Kiss..." she says once they break apart. "That's my new word."
"I thought you already knew that word," Mike says, awkwardly.
"It's the only one I think of with you," she grins.
Mike smiles as well, laughing a little bit.
"I want to go to school," Eleven says quietly. "I want to be normal."
"But you're not normal," Mike says. "You're so much better."
El blushes just as headlights hit the two preteens and Hopper's cop car pulls up.
"Do I need to separate you two? Three inches remember?" the cop says sternly from his rolled-down window.
Eleven frowns in panic.
"I thought that only applied to her bedroom door?" Mike questions.
"It applies in public too," the cop mutters. The tension between him and Mike was still very much palpable after the cop seemingly lost his mind over the amount of time the two spent together. He'd even gone so far as to threaten Mike to back off, which of course failed in the long run. The man of the law decides to change the subject. "You ready to go?"
She nods and turns to Mike. She kisses him once more and he pulls her into a long hug.
"Meet us at the yard after school," Mike says to her. "We'll hang out."
"Promise?" she asks.
"Friends don't lie remember?" he says.
Hopper honks the horn impatiently, causing the two of them to break apart.
She smiles and hugs him tightly again before getting into the passenger seat of the car.
"Stay safe Mike, good luck tomorrow," Hopper says, before rolling up the window and beginning to drive away. Eleven waves to Mike until he vanishes from sight.
The two drive in silence for a long while until Jim decides to turn this into a teaching moment, mostly forced by Joyce to prevent both Mike and Eleven from hating him.
"Affection," he says.
She turns to him in confusion.
"Affection, that can be your new word for today. It's what you give Mike, it can be a kiss or a hug to anyone you care about. It shows that you like someone and that you care about them and their feelings. It can be a way of expressing friendship or love."
"Affection..." she chews on the word. "Love, what is love, Hopper?"
"Oh... that's a hard one. I guess it can be several things. It can be what two people feel for one another... It can be for a family member or a friend."
"Like you and Sarah?" Jane offers.
"Yes, that's more family love, but there's romantic love too... Like Romeo and Juliet, Cleopatra and Antony, or..."
"Me and Mike?"
Hopper looks at her, surprised by this expression by her. He grips the steering wheel hard and grinds his teeth at this prospect.
"Do you love Mike?" he asks quietly.
Eleven ponders it for a moment.
"What does love feel like?"
"Well, it's different for all people. But if you feel that you can trust the person; that you say anything you want to them, that they will accept you for who you are and never let you go. You feel safe around them. You can have butterflies in your stomach, your face can become red hot, your heart races every time you're near them..." He does not want to bring up the sexual aspect for this 13-year-old who doesn't even know what the Tooth Fairy was. "You can feel the need to protect them, that you would do anything for them, that your life is empty without them. They make you happy and you feel as if you know what life is all about..."
With each description, Eleven checks off the boxes on this lengthening list. She was sure that what she had with Mike was love. She remembered how much she missed him during the year they were separated, how much it hurt, and how happy she was with him now. It must be love.
"I love Mike," she says finally.
Despite the seeming shock of this, the father keeps a reasonably level head. While scared and surprised by this declaration, knowing how young the kids were... he knew that it was likely true. The two of them had young love. He was sure that Eleven and Mike cared for each other quite a lot, it made him happy to see her so happy, but was it, love? It seemed to be, but maybe it wouldn't last. One could never be sure, especially at such a young age. Despite how sure she sounded, Hopper was not sure... at least not yet. He tries to shake the murderous thoughts against Mike from his head.
"I'm sure you do," he says finally, as they pull into the driveway of their cabin out in the woods.
He does want to warn her about declaring such a thing as that could frighten a guy away, but from the way Mike looked at Eleven, he was sure it wouldn't scare the little worm too much.
Jane/Eleven goes up into the house, unlocking the door without a key. Hopper had to remember to tell her that she can't just go unlocking people's doors with her powers whenever she feels like it.
He gets inside, taking off his work boots and putting his hat on the table by the door. He watches as Jane goes right to the kitchen and into the freezer.
"Just one Eggo tonight," he says. "And only a dab of whipped cream, otherwise you won't be able to sleep."
"Why?" she asks.
"Just one and I'll explain why," he says.
Hopper just smiles, he goes in and grabs himself a beer and sits down, waiting for his adopted daughter to join him. He knew he should be sending her to school... high school no less, to be with kids her age, but she was like a fragile butterfly or a deer in the woods. She spooked easily, she also wasn't like the other kids... not entirely anyway. She still had a lot to learn. He tries to teach her when he can, but there are only so many hours in a day and Mike and his friends only taught her what they thought was important, which included Dungeons and Dragons and how to burp the alphabet. He grabs the newspaper and begins looking at the classified ads, thinking that he might want to put something around. Find someone like Nancy Wheeler or a student who'd be willing to understand Eleven's situation and tutor her on academic things.
When she joins him at the table, she begins eating with her hands. He frowns.
"What did I tell you?"
Begrudgingly, she grabs a fork and knife and eats with them. Despite how different she was, kids will be kids, no matter where they come from.