I don't even have the words. I know it's been forever. My deepest apologies. I hope you enjoy.
Mike's POV
Every day with El was different. A good different.
Special.
That's the best way to describe it.
For a while, I struggled to understand my feelings. And while you'd think spending more time with her would help, sometimes it brought up more questions instead. It all got increasingly curious until a few days ago when, and I still cannot believe it, she kissed me. Because I mean, she wouldn't have done that unless she felt similarly towards me as I did towards her, right? It was that brief moment of uncertainty that led me to kiss her back. All that confidence shot back down at realizing there was a police car just outside and El had to break away to see what was going on.
It felt like waking up from a dream.
I didn't even realize that her dad, the Chief, could have been the one to show up until the officer that did said he would radio him if El and I didn't start talking about why we were here.
El handled it though and the most her dad got involved at the time was when his name appeared as the registered owner of El's car. Thinking we'd be let go, I calmed down and felt my heart start beating again. But how I felt before was nothing compared to when I sat in the back of the police car on the way to Hawkins police station, a place I fortunately have never had to enter. With El there though, it didn't really feel as bad as it would have been under another circumstance.
I must not have done a great job of appearing calm based on how El literally told me not to freak out when she said we might have to go into her dad's office. Naturally the freaking out commenced at realizing I was about to meet her dad. I've seen Chief Hopper in the past of course, around town and sometimes at local events. I've only really gotten a semi-close look at him once. It was towards the end of the school day about a year and a half ago. He and El were on their way out of the principal's office. I turned away from the 'volunteers needed' flyer on the bulletin board to see him huffing, with an angry look on his face. El walked behind him with her arms crossed. As that's the best view I had of him, it was the most prominent one and so I can't help but feel like we were about to repeat that.
I fully intended to let El do all the talking, knowing it was the absolute best idea. But that plan only lasted a matter of seconds before the Chief said something directed towards me.
It was the most basic, elemental question. And yet when he asked for my name, I was unable to answer. El probably should have prepared me for this. I managed to answer and even confirm that I was in fact with El at the cabin. It wasn't until he asked what we were doing there that really left me speechless. Luckily, he didn't focus on that much longer since he quickly shifted to the, I suppose, second person we have in common.
Maybe it's because I've known Will, and by extension, his mom, for a lot longer than El but I suddenly felt a lot more comfortable speaking. Despite that, it was a huge relief when the Chief excused me just a moment later. He said it was to speak to El, which made sense especially since she hadn't said a word this whole time. As I made my way out the door, and El threw me a tight smile, I became really nervous for her. Given the little she told me about her home life, I don't imagine she and her dad have a bad relationship, but I also don't think he'd be too thrilled about what happened.
I wasn't hearing any yelling from my seat just outside the office, not that I was actually expecting it. A few minutes later, she emerged and behind her was the Chief. In an unexpected move, that led me to wonder even more about their conversation, he reached out his hand for a handshake. I took it and he surprised me again by saying it was, 'good to meet me'. With the mumbled response I gave, I barely noticed El wince in embarrassment next to me.
As we were being escorted out by the other officer who would drive us back to the cabin, I wanted to ask El how her talk with her dad went. But I didn't really have a chance to speak to her until we were back in her car and she was driving me home. It was a lot easier said than done to get a conversation going.
Luckily, how it had been for most of the night, she sort of went first.
I never thought I'd have a conversation like this with anyone. And I especially couldn't believe it was with El.
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when she said she liked me and even more so when she reached to move my hair from my face.
For possibly the first time since I met her, I knew exactly what to do. I kissed her and luckily this time, she didn't pull away. Having previously rare opportunities, I looked at her intently when I held her face.
She really likes me. She wasn't lying.
Wow.
A part of me wanted to rebel when she said we better get me home. I knew it was the best idea but the drive there would also give me the chance to think of what to do next. Theoretically, given the fact that we both confessed our feelings for each other and kissed -twice- the next step seems to be that we should become boyfriend and girlfri-.
Woah.
That feels a little fast. I'm sure there are some things that come first. I barely noticed we had arrived at my house until she put the car in park, turned to me, and spoke. She suggested we go on a date. I couldn't believe I completely forgot about that.
I felt, and she probably intended it like this, given all she's done for us to get here, that I had to make the next official move. When she smiled, I knew saying I'd call her was the right thing to do.
I had missed dinner but fortunately, my mom had enough on her mind that she didn't get angry but did save me a plate. She was upstairs getting Holly ready for bed which left me alone in the kitchen, preparing my dinner and wondering how to proceed. After reheating it in the microwave, I carefully brought my dinner over to the coffee table in the living room and grabbed a drink from the fridge as the TV turned on. I wasn't picky about what to watch since it would mostly be a distraction to get my mind off El for a bit.
Just as I was finishing up and mom re-entered the kitchen, I held the remote to turn the TV off when the bright, flashy colors of what was displayed on screen stopped me. It was a commercial for the roller rink downtown. According to the ad, they had just finished their renovations and were now open.
I decided to call El the following day after school. Even though I thought of our plans quickly, I didn't want to come off as too eager by calling so soon. Plus, she, for whatever reason, may not have been home yet.
Finding her last name in the phone book was easier than I expected. All I could hope for is that she was the one to answer. Considering I had a 50/50 chance and she said her dad sometimes works late, I figured luck would be on my side.
The ringing seemed to go on forever. And then...
"Hello?" It was one word but it sounded nothing like her. Until I remembered, of course, that we were on the phone.
"El?"
"Who is this?" The voice was overly inquisitive and I was starting to think it maybe wasn't El.
"Umm, this is Mike."
"Oh!" The voice on the other end exclaimed so much, I could almost see the excitement. "One moment please. El! It's for you!"
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Knowing there was a chance she might not answer, I had planned something to say in case her dad did. But a third person? I could not have seen that coming.
Before I could think of what to say, another voice came on the line.
"Mike?" This was distinguishably El.
"El. Hey." A wave of relief came over me.
"Hi. You found me." I knew she was referring to me finding her number in the phone book, but maybe she also meant it differently.
"Yeah. You're the only 'Hopper' in town." She giggled despite me not making a joke. "Did I call at a bad time? I didn't know you had company." I called to ask her out, but it felt somewhat strange just to jump into that. I was kind of curious about who answered the phone anyway.
"No. Now is good. Sorry about Max. Her and Kali are over and they like to make themselves at home a bit too much sometimes." She unnecessarily apologized. "I'm glad you called."
"Yeah, of course." With what I know about her friends, it makes sense they would answer a phone that doesn't belong to them.
"Mike? You still there?" I went longer than I thought without speaking.
"Yeah. I'm still here. Umm..." I guess this was it. At least I felt secure in knowing she wasn't going to turn me down. "So... err. About yesterday: do you have any plans on Friday night?" I had to make sure she was available of course.
"Friday night?" I could have sworn I heard gasps and giggles in the background. "Umm..." Something about her tone seemed hesitant. Had I done something wrong? It didn't seem like it up until this point. "Yes, Friday works. What time?"
Oh, right.
"Umm, is seven good?"
"Yes! That works for me. What did you have in mind?"
I've been to Rink-O-Mania a few times over the years and it has always been a popular spot in town. There's always lots of people of all ages there and everyone seemed to have a good time. This, I suddenly realized, may not apply to El and her friends, who seem too cool for something so common.
Maybe it's better if I don't tell her.
"It's a surprise." Also this way, if I do decide to change plans, at least she won't know about my original idea.
"Oooh, okay. I'll pick you up at seven then?"
"No, I'll pick you up." This part I'm sure I'm right about.
"You-you have a car?"
"No, but I'll borrow my mom's." I answered swiftly, having already thought of all this.
"Oh, yeah. Okay. Sorry I didn't realize you knew how to drive. Since you take your bike and all."
I shrugged though she couldn't see it.
"A bike's just easier." Also, of course, it's not nearly as expensive as a car. "But it won't be a problem. I've borrowed her car in the past."
"Okay, sounds good." This time, even I could sense her excitement.
"Okay, great." I nodded. "I'll see you in school tomorrow." It seemed crazy that we still had to get through the rest of the school week, the last one before the holiday break, before our date. And we'd still see each other at tutoring tomorrow.
"Yeah, I'll see you. Bye." Within a couple of seconds we were disconnected. Now that El and I are confirmed for Friday, I needed to confirm with my mom that I could borrow her car.
Seeing as it's the last week of school of the year, and all exams are done and major homework assignments turned in, I don't really know why after school tutoring was going on this week at all, instead of just Friday's session being canceled.
But it meant I got to see El once more before our date, so I don't have much to complain about.
After going over some recent calculus lessons so that she wouldn't fall behind during the week and a half break, we, along with it seemed all the other pairs in the room killed time by talking about plans for the holidays. However, no one else probably had the plans El and I had together.
"So..." El started as she crossed her legs and leaned slightly back in her chair. "Friday."
"Yeah, Friday." I nodded, with a slight smile.
"Can I get a hint as to what we're doing? I don't think that's asking for too much."
"Uhh..." I felt strangely confident that El would end up liking the roller rink idea, even if she already had a negative opinion on it. But since she seemed to already have made elaborate plots to surprise me, I thought, especially in the form of a date that she originally suggested, it was best that I alone know the plan.
"Just so I can make sure I wear the right thing, you know?" She argued.
"Wear something... comfortable." Not that I didn't mind seeing it, but I thought that was the best way to tell her that maybe her tight jeans and tops would not be the best choice. She smiled suspiciously and squinted her eyes, likely thinking of what activities require comfortable clothing.
"Okay." She gave a single nod, like that was wrapping up the subject. "Can I ask you another question?"
"Sure." Considering where we are and that she had already asked about tomorrow, I thought it was going to be a question about schoolwork. I moved my hand to my backpack, ready to open it again.
"Is this your first one?"
"Huh?" Because what she was saying wasn't clear.
"Your first date?" Oh.
Something in her tone told me she already knew the answer.
"Yeah," I confirmed. There was no sense in denying it. Then, abruptly, I wondered the same thing about her and noticed I didn't actually know. "Is it yours?" She moved a piece of hair behind her ear before speaking.
"Well, I guess we're not counting car rides after sneaking out past curfew while sharing a cigarette, so yeah. It's my first date too."
So then, no pressure.
"Oh, okay." I immediately became about ten times more nervous than a few moments ago.
"I'm excited." She said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "In case it wasn't obvious." Even from here I could see her face heating up. "Oh, and uhh, I know it's not a big deal but I wanted to apologize again for my friends on the phone. I don't answer their phones when I'm at their house so I don't know where their manners went." She ended with a light laugh. No longer feeling the pressure of asking her out, I was able to focus on the fact that El wasn't the first person I spoke to when the phone was answered the other day. I did find it odd that Max answered, but more importantly was that she didn't seem surprised that I was the one who was calling. And El just confirmed her other friend was also there, presumably in the same room.
Had she told her friends about us?
Not that there is much of an 'us' to share.
It never occurred to me that she would. Did she ever imply that she did? I suddenly couldn't remember just how much and how in depth she talked about her friends.
Apart from the slight awkwardness of the phone call, I couldn't tell how I felt about it. I guess it makes sense that she told her friends about me. Girls are... girls. And seeing how school is something all four of us have in common, I was somehow bound to come up. I wonder if her friends knew I was calling to ask her out. I wonder how much they know.
This made me realize though, I haven't told my friends anything about El. All they know is that I tutor El and a couple times we have met up - for similar reasons- outside of school. There had been some times where I wanted to talk to Lucas about it and while I had reasons for not wanting to talk to the other guys, I still never ended up telling Lucas about it. It's not like anything ever slipped out about El or about me and El to them. I know I've sometimes acted weird when she is brought up, but they never seemed to notice or ask why so I guess I've never had much of a chance.
Hell, I never told all of them about the party she and I went to.
And now I was about to go out with her for real and they have no clue.
"Mike? You okay?" El's voice brought me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry, I'm just tired." She nodded, no disagreements there. "It's okay about your friends. I - I didn't know-"
"Okay, everyone! Session is over. Thanks for all your hard work these past months. Everyone have a great holiday and a happy new year." Mrs. Chapman spoke out to the group, dismissing us. As most pairs already had their supplies put away by now, nearly everyone was on their feet at once.
"So I'll see you Friday. At seven." She smiled.
"Yeah. Seven." I smiled back but also adjusted my glasses. El turned and walked away, becoming easily engulfed in the crowd of students also leaving.
It seems weird to say the day had finally arrived, since plans were only set three days ago. But I know that it's really been longer than that. Tonight was my date with El.
I had homework for most of my classes and despite that I had until early January to turn everything in, I found myself working on it now in order to distract myself.
My mom didn't give me any issues about borrowing her car. She didn't even ask what I needed it for and assumed it was to hang out with the guys tonight. I didn't correct her and I knew it was easier that way. Since she was working the day shift though, it was just me and Holly in the house all day. Between my own homework and helping Holly with hers, having lunch, and my foot nervously tapping all day, my mom finally walked through the door around 5:30.
Knowing I wasn't eating dinner at home, I ran upstairs to take a shower and get ready. It was all a blur from there. My mom had left her keys on the coffee table and I grabbed them as I headed out the door, barely saying goodbye.
"Bye mom! Thanks again!"
"Bye honey, drive safe!"
Just after turning on the car, I opened up the piece of paper where I wrote El's address to double check which direction I would be turning in. Almost immediately after pulling out of the driveway, my heart started beating incredibly fast.
Here's a timeline refresh since it's been so long (I apologize again): Tutoring is on every Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday. Since it's the last week before break, no tutoring on Friday anyway.
The events in the cabin/police station happen on Monday, Mike calls El to ask her out on Tuesday, they see each other again on Wednesday for the last tutoring session of the year, and then don't meet up until their date on Friday.
WHAT a week for these two.
If you are feeling up to it, and I'm hoping you are, please review!