When It's Cold ; Byler

Chapter 3: Boyfriends Lie

                        Jane (El) Hopper
Hopper's Residence / THU June 9th / 8:22 AM

El lay awake in bed. She had a lot of things on her mind. Things that were bothering her that caused her to fiddle with her hands. She sat on her bed contemplating whether or not she would get up and go over to the phone. Debating whether to call Mike. Usually she didn't have any hesitation. But something was stopping her.

She sighed.

Okay you'll do it the next time you look over.

Some reason that made her not want to look back over. But she soon found herself staring at it again.

She got up and headed over to it. She put in Mike's number. The phone rang for a while before the line connected.

"Mike?". There was silence. "Oh! Um..hey El!". She smiled. She was happy to hear his voice "Hey!". "Are you okay? Do you need anything?", he asked. Her heart melted. He was so thoughtful and kind.

"Not really. I was wondering..if you wanted to go to Star court Mall, tomorrow, for ice cream?". The line was silent for a second. "Oh! Tomorrow? I wish I could but uh..I uh..have stuff to do tomorrow. Maybe another time? We could hang out Saturday, maybe?". El frowned. She was disappointed.

"Saturday might work. What about today? What are you busy with anyway?", she asked. "Um..my mom asked if I could help her with something. I didn't really feel like helping her but she's been getting a bit fed up with my attitude". El sighed.

He didn't answer her question about today.

"What about today?"

...

There was silence.
"Sorry.. Did you say something? I gotta go get my moms calling me."

...

"See you Saturday!"

"Okay..see you".

__

El groaned. She was really bored. Mike didn't hear her ask about hanging out today but he seemed busy. Right? But she shrugged the thought off. She hung herself upside down, blood rushing to her head.

Bang! The sound startled her, making her fall off the bed, hitting her head. "Ow..". She rubbed her head. What was that sound?

She got up and walked around the house. Wondering if something inside caused the sound. But everything was in its place. She headed over to the door, unlocking it to see if the sound came from outside. The sun hit her face, blinding her for a moment. She squinted into the distance. She saw Max. Who was currently stopped in front of her house trying out tricks on her skateboard. She smiled. Maybe Max was free to hang out.

She walked down toward the road. Max's skateboard flew toward her. She stopped it with her foot and picked it up. Max looked over at her and smiled. "Oh hey El!" , Max greeted, running up to her, taking the skateboard. "Hi Max. Are you busy today? I'm pretty bored and have nothing to do", she asked.

She was really hoping Max would want to hang out. She had a lot of fun with Max and they hung out a lot, well when she wasn't with Mike. She had never had Max over before. Well she never had any girl over before. Max was her first girlfriend. When she had first made friends it was the party. Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Will. She connected with Mike, but she never knew what it was like having a girlfriend, like all the girls at school had.

She would wonder some days, passing the halls seeing girls giggling together. It seemed like a different kind of familiar. A soft, warm, giggling familiar. But when she tried making friends with those girls they would judge her.