Mike's pov
There he was. As I looked over across the airport my eyes locked with his. It had been months, no nearly a whole year since I had seen my best friend, the boy that made everything so confusing yet so good.
And there she was. My girlfriend, my girlfriend that loved me, that loves me so fucking much. She made everything easy and I loved her. The smile on her face was bright and as we locked eyes the smile on mine grew. She ran over to me and our lips collided. As she pulled away and lifted my arms out allowing her to see the flowers I had picked for her.
"Hi Mike." She whispered our foreheads attached.
"Hi El." I whispered pulling away to look at everyone else. My eyes instantly went to Will, they always did. He gave me a small wave and as I reached him I gave him a small and fast hug. He gave me a small sad look as I pulled back and all I could do was give him a sad smile in return. I looked down and saw something in his hand.
"What's that?" I asked pointing to the scroll. El told me he had been painting, she told me it was for a girl. That thought crushed me but he's here, with me and the paintings right here. He shook his head and looked back over at me,
"Oh it's nothing." He smiled scrunching the paper slightly as he hid it away. I had some hope it was for me but as he hid it the thought of it being for a girl hit me and all I could do was nod and say okay.
El had made plans for the day. A day at the skating rink, Will was coming too. I had never roller bladed before and El surprisingly was good at it and a good teacher too. Will was behind us. I wanted to skate with him, to talk to him but I was with El and we were having fun.
The day ended in a disaster however. El lied to me, for months. She told me Angela was her friend but they weren't, actually El was being bullied and I felt like shit. I was her boyfriend, I was meant to protect her and I, I failed. To make matters worse El ran off and we couldn't find her. I was stressed and Will wasn't helping.
"Mike!" Will shouted pulling my arm making me stop. We ended up arguing, I didn't mean to shout at him, I just needed to find Eleven. This trip was meant to be easy, I needed it to be easy. We eventually found El. She had fought back. Angela was bleeding and all I could do was just stare at her.
The ride back was silent. Even dinner was silent, Joyce and Murray trying to start conversation, Jonathon high as a kite, both Will and El not talking to me. Why wasn't this easy. Joyce asked about today and Argyle, Jonathon's new friend opened his mouth.
"Skate attack?" Joyce gasped.
"Don't worry she's completely fine." This time I couldn't hold back.
"She didn't look fine!" I remarked making El slam her cutlery down and leave. Why did I keep messing this up. Will's eyes were on me, he wanted me to stay but I couldn't.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I whispered looking over at El. She said nothing.
"I mean, you've seen it.I've been bullied my entire life...I know what it's like." I told her sitting on her bed. She still wouldn't look at me.
"No." She replied quietly, "You don't." She continued finally looking at me.
"What don't I understand?" I laughed confused. What did she mean I don't get it, how on earth wouldn't I get it?
"I am different. I do not belong." I furrowed my eyebrows,
"In Lenora?" I asked confused.
"Anywhere." I sighed,
"You...you can't actually believe that?" I asked shocked.
"Everyone looks at me like...like I'm a monster."
