eleven had been back in hawkins for two months, one for settling down and getting a new identity (courtesy of hopper), and one for catching up and learning the basics of english. everyday at eleven in the morning, eleanor byers would ring the doorbell of the wheeler house for nancy to tutor her. when she'd first returned, her education was a big issue. she hardly knew any basic english or math, and she couldn't be normal without them. of course, mike had offered tutoring himself but nancy knew they wouldn't study. this made the boy blush crazily, as he traipsed back to the basement to el. nancy would teach her until twelve, then mrs wheeler would take over so nancy could head to classes. her lessons with karen ended at three forty five, when the boys would knock the door after school finished at half three.
five months later, el sat at the kitchen table, wearing a pair of blue faded jeans with a white and red basketball style t-shirt, her pen tapping on the wooden table as she tried to figure out the equation in front of her. the worksheet would determine if she could start in school after christmas with her friends, instead of studying all alone. the girl was surprisingly good at english once she'd completely learned what it all meant, and she picked it up incredibly quickly. with a sigh of relief escaping her lips, she finished the test and dropped the pen ontop of the paper with satisfaction. "mrs wheeler I fi-" the girl called out, before hearing the door open and the noise of the four boys echo through the hallway. it made her laugh softly, as she saw mike come through the door to the kitchen.
mike wheeler had changed a lot since the first time el and him met. he grew a lot taller, and he just..wow. once he'd turned fifteen, he seemed to get more attractive over night. eleven didn't pretend to notice, but she noticed the girls giggling and blushing when he walked out of school, straight towards el. sometimes she'd meet the boys there if mrs wheeler was out or busy. she liked it, being able to bike through hawkins to meet them. his hair was shorter, after he'd begged his mom to ditch the bowl cut a few months after el's return. turns out, under all the long brunette hair the had been cut off he had a jawline which entered his entire face.
he grinned once he saw her, walking toward his girlfriend who still sat in the wooden chair at the table. mike put his arms around her neck from behind, bending down to kiss to top of her head. she smiled brightly, putting her hands over his and looking up at him. "hey princess, how'd the test go?" the tall boy asked, moving away to pull up the chair next to her. eleven blushed at the nickname, knowing exactly why he said it. ever since she'd came back, mike had sworn that he'd take care of her, to treat her the best he could for the rest of his life. eleven remembered his words exactly, because it made her cry, 'they treated you like crap in there, and you don't deserve that. you deserve to be treated like the best person on earth, so that's how I'm gonna treat you.' she had been sure he had about to keep talking, but she cut him off with a kiss to his lips.
"I think it went well. I answered everything." el grinned, taking his hand underneath the table as the rest of the boys and maxine piled into the kitchen. mike blushed, before smirking over at her and squeezing her hand reassuringly.
"my clever girl." he said, grinning from ear to ear as the boys chorused in a groan and max awwed at the two.
