The Side Ways [mileven]

chapter 7 - the rain

Mike's point of view...

It was the next morning, and that morning was a rainy Friday one. On Fridays, the boys and I would stay the night at one or the other's house. We alternated weekends. This weekend was my weekend, and like I had told the boys yesterday, anyways, we were going to talk about our connection. I wasn't going to let a second go to waste.

As soon as I was awake enough to do so, I picked up my intercom and attempted to talk to Lucas to see if he was up.

"Lucas, its Mike. Do you copy? Over."

Silence.

"Lucas, do you copy? Over."

"I copy."

...

...

"You have to say 'over' whe-"

"I'm awake! Over!"

I chuckled lightly at his annoyance.

"Anyways," I began to say. "Remember, you're coming over for the night after school, and I plan on discussing-"

"We know. Eleven. I'm all in. Over."

"Good. Make sure you bring your intercom, too. You never know. It might come in handy. Over."

"Sure. I'll see you at school, Mike. Over and out."

I pushed in my antenna and got out of bed to get dressed and do the rest of my morning routine.

----------

I sat beside Nancy at breakfast, and I had to admit, she looked slightly different. She looked as if she were guilty of something. Apparently, my mom noticed, too. "Nance, are you alright? You look a bit pale." Nancy didn't answer. "Nancy?" My mom asked, trying to get her attention. Nancy was busy staring at her breakfast plate to talk, I guess. I snapped my fingers in front of her face. "Earth to Nancy Wheeler," I said. She jerked her head up and glared at me. Before she could yell at me, my mom interjected. "Nancy! What's wrong with you this morning?" Nancy's face scrunched. "I- I- Nothing, momma. I'm fine," she lied. Her lying has only gotten worse and worse.

I rolled my eyes and continued to eat my breakfast. My mom decided to leave Nancy alone, but Holly didn't. "Nancy okay?" She asked. Nancy smiled at our little sister. "Yes, Holly, Nancy's okay," she said as she stood up and kissed her forehead, then proceeded to put her plate in the sink. Soon enough, I was done, too, and I had put my dishes away in the sink.

I ran upstairs to my room to grab my rain jacket and backpack for school. When I returned downstairs, I heard Holly say, "More juice! More juice!" I came down at the wrong time. "Michael, honey, before you leave, could you just go get Holly some more juice, please?" My mom asked. I softly sighed, but agreed to anyways.

I grabbed Holly's cup and took the top off. I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, taking out some apple juice and pouring it back into her cup. As I was putting the lid back on Holly's cup, I heard a noise and turned around. It was the sink. The sink was on. My mouth gaped open as I remembered what Will had told us yesterday about the sink in his house. "Eleven? Is that you?" I whispered, only halfway expecting an answer. It could have easily just been in my head, but I swore I heard a voice say "Mike." Going with my instinct, I replied, "Contact me around 3:30 today, okay, El? That's 3, 3, 0, understand?" I asked, once again in a whisper tone. The voice returned. "3, 3, 0," it said. I smiled. The voice sounded extremely hushed and as if it were very far away, but I knew it was her. I knew it was Eleven. I knew her voice as well as I knew my own. "El, I have to go now, but remember, 3, 3, 0." "Goodbye, Mike," the voice returned.