A life less ordinary ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

Welcome to hell

El clutched the brown envelope to her chest with one hand and ran through the woods excitedly. Finally reaching her destination she knocked loudly on the door, impatiently repeating the action moments later.

"Ok, ok, coming!" she heard faintly.

The door opened and her face fell, but she tried to disguise the feelings she had. "Hey El, good to see you again" said Billy leaning casually against the doorframe, "Max is out right now, but you can wait for her inside" he added, smirking slightly.

"Uh, ok" she replied hesitantly. She knew deep down that she could protect herself if necessary, but also knew that she had to keep her abilities hidden at all costs, Hopper had been adamant about that and drilled it into her with tales of what the consequences could be.

She carefully took a seat on the other end of the couch and looked around uncomfortably. "So" he started, "guess you'll be turning 16 soon, yeah?" he said raising an eyebrow, his eyes looking her over.

"I...errr..."

"El? when did you get here?" interrupted Max from the doorway.

El glared at Billy who just smirked back, "just now" she said looking back at Max.

Max looked at the scene and pulled El away up to her room, "what was that about?"

"He said you weren't home and that I could wait inside" El answered, debating whether to tell Max what else he'd said although not really understanding what Billy was getting at. Deciding that she should stick to their 'no secrets' rule, she added "then he asked if I was turning 16 soon."

"He what?" said Max incredulously, "that fucking perv."

"What...huh?" asked El.

"Ugh, ever since he's arrived he's hooked up with half the girls his age, boyfriend or no...let's just say he won't break the law on age but he's happy to come close."

El sat there trying to work out what Max meant, she was still very naïve when it came to relationships and the idea of someone being with as many people as possible was completely unknown to her. "I don't understand" she said, looking embarrassed.

"Oh, he's just wants to sleep with as many girls as possible basically" she stated, but then seeing El's continuing confused expression she realised she'd have to be more explicit, "ugh, he wants to have sex with as many girls as possible and he doesn't care about them at all."

"Oh" said El, she had heard people mention sex before, and sometimes when she walked in on the boys talking, catching part of their conversations, and they immediately shut up or changed the subject.

Max was pretty sure El still didn't fully understand, "god damn El, when are you going to come to school so you can learn all this shit and not rely on my terrible knowledge?"

At that El started grinning and waved the envelope in Max's face. "Is that what I think it is? asked Max excitedly, to which El just nodded, "well, what does it say!?"

El shrugged, "I haven't opened it yet, I thought it would be nice if you were there when I did."

"That's so cool...but, don't your family want to see? And Joyce and Hopper? I mean, they're the ones who've been teaching you" reasoned Max, secretly ecstatic that El raced over to show her first.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" El said, a guilty twinge in her voice.

Shit. "I know, I'll ring Joyce, and she can ring the chief, and have them meet us at your house, then you can open it in front of everyone." She smiled as El's eyes lit up at the suggestion.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"Come on then, El, the suspense is killing me...plus I've gotta get back to the station" said Hopper impatiently, earning a less than discreet elbow in the ribs from Joyce.

El took a deep breath and glanced at the people watching her, her family, Joyce and Hopper, her friends, and Max. She was so nervous she didn't even stop to question why she'd put Max in a category by herself. Ripping open the envelope she took out the letter and unfolded it, reading it through slowly and carefully she eventually let her hand's drop and the letter fluttered to the ground, most of the people in the room assumed bad news until her face cracked into the most enormous grin "I passed."

She suddenly found herself surrounded by everyone trying to hug her and saying congratulations. Mike wormed his way through the crowd and lifted her up, bouncing her up and down as he jumped "yes! You can finally join us in hell next year!" he yelled.

"Michael! School is not hell, don't ruin it for El before she's even started!" said Karen sternly.

He finally set her down and Max grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug, "I'm so proud of you" she said warmly, "now we can see each other every day at school" she added. El didn't reply, instead just grinning into Max's shoulder.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*