jane hopper
──
as mike ducked under the window, and rolled just under my bed, i threw a small blanket over him, adding a few pillows to hide his head and feet.
then, i bit my lip, grunting. hopper is going to kill mike, i thought, sighing. then, i heard a knock on my door. my heart stopped, but i fanned myself and got to my feet quickly. "el, come out here," hopper said, stiffly. i frowned and hurried out the small room.
nancy and jonathan were standing in the doorway, looking worried. i frowned, because friends definitely don't lie, but i had to just this once. "el, have you seen mike? apparently he went to dustin's for the night but we couldn't find him there."
i bit my lip, and put my hands behind my back. "uh, um, no," i said, simply. she just nodded, and looked down as jonathan put an arm around her. "it's okay," he assured her. i furrowed my eyebrows and looked at hopper who pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded towards my room.
i hurriedly walked back into my room, carefully shutting the door and pulling mike out of the blankets and pillows. "you need to go," i whisper yelled. he nodded, and kissed my cheek one last time. "adios," he said, jokingly. "adios?" i asked, feeling dumb and confused. he shook his head, smiling.
"i'll tell you later, el. bye," he said, and walked towards the window, glancing at me again. "i- uh, i like you a lot," he said, blushing. i smiled. "i like you, too."
he nodded and flipped his legs out of the small house before running outside to grab his bike, and before i knew it he was way down the driveway before anyone could see him.
mike wheeler
──
it normally only takes me ten minutes to ride home, but with how scared i am about my parents yelling at me, i knew i would have to make up some crazy excuse. so, i planned it all out.
the plan was that i would say i sprained my ankle, spent the night at will's house, but left really early and got lost through the woods.
so, thats what i told my worried sick mother at 1:37 pm on a Sunday.
she frowned, and crossed her arms. i looked down, nervously. "why did you leave early, anyway?," she asked, tapping her foot impatiently. i almost sighed in relief that she believed me.
"i don't know," i said, gently. she rolled her eyes and i saw her shift her glare off of me and onto my father who was asleep in his chair. "okay, but don't do anything like that again, mike," she warned.
i gulped, and nodded. "okay, mom," i said, crossing my arms. "and tell me when you stay at someone's house next time, too, okay?" she raised her voice a little as i walked a bit away from her, then turning around before my mother could get another word in as i hurried up the staircase.
i could still picture el's soft curls that framed her soft porcelain face as she laid her head on my thigh the night before. i smiled, and opened the door to my pale room. there's still some unwrapped gifts from christmas sitting on my window ceil, and a bunch of christmas cards i pulled out before i left to go to the swimming hole laying on my bed.
other than that, my room is completely clean, my single bed covered in flat, tidy bed sheets and blankets and my drawers neatly pressed against the wall.
i sighed, and closed the door behind me, running my slim hands through my messy hair. with nothing to do all day, especially not with el seeing as she's got plans with max, i grabbed my walkie talkie. maybe lucas can hang out today.
"lucas, lucas, do you copy? over," he said, and waited for his friend to reply, a minute later hearing lucas' scratchy voice. he sounded sick, but also really, really tired. then again, it may just be a shitty signal. "mike? what's up? over."
"d & d at mine tonight? max is taking el to the arcade and they're having their own sleepover, uh, over."
"oh, so max won't be there?"
mike could hear the disappointment in his voice, and smiled to himself. he, personally, was glad that el, well, jane, was doing something normal for once. "yeah, over."
"is el even allowed out? wasn't it a year or something?" lucas said, annoyed he couldn't see his girlfriend. i rolled my eyes at his childishness but ignored it. "hopper wants her to have an at least normal childhood," i answered, and started to remember her rules.
"she won't go out into public much, but when she does she'll wear an oversized jacket and some sunglasses, and she has a curfew till 5 pm when she has to ride back to either joyce's house or hopper's cabin."
"oh. but, sure, yeah, whatever. is dustin and will coming?," he asked, and i could hear a tiny bit of excitement in his voice. he was still a nerd at heart, even though he seems to act cooler because he has a super tomboy girlfriend now.
"yeah, i think," mike smirks as he leans back onto his bed frame. "sorry about your little girlfriend, by the way."
he hears a grunt from the other side. "shut up, mike. i'll see you in ten."
"don't be late," mike said, smiling as he put down the walkie talkie and raced to the phone to call will and dustin, who said they'd be there soon, and then he went down to the basement to put everything in place.
even though he had a lot of stuff to do for the next hour or ten, he still couldn't stop thinking about a certain curly haired girl who stole his heart.
as he heard the doorbell ring, his mother yelled out to him. "coming!," he shouted, and raced upstairs taking a final glance at the basement to meet his friends, who stood in the hallway while his mother poured them drinks of what seemed to be lemonade.
he rolled his eyes, but poured his own glass anyway.
