Stories From Summer; Stranger Tales From The Summer of '85

14. Bike race

14. Bike race

🔆🔆🔆

Max declared at the Wheeler's bonfire party, that before the summer is out - that they should have a bike race.

This automatically cancelled out both herself and El, who was currently learning to ride a bike (with the help of Hopper and/or Mike) and didn't want to go flying over her bars and hurting herself.

Even though Mike was gutted, and even after he offered to let her sit on the back of his bike - but she declined, as Max had told her that El's additional weight (although it might not be much) would slightly slow Mike down.

🔆🔆🔆

El was stood at the top of the hill, that Will just so happens to live by, making sure that the boys' bikes are perfectly in line.

"DUSTIN! BIKE BACK!" Her simple language was one that The Party™ could understand, and with her louder spoken words - Dustin pushed his bike back.

With a satisfied nod, El looks down the hill to Max, awaiting the OK from the redhead.

After a couple of seconds, wanting to keep the boys in 'sus-pen-ce', she exclaimed, "Go!" With a couple of seconds delay - the male members of The Party™ pushed off and headed down the hill.

🔆🔆🔆

As the boys speed down the hill, El makes her way down as she keeps her eyes firmly locked on Mike. She'd flick her eyes to Will or Dustin or Lucas, but after she watched Will overtake Dustin - Mike skidded back into second place, as Lucas flew into first and past Max quickly.

When Dustin crossed the line in the last place, everyone knew that he was going to hold it over them for the rest of their lives, and El walked over to Mike.

"You were in first place, Mike. Why did you slow down?" She asked, as Mike drops his bike to the floor and walks to her, smiling.

"I've already won the best thing," he says, placing a kiss on her nose, making it crinkle in the cutest way that Mike has ever seen in his short life. And with what he said, a cute pink flush rose up to El's cheeks, and that was another thing that Mike thought was so cute.

🔆🔆🔆

El climbed onto the back of Mike's bike, as he promised ice cream and a board game (as his Dungeons and Dragons game wasn't finished yet), and Max held onto Lucas collar as they travelled by bike and skateboard (for Max).

Dustin brought up the fact that he lost, for the third time, and The Party™ was sick of it. "Dustin, shut up!" She exclaimed, causing El to jump slightly, and tightened her grip on her boyfriend.

"I just can't understand how Will was faster than me," Dustin complains, biking side by side with Will, watching El nuzzle into Mike's back, as he smiles widely - obviously happier that he has El than winning the bike race.

🔆🔆🔆

They got to the Wheeler house, and the boys (minus Mike) and Max dropped their bikes (and skateboard) onto the driveway, while Mike put his bike into the garage, avoiding his dad's 'precious car'.

El pulled out two game boxes (one called Battleships and another called Monopoly) and looked back and forth between them.

"I'd play Battleship, Monopoly will cause a huge argument that Dustin won't stop bringing up," Max says, walking to her girl-friend and put Monopoly back on the shelf.