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

17. Drive-in Movie Night

17. Drive-in Movie Night

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Even though neither Mike nor El had their driving licence, Mike wanted to take her to a drive-in movie theatre. The only way for them to see the drive-in movie is on the hill behind the theatre, where they can see the screen.

When Mike picked El up, he had a backpack on his back and asked if she could carry it as he took them to the drive-in - which El gladly did, wrapping her arms around his waist and nuzzling into his back. It had only been 3 days since they last saw each other, but it felt like forever.

"I know that you wanted to actually go in the drive-in, but I'll be able to take you in there. When I pass my driving test and actually get a car. So, is it OK, if we watch it from the hill?" Mike asks as he bikes towards the hill that they watched the fireworks from on the fourth of July.

He feels her nod into his back, and he smiles, going around the corner and the hill comes into view. He stands his bike against a tree and takes the bag from El.

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Mike lays the blanket that was laying on top of everything in the bag that he brought and watched as El sat down gently smiling up at him.

He plonks down next to her and pulls out two cans of 7Up (he didn't want to bring cans of Coca-Cola because El had told him that Brenner had made her crush the cans repeatedly every day), some wrapped-up, cooked Eggos that made a smile blossom.  A Tupperware box of fruit that El loves (mainly peaches and grapes, but there were apples and oranges). 

"Thank you, Mike," El smiled at her boyfriend and took a large bite out of one of the Eggos. The waffle held between her fingers, Mike thought she couldn't look any cuter.

Mike then brought out a packet of M&M's (which aren't El's favourite candy in the world) as well as a packet of Skittles (which is El's favourite candy to have ever been invented, and it makes her happy to have found out they come from the United Kingdom - a foreign country that has a royal family and (according to her dad) free health care, when you have to pay for the care in the 'United States').

El's face brightened, as the red packet went from his hands to hers, and she dropped the packet into her lap - saving them best for last. "Thank you, Mike," she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

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It took all of 5 minutes for El to demolish the stack of Eggos that Mike brought for her, throughout the many adverts that they always show at the beginning.

"Why show adverts?" El asks, looking at Mike with her cute confused face. Thanks to Hopper, she doesn't ask these questions as much as she used to - and as proud of her as Mike feels, he likes it when she is confused and asks him for help.

"It's a way for them to make their money because you come back for another show - which they use to pay the people that they employe and get the film reals for the next movies that they're going to show," Mike explained, as the movie started playing. El never had the time to see A View to a Kill, the 14th James Bond film that has Roger Moore.

Lucas never shut up about the film for weeks after watching it, but it will never beat how much the boys spoke about Star Wars after they watched it for the first time.

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With the film over, Mike and El packed up and walked back down the hill, El humming the song from the film.

"You know Duran Duran did the song for the film," Mike offers, knowing that thanks to Max - the girls had bonded over singers like Cyndi Lauper and Duran Duran.

With this little piece of information, El's eyes lit up and she started bouncing, with her stomach full of sugary drinks and candy that might have been a bad idea, but El was able to keep it down.

"Thank you for bringing me, Mike," El pressed a kiss to Mike's cheek and smiled so happily at him.

"Anytime, El. I'd do anything for you," Mike hugged her tightly, adjusted the backpack on her back and once he was on the bike - kept it steady and helped her on the back.