Strange as IT Seems

Chapter 7: The Club and Party

Eleven backs into the wooded area. The boy who was not Mike did seem funny enough to make her smile, a lot like the way Dustin jokes around, but she wanted to find the real Mike, her boyfriend. She walks through the trees away from the boy and goes to where the group usually sits.

Sure enough, Jane recognizes Will's signature bob of hair as he sits against the fence, searching through his lunch for his sandwich. She quietly goes up to the fence and taps Will on the shoulder.

The poor boy jumps in fright but then relaxes a bit when he realizes who it is.

"El?" he says. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored so I came to see Mike," she explains.

"But don't you remember Hopper's rules," the shier boy asks.

"Yes, don't be stupid and I'm not," she says confidently.

"Well, Mike will be here in a minute. I think Hopper just doesn't want you to get caught by someone,"

"I'm not afraid," she says confidently.

"Famous last words," Will mutters to himself as he digs out his sandwich and begins to eat. Peanut butter with banana slices on top is a new favourite of his. He chews a couple of bites and then he doesn't feel hungry anymore. He forces himself to swallow the bites he'd already taken but then puts them away. His stomach seems to protest the new favourite type of sandwich. He shoves the rest of it back in the bag and then goes for the apple. He's taking a few bites when Lucas, Dustin, and Mike arrive.

Mike's eyes go wide as soon as he sees who's behind the fence.

"El?!" he gasps suddenly. He rushes to the fence to get a closer look. He also checks behind him to make sure no one else can see her.

"Hi Mike," she says with a grin, her eyes lighting up at seeing her boyfriend again.

"I thought Hopper said you couldn't be around the school,"

"I want to see you," she admits. She reaches through the fence and grabs his hand. Both of them enjoy the warmth of joining hands together.

"That's really sweet, but you have to be careful that you don't get caught,"

"I'm not afraid," she insists, giving a smile of confidence.

"She'll be fine Mike," Lucas says. "As long as she doesn't come onto the property, she won't get in trouble. Besides, we all know El can take care of herself."

The girl smiles confidently, glad that Lucas is on her side. Mike just smiles, happy to see his girlfriend.

Will chews a few more bites of his apple but then frowns again. For some reason, it tastes bitter all of a sudden, even sour. Maybe the apple has gone bad, but that doesn't make much sense. He tosses the half-eaten thing into the dirt by the baseball diamond storage shed.

"What's wrong Will?" Lucas asks.

"Not hungry I guess," he shrugs.

"Do have anything with sugar in it?" Dustin asks. "I will trade you for it."

Will just tosses his paper bag lunch to his friend. "Help yourself."

As Dustin searches through Will's lunch, Max rides up on her board.

"What up nerds?" she teases, as she hops off her board and drags it across the grass towards the group. Her eyes go wide when she's Eleven on the other side of the fence. "What's going on El? Why are you here?"

"I want to see Mike," she explains as Mike sits next to the fence and she sits parallel to him on the opposite side of the chain-link. He offers her some goldfish crackers from his lunch, considering she didn't bring one, obviously not thinking ahead about eating something.