Fates Intertwined

Chapter 3

Hawkins, 5/29/1988

Jim Hopper looked down at his watch, tapping his foot anxiously. "Hurry up, kid!"

"I'm coming!" El grunted as she dragged her suitcase down the outside stairs. The Hoppers decided to leave Hawkins before sunrise so they would make it to Derry by nightfall. El was annoyed by how much her dad wanted to leave their town. Their home. It gave her a sickening feeling.

As soon as her feet landed on the ground, El looked back at the place she lived in her whole life. Well, the period when she was "living", at least.

The house she and her dad lived in was relatively small compared to the other one-floor houses of Hawkins. There were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room-kitchen that took up more than half of the whole residence. Unlike most houses in town, though, there was a balcony outside where you can admire the view of a nearby lake.

When she wasn't hanging out with her friends, El could always be found on the balcony reading or watching the sunset. She loved being outside surrounded by nature. It gives her a feeling of safety, and for a few seconds, she could forget the horrible memories she created while she was young. Just for a little while.

Now that's gone. She is going to a new land with no balcony, no cabin, no friends...no safety. Yes, she has her dad, but he doesn't know everything. He just knows about her and a bunch of other kids getting experimented on by an underground lab that isn't a danger anymore, like the rest of the oblivious town. El can't explain why she's paranoid every day, nor why a book always falls off its shelf when she's upset.

Yes, she has her stories to keep her comfortable, but what if she wants more reading material? She'll have to go to the Derry library, and who knows what could happen there? There were too many flaws in moving to a new town. Too much negative to ever be outweighed by the positive. I mean, what good could even happen? These thoughts wandered around El's mind as she got to the car and passed her suitcase to her dad.

That mindset caused El rethink the idea of moving. It was too late, she knew it was too late, but that didn't stop her from asking, "Do we have to move?"

Hopper sighed as he hauled his daughter's suitcase into the trunk of their white Pontiac Firebird, a model that came out a couple years prior. The employees of the sheriff station pitched in to help him pay for it as a going-away gift.

"Isn't it obvious?"

El glanced at the ground as she tried to rephrase her question. "I just don't get why we suddenly have to move," she stated, leaning against vehicle.

"I already told you. I was offered a job at Derry, Maine's sheriff station and I decided to take it."

El rolled her eyes at the reason her father gave. He kept saying that the job would pay better compared to his current position and it was a great opportunity for El make new friends, which she had no interest in. Nonetheless, there was one part of his reasons that she didn't understand.

"But you got better job opportunities before!" El protested, stepping back as her dad closed the trunks door. "Why didn't you take them?"

Hopper closed his eyes and his temples. "If you are so curious about my motives, then why didn't you ask before?"

El opened her mouth to say something, but then slammed it shut. She couldn't just tell him the truth or else she'd make things worse. She had to be careful of what she'd say.

"I just don't understand why you wanted us to move now," she decided to say.

Hopper sighed. "Look, I just wasn't in the right place to move when I got those other jobs."

"And you are now?" El asked, her voice wavering.

"Exactly, and so are you."

"As if! You're forcing me to leave my friends for somewhere far away. And to a town that nobody has ever heard of before, at that."

"Stop whining, kid, it's not gonna work." Hopper's voice began to raise at his daughter.

"I'm not whining!"

"Really, because you're sounding like a real brat right now!"

"Bullsh-" El covered her mouth immediately, shocked about what she was about to say. "Sorry," she mumbled shamefully, turning her head away.

Hopper nodded slowly, a serious expression plastered on his face. "It's fine, kid." He then bent down and placed a hand on El shoulder. She took a step back and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Look," he said in a softer tone, "I understand that you're upset, and moving will be a hard thing for me, too."

Then why do we have to? El demanded in her head. She bit her lip tightly so she wouldn't voice her thoughts.

"It's just something that would be good for the both of us," her dad continued. "This town brings me so many bad memories, and I'm sure it brings you some, too."

But I have more good ones than bad ones, El wanted to say. Instead, she nodded and let him continue.

"So, with this move, we can both finally have a fresh start in a place where no one can hurt you. Where no one looks at you strangely when you're walking on your own. Don't you like that idea?"

El pursed her lips once she realized what her dad was referring to. Her mind flashed back to the times she walked around Hawkins without any of her friends. All those looks people gave her. The names they called her when they thought she couldn't hear them. ET. Weirdo.

Freak.

"I guess that'd be nice," El mumbled, wishing her dad could be less brutally honest. That would never happen, but a girl can dream.

Hopper smiled at her answer and stood up. "Great. Now, let's get on the road!" Although he said it calmly, El could see a twinkle in his eyes.

She rolled her eyes and gave her dad a small grin. At least one of us is happy... she thought as the two of them got into the car. El buckled up and looked back at her dad.

"Let's go," he spoke to no one in particular. The scent of gas filled the air as the white vehicle drove out of the small driveway.

El turned her body around and watched the trees zoom by. The sky was filled with blue, purple, orange, and yellow. There were only a few cars driving on the road, filled with people going to their normal jobs or running their daily errands.

El's mind traveled to her friends, and she wondered how they were spending their last day before school began once more. She imagined Dustin cramming in all the homework lasy minute again, cursing as he did so. She could picture Will drawing in his room or at his mom's store. He was always at peace when he did that. She could see Max in the arcade, trying to beat her high score in all the games. Lucas would be right next to her, observing her methods so he could help Dustin beat her score later.

El smiled as these thoughts ran through her head. They were the only comfort she had once the car passed by the "Welcome to Hawkins" sign.

Her home was right behind her, with only the unknown up ahead.

a/n - Sorry for taking so long to upload. I had to take midterms last week and the beginning of this week. I was also away for all of last weekend on a trip, so I didn't have that much time to spend on this chapter. I hope it still turned out all right. Anyways, thank you for reading!