Season Three Inspired Oneshots~

~16~

It was late June in Hawkins, Indiana, when Hopper decided El needed a job of her own.

At the ripe age of 15, he thought her responsible enough to go out, breaking the rule Owens had given him, but for good reason. El needed something to do rather than watch soaps and eat Eggos all day, and the Starcourt Mall had just opened up in Hawkins.

Your midwestern dream, adorned with everything for everyone. Just opened courtesy of Mayor Kline.

Near the mall's center sat a Claire's, your classic girly shopping boutique adorned with lip glosses and earrings. Hopper managed to get El a job there, and she was grateful as much as it bored her.

She felt so insecure there, flannel wearing girl with short hair as all the other girls walked in and out daily in their neons and long hair.

Not to mention all her friends were finishing eighth grade, stuck in exams all the time whilst she sat bored out of her mind.

The money she earned was enough for her to get a few articles of clothing along with purchasing her own waffles so Hopper didn't have to buy copious amounts, and her logic was he couldn't get mad at her for eating as many as she wanted if it were her money.

Starcourt was all the way across town from the cabin, though, meaning El had to go find somebody to drive her there, because she didn't know how to ride a bike yet.

This meant going to the station, which she enjoyed, Flo always gave her a donut from the box she'd hidden from Hopper, and Callahan and Powell were always funny, and more lighthearted than Hopper.

She opened the handle to the front door of the station, Flo smiling at her from her seat, giving her the OK to go see the other officers because they weren't busy.

"Hey kid!" Callahan greeted, and Powell waved.

Hopper walked out after hearing the greeting, smiling at El.

"Can you drive me to the mall?" she asked.

"Can't that dork of a boyfriend take you?" Hopper rolled his eyes.

"It's the last day of school, he still has classes." she rolled her eyes back at him, today was a slow day and he just wanted to sit at the station and do absolutely nothing.

"Well I'm sure Karen can take you, you know she's a fan of you." He said, taking a bite out of the sour apple Flo had replaced his donut with.

"Y'know what, good idea, except the fact that she's a mile away. Somebody's gonna need to drive me over there." she smirked, making him huff, grabbing his truck keys.

"Lets go." he said, walking out the front door to his truck and getting in.

After a drive they arrived at the mall, and she got out, running to the mall.

She was nearly late for work, so she bolted, running up the escalator at full speed until she made it to the store.

She clocked in, and sat behind the counter, and because there was still school not many people would be in there, she was bored out of her mind. Also annoyed that her shift would end about an hour after school was done, meaning she couldn't see Mike right away and would have to deal with the pack of Hyenas known as middle school girls all freaking out over a pair of earrings.

'The Ghost in You' by The Psychedelic Furs played, and she tapped her foot along, dancing a bit, waiting for an ounce of work to do, the store clean and tidy, everything sitting on shelves perfectly in order.

She was too busy dancing to notice the time or that anyone had walked in, and was now daydreaming.

She was shocked to see a boy in the store, his hair bouncing as he walked towards one of the shelves, and a few other people shuffled in.

She ignored it, assuming they were setting up a prank, as a lot of people did, and ignored it, just excited to see the prank take place, as they were normally hilarious.

Instead one of the people kept their head down, walking to the counter putting something there for her to ring up.

A silver bracelet with different summer inspired charms adorning it.

"Who's the bracelet for?" she asked, curious.

"My girlfriend." she could practically hear the smile on the boys face, not looking at him, thinking it might be creepy.

She told him to total, and he gave her the money, leaving the store.

But he left the bracelet.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she picked up the bracelet walking to the edge of where the store ended and the main mall area began.

He turned around to smile at her, and she was awestruck.

Mike, freckles and all, shot her a happy grin, running off to meet who she assumed to be the others in the food court.

Some girls shuffled in, giggling together in a group, walking to the back of the store where all the makeup was kept.

Shortly after the party showed up at Claire's with ice cream, Mike holding two of them, handing one to her. Strawberry, of course, being her favourite.

They hung around until her shift ended and she'd dealt with many annoying customers, and then they left.

El rode on the back pegs of Mike's bike through Hawkins, the sun still blazing in the sky as they made their way to the cabin, the party as a whole going to hang out with her there, because Hopper did like to minimalize her time out.

The whole ride and even when they were in the cabin, she couldn't stop staring at the jingly charmed bracelet and the boy who'd given it to her.

She was in love, and there was no going back now, the summer was just beginning.

got this idea earlier today, and i thought it was cute.

i have been listening to 'Hazy Shade of Winter' since yesterday 'cause the guitar in it was playing in the credits of season one episode two.

why was i watching season one episode two? cause i wanted to and was watching with some dope people

anyways, hope you enjoyed!

✌️~bella