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the sun rose and light flooded el's bedroom and going straight into her face. she groaned and tucked her head right back into her pillow. why did her pillow smell so good? she opened her eyes she spotted a mess of raven hair and a lanky body beside her. then she remembered everything about last night. she sighed and closed her eyes again, she didn't feel like school and mike probably didn't either so sleeping seemed like the best decision. mike suddenly shifted and cuddled more into her chest, el's face began burning.
feeling things for someone was new to her, she had never actually had a real crush before. seeing mike in general made her heart flutter but now that she saw him sleeping she felt something different. she didn't feel her heart practically jumping out of her chest, she felt.. sad.
the reasoning for her emotions, she didn't know. whether it was that mike would never think of her anything but a friend, or that el would never be the girl mike would be happy with. with that thought in mind she pulled him closer to her, not wanting him to fall right back into the arms of a certain blond.
just when she started to relax again her door burst open, "el! your going to be late get- what the hell is going on?" hopper asked glaring at the two, el looked up and barely looked at her father for a second before letting her head fall back on her pillow. "come on. get up you two! these secret sleepovers have got to end, i'm serious." the burly man grumbled. when the best friends still didn't move hoppers temper began to rise, "get up! you don't have all day! i'm not going to drive you-"
"we're not going to school." el snapped at him, "and why's that?" he asked flashing a cocky smile at her. instead of responding el carefully got out of her bed, trying not to wake mike in the process and pulled her father outside of her room. "mike had a hard night, his parents are getting a divorce. can we stay home, just for today?" she pleaded, "no. your not missing school."
"seriously?!" el wined, "yes seriously, it's just a divorce he'll get over it." el raised her eyebrows at him, "you did not just say that."
"el, he's not 5. he's 16 for christ's sake, you don't need to treat him as a toddler anymore!" hopper argued, "i don't care! he's still my best friend and we're staying home. even if he did go to school he probably wouldn't be able to focus, so what's the point of that?" she waited for him to answer but he remained silent. "good. i'm staying with mike as long as he needs me." she said sharply and turned back to go in her room. she was tired of everyone's bullshit at this point and she wasn't going to deal with hoppers.
when she entered her room again mike was sitting on her bed staring back at her. "what was that about?" he asked, his voice grumbly from just waking up. "uh- nothing. just hopper, want to stay home today?" mike nodded and el sat down next to him. "how are you feeling?" she asked softly, mike shrugged, "i-i don't know.. it's just all weird."
el chewed the inside of her cheek, she was trying to think of something to keep his mind off of his parents. "want to go make breakfast? i think my dad went to the store yesterday." she suggested, "sure." the two got up and walked to the kitchen, hopper's hat gone indicating he had left for work. "hmm what should we make? we have eggs, toast, english muffins and pancake mix." el looked through all of the choices and then back at mike, "how about pancakes?" he suggested, "perfect."
el got out the bowl and all of the other things they would be needing to make them. they soon began preparing, el reading the directions to mike as he mixed all of the items together in a small ceramic bowl. when pouring the pancake mix in the bowl mike quickly grabbed some of it and threw it at all. "mike!" she whined, "wasn't me." he shrugged, "then who was it? the ghost?" he nodded, "your such an ass." she muttered, el wasn't going to let him get away that easy. she would get him back and they both knew it.
when the pancake mix was ready the poured small circles of batter into the pan on the stove. "okay, are you ready for my totally amazing pancake flipping skills?" el asked with a teasing smile, "i'm ready for you to totally fail." he chuckled, el rolled her eyes and grabbed a spatula swiftly from across the counter. when the pancake batter started to bubble she nudged mike to make sure he was watching her flip the pancake. she swiftly slid the spatula under it and flipped it over in a perfect motion. "boom! are you jealous?" she teased, "no i'm not, because i can do it way better."
"psh. sure. id like to see you try and beat that perfect flip."
"watch and learn." he took the cooking utensil from her and slid it under the next pancake. he lifted it up and tried flipping it back over to the other side but it landed on the side of the frying pan. "wow," she clapped, "that was amazing." she laughed, "see, it even had a new shape." mike shrugged, when all the pancakes were done they put them onto separate plates and el got the syrup out. when mike wasn't looking she put some of it on her hand and then smeared it all over his face. "what was that for?!"
"for throwing pancake mix at me." she smiled mischievously, mike rolled his eyes and dipped his hand in the syrup and repeated her actions. "your going to die, wheeler!" mike got up out of his chair and started to run, el following close behind. "what are ya gonna do, hopper?!" he taunted, "kill you!"
she chased him around the whole house until she backed him into a corner, nearly running into him. they're chests were touching and faces only inches apart, "your dead." she breathed out, "yeah?"
"yup." she slowly took a few steps back not realizing how close they were. mike eyes moved from el to the wall beside her. "who took that picture?" mike pointed at a picture next to her. the image showed mike and el in second grade, el holding his hand because he was nervous to go on the bus. "i think your mom." she said quietly remembering the cute memory.
"okay you two, say cheese!" karen smiled pointing a camera at the two, they both spread their lips widely and said 'cheese' quietly. "you two look adorable!" karen gushed, mike's face turned red. "are you guys excited to go on the bus?" she asked, el nodded and mike shook his head. the bus was too loud, children standing up and shouting things across to other seats. he had always felt so small when he was on the bus that he forced his mom to drive him to school.
but now that he had his best friend with him he could do it. el always boosted his confidence.
"oh look! here it is!"karen exclaimed, mike quickly turned to el. "i'm scared." he admitted, "don't be scared, it will be fun!"
"are you sure? the bus is pretty scary." he said twiddling with his backpack strings, "yes i'm sure. i can hold your hand if it makes you feel better?" she suggested, mike nodded and the small girl grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers. she squeezed it on their way up to the bus and he softly squeezed back. they sat down on the bus sitting next to each other. "it's not that bad." el admitted, mike nodded and gripped her hand tighter when the bus got louder.
"look it's little lovebirds!" el heard someone say behind them, "shut it dumb shit!" el snapped at them, "el you can't say that, it's a bad word." mike reminded her, "my dad told me to call someone that if they were being mean." she shrugged, mike but his lip, trying to keep in his laughter.
then he caught a glimpse of his best friend and then burst out laughing. he knew he wouldn't have to worry about people bullying him with el around.
"yeah you called someone a dumb shit." mike laughed quietly to himself, "hey they deserved it."
mike nodded and looked around the room again and spotted another picture. this one had el's face covered in sprinkled ice cream and mike laughing at her. "look you were even an ass back then!" el pointed out, mike hit her shoulder playfully.
the two stared at the picture, "i don't know how i would have survived my childhood without you." el said resting her head on his shoulder, "me either."
authors note:
sorry for the delay on this chapter! i actually kinda of like it so let me know what you think!
