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*
prom was right around the corner- right around the corner meaning today, today was the day that el had been dreading for weeks. sure she was going to go with dustin and dustin always made things better but she just wasn't sure about it now. if mike was going to be there, el just didn't know how things would go. el worried about meagan being there, she knew she shouldn't be thinking about her but she was.
but she put those thoughts aside for now and drifted off to thinking about her dress. the dress mike had called her gorgeous in, the dress that made her feel incredibly happy, the dress both she and mike loved. she was so excited to wear that dress once again. it had made her feel like she could do anything, which was funny since it was simply a dress.
as of right now el and dustin were getting ready at the small cabin.
"dustin.. you should just go without me." she said as she nervously picked at her nails, which she had polished light pink the day before. "are you kidding me?" dustin grumbled as he came into her room with a box of vanilla wafers. el furrowed her eyebrows at him, "what?"
"these aren't real vanilla wafers! can no one buy the correct stuff?" dustin whined, "dusty, that's not what's important right now," el huffed, "yeah, actually it is! you can't expect me to be happy with fake vanilla wafers!"
el scoffed and got up from her bed and walked to the kitchen. she opened the cabinet and searched through it and pulled out a box of vanilla wafers and chucked it at dustin. "happy now?"
he opened the box quickly and shoved the small wafers into his mouth. "thamks," he mumbled with the food in his mouth, "yep," she muttered, "but should i go or not? i don't even know if he's going to be there- and if he his i won't know what to say to him and-"
"el! calm down. i know mike's going to be there, he tells me it's his 'only chance to talk to you' and all this other bullshit. you have to go, the poor boy is desperately miserable without you. it's honestly hard to look at, so for everyone's sake please just talk to him. besides, your going to regret it for the rest of your life if you don't go tonight. they do say it's a night to remember."
"they?"
"me."
"how would you know?" she asked, "don't ask questions, i'm the all knowing." he shrugged as he popped a wafer into his mouth. "okay.. i guess your right..but-"
"ah! no buts, no cuts, no coconuts! i don't want to hear it, your going to prom tonight and if i have to drag you in by your leg, than i will!" he huffed, "fine. then if we're going we better get ready."
"i'll go get changed and you get changed too, okay?" el nodded and the two split up to get dressed. el walked over to her closet and pulled the puffy pink dress out. she laid it out on her bed and started rethinking everything.
maybe it was better if she didn't go? what if all dustin was saying was just so he wouldn't look stupid going alone? mike had probably forgotten her already, for all she knew he probably had a new best friend.
*
mike anxiously paced around his room.
was going to prom really a good idea? his whole intention of going was to talk to el. but she probably wouldn't even want to talk to him. so what was the point in going? and it's not like she wanted to talk to him, she had made her life's mission to avoid him at school.
the point is seeing el. you have to get this sorted out before it gets worse. i can't keep not talking to her. this silence is killing me.
his thoughts were right, the silence was killing them both. he had to go.
he quickly opened his closet and found the suit that he and el picked out when they bought her dress. it was a simple suit, nothing special. el made him get a black tie because she didn't want him to match with her because he was with meagan. but what el didn't know was that mike had bought a pink tie too.
mike put the suit on and dusted himself off. he attempted trying to tie the pink tie around his neck, yet had no luck. the ties always had such a complicated knot that he could never figure out. he tried again and again until he finally got it to the way he wanted. he straightened it out and went to his bathroom, he was going to try and attempt messing with his hair.
but then he remembered what el always told him:
"mike! stop trying to make your hair look like shit! don't mess with it, your going to ruin those perfect curls!"
his hands came down from his hair and he shook his head to undo the minimal work he had done. he looked back in the mirror and shrugged, he really didn't put much effort into his appearance, el might not even go so, what's the point?
*
after a lot of encouragement from dustin, el finally put the dress on. she had curled her golden hair into delicate curls that framed her small face. she applied light blush and added a shiny glossier to her soft lips. small black heals made her seem taller than she was, but made her look very beautiful. she stared at herself in the mirror and a small smile appeared on her face. she suddenly got a good feeling about this.
eventually she came out of her room and walked to the living room where dustin was sitting comfortably on the couch. he turned when she walked out of her room and his jaw dropped when he looked at her.
"what?"
"s-sorry.. you just look really pretty." he said with a small blush, "thanks dustin." she smiled, "okay well, we should get going." he said clearing his throat.
"not so fast, i need pictures." hopper interrupted, "dad." she whined, "shut up, just smile." dustin wrapped his arm around her waist and el scooted closer to him. smiles spread across their faces while hopper snapped a few pictures from his old camera.
"okay your free, remember don't get drunk and don't do drugs!" hopper called as they walked out of the door.
el hopped into dustin's car and strapped the seatbelt over her lap. "ready?" he asked, "let's go."
the two drove to the place where prom was being held. it was a rental place that the school had filled with sparkling decorations and loud music. it wasn't hard to find so dustin parked his car into an empty spot and got out of the car. el stayed in the car, now actually being here made her confidence go through the floor.
dustin noticed she hadn't exited the car yet so he walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened her door. "come on el, we have to go."
"dusty i can't."
"why not? we're here, there's no turning back."
"i don't know! i just-"
"come on, you can hide behind me the whole time. you have to at least be here for thirty minutes, and if you want to go home after that i'll take you back. but until then, we've got to go in."
"fine." she unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. her hand instantly grabbed his, it wasn't in a romantic way just in the way to give her some sort of confidence. he squeezed her hand and they began walking to the entrance.
they stopped at the entrance of the door and el looked to dustin, "you can do it." he reassured, she nodded and sucked in a breath. and then they opened the door.
