𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒

your an idiot, mike wheeler

*

Scrawny. That's what Mike thought of his body, he was just a pale boy with no muscle on his body. He was ashamed of that for sure, he could never live up to his expectations. But what he was especially nervous about was El.

The party was going to the pool today and El would see him without a shirt on. What would she think? She'd probably think he's a total dweeb, and maybe he was but he didn't want El to think of him that way. He cares about her too much just to lose her over something stupid. That something probably wouldn't even happen. So what was there to worry about?

A lot, apparently to Mike. He was worried about a lot of things aside from his appearance. What if El fell in the deep end and couldn't get out? What if she couldn't figure out how to hold her breath underwater? Mike was afraid he wouldn't be able to save her. But all have these things were merely based upon his paranoia.

The group of friends decided they would be meeting at the pool at noon, and by the time they set everything up rest period would be over and they could get in before all the little kids got in. Mike had his swim trunks on and threw one of his shirts on, he went downstairs to get a towel and his flip flops and headed out of the door. He got on his bike and started his journey to El's house, which was about 15 minutes from his house.

His feet pedaled fast and the bike raced smoothly over the concrete of the street. The hot summer sun blazed down on his skin and even getting in his eyes, making him squint ever so slightly. But alas, he got to his girlfriend's house quickly and she was already waiting on the wooden porch for him. She smiled upon seeing him coming around the corner, "Hey," she said with a smile. Mike got off his bike and walked over to her, she had on some jean shorts and one of Hopper's old shirts. "Hey," he said with a smile, El stood on her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on his lips. She pulled away from the kiss after a few moments, "You all ready to go?" he asked, "Yep! I have my swimsuit on under this, you said I could just put it on under my clothes, right?"

Mike nodded, "Yeah, Lucas is bringing the sunscreen.. do you want to bring some sunglasses? The sun reflects off the water and it gets all in your eyes. I'd hate for you to be uncomfortable because then-"

"Mike," she interrupted with a knowing smile, "Right.. just making sure!" he said defensively. "I think Hop might have some in the house, I'll go look. You can wait inside." Mike followed her into the house, which was much cooler than the outdoors. El rummaged around the house and in Hopper's room and she eventually found a pair of black sunglasses. She found Mike in the kitchen and put the glasses on, "What do you think?" she asked, tilting her head to show off the glasses.

Mike smiled, she looked adorable (though when did she not?). The glasses were big boxes that took of most of her face, "You look so cute!" Mike said with a teasing tone, she rolled her eyes. "Stoop," she giggled, "You do! You think I'd lie to you?" she sighed in defeat, "Your right." Mike shrugged, "You ready to go?" She nodded and took his hand as they walked out of the front door, El locking it behind her. They started their journey to the community pool, side by side, hand in hand.

Because they had to walk to the pool, it took a little longer to get there compared to their friends. When they arrived, the group of friends were setting their towels down on the chairs that were in the shade to avoid the harsh summer heat. Mike signed in to the pool, he had a card their because his mother was there an awful lot, and added El as a guest. Finally, they got into the pool area where children were screaming and laughing, adults were swimming amongst themselves.

El gripped her hand tighter around Mike's and stood closer to him, she was still scared of a lot of people all in one place. Though there were none, El still felt eyes looking at her, burning holes right through her clothes. Mike glanced at her, "You okay?" he asked quietly, El gulped and nodded. "Fine," she replied.