𝙴𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗 ~ 𝙴𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚡

《𝟹𝟸》

August 27, 1985
7:00 AM

El was laying on her bed, her eyes watching the ceiling without her actually being aware of it. Instead, she was deep in her thoughts. She didn't sleep the entire night and she didn't do so even after she got back home. There was a lot on her mind. But the main thought was...the light. She saw something. When Max and her accidentally walked near the fence of the lab at night. She saw a light behind it. Not a usual light...it was flashy and red. She's only seen that kind of light at one place before. And that was what scared her. Wasn't the lab supposed to be shut down? Hopper promised her that it's safe to walk around now. She had a strange feeling inside her stomach. Almost as if it wanted to warn her.

The door to her room suddenly opened and she lifted her head up, seeing Hopper.

~ "Hey, kid. Time to wake-" he didn't finish the sentence when he saw El. "You're up already?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. El sat up on the bed and nodded.

~ "Yeah. I couldn't sleep." she simply answered. Hopper sighed a little to that answer.

~ "Did you have a nightmare again?" he asked, leaning his shoulder on the door frame and crossing his arms with a compassionate expression. El wanted to smile now. Her night was the opposite of a nightmare. But she didn't want Hopper to know that. She was sure she would get herself and maybe even Max into trouble. So she just nodded.

~ "Um...yeah, kinda." she said and Hopper sighed a little.

~ "I'm sorry, El. I can try and talk to doctor Owens about it if you're okay with it?" he offered, but El didn't really like the idea of thinking or talking about her past more than she had to, so she shook her head.

~ "It's okay. They're just nightmares. They're not real. Can't hurt me." she stood up and took her bag with her, walking to him. Hopper had his serious face on for a few more seconds before it melted into a smile. He moved his hand to El's hair, ruffling it a little.

~ "You're brave, kid." he said to which El smiled at him too with a little whine, trying to put her hair back in place.

~ "Hopppp...nooo." she chuckled. she was a bit tired, but that didn't matter right now. she wanted to see Max again. For some reason, she was more excited than usually. " Can you take me to school earlier today?" she asked, making Hopper raise his eyebrow.

~ "Huh? Any plans i don't know about?" he asked. El shuffled with her feet a little.

~ "I just...wanted to have more time to talk to Max before school? Yesterday when you drove away, we barely had a few minutes." she explained. Hopper looked back at the table where he prepared breakfast, then back to El.

~ "Eat your breakfast. Then we can go." he smiled and walked back into the kitchen. The brunette smiled too, nodding and sitting at the table. But the moment she saw the food, her nose scrunched up in disgust. The peas she changed for Eggos yesterday. She looked up at Hopper who was already looking at her back from the kitchen counter with an amused face.

~ "But-...why?" she crossed her arms, refusing to touch the green food.

~ "Because if you eat Eggos all the time, you're gonna get diabetes." he chuckled, continuing to wash the dishes from the previous day. El frowned.

~ "...dia-betes?"

~ "Yea. It's a disease you can get if you eat too much sugary foods. Like Eggo exravaganzas." he explained, making El raise her eyebrow.