||Girlfriends?|| Eleven Hopper x Reader

Letters

3rd person
      You watched as your best friend read another letter from her boyfriend. She looked so happy and content with where she was in life and who she was with. You couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy in your chest. When you first felt this you thought it was because 'wow somebody else with a boyfriend.' But you began to realize it wasn't that, you had feelings for your friend. You could never admit this, not in this day and age. You're barely avoiding being bullied at school so if you like girls got out it would spread quicker than a rash. Oh, and who was this best friend? Jane Hopper or as you and her family called her "El" you never really understood why they called her that but you never questioned it. You glanced at her face seeing her brown thick, wavy hair line her face perfectly. She was truly beautiful, it made no sense why she was bullied. Yeah, she wasn't like us but God we're not all the same. You felt those butterflies swarm your stomach and throat. Suddenly her face dropped when she finished reading. The bed creaked when you got up to peer over her shoulder.
      "He put from Mike again." El sighed and looked up at you with a solemn look on her face. You couldn't help but feel sympathetic, you related to having your first love not react to you how you wanted. Even if it was in a different context. Usually in normal circumstances putting 'from blank' would be normal. But not with El and Mike, he barely ever said I love you to her. It was depressing and you felt even more guilty hoping she'd come to her senses and dump him. The voice in the back of your head would always say you could treat her better. It was probably true honestly an asshole like him didn't deserve such a beautiful, caring, kind girl... You quickly swatted away those thoughts and comforted her.
       "Don't worry El, he probably just forgot" You tried your best to sound understanding but you felt like you failed miserably.
        "Maybe, I'll just write back." She sighed and ripped out a piece of paper from her notebook and began scribbling words. A low sigh escape your lips as you flopped back on the soft but creaky bed. All you could think about was how different those two were. El would write long letters even though her grammar wasn't that good. Mike? Absolute bullshit. There wouldn't even be three sentences, you hadn't even met this guy and were pissed off. Luckily for you this spring break you'd meet him. You were already practicing your fake grins, laughs, and overall happiness. No matter how much you hated this guy you couldn't ruin their relationship. It felt so wrong thinking these things and you couldn't pinpoint why. Was it because she was a girl? Or the fact she's with someone? What if it was a mix of both? You put a hand over your eyes blocking out the light from your eyes. El looked at her visual aid project for school, you could only imagine what she was writing. You always avoided reading them trying not to cross boundaries. El finally finished the note signing it off with 'Love, El'. When you saw those two words while folding the note and putting it in the envelope you swear you almost cried. It was getting harder and harder every day to keep these feelings locked up.
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       You finally were in your first class with El. You could only thank the lords you and her had the same schedule. It didn't make up for the dirty looks you got from other people. Matter of fact it didn't make up for the whispers, glares, or anything. She just made it bearable. You sighed as you put your project on the table with a thud. Your hero was some random guy you found in some book. Honestly, you couldn't care less about all this. Els brother, Will seemed to take it seriously. As did El, hers was her father. You've been told he died in a mall fire whenever El or Joyce mentions him you feel guilty that you weren't there for her back then. Well, you don't know her then, but you couldn't imagine how hard that must have hurt. Your eyes drifted around the class. Mostly towards El who seemed to be focused on Angela's presentation
      "After learning how to speak, she traveled the world to spread her message." You tried to act as if you cared about what she said but she was so annoying. You rolled your eyes and rested your head on your palm. Your eyes were shut for a while until Angela finished.
      "Jane." You shot a glance at El knowing Angela would make fun of her as soon as she began. El slightly turned her head to you and smiled. A smile crept onto your face and you felt your whole face heat up.
       "Hi." The class stayed silent, the atmosphere changed so quickly. You sighed and tried to keep a smile up as you did a subtle thumbs up to her.
       "For my hero, I... I Chose my dad." Everyone but you and Will looked bored out of their minds. You were never bored when listening to El even if her broken English was difficult to understand you didn't mind. You tried to shake those feelings away once more only to think about her more. Before you knew it Angela made a snarky comment about how she pronounced something and anger bubbled in your body. The teacher said something as you glared at Angela earning a subtle glare back. El uncomfortably continued her presentation until Angela had to open her mouth and spew more nonsense.
      "I'm just, like, confused. I thought this was
a presentation about a historical hero." she put on her fake confused face just mocking El at this point. She knew what she was doing and she was too good at it.
      "My dad was in the newspaper." El started innocently not catching onto the sarcastic undertone of Angela's voice. You knew this would only bring up more jokes about El and it just made you angrier.
      "Your local newspaper?" Angela asked and the class erupted into loud laughter. You started to see red and tried your best to block our Angela for the rest of the class. The bell finally rang and everybody poured into the halls like a river. You, El, and Will stuck together as you both tried to comfort El.
       "El, it wasn't that bad" Will tried to get through to her but it just didn't seem to work.
       "Friends don't lie." El spat at Will, you knew she didn't mean to come off so rude it just hurt you to see her upset.
       "El I thought it was interesting I really liked learning about little things you used to do." Your voice was soft and genuine she seemed to believe you but not a lot. El began to walk away faster leaving you and Will all alone.
       "I fucking hate Angela." You scoffed and Will nodded. You both had hatred towards her for the same reason. The school day was going by quickly, well that was before Angela and El ran into each other. You got there w bit late because El was avoiding you and Will so you didn't know where she was a lot of the time today. But when you did get there you couldn't have been more pissed off. You walked out to see El holding an arm out to Angela screaming. Her visual project was crushed and destroyed on the ground next to her. The crowd started laughing but then a teacher came out and they stopped. Angela was trying to make El say it was an accident but even you could tell it wasn't. After the crowd died down and Angela left with the teacher you and Will rushed to El's side. You weren't scrambling to pick everything up while Will was rambling on about how we'd all fix it.
      "El, seriously when Angela does shit again I'm hurting her," You said in a serious tone while looking into her eyes. Will looked a little taken aback by the sudden change in confidence but at this moment you didn't care. When school ended you kept a close eye on El making sure she was okay. She wasn't but you didn't wanna bring it up until you two were alone. So when you two went to her bedroom you guys sat in awkward silence.
       "So, wanna talk about what happened?..." You sat down beside her on the bed and look at her with sympathy. She shrugged harshly and looked at thee, now ruined project. You pulled her into a sudden hug and she melted into you.

Els P.O.V

      That feeling bubbled in my belly again. It's a weird feeling? I can't explain it. It's how I felt with Mike when I see him. But she's a friend. Is this what it's like to have a best friend? Max was right about needing more friends than Mike I guess. I don't know if she could tell I was confused or not. Even though these thoughts ran through my head I didn't pull away from the hug or ask anything. It was nice to be in Y/Ns company. I feel her stroke my head and that feeling in my stomach felt like it crawled up to my throat and heated my face. I wrapped my arms around her and tightened the hug.
       "If Angela does anything again tell me. I will murder her" Y/N slipped in a joke and I felt myself laugh and grin. She was really pretty. Not in the way models are she was super pretty. She had this feeling to her like that feeling I used to get eating Eggos. Not how I feel when writing to Mike. And not how I feel talking to Will, Max, or any of my friends.
         "I don't think it's a good idea to do that." I sunk further into her getting more tired every second. I don't know if she thought I was asleep but she slowly laid me back on the bed. Before she left I felt her kiss the top of my head and I felt a rush of happiness run through my body. I don't understand why though. I slowly began to drift off to sleep.

Y/N P.O.V
      Why did I do that? I rushed to the front door but before I could leave a heard Joyce's voice behind me. I froze and slowly turned around to be greater with worn-out women. She kinda looked stressed out.
      "Sweetie it's a little late to go home right now." She looked slightly worried. I remembered how they told me Will was missing for a concerning amount of time because he went home alone late at night and a shiver went down my spine. For my safety, it would be better to stay even if I'm embarrassed the whole time.
       "Ah, yeah I guess so. I'll sleep on the couch..." I  forced a weak smile and she didn't push it any further. She simply nodded and turned the kitchen light off. I sighed and climbed onto the couch pulled over the soft blanket on the other side of my neck and laid there with my thoughts. Why did I kiss her forehead? Why do I have to feel like this towards her? Why did she have to be with that asshole? Why? I pulled the blanket over my head slightly hoping I'd suffocate in my sleep. The soft couch finally put me to sleep the sound of crickets and other nightly sounds filled my ears. Completely honest my dream consisted of El, like always. Her brown eyes stared into mine. That was all I needed in the dream to be happy.

Word Count: 2006
Hi so I just wanted to say this may not be the best thing I've ever written but I'm just desperate for human touch so why not make a cheesy story about the most underrated character in her own show? LMFAO, but seriously I hope whoever reads this likes it and I'll try to regularly update it no promises though.