the year of el | mileven

ch. 10 | a thing

Dustin waved his hand in front of his friend's face "Mike, dude, are you alright? You've been in la la land all day"

"What? No, I haven't, I'm good" He said, refocusing his attention

"So.. what are we talking about then?"

"Um, Obi Wan's fight against Darth Maul?"

"Wrong. We're not even talking about star-wars right now. We're on Superman versus Lex Luthor." Dustin retorted

Lucas shook his head "Where's your head at? You were day dreaming in history class and now you've barely payed attention to our debate"

"I just have a lot on my mind guys"

Mike wasn't able to focus much in general. He honestly was still thinking about the kiss he shared with Eleven. Even though it was yesterday, he was still on cloud nine from it.

"Care to share?" Lucas said, clearly aggravated

"Hey!" interrupted Max and El as they approached the lunch table

Dustin smiled "Took you girls long enough"

"Hey, not our fault we had to do research on some stupid topic that the library hardly has any books on" Max muttered, taking out a ham sandwich

El felt her heart flutter, and her head spin as soon as she saw Mike. Wow he looked very pretty today. Wait, no pretty isn't the right word for a boy. She knew this word, what was it again? Oh yeah. Handsome. Guys were handsome, but the only guy she really thought that about was him.

"Hey Mike" El beamed, sitting next to him

She desperately wanted to hold his hand again like at the lake, but decided against it. Maybe it would be best to wait until they were alone.

"Hey El, did you finish your project?" Mike asked, with a dopey smile

The others watched as El and Mike carried on a separate conversation

Lucas deadpanned "So he can hold a conversation with her but can hardly keep up with our discussion"

Dustin chuckled "Jealous because Mike's got more game than you?"

"Shut up" Lucas replied, giving him a swift punch

"Leave the lovebirds alone, I think it's kinda cute" Max said, with a faint smile

Lucas and Dustin's eyes grew wide "Did you just say cute?!"

"Yeah, so what!"

"It's just you never say cute." said Dustin

"Well just because I don't say it doesn't mean I don't think it" Max sneered

Lucas jumped in "So.. what else do you think is cute?"

"Anyways! Are we hitting the arcade after school today or no?" she asked, purposely ignoring the question

"Yeah, but I don't know about those two" Lucas replied motioning his head towards the end of the table

"Mike! El! You guys coming to the arcade today?" Dustin yelled

"I don't know, El and I have to study for our chemistry test"

Lucas rolled his eyes "Of course you guys do"

As lunch came to an end, Max cornered El in the hallway "So.. what's up with you and Mike?"

"What do you mean?"

Max smirked "I've seen the way you guys look at each other. Do you two have a thing going on?"

El didn't know what she was talking about "A thing?"

"Geez, homeschooled kids don't get out much. ARE YOU BOYFRIEND AND GIRLFRIEND? Max asked, emphasizing each word loudly

El thought about what Max just said. She knew that Hopper and Rachel referred to themselves as boyfriend and girlfriend but she hadn't put much thought into it. They did seem to have a crush on each other though because they kissed, hugged, and even had a lot of sleepovers. El thought back on the sleepovers she had at Mike's house when he had first made her that pillow fort. She really liked that and maybe he could make another one for her.

After losing her train of thought she came back to the main purpose. Then it suddenly clicked with her.. More than friends well that must mean boyfriend and girlfriend! But she wondered if he still wanted that with her.

"I have a crush on Mike!" El blurted

Max laughed "Well, have you told him that?"

She shook her head

Max gently nudged her "You should tell Mike how you feel, I'm sure he feels the same way"

"How do you know?"

Max stared blankly "are you serious? That boy has been crazy about you since you first came to this school"

El smiled widely at that idea but she was curious about something else "Quick question"

"What?"

"Do you have a thing with Lucas?" El asked

Pink blush slowly crept on Max's cheeks "wha-what? No! No way!"

El nudged Max "It's okay to have a crush.."

"This is not about me right now, this is about you! Hell, Now go tell Mike before I tell him for you!" the redhead gestured frantically

El decided to take Max's advice and tell him. She liked the idea of a thing with Mike. That means they could kiss and hold hands more but most importantly spend more time together. The thought of that made butterflies explode in her stomach.

She saw the brown eyed boy at his locker and quickly approached him "Mike"

"I'm trying to find our old notes from class for our study session together" He said, searching through his books

She tugged lightly on his arm "I need to tell you something"

He closed his locker and turned his attention towards her "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, but I-

"Michael!" A rather preppy voice interrupted

El looked to see a girl with light brown shoulder length hair approaching them. She had seen this girl around before but never talked to her. All she knew of this girl was that she was very pretty and played the flute in the Hawkins High Band.

Mike's eyes widened "Uh..Tracey?"

El thought it strange that Mike knew this girl. She was sure she had met all of his friends.

Tracey flirtatiously put her hand on his shoulder "Shocked to see me, huh?"

Something bubbled within El. She didn't like that Tracey touched Mike or spoke to him that way, it made her feel something she hadn't felt before.

Mike stared in confusion "Yeah...?"

"Sorry, I took a while to get back to you but I read your note. I really thought about it and wellll you were a really good boyfriend who's also pretty cute so I thought what the hey.. Of course I'll be your date to homecoming!"

El froze in place as she reviewed the words Tracey just said. Boyfriend.. cute.. homecoming.. Her blood began to boil and she clenched her fists trying to contain the anger rising within her but her heart sunk as it dawned on her that he had asked this girl to the dance.

She immediately ran off, trying to hold back the tears that were surfacing

"Wait, El!" Mike called

She heard him but didn't even glance back towards his direction. She didn't want to see Mike right now. She didn't want to be here right now. She just had to leave.

Tracey gave him an odd look "Is your friend okay?"

"I don't know what you're talking about but I-I uh gotta go!" he said stepping cautiously away

"Michael! Get back here! Don't you dare chicken out!" Tracey called to him as he ran down the hallway