downpour / mileven au.

seventeen.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN;
BURY A FRIEND.

"they were out of chocolate pudding again! i'm so sick of this shit!" an angry dustin cursed as he slammed his tray on their lunch table making el flinch. she then giggled, reaching for her chocolate pudding from home and offering it to him. "marry me, el hopper," he jokingly replied before accepting.

"hell no. i don't need my sister dating another one of my friends, whether it's real or fake," will says as he joins the two. he noticed el's lack of amusement. "sorry, too soon?"

she smiled, shaking her head. she looked at the two empty chairs across from them. "where are they? max wasn't in chemistry."

dustin laughed, "you didn't hear? they got back together saturday night, and they've been together since. seeing as his parents are out of town and erica's at their grandma's, it's not hard to figure out what they're doing."

el shook her head, hoping to keep the visual of lucas' implication out of her mind. "wait, they skipped school? that's very unlike lucas, but very like max so i'm not that shocked, i guess."

dustin shrugged. "young love, ah. don't ya' just love it?"

"hey," a familiar raspy voice greeted. el's maple eyes flickered in the direction to find mike lingering. "mind if i sit?" he asked generally, but his eyes wandered to el.

"ah, mike, my boy! he's back! freed by the clutches of the wicked witch. sit!" the chocolate-pudding eating teen exclaimed with a chuckle. "it's good to have you back. hey, don't look now but your ex his shooting daggers as we speak."

mike threw a glance over his shoulder before shaking his head. "ignore her." he shifts his stare to el who had gone quiet. "hi," he softly smiled.

she looked at him and returned the smile. "hi." she was still uncertain of where they stood. even though they were both completely sober friday night at the party, it still felt fuzzy in her mind. were they friends, now? was he just being nice because of their mutual friends? she was terribly confused.

dustin picked a conversation with will which mike would occasionally add to, but el continued to stay silent. she wished more than anything that max was here. max always knew what to say. she just sat there, picking at her peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, anxiously waiting for the bell to dismiss lunch.

to her misfortune, the chair beside her pulled out. she found dean clark sitting next to her with a charming smile. "hey, el."

she forced a smile, feeling her guilt from friday return. "hi, dean," she returned. she caught the way his blue eyes flickered to mike with a glint of distaste. she wasn't all that shocked. there were lots of guys at school that didn't care for him. she assumed it was because of the ryan cooper thing.

"i know our date friday didn't go as planned so, i was hoping i could get a redo. this time, no parties. i promise," he chuckles, brushing a piece of his golden hair out of his face.

el was surprised he wanted another date with her. she wasn't great company friday, that she was sure of. she nodded, "yeah, i'd love to." okay, that was a lie. she wouldn't love to.

he grinned widely. "great. how's this friday work?"

before she could even think about what she was doing friday, a voice answered for her. "she can't," mike said with a smirk. el looked to him shocked. just as she was about to question why she couldn't go, not that it concerned him, he explained, "it's lucas' birthday. it's a small party. close friends and family, only. sorry, man," his eyes were locked on the tennis player.

she looked back to dean, who almost appeared to be glaring at mike, "he's right. i'm sorry, another day?"

dean smiled to her, "saturday?"