𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 [𝐦𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

five

It was November 25th. Three days until Thanksgiving, when El came to visit. One day before everyone went on Thanksgiving break.

Mike and (Y/n) had gotten closer. They haven't hung out outside of school, but they talked every day during class. (Y/n) was still weary of him and didn't want to get too close.

The school day ended and (Y/n) hastily walked out of her eighth period class to get her bike. Steve couldn't pick her up that day, so she had to use her rickety old bike.

She walked over to the slightly rusted silver bike and unhooked it from the chain, sighing.

"Hey! (Y/n)!" She heard a voice say. She turned around to see Mike speed-walking toward her. With a smile, she waved him over.

"Hey!" She said happily.

"Are you, uh, free right now?" Mike asked, fiddling with his sleeve.

"Yeah, actually," (Y/n) said, her shoulders tightening. She couldn't lie to him anymore or say she had band practice. It was time to face her fear and hang out with the boy.

"Sick! Do you want to come over? We can work on our homework, if you want," Mike said, blushing.

"I'd like that," she said. With a final yank, the bike case free from the bike rack. Mike laughed and pulled out his bike with ease.

"Do you just want to walk?" Mike asked with a blush.

"Yeah, honestly. This bike is a hazard," (Y/n) said, walking her bike along her side and following Mike.

"So, do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?" Mike asked, breaking the awkward silence that fell between them.

"Not really. Steve and I were planning on just going to 7/11 and getting snacks. Then we'll probably watch some movies. It's our tradition," she said with a smile.

"What about family dinners?" Mike asked.

"Well, I haven't been in Hawkins for the past couple of years. The family kind of fell apart before I left. Before I left, Steve and I would just hang out in his room," (Y/n) explained.

"Why'd you leave?" Mike asked. Her shoulders tensed.

"I'd rather not talk about that," she said as they approached Mike's house. Mike looked at her, his eyes full of curiosity and confusion.

Who was this girl? Why was he so attracted to her, to the point where he completely forgot about El? He was confused. It was like she was a magnet.

"Is this your house?" (Y/n) asked, snapping Mike out of his trance.

"Oh, yeah, it is," he said with a chuckle. He walked into the driveway and dropped his bike, (Y/n) doing the same.

They walked into the house and down the stairs to his basement. (Y/n) was taking in everything about his house as they made their way through it.

They dropped their backpacks on the ground and sat on the couch.

"What's that?" (Y/n) asked, pointing to a small blanket fort in the corner of the room.

"Oh, uh, nothing. My sister made it," Mike said. He got up and quickly tore the fort apart, feeling nothing as he did so.

"So, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?" (Y/n) asked.

"Just a stupid family dinner. My mom invites over every Wheeler within the next nine-thousand miles and all of them come over. I have to wear a stupid sweater," Mike said angrily, causing (Y/n) to chuckle.

Suddenly, Mike's radio started making sounds. Static sounds. Someone was calling his walkie talkie.

"Hello? Mike?" A girl's voice asked. Mike's eyes widened as he shot up and walked over to the walkie talkie.

"Who...?" (Y/n) quietly questioned.

"Sorry, no Mike here. Wrong station," Mike said to the walkie talkie in a deep voice, unplugging the radio.

(Y/n)'s eyes furrowed in confusion.

Meanwhile.

"What the hell?" Will asked, sitting up on his bed. Eleven had been trying to contact Mike through his walkie talkie all day, but he wasn't picking up.

"Who was that girl?" El asked.

"No idea," Will said with a shrug.

"It wasn't Max.. I know her voice," Eleven said angrily. She shoved the walkie talkie out of her way and stood up from the bed, snatching a scarf off of a nearby hook.

She sat in the middle of the floor and placed it over her eyes.

"Are you sure this'll work? You haven't tried it since-"

"Silence. Turn on the.. sounds," El said. Will sighed and turned on the TV to a channel they didn't have, filling the room with static.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Will asked.

"I will try," El said. She concentrated as hard as she could on Mike.

Suddenly, she was transported into his room. The lights in Will's room flickered as the boy looked around in terror.

Eleven found herself in Mike's room, but it was fuzzy. She was fading in and out of the room.

Well, she wasn't really there. It was astral projection. Mike couldn't see her, but she could see Mike.

She saw a girl with (h/l), (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes. She was pretty, El had to admit that. No matter how much she hated seeing another girl in Mike's room.

"Who's this?" The girl asked. She was looking through the trinkets and photos on Mike's desk.

"Oh, that's my friend Will. He moved," Mike said sadly.

"And this?" The girl asked. Eleven didn't dare move.

"Her? That's my cousin, Eleanor," Mike said, his tone uneasy.

Eleanor. Mike hadn't referred to El as Eleanor since they were twelve — when he was trying to hide her.

"You don't seem to like her," the girl said with a chuckle.

"She's okay," Mike said with a shrug.

Eleven faded back into her actual body, ripping the blindfold off and screaming. Will quickly turned off the TV and ran to her side. Blood was streaming out of her nose and tears were flowing down her face.

"Shit," Will mumbled to himself. He immediately knew what was going on.

He knew that it'd be a huge mess.