Chapter Text
Nothing will be normal again.
Mike knew that, he realised it from the moment El killed the Demogorgon, almost two years ago. And yet here he was - not regretting a single thing that happened, ‘cause it brought him Eleven. The same girl he was now waiting for in the sunny and warm parking lot of Hawkins High School. It was the first day of high school and the first day of school ever for El. Even though a full year hasn’t passed yet, Hopper thought that starting school at the same time with everyone else would make the most sense and bring less attention towards her.
With that in mind, Mike and the rest of the party had helped her study over the summer so she would have the same knowledge as they did. It was a lot of hard work and it did take them a while but El was smart, and determined, and curious and it helped a lot. Most of the time they studied at the Hopper residence and on some very rare occasions in Mike’s basement and sometimes even Nancy would join them to help with harder subjects. It all payed off and by now it felt like El never even skipped school. And even though Mike knew El was anxious, he also knew she was as ready as anyone could be and he would always be there to steady her and help her in whatever way he could.
In the corner of his eye, further in the parking lot, he saw Lucas hugging Max. They stood behind some cars, obviously putting some distance between them and Billy, who, although didn’t do anything physical, still harboured hard feelings towards his stepsister’s boyfriend and friends.
Mike’s attention was brought back to the present as Will got out of Jonathan’s car next to him. He waved bye to his brother and smiled at Mike. They didn’t get to see each other very often as his mom was as overprotective as always, but the party would always visit him or have him join them in Mike’s basement. They made sure he felt involved and loved and cared for, like good friends would.
As Will made his way towards the school entrance, Mike started fidgeting. There wasn’t that much time left and he wasn’t really sure where their classroom was and then there was a little ball of anxiety starting to squirm in his belly. When he finally saw Hopper’s car turning into the parking lot, instead of calming down, the ball just became bigger and squirmier.
Ignoring his anxiety, the boy smiled and waved at Eleven. She was sitting in the passenger seat, her brown curls barely contained, in a blue dress with short sleeves, her little brown backpack on her lap. She had a little black handkerchief tied around her wrist, hiding the tattoo. Mike watched as El said goodbye to her adoptive dad and nodded his head as Hopper sternly acknowledged Mike’s existence. It seemed he wished her a good day as El quickly hugged him and jumped out of the car.
When her big brown eyes met Mike’s, he felt his heart flutter and the ball of anxiety slowly unfurled until it was gone.
“You look very pretty,” he smiled at her as El approached him and the two shared a quick hug. “Ready?”
“No,” El smiled at Mike as her hand found his and her fingers curled around his. “But you’re here.”
Mike squeezed her hand and smiled and led El towards the school and towards her new life.
The classroom was almost full, with just a few minutes left until the bell. Dustin saved them seats front and center, in the second row, with Max, Lucas and Dustin right in front of them and Will to the right of Mike. Their homeroom teacher was a nice lady and while she talked about useless things like what to expect from high school and why it’s important and such, Mike slowly blanked out. He knew that Hopper made sure El had the lessons with at least one person from their party at any time, mostly with Mike, and he was glad for that. He was sure that after a good week or so everyone’s attention towards the new girl would wane and it would all settled down. For now though, he definitely heard some whispers in the back and felt some interested looks thrown towards their backs. He only hoped that two years and a different name changed El just enough for noone to notice the similarity with his supposed cousin.
El. Now she was Jane. And even though he knew it was her real name and that he was supposed to call her that in public, both in his mind and in private he liked calling her El. While everyone else in the party slowly eased into Jane, he just seemed not able to move on. And El never seemed upset about the nickname Mike kept. It was one of their little things.
“Jane Hopper?” The teacher seemed to have finally moved on to attendance and Mike lightly elbowed El. “Say ‘Here’” he mouthed to her and she did.
“You seem new,” continued teacher with an encouraging smile. “Would you like to tell us about yourself?”
Thankfully, they had expected this and El knew what to say.
“I like waffles,” she smiled. “And, um, watching TV shows? And listening to music, I guess.”
So basic and vague, Mike chuckled privately.
“That’s... nice. I see your last name - is chief Hopper connected to you or..?”
“He’s my uncle. I’m staying with him for now.”
“Well, how great of you to join us! Hope you like it here in Hawkins. Ok, moving on, Jon Kelson?”
El turned her head towards Mike and he gave her an encouraging smile. “You did great,” he whispered and watched her expression soften. It was weird, just being with El without needing to fight monsters or save his friends. It felt… nice. Mike supposed he’d be happy spending his whole life like this. Don’t jinx it, he thought as the lesson kept going. He glanced at Will. It seemed like the poor kid just couldn’t catch a break and Mike hoped that this year he would stay happy and safe. Will deserved it. He watched him lift his head up from his doodle and smile at his friend.
Yeah, I hope this year’s good. We all deserve to finally be happy.
First day at school flied by and soon they all were free. As the weather was amazing, with sun as bright as ever, the gang realised that some good ice cream was in need and a plan to talk Will’s mom and Hopper into letting them hang out in the city was devised. Surprisingly, Mrs. Bryers was pretty quick to agree, as long as El was there and the only person they really needed to convince was Hopper. After promising him a hundred times to stay out of trouble and the center of attention, El was begrudgingly given three dollars and Hopper left with her friends and a warning to them.
As the party moved towards the town’s center to “the best damn ice cream parlour” (according to Dustin), they made sure to keep El in the middle of their group, as hidden as possible. As they all chatted and gossiped about the teachers and planned what flavours they’ll get, El’s warm fingers found Mike’s hand and she softly smiled at him. He smiled back.
“So, did you like it? School?”
“It’s… ok. Loud,” El glanced at the guys in front of them, loudly laughing and screaming and having fun. “But kind of… fun.”
“I’m glad,” Mike squeezed her hand. “And I’m sure you’ll do great.”
They held hands a lot. It helped them remember - everything is okay and they have each other’s back. They’re safe and together and everything is okay. The contact was grounding and needed, if Mike ever admitted that. Right by the end of all events, when they all returned home and tried to put their lives back together, to somehow assemble any sort of normal, he would get nightmares. Nightmares, in which El never came back from the gate, in which they failed to escape from the demodogs, in which the Mind Flayer took Will from them. They felt very real and oh so tangible. And when it still felt like a dream sometimes, that’s when he needed something to keep him in the present, to not let his mind wander off towards the bad things. So he would weave his fingers between El’s tighter and tug her closer. He never truly told El or anyone else, and yet she was always there when he needed her and Mike was so glad. He was fine with being saved as long as it was El.
When they finally got to the ice cream parlour and picked their flavours, Mike saw all those options El never even knew existed overwhelming her, so he offered to buy it for them both and she nodded happily, going to sit with Max, who already got hers while the rest of the boys argued about the ice cream flavour bests and worsts and inbetweens. Quickly after the closing of the gate, when the whole party got a chance to hang out, El warmed up to Max and they became pretty close friends, as the only girls in the group. Mike pushed between Dustin and Lucas and got them two vanilla ice cream cones with chocolate syrup. Offering one to El, he watched her face transform as she slowly tasted the creamy goodness. Her eyes widened and a smile grew on her face as she looked back at Mike.
“Tasty,” El murmured and attacked the ice cream. Giggling, Mike dug into his ice cream as well. He was happy.
“Is someone new moving to our neighbour’s house?” Karen frowned as she stopped her dishwashing momentarily and looked out the window as a big moving truck stopped right by the Dellers’ house. They didn’t even mention moving especially since they loved Hawkins so much.
“I guess,” Ted mused, turning yet another page of his newspaper. Karen sighed. It felt like life was just slipping by, with all these things she somehow missed.
“Suppose I should make some housewarming cookies?” Mrs. Wheeler turned her attention back to the plate in her hands, her mind already on what she could cook for her new neighbours. Gotta make that first impression sweet.
“If you do, save some for me,” Ted grumbled half-heartedly.
A car stopped outside their house, which Karen assumed to be Nancy’s ride.
“I’m back!” She was right. Smiling, she finished up her work and turned around.
“How was school, sweetie?”
“Like always, I guess,” Nancy shrugged and grabbed an apple from the kitchen table. “Mary’s having a little get together for the new school year tomorrow. I’m thinking of going.”
“Oh, sure, just don’t stay out of trouble,” as Nancy hummed in agreement on her way upstairs, Karen gathered ingredients for the chocolate chip cookies. Time to be a good neighbour.
Even though she was reading a book, Reeva still could see her new neighbour coming towards her house with a plate of something through the big windows. Oh, God. She hated neighbours like that - noisy middle-aged ladies, mostly moms, ignored by their husbands and children, so they felt like they always had to pretend to be sweet to your face and then talk shit behind your back. Reeva didn’t really care for liars and bootlickers. She hated tiny towns and would rather never have stepped in Hawkins again, but the reasons were important enough for her to stay. And, hey, if she needed to eat some cookies or pie or whatever for her neighbour to be happy and leave her alone, she was ready to do that.
As the doorbell rang, Reeva slowly got up. Opening her door to the brown hair lady, the teenager smirked.
“Hi!” Oh no, Reeva already hated her voice. “I see you’re our new neighbour! I’m Karen Wheeler, I live right next door. Hope that the move is going smoothly.”
Was it even possible to dislike a person’s smile that much that quickly?
“It’s ok. Thanks for the pastries. I think. I’ll be sure to tell dad you visited.”
Karen’s faltering face as Reeva closed the door in her face was hilarious and she couldn’t help but smile. The cookies tasted ok, Reeva supposed. She might even learn to deal with all this.