Chapter Text
Eleven bobbed her head gently along as Lucas slapped a beat on the table out of boredom.
“Lucas, knock it off,” Dustin groaned, shifting on the couch as he tried to fall asleep. It was a lazy day during Spring Break, and Mike was out of town with his family over in California. So, thanks to the generosity and patience of Mrs. Sinclair, the kids were hanging out at Lucas’s house, with not much to do.
“What else is there to do?” Lucas said with a huff, throwing his hands up in the air as he sat back on the edge of the couch. Will, who was drawing, looked at him with his mouth open to speak.
“No, we’re not gonna draw,” Lucas deadpanned. Will closed his mouth and simply shrugged before returning to his work.
“Just go to sleep or somethin’,” Dustin mumbled, waving his hand in the air slightly. Lucas groaned, putting his head in his hands.
“We can’t be this bored just because Mike isn’t here.”
Eleven yawned, causing Will to yawn, who caused Lucas to yawn. Dustin began to snore.
“Agh, no!” Lucas exclaimed, getting up to his feet. He walked over to the stereo sitting on the table in the middle of their abandoned Dungeons & Dragons game, and pressed the play button. Synths poured out of the speaker with a fast beat; Will and Lucas remained unfazed. Eleven, however, was curious as Lucas began to snap in time, dancing in place to the beat.
Will looked up at him for a long second, watching as Lucas continued to dance without interruption. Finally, he gave in, standing up and dancing around like a six year old on a sugar high.
“Dustin, get your ass up and dance!” Lucas shouted. Dustin looked up drowsily, before yelping as Lucas yanked him up onto his feet.
“Come on, move to the beat!” Will said encouragingly. He looked at Eleven, who hurriedly looked away as she predicted what he was going to say next.
“Dance with us, El!”
Eleven looked away in embarrassment. “I…”
“Yeah, come on, Eleven! You gotta practice for when you and Mike go to the Snow Ball together,” teased Lucas. Eleven blushed, wringing her hands anxiously.
“I don’t know how,” She muttered.
“What was that? A yes?”
“I don’t know how to...dance,” Eleven said aloud. Lucas looked at her in bewilderment.
“Seriously?”
“What’d you expect, Lucas? For her to be a freaking ballerina?”
“No! It’s just...man, it’s screwed up that you don’t know all this because of you growing up in a lab,” Lucas said, looking at her sympathetically. He shook his head.
“I guess I gotta teach you.”
It was Eleven’s turn to be surprised.
“Teach me?”
“Yeah, get up here!”
Lucas pulled her up off of the chair she was sitting in, gripping her wrists carefully.
“Okay, so the most basic kind of dancing you can do? Swaying. You just kind of,” Lucas trailed off, moving his hips side to side. Eleven smiled, trying to hold back a laugh as he made a funny face while doing so.
“Get it?”
“I think so,” Eleven said. She moved from side to side slightly. Lucas nodded.
“Okay, so now you know how to dance.”
Eleven furrowed her eyebrows. “That’s it?”
“No, but you learn better by making up your own moves. So come on, weirdo, start dancing!”
Eleven rolled her eyes, twirling around confidently as she tried to show off that she knew more than she let on. She stopped and swayed, bouncing as she moved her hips from side to side. Lucas gave her a thumbs up and took her hand, twirling her around playfully.
“If you’re gonna spin, let someone help you do it,” He said, the instruction sticking to her mind. She nodded, though her eyes were admittedly a bit out of focus while she was dizzy. She recovered as quick as she could twirl, and soon, the kids danced the afternoon away as Eleven obeyed her teacher’s every word as she learned, little by little, how to dance.