Chapter Text
“That was amazing El! I still have in my mind the face she made at you when you broke with her!" Max exclaimed with some popcorn in his mouth. He grabbed one, looked at it and pulled it up to catch it with his mouth. The hunk and thought for a moment. "You know El, you shouldn't be nervous, you should relax and stop thinking about her.” His words felt like a relief for El, knowing that what he had done was not something from the other world calmed him down.
“Also, you should take a break from girls, if I find that you’re talking to any other girl to forget Mitch I’m gonna kick you, seriously.” Max looked at El, making an annoyed face. “Girlfriends really lie don’t they? I mean, just remember her face when you said ‘we’re done, I dump you’ that girl DID NOT care!”. Exclaimed, maybe it was a little too much, but El definitely found it fun.
"You're right, girlfriends lie, at least Mitch does," he sighed. He was sitting on Max's bed, looking around while holding a pillow and putting away the comic he was reading.
"You know, I've broken up with Lucy five times, they always come back to you, and when they come back it's the best, well, actually Lucy is better than Michelle, no offense" Max mocked while eating more popcorn. They were at Eleven’s house, in his bedroom, Hopper was in the living room drinking and watching her favorite tv channel, she would be paying attention to the bedroom of her son, but he was with another male friend, no girls, no problems. Max looked at a drawer filled with El’s clothes and then at the desk that had papers and a pencil case, then, he came up with an idea.
"You know El?" He stood up and took a sheet and a pencil from the desk, sat on the bed next to Eleven. "You should take advantage of your powers to do something fun" he smiled maliciously, but El laughed and began to wonder now what he would mean. In the Starcourt he had already exploded a soda to some boys who made fun of them, and in general they had already had a good time together, that was what he needed for so long.
"What do you want to do then?"
"Look, it's not the best idea, but how about we see what the girls do?" He regretted a little knowing how his words sounded, he didn't say it in a strange way, just out of curiosity to know if they would be conspiring against them or Lucy and Willow comforting Mitch. "I mean we could hear what they say, and I don't know, maybe spy on Brie and Daisy?"
Eleven was surprised by the other suggestions. "Brie? Why your sister?" Then he turned his thoughts to Daisy, he hadn't seen her since they went to her house when she returned from the summer camp, maybe he should have another friendship to spend the summer, as she doesn't get a lot of time with Willow, Lucy and Mitch now, maybe she would be with Max and him. "I want to see Daisy, Max," he mentioned with serious words and fixed eyes.
"Oh, I see that you have an eye on Daisy, you don't waste time" Max laughed, he began to make a few lines on the sheet with his pencil, lines that he didn't stop seeing, He approached but the redhead told him no until he finished.
"Look, this is, first we will see Daisy as how YOU want and then who knows" he showed her the sheet at last, it was some paintings that contained the name Brie, Mitch, Ms. Clarke, Jianna Hopper and Heath, Brie's co-worker. He leaned over to grab the empty Coca Cola glass bottle from the bedside table. "Well, I turn the bottle and you watch them, okay?"
"Good, but, first Daisy?" El asked innocently, feeling pierced by Max's eyes.
They both agreed, her friend had to be somewhere, or maybe she would be talking to Mitch and the others, which would be a double prize, but they would have to stay there long enough to realize everything they talk about.
He took a handkerchief to cover his eyes, wrapped his head with it and began to meditate. The surroundings turned into a dead purple until it became a black reflected in the whole environment of his mind.
He opened his eyes, the black mantle gave him a clue of Daisy's whereabouts, there was ice cream and an echo of music from Scops Ahoy! She must have been there now, always being with her older friend Stacy and her co-worker, Robbie. El approaches and looks at her, they are sitting at the table, you can hear Robbie and Stacy's voices, they must be at their free time.
"I really don't understand why they don't answer my calls now?" Daisy's face said it all, she was frustrated and had her curls on her face, with her face glued to the table. She raised her face and arranged his hair. "I should be with the other guys for a while, I'm sure they're talking about men's things, but maybe it's better than being with the girls when they talk about men."
He lowered his face a little to the right, watching her think, did he really want to spend time with them? Or it was the only alternative, but he liked the idea, so he thought of making a little push to get the three together.
He got even closer to her, so she could hear him, whispered to her; "Let’s meet" His voice was not so clear, but what he wanted to say was, if they both had a bad time feeling alone, maybe they should get together more often, he was not super close, but from the beginning Daisy was interested in his life.
To be realistic, it would not be unusual for the nerd of the group to have a little crush on the superpowers boy. One just a little one.
Daisy straightened up, it was clear that she heard it, her eyes looked around her. "El? Is that you?" She asked, her eyes lit up and he smiled, at least he used his powers to talk to her, which was what interested her most and even envied in a good way when Mitch could not go to Eleven's house he would talk to her through her mind.
He had to get out of his black cloak void because Max touched his shoulder. He took off the handkerchief from his head and rested his eyes, being in the void for a long time gave him a little discomfort in his sight. "What happened?"
"Well? What did you say to Daisy?" Max questioned him, his face showed it, he was interested in what was coming, what would happen if he invited Daisy in front of Mitch? Would it be that Jianna Hopper, the most feared and powerful police chief would leave the two of them alone and not bother them as she did with Mitch and him?
"Oh, I told her to call me, so we could go out, agree?"
"I love it, you asked her out!"
"What?" El's eyes opened like plates when he heard what he had supposedly just done, Max always invited Lucy out, but with different intentions. He was supposed to go out with Mitch, but what they actually used to do was kissing in his room with the door open since his mother didn't trust them.
"Yes! Look, if you like I can go with you, but you have to risk it!" Said Max, very determined as always, supporting his friend.
"Isn't this bad? Should I give myself some time after breaking up with Mitch or not?" El questioned.
"Ignore what I said before, this is normal, and it's not cheating or anything like that, what Mitch did to you is worse," Max snorted, throwing his paper in the trash can next to the bed and carrying his pencil to keep it in the holster. "Now, let's see what Mitch says yes or yes, sorry but curiosity eats away at me."
Eleven said nothing, took his handkerchief from the blankets, covered his head and returned to the trance of the black void, dead purple mantle, black dyes, and arrived. I quickly look for the voices of Mitch and the others and locate them in the basement of Mitch's house.
They were in the main room of the basement, Mitch was adjusting her long skirt, putting her shirt under the skirt, looking at herself in the mirror. Willow arranged the D&D board with the pieces of toys and Lucy was sitting in the armchair drinking Coca Cola.
"I'm tired, Maxwell must have told him a lot of things about me that are not true!" Mitch said as she arranged her black hair in the mirror.
"But, you lied to him a lot, too much, Mitch" Willow said when she approached Mitch and looked in the mirror too, seeing her reflection, she has small shorts and a warm striped shirt, completely different to Mitch's cold-colored clothing.
"Yes, but you know why!" Mitch sat next to Lucy and turned red with annoyance. "I'm sure you have nothing to say about your red-haired boyfriend, right?" She faced Lucy, and she looked away with a nervous face, trying not to see Mitch's annoyed face.
"What if we play D&D? Now that we don't have guys to take away our time?" Willow said incoherently.
"You know, you're too pretty, Willow, to be glued to the D&D as always," Mitch replied somewhat frustrated, although she didn't like the idea of Willow having a boyfriend, rather, it bothered her. She felt that no boy deserved to have Willow, besides, she knew her better than any boy, so she won. It was rare that she compares herself to a future boyfriend of Willow to see who was more important.
"Really?" Willow said blushing, she didn't look at Mitch's face but she felt her very close even though she was far away from her. Her body got nervous and she touched her arm with his hand, trying to act normally.
"Yes." quoted Mitch without thinking twice. "Really pretty, but you haven't been with any guy, so I don't judge you that you don't understand how I feel." She thought for a moment and analyzed, fixing her gaze on the ceiling and her hand on her chin. "No boy deserves you in the end."
...
El thinks it was a good idea to get away from Mitch and the other girls for a while, at least until whatever is going on between the two of them is resolved so that he doesn't get hurt or stuck. So now he must deal with Max talking about possible places to go with Daisy.
The phone ringed. “Well, I guess Daisy is calling, isn’t she?” Elevens face got really red, he should’ve really spied on someone else. The phone ringed for a few seconds more, El decided to get out of Max’s bed, the phone wasn’t far, just on the desk next to Max’s pencils.
‘This isn’t difficult’ thought El, his face was neutral, no more weird expressions or guilt, he wanted this, we want fun, he want to spend more time with friends, and that’s normal. He picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
…
“Guys, guys let me use your phone please!” Daisy get out of the table to go where Stacy and Robbie were attending customers after their free time ended some seconds ago. “Please I need THE phone!”
“Wait, wait, what’s so important?” Questioned Stacy, who was fighting with the hat to make it look good in her hair. Taking some curls out, some curls in her forehead, some curls were better hiding. But she stopped fighting, the hat already ruined her hairstyle.
“You won’t believe it, but El just told me he wants to call me!”
“Well, use the phone” replied Robbie. Stacy scanned him, she was about to say yes but Robbie said it before she could. “What? Is her boyfriend? And there’s no boys calling youuu, Stacee.” He mocked, not in a bad way, but really making fun of Stacy, who glanced at him annoyed.
“Ugh, what ever, yeah Dai, use the phone.” When Daisy grabbed it, she eyeballed Stacy. “But don’t forget, they must do the first move ‘kay? Then you’ll see, but El’s a great boy, so don’t worry.” Yes, it was that she was waiting for Stacy to say.
Stacy is a great girl, she unexpectedly became one of Daisy’s best friends. After she get dumped by Nathan, Mitch’s brother, she became a better person, it was not because of the boy, it was for realizing how horrible she was before. After all the time they spend together, Stacy always gave Daisy advices about social life. When Daisy asked for help when liked Maxwell, Stacy was there, always.
“I know Stacy, don’t worry about me, I can handle this.” Winked Daisy, grabbed the phone and put the numbers of Hopper’s house. Waited not so long, feeling really self conscious, nervous and the time passed really slow. The phone was waiting for that voice, that pretty voice.
When she heard a voice saying ‘hello’ from the device she almost jumped. ‘What do I say? I should sound casual’.
“Oh, hi El!”
…
It was Daisy’s voice, what he should say now? Maybe he should invite her to the cinema? Or maybe at the arcade? Or maybe she wants to say something else?
“Hey, I was thinking that, you spend so much time with Stacy and her co-worker, but, you don’t spend so much time with us.” There is a pause, he can’t see her but he can imagine her face, her curls trying to get out of her cap, her eyes being confused and her face wanting for him to continue. She knows there’s more words El want to say. He wanted to talk to her, so, said it now.
“Would you like to got to the cinema with us? I mean, Me and Max!” There was it, his voice cracked, it sounded more nervious than how it was supposed to sound like.
A tiny smile stays in Daisy’s face, the boy with superpowers asking her to go to the cinema with him and another friend? Thats sound like a perfect summer, she was already waiting for more plans, in a near future they could be in the pools together, having fun, but she would’ve spend less time with Stacy and Robbie. It was fine, maybe she should just let them have their space at work, Stacy needed the job and so does Robbie.
“Yeah! I mean, yes it’s great!” Her words bubbled up. El felt a nice breeze, not literally, but having a new friend group to spend time with was great. Daisy actually was really smart, she used to explain a lot of things to El when they were out with the group. Normally he was holding Mitch’s hand but listening to Daisy explaining how some things work like.
She even told him she could help him with school, the homework and exams. “I will always have time to answer your questions, El!”
Max was looking eyeballing El from the other corner of his bedroom with a not so understandable smile in his face. “Say something more! When she can go? Say some date!” Eleven was concerning at that point. He covered the phone to speak to Max and say that he doesn’t understand what he meant. “SAY SOME DAY I DON’T KNOW!” El had his face full of nervousness.
“And, and how about we go on… Friday!” El turned his face to face Max, making a thumb up move with his hand, still with alarmed sensations. It was Wednesday, so they must wait two more days, but probably they will get to see her earlier.
Daisy checked her imaginary calendar, staring at the starcourt mall celling, nothing on today, tomorrow she had dinner with her mother and grandparents and friday morning housework and at afternoon she will be free. “Okay, friday! What time and movie?”
Gosh, no, the movie. Time was okay, just he needed to ask Hopper about what time, but the movie is the problem. El covered the phone microphone to speak to Max, asking if he could ask Hopper about at what time he must be at home on Friday. Max understood, he stood and search for Hopper in the living room.
“What would you like to see?”
“Let me think, probably Back to the Future!”
“Back to the future? Okay!” Replied El, after some seconds he heard Max’s steps behind the door, Max opened the door and came back with Hopper’s answer, saying it was until 10pm.
“So, see you on Friday at 7pm at the cinema Daisy.”
“Yes! Um, can’t wait to see you then!” …
What is the feeling behind those words, El’s face turned red, like a pinkie red in his cheeks and his mouth was tight, all that in a shy face, but, he doesn’t regret this.
“That was crazy, not gonna lie.” Concluded Max, taking El out of his mind and realizing the call already ended. “You know you must take her from her house right?” Wait, he forgot about that part, she couldn’t just go to the cinema alone, if he wanted to gave her a goof impression he must take her to the cinema and home, but how? Would Hopper help him?
“Can… you.” Hinted El, that was embarrassing for him, it wasn’t weird but, he felt like he already knows how this would end up being like. “Help me… to convince Hopper to take her to the cinema?”
His face was burning, ‘Don't overthink’ he thought.
“Yes, but with one condition.” Said Max, with his arms folded together, standing by the door. “Let me bring Lucy with me.” Before El could even say something he explained.
“Just think about it, wouldn’t it make Mitch’s crazy? Lucy snitches and tells her about you going out with Daisy!”
Eleven was confused, why would it bother Mitch if they are not together anymore, and Max didn’t made it clear about his objective to bring Lucy, but if he wants then it’s fine! El and Lucy didn’t liked each others when they first meet, but now they are friends, just like the everybody in the party.
“It’s fine, but now let’s do the worst part.” He pointed the couch were Hopper was sitting, she was drinking some champagne, but no smoking, she never smoke when some of El’s friends were inside the house. Outside she could smoke all day if she wanted to.
“Okay, it will not be that difficult, right?”
…
Max was right, it was not really hard to made Eleven’s mother figure to let him go with his friends to the cinema, also, without Mitch, she could be relaxed that weird teenager things won’t affect her “son”. But Max made things complicated for El when he “tried” to make a joke.
“Miss Hopper, did you know your son wants to invite a girl to the cinema right?” A malicious smile scaped from his lips, and at the right time he turned his hace to glance at a white eyed Eleven, trying more hard to not laugh.
El didn’t even dared to look at him, just closed his eyes and squeezed his lips, trying to stay relaxed and don’t have thoughts of strangling his best friend with the dishcloth.
“Oh hell no, who?” Asked Hopper.
“It’s, Daisy, my friend.”