Light creeps in from the drawn curtains sending shadows dancing up the walls and on the blanket you cover yourself up with.

El rests in the bed beside you, tired after all that crying. She rolls around in the bed as you try to get some sleep before you have to wake up but your thoughts keep running in your head, keeping you awake. You flip over the pillow, hoping it'll help you sleep on the uncomfortable floor but your attempt doesn't work.

A large creak resonates through the room-- and you sit up to listen. The door to the room opens and Hopper looks inside. "Rise and Shine." He says smiling bleakly, you sit up almost immediately. He looks over at you then at El before speaking again. "I guess I'll just eat this double decker extravaganza." El sits up and looks between you and Hopper. Her eyes opened to the brim.

"Lies." She whispers under her breath grinning slightly, you laugh and she shakes her head. The two of you leave the room as Hopper holds the door open and you head into the kitchen.

The eggos are already cooked and placed onto the plates, he must've cooked them quietly enough so you didn't hear them cooking. But gosh does it smell good. The waffles have whipped cream placed on top of them and gummy bears, and hershey kisses on the whipped cream.

The three of you take your places at the table, Hopper begins eating the eggos on his plate. You look at the Eggos, it looks good but you're just not that hungry.

"Mmm." He groans in satisfaction as he eats the food.

"It's super good, go ahead and try it. It's only 8,000 Calories." El takes a bite of a clean part of the Eggo and places it back down.

Hopper looks at the TV cord and then looks back at her. "Did she go see Mike?" He looks over at you.

You shrug, eating another piece of the eggo extravaganza. Neither denying or confirming the possibility.

El looks between you and Hopper cautiously before answering. "He says he needs us." She finally says looking away from Hopper and at her plate.

"Want me to go check on him?" Hopper proposes, it's a smart idea, to cure El's worry's.

She shakes her head and you watch as a frown begins to form on her face.

"I know that you miss all of them, alright? But it's too dangerous. You're both the last thing they need, but soon. You'll see them, and not just in that head of yours either. You're going to see them in real life." Hopper says, El sighs knowing the words are empty lies just as much as you do.

"How long is soon?" You ask, wanting to see your friends too. It's been months, your only friends haven't seen you in months, you need them just as much as you need El.

"I don't know but it feels like I'm making progress with these people." He responds shaking his head.

"Friends. Don't. Lie." She says through gritted teeth.

"What?"

"You say soon on day 21, you say soon on day 265, you now say 'soon' on day 326?" She growls out.

"El-" You try to speak.

"What, you're counting days now like you're some type of prisoner?" Hopper asks, surprised.

"When is soon?" You question, he looks away in guilt. You'd like to see the party as soon as possible but you're still not sure whether or not the people in Hawkins Labs still inhabit the place.

"Soon.. soon is when it's not dangerous anymore." He answers as he nervously begins to twist the button on his shirt.

"When?" El presses onto Hopper harder than before.

"I don't know." He says, messing around with the pocket on his jacket. Avoiding to look El in her eyes.

"On day 500?" She questions, staring directly into the man's eyes.

"I don't know."

"Day 700?"

"El, stop." You say, grabbing her shoulder, she pushes your hand off.

"I don't know!" His own voice raises in pitch.

"Day 800?"

"I Dont Know!"

She slams her fist against the table in anger, making the silverware rattle in response. "Tell me! I need to see them!"

"El. Stop." You say, she turns her eyes towards you, pure fury in them, it scares you a little if your being a little honest.

She flicks her head and the plate in front of Hopper flies into his chest, sending Whipped Cream, Gummy Bears, Hershey Kisses and eggo pieces all over him.

"Stop." You order, trying to make her quit, why is she throwing stuff now, her anger is completely out of check.

"Friends. Don't. Lie!" She remonstrates, she walks away from the table and into the bedroom. You get up and try to follow her but she slams the door closed with a flick of her hand.

Hopper grunts and kicks the table. "Are you okay?" You ask, picking up the plate from the ground. You place it into the sink and glance at him worryingly, as a mother would do.

"I'm late for work and I need to wash these later. Clean this up please." He stands up, grabs his car keys from off the counter and leaves. His eyes looked a little red when he left, You wonder if he has an extra pair of clothes in his car.

You wait till you hear Hopper's car pull off before you walk to Eleven's bedroom door. You knock and she flings open the door. El walks over to the curtains and opens them.

"El, what are you doing?" You question, she doesn't answer. She opens the front door and steps outside. You step out beside her.

"El. What- no, stop."

She doesn't answer and walks off the porch towards the exit of the forest. "I'm not.. stupid. We wont see." She says, walking forward, she turns around and looks back at you standing on the porch.

"Are you coming?"

"I'm not just going to let you go on your own." Hopper would be upset if you let her go herself, she smiles and nods.

"Let's go find them."

You walk for about twenty minutes till you see a woman playing with her children in a backyard playset. "I'm going to go ask for directions. Stay here." Eleven says.

She walks over to the lady and speaks to her, from this distance you can't even hear her. She runs back and you barely hear her even as she approaches you head on.

After 20 minutes walking

It's a lot slower getting to the school because of how many paths you have to take to stay off of the streets but you finally reach the school.

She walks over to the bike rack and examines the bike. You also notice the familiarity of them. It's Dustin, Mikes, and Lucas'.

The school looks a lot more different after last year, everything is rebuilt, from the damaged, cracked pasty white walls, to new furnished navy blue colored walls. You enter the school first and walk through it with El behind you. You walk through the halls following the sounds of loud, rolling wheels. Not quite sure what it is, You look inside through the windows on the door and a girl with red hair rides a skateboard around Mike.

"It's a simple question, am I in or out?" The girl with the red hair asks, you watch as El begins to focus on her. You grip her shoulder and push her out of the view of the window. She turns her attention to look at you. Tears begin to stream down her face.

Why is she crying, over Mike? Over the girl why?

"We're supposed to be in there." She says sadly, trying to wipe away the endless amount of tears.

"We will be, let's just go home before Hopper gets back. He'll be mad if he doesn't see us there." You respond, trying to at least save a little of this situation.

She nods slowly, you both exit the school quickly and follow along the path to get back to Hoppers house. Only taking a small detour when you see police cars out front the ladies lawn where El was talking to that lady.

"Did you do anything to that lady?" You question, she looks over at you with a are-you-serious face.

"No." She shakes her head.

The two of you continue walking even when the only light is the moon guiding you.