This takes place after season two. It's their first day of freshman year so if you've seen the season 3 trailer then that's what they look like. Mike and El are dating and have been for like 8 months I think because season three takes place in July of 1985, 6 months after season two so plus July and August that's eight months. And lets just pretend that Mr. Clarke teaches freshman science now to be with his favorite students and Mike has met the other teachers before because of Nancy.

Enjoy!

Mike and the rest of the Party rode up to El and Hopper's cabin on their bikes except for Max who rode her skateboard. They pulled up into the driveway and stopped by the porch.

Mike hopped off his bike and knocked on the cabin door. Hopper opened. "She's almost ready." Then he walked back into the cabin. Mike waited patiently until he heard a thud and a groan then a little giggle.

"El?" Mike called into the cabin from the porch. "You okay?" Eleven was suddenly standing in front of him and his breath hitched in his throat. She had grown so much more beautiful over the past two years since he's known her.

Her hair had grown so it rested right on top of her shoulders but didn't go passed them. Her brown eyes seemed brighter today. She was wearing a black rompers with different designs scattered over it. (1:18 of season 3 trailer)  White high top converse on her feet, on her wrist was a blue bracelet, and she was even wearing lip gloss.

"Sorry, I... fell putting on my shoes." El informed Mike while she shouldered her backpack.

"Hopper let you wear lip gloss?" Mike joked with a teasing smile. El slapped his arm lightly and then trailed her hand down to his and laced their fingers together. They walked over to Mike's bike where everyone else was waiting for them. Mike got on his bike and El sat behind them. "Ready?"

"Yes." El wrapped her arms around Mike's torso, his backpack between them.

"Ready?" Dustin asked as he rode up next to Mike and Eleven.

"Yes." El said and rested her chin on Mike's shoulder.

"Good." Lucas said. "I think you'll like school."

"I am nervous." El told them.

"You'll be fine." Will said, riding up on the other side of them. El turned her head to look at him. "It's only high school. It's not like it's college."

"College?" Eleven asked, confused.

"College is for 17 years old and up. It's where you go to school to study whatever your career choice requires you to." Max called back since she was in front of all of them.

"Uh, okay." El said. She tightened her arms around Mike as Hawkins High School came into view. They rode up to the bike rack and got off the bikes. El looked around while the boys locked their bikes to the rack and Max talked to Lucas about something.

'People, everywhere.' El thought. She didn't realize that most of the people looked at her, the new girl. Hawkins High School didn't get many new kids each year because of how small the town was. And also because they had never seen her in Hawkins before.

El felt fingers lace with hers and she looked down to see Mike's hand. "What do we do now?" She asked, looking up.

"We get our schedules." Mike answered and they began walking to the doors.

"..Sch..edu..les?" El sounded out the word.

"It's a paper that says what classes we have and when." Will said, walking beside El.

"Okay." El said as they neared a room labeled, 'office'. They entered the office and saw a man with graying brown hair, blue eyes, and a wrinkly face smile at them. He stood and walked towards them.

"Ah, why hello Mike, Lucas, Will, Dustin, and Max." He said with a wave then moved towards El. She instinctively moved closer to Mike and looked at the man with wide eyes. Mike chuckled quietly.

"El, it's okay. That's Mr. Palez. Our principal. Nancy told me about him. He runs the school."  Mike whispered in her ear and she relaxed.

"And you must be the new girl." Mr. Palez looked through some papers. "Jane 'Eleven' Hopper?"

"Yes, I go by El. Jane was my name then it was taken from me so it is Eleven or El." Mr. Palez nodded and held out his hand. El flinched away and whispered in Mike's ear, "What's he doing?"

"A hand shake." Mike said and El looked at him confused. "A handshake?"

"Yeah, shake his hand." Will said and El did. El suddenly remembered shaking Benny's hand at that restaurant.

"Nice to meet you." Mr. Palez handed them each a piece of paper with words and numbers on it. "You got fifteen minutes until homeroom which you all have together." They all said their thanks and headed to find their lockers.

"What's your locker number? Mine's 1-1-3." Mike said as the party split up for their lockers.

"Um, 1-1-1." El said.

"Okay, lets go find out who is between us." Mike said and he began walking towards the lockers, El on his heels. Mike froze, causing El to bump into him. She looked over his shoulder and saw a girl putting away school supplies in her locker. She wore a tight pink tank top and a black skirt with sandals.

"What?" El asked.

"That's Stacy." Mike said. "She's in between us."

"So?"

"She's not the nicest so don't even listen to her. Just ignore her." Mike said, kissed El's cheek, then went to his locker. El walked over to her locker and stared at this little circle thing with numbers. A locker slammed and she jumped.

"It's a lock. Ever seen one?" Stacy scoffed.

"Uh, no." El drawled out.

"Really?" Stacy smacked her bubble gum. "Someone lives under a rock."

"Um, okay." El said, confused. "What's a lock?"

"Oh my God. I'm not explaining, dumb***. What number do you want it to be?"

"0-1-1." El told Stacy. Stacy did somthing to the lock and El's locker door opened.

"You twist it to it's number then the door opens it." Stacy said. "That's the only help you're getting from me."

"Okay. Thank you." El said to Stacy's figure walking away. El placed all her notebooks in her locker and checked her schedule for what class she has first.

Homeroom in Mr. Clarke's room then science in the same room. El grabbed her red notebook, shouldered her small back pack that held her school supplies, and turned to Mike who was shutting his locker door.

"You ready?" Mike asked with a small smile. El took a deep breath and nodded. She reached for his hand and laced their fingers.

"Yes." Is all she said then they walked to the classroom, meeting the rest of the Party by the door.

"You ready for your first day of school, El?" Dustin asked.

"For the last time, I am ready." El said.

"Okay, okay." Dustin held up his hands in surrender.

"Let's go." Max opened the door and they stepped in. El took into notice that there wasn't that many people in here yet except for a few girls, including Stacy, and a couple boys, including Troy.

"Ah! Boys and Max! I decided to start teaching here so I can help you through your voyage of curiosity!" Mr. Clarke greeted his favorite students. "And who is this?" He gestured to El.

"This is Eleven Hopper." Lucas said.

"El." El said quietly.

"What?" Mr. Clarke asked.

"I go by El." She said.

"Okay, well welcome to Hawkins Middle School." He shook her hand But was a little curious as to why she looked like that one girl from Sweden that Mike told him was his second cousin Eleanor. 

"Thank you." She said.

"You can sit by.." Mr. Clarke glanced at El and Mike's interlocked hands. "Mike."

"Okay." El let Mike pull her to her seat and they sat down. El took a look around the large classroom. There were six desks in every row so twenty four desks in all. Only eleven seats were filled but that is because class hasn't started yet. El jumped a little when she saw a skeleton model in the back corner of the classroom.

"El? You okay?" She heard Mike ask her. She turned around and nodded then pointed.

"Skeleton." She said. "Scared me."

"Don't worry it's fake." Mike reached over and squeezed her hand. El nodded and turned to the front of the classroom. Mike turned to Will and started talking to him about something.

When the bell rung for first class El jumped in her seat. "Wow, That was loud!" She exclaimed and the Party members laughed.

"Okay, class. I'm Mr. Clarke the science teacher." Me. Clarke introduced. "First I'll do attendance."

"Abby Larkins?"

"Here." A voice said from behind El. She turned to see Abby was one of Stacy's friends.

"Beatrice Plier?"

"Here." A girl with short brown hair and glasses said with a kind smile. El noticed she sat alone in a corner.

"Brodie Sand?"

"Here." A boys with a blonde mullet said.

"Candy Simpleton?"

"Here!" A girl sing songed from Stacy's group.

"Carter Banks?"

"Here." Carter raises his hand.

"Derick Landon?"

"Here." A boys sitting by Troy said.

"Daniel Barriers?" Mr. Clarke looked around. "Alright not here. David Manuel?"

"Here."

"Dustin Henderson?"

"Here, my lord." Dustin gave a big smile.

"Emerald Green?"

"Here." A girl with black hair and blue eyes said who just sat down by David and Carter.

"Eleven Hopper?"

"Um, here." El said shyly. She heard laughs and whispers behind her from Stacy and her friends.

"Who name's their kid eleven?"

"That's embarrassing."

"She has a number for a name?!"

"I had to tell her what a lock was!" Stacy laughed.

"Actually? She's that dumb!" Abby exclaimed quietly.

Then cue the giggles. El squeezed her eyes shut then opened them and bit her lip. She tried to ignore their whispers.

"Fred Green?"

"Here." A boy with black hair and blue eyes sat next to Emerald.

"Okay... Garret Armor?" Mr. Clarke asked.

"Sorry I'm late! Here!" A boy with brown hair sat by Carter.

"It's quite all right." Mr. Clarke said. "Harriet Loofer? Not here? Okay. Kylie Groof?"

"Here!" A really girly voice said from beside Stacy.

"Lucas Sinclaire?"

"Here." Caleb raises his hand.

"Michael Wheeler?"

"Here, sir." Mike raised his hand.

"Stacy Louper."

"Here!" Her perky voice said.

"And Will Byers?"

"Here." He said distractedly, coloring in his notebook.

Mr. Clarke shut his attendance book. "Good. Most of us are here. I'll hand you out your science text books then open up to page one."

El's eyebrows scrunched together. What was a textbook? She knew what a book was because Hopper had bought her some when she was on house arrest in the cabin for those long 353 excruciating days. But a textbook? She's never heard of one of those. What does text mean? She could probably figure it out if she had a dictionary. El was lost in her train of thought she didn't realize the textbook was set on her desk.

"El?" Mike's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Open up to page one." He pointed at the blue science text book.

"Okay," She opened the cover and flipped through the table of contents and other useless information to page one. (Text book stuff is taken from K12 that I found on the internet so it is not mine. but I did change it up a bit to fit the 1980's)

"So class, we will be learning about Physics and Chemistry." Mr. Clarke said with a big smile as he wrote it across the chalk board. "I will be calling names out of this cup for who reads." Mr. Clarke twirled his fingers in the cup until they grasped a paper with a name on it. He pulled it out and cleared his throat. "Dustin, drum roll."

"Yes, sir." Dustin closed his text book and tapped his hands against it, startling El. She jumped a little but soon relaxed. But then tensed when she heard her name come out of the teachers mouth.

"El! You get to read the first paragraph!" Mr. Clarke exclaimed. El looked around the room then at Mike. Her eyes wide, she shook her head, unnoticeable to everyone but Mike.

"You can do it." Mike said, placing his hand on her arm. "I'll help you if you need it."

"Okay." El nodded and looked back at her textbook and began reading. "Imagine humans when they first had fire, when they first made wheels, when they first est.. est.." She looked up in alarm at the teacher.

"Is everything all right, El?" Mr. Clarke asked kindly. She shook her head and swallowed.

"I don't know how to say this word..." She said, embarrassed. She heard Stacy and her friends giggling and laughing behind her.

"Established." Mike said suddenly. "That's the word she was having trouble on."

"Thank you, Mike." Mr. Clarke smiled. "Continue, El."

El took a deep breath and continued, "where they were going by looking at the stars. Today, when you get off the school bus, go home and turn on the lights, and put a tape in the boo..boombox. How did the things we call basic and the things your great-great grandparents called basic ever come to be?" El sighed in relief when she saw that was the end of the paragraph.

"Thank you, El." He drew another name from the cup and held it in front of his eyes. "Will, paragraph two."

El listened the whole time with curiosity. She thought it was so interesting to learn about electricity and transportation and all those amazing things she never new about almost a year before. She was so interested in what her peers were reading around her that her eyes were widened in amazement and her mouth was slightly parted as she listened because she didn't know what some of the words in the book said.

And when she learned how a car works and that's all science on how it works she nearly gasped. It was all so much going into her mind right now. She learned that when you press your foot against the gas pedal in a car that it causes the car to start moving and the answer to why it does that is all in science and she's so excited to learn more about it! It may have seemed boring to other students but when you're a fourteen year old girl who had been trapped inside a lab for twelve years, you're gonna find his interesting. El just knew that science is going to be her favorite class.

Ring...

Mr. Clarke clapped his hands together causing El to snap her head up. "We will continue tomorrow." Kids around her started gathering their stuff so El did the same thing. She shouldered her backpack and held her text book tightly in her arms.

As everyone walked out of the classroom, El falling in behind them, Mike came up next to her. "You looked amazed in there." He said with a smile and an eyebrow raise.

"I was... I never knew any of that." She said slowly.

"And it's only the beginning of what we're learning in that class." Mike put his arm across her shoulder and she leaned into him as they walked to their lockers.

Line break--

The Party was walking to the Language Arts room for their next class... and El was fretting because she can't talk like most kids and she doesn't have a believable excuse.

"El! It's okay. This class will help you." Lucas said, his arm linked with Max's.

"I know but..."

"But what?" Mike's concerned eyes scanned her face.

"I'm scared." She looked down as they neared the door.

"You guys go on in. We've got two minutes. I'll talk to her." Mike said and the others nodded before walking inside. Mike pulled El to the wall next to the door.

"Mrs. Albert is a very nice teacher." Mike said comfortingly. "You don't need to be afraid. Plus, I'll be right next to you. We have tables not desks in this class so The Party has a table we sit at."

"Okay." El gave a small smile and Mike returned it. He closed his eyes and leaned in and she leaned forward too and their lips met for a second before they jumped apart by the warning bell.

"Let's go before Mrs. Albert kills us for being late." He went to open the door but noticed El wasn't following him. He turned to see her looking at him with wide eyes. "I'm kidding, El."

"Oh.." El said and followed Mike into the classroom.

"Mike!" A young woman with long dirty blonde permed hair, a pink blouse, and a brown plaid pencil skirt exclaimed.

"Hi, Mrs. A." Mike smiled and hugged his teacher. She pulled away and looked at El who gave a small wave.

"Hello, I am Mrs. Albert but you can call me Mrs. A." She stuck out a hand and El shook it. "And you are..?"

"Eleven Hopper." El said.

"Eleven Hopper... as in Jim Hopper?"

"Yes. He's my dad." El said with a smile. She was so happy to find out Hopper had adopted her a few moths ago.

"I thought his daughter..." Mrs. A. glanced at Mike.

"She did.." Mike said. "He adopted El six months ago but she was staying with him for a year before."

"Oh! That's lovely! So, are you guys good friends?" She asked. Mike and Eleven looked down at their linked hands and shrugged.

"You could say that." Mike said.

"Okay, well, El you can sit next to Max so you're across from Mike." Mrs. A. pointed to the table in the back corner.

"Okay." El said and sat down. She looked around the classroom and saw many posters of nouns? Verbs? Adjectives? and all other words like that above the chalk board. She saw posters about narratives and informational narratives? Whatever those are. Many more posters of this one big thing of land titled the United States. Isn't that where they live?

"Class?" Mrs. A. said and all heads snapped towards her. "What we'll do first is review our part of speech. Get out your notebook and a pencil please."

El took out her yellow notebook and her pencil. She flipped to the first page and looked over the paper then at Mike. "I write on the lines, right?" Mike nodded.

"Okay, Number one to eight." Mrs. A. instructed and took down the part of speech posters. "Now number one, write down an example of a noun." All pencils went to paper but El's. She tapped her eraser against her bottom lip that was between her teeth. So, she guessed. She scrawled down, waffles.

"Done?" Mrs. A. asked and everyone nodded. "Okay write down an example of an adjective." Again, pencils went to paper all except for El's. El kept thinking but she had no idea on what an adjective was. "An example of a verb." El's pencil never hit her paper. "Adverb." El was really confused now. Adverb? Didn't they just do verb? "interjection." She definitely didn't know that. "Conjunction." What? "Preposition." A what? She's never heard these words before. "And last one, pronoun." Didn't they do noun? So what the heck was a pronoun? El sighed in frustration and pulled at her shoulder length curly hair.

"Please hand your papers to the front." The teacher said and so that's what she did. As her friends saw her paper they gave her sympathetic looks that she tried to avoid. It wasn't her fault that she's never been to school before.

"You'll understand eventually." Mike put his hand over her hand that was in a fist on her desk. She smiled at him then turned to the teacher who started to speak.

"Now, word of the day!" She exclaimed. "Number one through ten." El did just that. "So I'll tell you the word then you have to guess how to spell it then I'll tell you the definition then the part of speech. I'll give you four minutes to spell it."

"Okay, Mrs. Albert." A kid in the front table said. Mrs. A. picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a 1. at the top of the chalk board.

"Okay, your first word is scrutinize." She said and all pencils went to paper.

Scrutinize. Scrutinize. How would you spell that? El knows that it starts with an 's' so she scribbled on down on her paper. El sounded out the word in her head. S..c..r..u..t..i..n..i..z..e. She wrote down a 'c' for the next letter. Then she wrote 'r'. Then 'u'. Then a 't'. She thought for a little bit and wrote down an 'i'. Scrutinize. N! El scribbled it down. Another 'i'! When she thought she got it she got stuck at the second to last letter. S or Z? She scribbled down a 's'. Then an 'E'.

"Times up." Mrs. A. announced. "Who wants to spell it?" Will raised his hand. "Will. Go ahead."

"S..c..r..u..t..i..n..i..z..e.." He said and Mrs. A. wrote it on the chalk board.

"Correct!" She exclaimed while El was fixing her mistake.

"The definition is, to carefully analyze and it is a verb." She said while writing it on the board.

Mike looked up from his paper to see El was struggling with writing down the definition. Mike put his hand over hers and her brown eyes lifted to his. "I'll let you copy off my paper after class. Just write down the word."

"Okay." El relaxed. "Thank you, Mike."

"Anytime." He whispered and turned back to the front.

Mrs. A. wrote down a number two. "Next word is animosity." El wrote down how she thought it was spelled after thinking for maybe two minutes. She spelled it: Animocity. "Okay, who would like to spell it? Yes, Jeremy."

"A..n..i..m..o..s..i..t..y." Jeremy, a brown haired and blue eyed boy said.

"Correct." Mrs. A. said and El, again, rewrote it. "It means to strongly dislike and it is an adjective. Okay, next word is succulent."

El wrote down, suckulent. She doubted it was write but she wanted to participate. "Lucas, spell it for us please." Mrs. A. said to Lucas who was talking to Dustin about something.

"Yes, Ma'am." He nodded. "S..u..c..c..u..l..e..n..t." El gave a heavy sigh and fixed her mistake.

"Good. Definition is a plant with water and it is a noun or an adjective.Next word, incessant." She said. El, wrote down, inncesant. Three minutes later Mrs. A. called on this girl named Marley.

"I..n..c..e..s..s..a..n..t."

"Good job." El, again, fixed her mistake. "Definition is to continue without stopping. It is an adjective. Next word, caustic."

El wrote down caustick. A couple minutes later she heard name. "El, can you spell this word for us?" El's eyes widened and she looked at Mike who nodded at her in encouragement.

"Um, yes." El said and smoothed down her romper for no reason at all. "C..a..u..s..t..i..c.." She debated on whether she wanted to add the k or not and she decided not to.

"Correct. Definition is sarcastically mean and it is an adjective." Mrs. A. said and El turned to Mike with a biggest smile ever.

"I got it right!" She whisper-shouted. Mike smiled at her and squeezed her hand before turning back to the front of the classroom.

"Next word is pulverize." Mrs. A. said and El went to work with a whole new set of confidence.

-----

By the end of class El had gotten two more words right which in her case was really good! She collected her supplies and headed to the door with the rest of The Party.

"How did you like that class El?" Lucas asked, chuckling quietly but stopped abruptly when Mike slapped his arm.

"Hard." Is all she said.

"It was hard?" Dustin asked.

"Yes."

"It was pretty easy actually." Will shrugged.

"I haven't been to school my whole life." El pointed out and everyone turned to look at her. "What?"

"You just said a full sentence..." Lucas pointed out.

"I have before.." El said.

"Not that long of one." Mike said and laced their fingers together. "We'll meet you guys in math."

"All right." Will said and they waved before walking away to their lockers.

"Grab your blue notebook, a calculator, and a pencil." Mike said then walked over to his locker. El grabbed what Mike had told her to grab then she went over to Mike's locker and leaned her head on his back as he rummaged through his locker. She saw a group of people, around her age, coming near her. Three boys and two girls. When they walked by one of the boys, the tallest, said,

"How dumb is she to actually be with frog face?" He laughed and El tried to ignore it.

"Yeah, he's like so, ugly!" One of the girls added and El screwed her eyes shut and tried to block them out.

"I mean, she's not that pretty either..." The other girl said and El felt Mike tense up but she just wrapped an arm around his waist and he relaxed.

"Nah, but she's still out of frog face's league." One of the other boys said. "He's stupid and ugly and I would rather die then be with him." That was enough. El focused her stare at the kid who just said that about her boyfriend of eight months. She pulled his feet out from under him with her mind.

Mike slammed his locker door shut, grabbed El's hand, and started to speed walk away. "Time tog go!" He exclaimed and El bit her lip at the tone of his voice, thinking he was mad at her for using her powers.

"Mike..." She said, her eyes pooling with tears. "Mike." Said boy turned around and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay just don't expose yourself out in the open." Mike shook his head. "I don't need anyone calling the cops and the badmen listening in." El nodded and wiped at her eyes before hugging Mike.

"I am sorry." She buried her face in Mike's shoulder when he wrapped his arms around her. "The mouth breathers made me mad."

"I said it was okay, El." Mike said and they pulled out of the embrace before El pressed her lips to Mike's for a short kiss. They pulled away and walked into the math room.

"Why hello Mike!" A very bubbly plump man said from his desk.

"Hello, Mr. Eaton." Mike said.

"Is this the new student I've heard so much about?" Mr. Eaton asked excitedly while looking at El who was kind of hiding behind Mike, a little afraid of this short man because of how happy he was.

"Yes, this is Eleven Hopper but everyone calls her El." Mike said before pulling El beside him.

"Hello Miss El! Welcome to my math room!" He shook her hand. "Want to hear a joke? Why of course you do!"

"Oh boy..." Mike said, though he had a small smile plastered on his face. Mike has to go to one of Nancy's conferences and had to listen to Mr. Eaton's jokes the whole time.

"Are monsters good at math?" Mr. Eaton started. El tensed and looked around the room.

"Monsters?" El asked.

"Here's the answer. It's a good one!" Mr. Eaton ignored her question. "not unless you count Dracula!" Then the teacher burst out laughing and El just looked at him with an unimpressed and confused look. Once he calmed down he frowned at her. "You don't think it's funny."

"Who is Dracula?" El asked slowly and Mr. Eaton laughed.

"You're kidding right?" Mr. Eaton asked, concerned.

"No." El deadpanned.

"How do you not know who-" Mike cut him off.

"We're going to sit down so you can start the class. I see our text book is already on our desks?" Mike said.

"Oh, oh, yes." Mr. Eaton adjusted his glasses and stood in front of the classroom.

"Dracula?" El asked again as she sat down.

"He's just a monster in the stories. He's not real." Mike assured El.

"Okay." El peered over to Mike's text book to see what page he flipped to. Page five. She read the title and she was already lost. Repeating Decimals. What were decimals?

"Okay, class. I see you are all ready to your page so I would like to begin. Okay we will be converting 19/27 into a decimal." Mr. Eaton said and El got more confused. Converting?

Line break because I have no idea how to do math---

When it was the end of the class El stood and quickly picked up her math supplies then hurried her way out of there. Mike quickly followed her out, worried. "El? El, you okay?" El let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and nodded.

"Needed to get out." El shook her head. "I do not like...math... class."

"Many people don't. It's lunch now anyway." Mike told her and they walked to their lockers and put their supplies in them. Mike grabbed his D&D lunch box then turned to El who was biting her lip, rummaging through her backpack. "Is everything okay?"

"I forgot my lunch box and Dad said I can't buy lunch from the school because bad men might put something in it." El said and shut her locker door.

"That's okay. I can split my sandwich with you." Mike smiled and together they walked into the cafeteria and they sat down at the exact table where they shared their first kiss. The Party soon joined them.

A few minutes later, right when Mike was cutting his sandwich in half, she heard her name. "El!" She turned around to see Nancy, Mike's older sister, holding a small paper bag. "El, since Hopper is working and so is Joyce, he called me saying you forgot your lunch so I made you one."

The Party held their breath because they knew that is a parent or an older sister comes to school with something of yours that it is very embarrassing. The lunch room didn't fall silent but heads did turn and some popular groups were trying to hold in their laughs.

El stood and grabbed the lunch from Nancy and set it on the table then turned back to Nancy. "Thank you." El said, tears pooling her eyes because this was very nice and El was sensitive. El hugged Nancy and the older girl, being like El's older sister, hugged back tightly.

"No problem, El." Nancy looked straight into El's eyes. "You're like my little sister. I wasn't going to let you starve. I got to go back to school, I skipped class to make your lunch."

"Nancy.." El said, eyes wide.

"It wasn't a problem. I told my teacher that my sister forgot her lunch and everyone else was working. He understood. I have to go now." Nancy assured and El felt a little better.

"Okay." El smiled. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Then Nancy walked away after ruffling her little brothers head. El sat down and looked at everyone's poker faces.

"What?" El said. Lucas pointed behind her and she saw almost everyone looking at her and she heard a few whispers.

"Weirdo."

"That is embarrassing."

"Isn't that Wheeler's sister?"

"She's dumb to forget her lunch."

El turned back around and shrugged before opening her paper bag to see strawberries and two eggos inside. El's eyes brightened and she took a bite of the still warm waffle.

"That doesn't bother you?" Max asked El.

"What?" El swallowed.

"The mean whispers? It doesn't bother you?" She asked.

"No." El said and took another bite before swallowing.

"How?!" Max exclaimed and El looked the red head straight in the eyes.

"I've been through much worse then a couple of mean whispers." El said lowly. She then relaxed as Mike's hand slipped into hers.

"Like what?' Max asked, not rudely, just curiously. El didn't answer but kept eating her eggos. "El?" El ignored her and kept eating while they sat in awkward silence. Max looked around the table and everyone shrugged because they didn't even know all the horrors the young girl had been through, except for Mike. "Mike?"

"Not my place to tell." Mike deadpanned.

"But you know?" Dustin asked.

"just what she told me. Probably not everything." Mike replied, taking a bite out of his ham and cheese sandwich.

"El?" Max tried again. "El?"

"Yes?" El flicked her eyes upwards.

"Why won't you tell us anything?" Max gently asked. "I only know that you have telekinetic powers and you've been through some stuff."

"They hurt me." El said. "I do not like talking about it." Then she stood up and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Is it something I said?" Max asked, looking around.

"No, it's just thing things she's been through is worse than you might think." Mike said before following El out.

"El?" He said. "Eleven?" He raised his voice.

"Mike.." He heard. He whipped his head around and saw her sitting against the wall next to the doors, knees pulled up to her chest, arms around them, and tear tracks on her cheeks.

"El.." Mike whispered and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. El clutched to his shirt as she tried to calm her breathing.

"Mike.." She cried quietly. "Mike.."

"El, it's okay. I'm right here." He rocked them from side to side as they sat on the floor and she cried. El buried her face in his shoulder and hugged him tighter and Mike did the same and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Mike.." El cried quietly again.

"I'm here, El and I'm not leaving." Mike whispered in her ear. He pulled away and held her face in his hands. "What happened."

"Just... remembering everything badmen did to me." El whispered. Mike nodded and pressed his lips to hers before pulling away and standing up.

"The badmen are gone." Mike said and helped El stand.

"I know but.." El shook her head, eyes clouding with tears. She took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him.

Soon, the bell rang and Mike pulled away. The cafeteria doors opened and the mob of high schoolers walked out. El let a few more tears fall.... at the wrong time. The "popular" group of freshman, Stacy, Abby, Candy, and two boys walked by but stopped to look at El.

"Wow, the cryptic weirdo is crying in the hallway." Stacy said and then burst out a laugh.

"Who cries in a hallway?" Candy laughed.

"She's even uglier when she cries." One of the boys, Tommy, said. El pulled away from Mike, wiped her hands on the shorts of her romper, and sniffed. Mike's hands clenched into fists and he took a step forward. El placed her hand on his arm.

"Don't." She said. She focused her stare on Tommy but before she could do anything, Mike took her hand and whispered,

"Don't. You don't want anyone calling the cops if someone sees you."

"No one will see me."

"Okay, then do what you got to do." Mike shook his head. El focused her stare on the walking figure of Tommy and made him fall to the ground. Mike let out a laugh as Tommy's friend, Jack, tripped over his legs and fell.

El turned to Mike and covered her nose. "Blood." She said and Mike quickly grabbed a napkin out of his lunch box, Will had just given him when he walked by, and handed it to El. She wiped her nose then shivered as a breeze came in through the window.

"You cold?" Mike asked and she nodded. He reached for his blue sweatshirt, the one she had worn when they had first met, and El pulled it over her head. Surprisingly, it still fit. Either that or it was a new one.

"Does this still fit you?" El asked.

"It's a little small but I kept it for you." Mike smiled and they gathered their supplies for their next class, literature. El smiled back and laced their fingers together as they walked to the classroom. They entered and El looked around for their class but didn't see them.

"Where are our friends?" She gave Mike a confused look.

"They must not be in this class." Mike looked around.

The old curmudgeon stood from his seat at the desk and cleared his throat. "I will be giving you your seats right away. So don't get any ideas of who you're sitting by because you're not choosing." He said harshly.

"I have never met him before." Mike announced quietly to El. "Nancy must have not had him or he's new."

"My name is Mr. Olsen and I am a new teacher here at Hawkins High School. I expect a lot from all you students so behave." Mr. Olsen told the class.

"I don't like him." El squeezed Mike's hand and he agreed with her by a nod of his head. Mr. Olsen pointed to the desk in the front right corner.

"Reese Collin." He said. A girl with shoulder length blonde hair and green eyes sat down. Mr. Olsen moved down the row.

Second seat, "Addison Meyers."

Third seat, "Eleven Hopper. Weird name kid." El squeezed Mike's hand before sitting down.

Fourth seat, "Tony Blooper."

Fifth seat, "Caleb Green."

Second Row, First seat, "Mike Wheeler." And so on...

After all the seats were filled in Mr. Olsen stood behind his podium in the front. "We will start with a quick worksheet then we will progress into more challenging activities." Mr. Olsen handed out the worksheets. "Read the directions then get started. If you are done, read a book."

El carefully read the directions,

Directions: Draw two lines under each verb or verb phrase. Write it's tense in the blank: Present, past, future, progressive, past progressive, present, perfect, or past perfect.

El read down the paper.

1. ____________ My dog and I will walk to the park this afternoon.

2. ____________ I have already brushed my teeth.

3. ____________ Shane's dad drove us to the ball game.

4. _____________ Our class is going on a field trip next week.

5. _____________ Our team is winning.

El spent the whole class working on one problem. What even is a past perfect? Or a progressive? (I don't blame you El, I don't know what those are. I just found it on a worksheet on the internet.)

El looked up to see Mike reading a book for D&D. Mike, probably sensing her stare, looked over to her with concerned eyes. What number are you on?, He mouthed.

One, She mouthed back.

I'll help you after school, Mike mouthed.

Thank you, El smiled and Mike returned it.

"Okay class, if you finished, hand it in. If you didn't, you are very dumb and it is homework." Mr. Olsen said. "Now, get out of here."

El quickly gathered her stuff and headed over to Mike. He picked up his stuff and she wrapped an arm around his waist and they began walking out of the classroom but were stopped. "Mr. Wheeler and Ms. Hopper." They turned around.

"Yes?" They both replied.

"I have a few questions." Mr. Olsen said and gestured to two chairs in front of his desk and he sat down. "Please sit."

"But our next class-" Mike started.

"You will be missing some of your next class." He confirmed. "I have already contacted your Spanish teacher to tell her.

"Okay, what are the questions?" Mike asked.

"Well first, is for Ms. Hopper." He said and turned to El who was leaning against Mike. "Are you related to Jim Hopper?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"He's my dad." El told the nosy teacher.

"I thought his daughter died..." He said, having been good friends with Jim in high school and Hawkins is small so word gets around.

"She did." El confirmed. "He adopted me."

"From where exactly?" Mr. Olsen asked.

"That is none of your business." El said.

"I just want to get to know my students better and since I've heard a lot about Mike, I would like to get to know him and you," He looked at El. "being the new kid, I wanted to get to know you too."

"Okay.." El said, unsure.

"So, where were you adopted from?" Mr. Olsen's voice was nothing but pure curiosity.

"Hawkins L-" Mike cut El off.

"Hawkins Land Foster Home." Mike covered.

"I have never heard of that..." Mr. Olsen raised an eyebrow.

"It's not a thing anymore." Mike said quickly.

"Interesting..." The teacher muttered. "Why is your name Eleven?"

"It was Jane. Then I got taken from my mother and was renamed Eleven at my... foster home. Then I met Mike and my friends and him call me El."

"Okay." Mr. Olsen said. "Now, Mike."

"Yes?"

"How did you and Eleven meet?"

"Her foster mom was friends with my mom and she would come over." Mike quickly thought and El nodded, not sure why they were lying but she was a tiny bit suspicious of the man.

"Alright. How long have you two known each other?"

"A year and eight months." Mike answered. "Anyway, why are you scrutinizing us?"

"I told you, I just want to simply get to know you guys better."

"Don't you have a class?" El asked.

"No, not this period." Mr. Olsen replied. "How many siblings do you have, Mike?"

"Two."

"Gender and names?"

"Uh, female. Nancy and Holly. Nancy is older and Holly is younger." Mike answered, wondering why his teacher needed to know that.

"Do you have a favorite sibling?"

"No. I can love them equally and be equally annoyed by them." Mike said with a roll of his eyes.

"Eleven, do you have any siblings?"

"Yes, one."

"Gender and name." Mr. Olsen was very curious. Memories of her time with her sister flooded her brain.

"Female and Kahli." El said, also confused why he wanted to know that.

"How are you guys related? Through your mother?"

"I am Mama's only child." El said.

"Then how are you related?" Mr. Olsen was confused.

"Same adoptive father." El said. Unwanted images of Dr. Brenner formed in her head and she tried to push them into the back of her brain.

"Hopper adopted two girls?" Mr. Olsen asked, surprised.

"No, different dad. Papa. Badman." El shook her head and Mike quickly stood.

"Ookay! It is time for us to go!" Mike stood up and pulled El with him.

"Wait!" Mr. Olsen said. "How long have you two been a thing?"

"Eight Months." Mike replied before he ran out the door with El. When they got to their lockers Mike went straight to his, grabbed his Spanish supplies, and walked away. El quickly grabbed her things and followed him.

"Mike!" El shouted, running up to him. "Mike." He turned around.

"I told you not to expose yourself like that. He could be working for Hawkins Lab or the room could have been bugged." Mike said. "El, anyone could have been listening and if the badmen found out where you were..." He shook his head, sending his hair into a swirly mess.

"Mike, I'm sorry." El said. "And friends don't lie."

"I know.." Mike said and pecked her lips. "I just can't lose you again."

"You won't lose me." El shook her head, tears pooling her vision from remembering the time when the Demogorgon took her and when the Mind Flayer almost took her before she closed the gate.

"You promise?" Mike sniffed, remembering this conversation before Hopper took El back to Hawkins Lab so she could close the gate and save everyone.

"Promise." El confirmed and leaned in. This time, there was no Hopper to stop them. They pressed their lips together but soon broke away when the bell rang.

"Did we really miss a whole class?" Mike laughed.

"I guess so." El smiled and they walked back to their lockers to grab their supplies for their last class of the day, Social Studies.

After they had grabbed their things they headed to the social studies room. They walked in and saw Will sitting in a pod of three desks. Mike and Eleven took the other two.

"Hey, guys!" Will exclaimed. "Haven't seen you since lunch."

"Yeah, turns out we didn't all get the same classes as last year." Mike said.

"Yeah." Will looked at El. "Are you okay? You stormed out at lunch."

"Yes. I am okay." El smiled at her friend.

"Hello class, my name is Mrs. Waters." The teacher said. "First we will be taking our beginning of the year state quiz." She passed around papers of a map of the United States of America with numbers next to each state. "You need to name each state. You have all class. You may begin."

El has never been more confused in her life. All she knew was Indiana because she lived there and Illinois because that's where Kahli lived.

Twenty minutes had passed and El had no idea what the other names were. El looked at Mike and Will to see them scribbling away. But El wasn't about to go and cheat of their papers. She knew it was wrong and school was for learning. Not cheating. El placed her head in her hands and continued to think.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The clock ticked away. Twenty minutes left of class. Not another single state written down.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Ten minutes. Nothing.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Five minutes left.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The bell rang. "Okay class, hand me your papers then you may go." Mrs. Waters said. Everyone collected their belongings and handed Mrs. Waters their papers. El handed the teachers hers right after Mike did. She grabbed his hand and quickly walked out of there.

Mrs. Waters looked at the name on the paper that was almost blank. Eleven Hopper. She looked at El's retreating form before calling out her name. "Eleven?" El's head snapped around.

"Yes?"

"You don't know anymore states?" Mrs. Waters asked.

"I..uh.."

"I'm not mad, Honey. I just need to know." Mrs. Waters said nicely. El took in her teacher's features. Kind blue eyes. Honey blonde shoulder length wavy hair, almost like the wig she had worn to go to Will's ceremony thing at Mike's middle school.

"I haven't studied the.." El thought about what Mrs. Waters called them. "states before."

"That is quite alright, dear. That is all I needed to know. You can go now." El turned around and walked back over to Mike who was waiting for her. The young couple walked back to their lockers, gathered their stuff into their backpacks, and met the rest of The Party by the bike rack.

"Yo!" Lucas shouted over to them and El waved.

"How was your first day, El?" Max asked and El smiled at her friend.

"It was good." El situated herself behind Mike and grabbed on to his waist. They began riding to El's cabin. When they pulled up to the cabin El hopped off the bike and pressed her lips to Mike's, stroking his cheek softly with her thumb. They pulled away after a minute.

"See you later." She whispered to him. They stray from using 'goodbye' because it brings back painful memories.

"See you later, El." He smiled at her as she walked up the steps to the cabin. They waited until she was inside and the door closed before riding off.

------------

El closed the door behind her and set her backpack on the coat hanger. "How was your first day?" Hop asked as he hugged his daughter.

"It was good!" She smiled.

"How about we talk about it over some eggos?" Hopper asked, walking to the kitchen.

"Yes!" El exclaimed, following her dad.

The End. I'm sorry it took so long. And that was my longest one shot yet.

I hope you enjoyed it.