Chapter Text
"So."
"So, what?" She finished chewing, taking the time to swallow before asking.
"I didn't get the time to ask yesterday." Will started. "But, how was English?" She saw his suggestive grin before his lips even stretched into one.
His words reminded her of yesterday. Of another failed attempt at friendship. She didn't know why she even tried anymore and a pang of the same feeling as before ran through her, making her scoff without realising.
"What?" Will's brows rose up almost immediately at the sound. She didn't know why he had expected anything different to happen.
"She ignored me, but I don't see how that's news." She muttered, feeling annoyance start to brew within her once more. The thought of El tended to– no, the thought of El not wanting to do anything with her tended to. The thought of the girl herself brought a whole different kind of feelings she didn't think she was ready to feel for anyone, but she couldn't help it.
She couldn't help it if she wanted to make El smile warmly the way she always did at the boys. She wanted to do that. She wanted to be a someone to El.
"And?" He pried, his voice urging her on.
"And she sat with Jennifer Hayes."
"What?!" Will's frown deepened even more.
It was odd how she felt slightly mad at El. The girl didn't care and wouldn't notice and that was more frustrating. She didn't even get to be mad because her being mad didn't matter to the other girl.
And so what if Jane had sat with Jennifer, she could sit with anyone and anywhere she wanted to.
Why did she care so much? She knew why, but when would she stop caring?
"How was History with Wheeler?" She asked instead, changing the topic and ignoring the baffled look he was still wearing.
His face immediately reddened upon her question and she raised her eyebrows curiously when he looked away, directing his attention to his food instead.
There was something there.
"Well, at least one of us is getting somewhere." She muttered teasingly, hiding her amused smile.
"Max.." The boy started with cautiousness in his voice.
"Did you two kiss or what?" She continued as she glanced at the tip of his ears.
Undeniably pink.
"Max, he's two feet away from us!" He whispered urgently, a plea in his eyes.
"And you're not ogling him. That's surprising." She retorted through a chuckle, turning to look where the taller boy was.
Her gaze flitted past the lunch tables behind her, falling upon an unmistakable tuft of curly brown hair. Jane was standing in the lunch till with Mike right behind her. She frowned wondering why her eyes always found El without her even trying to. She could spot the girl amongst a hundred people and that was creepy enough.
Slight commotion made her redirect her attention and she noticed Dustin and Lucas standing a little towards the left. With the way the curly haired boy was talking furiously, she could tell he was arguing, most likely about the chocolate pudding. She shook her head exasperatedly at that.
Some things would never change.
A clearing of throat made her turn back in her seat and she noticed Will looking at her, glancing where she'd been staring only a moment ago.
"So, what happened?" She asked, her eyebrows lifting upwards nonchalantly.
He cleared his throat in the midst of chewing as his cheeks turned pink again, making her raise her eyebrows further upwards.
"I tripped on air and he uh.. he caught me." He didn't hide his bashful grin then, despite how red his cheeks were.
It was heartwarming and she tried not to let the emotion show on her face, but this boy deserved all of the goodness in the world. Even if that goodness was Wheeler.
She smirked at him instead and waited in silence, faking a look of innocence as she looked at him expectantly, but he said nothing more.
"And then you two kissed or..?" She gestured with her arms, trying not to smile as she teased him.
His mouth opened up, most likely to protest when the sound of Lucas' voice interrupted the two of them as said boy flopped into the seat across from her and put his tray on the table with a slam making Will jump slightly. "Who kissed who?"
She paused, trying to gather up an excuse when something hit her leg. She chanced a glance beside her at Will, trying not to burst into a laugh at the sight. Will's normally soft eyes weren't as soft and the look of sheer 'now what' was too much for her.
She held in her chuckle despite being greatly amused as she poked the boy back with the toe of her shoe and then looked at Lucas.
"Uh, just this stupid opera airing last night." She lied before her face scrunched up in displeasure.
Soap operas were the worst.
Lucas looked at her as though she had grown another head before shaking his head and busying himself with his food.
She saw the opportunity and leaned towards Will discreetly. "Even Jane can glare better than you." She whispered, amusement dripping from her voice.
He gave her the same look as before and she couldn't hold in her chuckle this time.
"Not even close." She murmured as she shook her head and bit into her sandwich.
..
Her Science book thudded lightly against the desk as she tossed it inside her bag and zipped it up quickly, looking up just in time to catch Mike's eyes. The boy in turn, tapped at his wrist watch before nodding towards El a little hesitantly and mouthing 'gym'.
She frowned at his actions. He knew they didn't get along. He knew better than to leave the two of them alone. Her eyes met Will's the next second whose lips broke into a smile almost instantly as he gave her a thumbs up before dragging Mike and the others away. She stood staring at their departing figures a little surprisingly before putting two and two together.
He was such an ass.
A huff escaped her as she shook her head and walked towards where El stood, still in the midst of putting her book and notes away and she saw a glimpse of the inside of the girl's bag before El zipped it up. The books were in all in a neat pile atop one another and she glanced at her own bag a little shamefully, thinking of the mess it had inside it from paper balls to stationary she hadn't bothered to put away.
Eleven didn't notice her presence, as per usual, and started to walk away. Her hand rose up out of instinct to stop her before she paused. She didn't know if that would be a good idea. Apprehension crept over her as she remembered the times Eleven had ignored her existence and she shuffled uncomfortably, not knowing how to get the other girl's attention as she remembered the events of yesterday, but El was almost halfway past the door and she shrugged her discomfort away as she called out the girl's name before she could stop to think anything more.
"El!"
The brunette paused, before turning around towards her, a heavy from etched to her forehead.
At least she wasn't glaring.
She walked closer to the girl as she adjusted the strap of her book sack.
"We have gym together." She offered before almost face palming.
Eleven stared back at her, unmoving and the lack of response made her scratch her neck uneasily. She saw the brunette's eyes follow her movement and paused, dropping her arm to her side.
Will really was such an ass.
"I mean, do you uh remember where the gym is?" She rephrased, hoping the girl would respond in some way before the situation became more awkward.
The brunette crinkled her nose at that, her eyes scanning her face.
Cute.
No.
She tried to ignore the girl's eyes on her. She was so used to being ignored and the feeling of El's eyes on her was unusual, unfamiliar, but most of all, overwhelming. She couldn't find it in herself to match her gaze and look the girl in the eye and so she glanced down at her shoes instead, ignoring the urge to shuffle or fiddle. That wasn't her. She had never before felt doubtful of her actions or afraid of doing the wrong thing.
The silence became unbearable and she chanced a glance upwards to see Eleven's gaze still on her. It felt as though a spot light was being shined on her, she was so out of her element and she just didn't know what to do.
"It's Jane." The brunette muttered. She frowned, catching the girl's glare before she turned back away and exited the classroom.
She heard the unsaid 'for you' and groaned miserably, ignoring the odd side look of a passerby as she drawled past the door. There wasn't much else she could do besides following. Their coach was a strict woman who loathed tardiness and if El got lost on the way, Max knew she wouldn't get to spend her first day of gym, her only day of relief on the bench.
A part of her almost wanted to stop so El would get lost and and regret denying her help. Almost, but she couldn't do that. She didn't know how to hate El the way she hated her. She didn't know how to unlove and the thought ignited a fire in her belly that she couldn't put out.
She kept a foot's distance between herself and Jane as she silently followed the girl like shadow in the halfway empty hallway. So far, El hadn't turned the wrong way, not even once. It was quite impressive how she had managed to remember where all her classes were in such little time. She turned the corner, but groaned audibly once more when she saw someone who was as much of an asshole as Billy.
"I feel like I've seen you somewhere." The shabby haired boy came to stand in El's way, the curiousness on his face easier to spot than the sun in the day.
She frowned wondering what he meant and chanced a glance towards El, seeing the change in her demeanor almost immediately. The girl was standing a little too stiffly than Max had ever seen before with something akin to steel in her eyes. Her back had straightened up like a rod and it wasn't out of fear or animosity as per usual that the girl always directed towards her, but something else.. a different kind of discomfort.
"But then, I don't think I would forget a face like that." Troy continued, stepping a tad bit closer in El's personal space.
What he said wasn't wrong. El had the kind of face one would notice in a room full of people, but his words still made her jaw clench as she fisted her hands and ignored the urge to bash his dumb head in a wall.
She saw El's hands fist at her side darted between the two before things could get worse. It wouldn't end if El ended up using her powers or her bare hands in her first week of school.
No, Hopper would lose his shit.
"Go eat shit, Troy." She seethed, putting a hand over his chest and pushing him out of her and El's personal space as she ignored how warm her back felt. This was the closest she'd ever been to the other girl and the feeling was a tad bit overwhelming.
"No, man. You're hanging out with fire crotch out of all people?" He leaned a little bit to the left, staring at El incredulously as he ignored her.
She felt her face warm up the way anger always made it as her nostrils flared and she grounded her teeth harshly. "I'm not going to be as nice the next time I ask, you moron."
"Back. Off." She pushed him backwards once more for effect.
His face lost all signs of playfulness at that and she knew the look that crossed his eyes then. It was the same one Billy always had in his. She stared back challengingly daring him to try something with her glare matching his when the sound of a door opening interrupted them and out came Miss Trunchbull, whistling loud enough to make her ear's bleed.
"Make some haste!" The woman shouted and Troy glanced behind, stepping back a little at the sight of a teacher. "You watch your back Mayfield." His voice was laced with bitterness that had stopped bothering her a long time ago and she scoffed as she flipped him off before stepping back and motioning for El to get moving. The girl paused staring at her with a frown and she looked back, not particularly in the her eyes. She didn't know if she had the strength to look in the girl's eyes and then tear her gaze away because those eyes seemed like an ocean she would love to drown in..
For a moment, El's soft pink lips parted, the ones she was pointedly ignoring looking at, and it almost seemed like the girl was going to say something, but another loud whistle sounded off and just like that, the moment was broken.
A heavy frown lined her forehead and she cursed the universe out mentally.
Eleven glanced at the doors, a strong emotion crossing her face that she couldn't put a name on before the girl gave her another familiar glare and left her behind once more.
She didn't know what she had done this time and sighed dejectedly before following, her vans scraping the floor.
She could care less.
She spent gym doing tracks as El got to sit back and take it all in before she started next week.
And she tried so hard to not let her eyes drift towards the other girl every other minute, but spent almost the whole unit, trying and failing to do that. It bothered her to no end how she was always painfully aware of the girl's presence while being ignored like a speck of dust.
She hadn't ever even wanted to feel the way she did towards El. Yes, the girl was cool and they had the potential to be great friends, but El didn't want that and she wanted something more.
And she had tried to hate the girl back with just as much intensity, Eleven with her stupidly cool clothes, stupid dashing entrance and inhuman, yet stupidly amazing superpowers. At first, she had thought it was some sort of weird hero worship that would go away, but hero worship didn't include wanting to hold one girl's hand in particular and show her all this softness that she never knew she could muster– no, that was something else. And she should've worried about it the first time her stomach had fluttered at the sight of El and felt like lead weighing her down when she was ignored, she should've worried then because the butterflies in her stomach and the jittering in her veins had only escalated into something worse and now she couldn't stop every time her heart skipped a beat at the girl's smile or her day became better by her mere presence. She couldn't ignore this want inside her to make El laugh and hold hands with her and just.. love her.
She should've done something then because now even if they ever became friends, she knew she would always be wanting more. And how was she supposed to go on carrying all this love inside her that she wasn't ever going to get back in return?
It was just so damned unfair.