Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mike was so confused. It all happened so fast. First, he’s visiting his loving girlfriend in California thinking it’s gonna be an incredible Spring Break, then he sees this girl named Angela, who El claimed to be one of her “friends”, she brings her to the skating rink, Will tells him that she’s having problems here and before Mike could get his answer, the next thing he knows, the DJ turns off the music and says……

“Alright everybody! This next song is dedicated to Jane, the local snitch” The asshole DJ shouted her out before turning on the “Wipe out” song. 

And all of the sudden, these group of girls skate all around her, calling her freak, loser and all sorts of terrible names, stretching their arms out and screaming at her practically to mock her about what she did after school with Angela and her goons, trying to use her powers but failed because they’re basically gone for now.

And to make matters worse, one of Angela’s male friends was recording them doing all this to El, who was clearly in tears, overwhelmed and in distress, but they didn’t care. They thought she deserved it for being a “snitch” and other things like being different, and it was undeniably infuriating.

Mike quickly put the pieces together and realized that these people are clearly not her friends, not any one of them, she was getting publicly bullied and humiliated. His face then began to turn bright red, gritted his teeth and balled up his fist as if he was ready to knock someone’s teeth out, he actually wanted to right now actually and didn’t care about the consequences about what was going to happen to him.

Will looked over at the now angry Mike Wheeler. Now he’s seen him get mad before but he had NEVER in his life seen him this angry and to be completely honest, he couldn’t blame him at this point.

Mike didn’t know why Will didn’t tell him about this sooner before, why El didn’t tell him the truth about what was really going on, or where the hell staff was in all this right now but all he knows is that he was not about to stand here and watch what was happening when he could be out there defending his girlfriend from these asshole bullies.

First, he was gonna start with that DJ, who was a grown ass man encouraging and condoning this mishap for some odd reason. He obviously was acquainted with Angela as it seems.

Will didn’t even bother to stop him as he saw Mike was already angry as hell right now and didn’t even wanna talk to him at this point. So all Will could do was stand there in horror and watch how this is gonna go down, he just hoped that Mike won’t do anything too extreme to where he would regret it later on or even catch a charge. But seeing how he was feeling right now, he doubted that Mike was worried about that at this point.

He immediately skated over to the dancing DJ and yelled, “HEY! HEY! TURN THAT OFF!”

But the DJ replied, “Sorry I can’t hear you dude!” But if that was true, how could he have answered him? He was obviously being a smart ass.

He took all his anger into one fist, “I SAID TURN IT OFF” and punched the DJ right in the face, knocking him backwards on the floor and giving him a nosebleed. He was practically seeing stars and groaning in pain right now so he couldn’t retaliate. The girl next to him got so scared that she couldn’t even do anything for him at this point.

Mike was so mad that he didn’t even bother to find where the button was to turn it off, his main concern was El and she needed him big time. 

Next, he was going over to one of Angela’s male friends with the short blonde hair, he was holding the video camera and recording this, laughing as if he was recording a comedy movie, except it wasn’t funny.

“HEY! PRICK!” Mike shouted, making the guy turn around and getting his attention. “Quit recording that! What the hell is wrong with you?”

He scoffed at Mike and said, “Make me”

“Gladly” and the next thing he knew, Mike grabbed the camera out of his hands and threw it down on the rink breaking it to pieces. 

“Hey! What the fu-” the guy was cut off by by a punch in the jaw from Mike, causing him to fall back and groan, holding his jaw in pain. 

“Now film that, asshole” Mike spat.

Then Mike went over to the crowd of bullies who were surrounding and taunting El, angrily pushing them out of the way (Some even fell) on the rink just so he can get to her. They were calling him an asshole for agressively pushing them out of the way but he didn’t care, not one bit, all he cared about was running to the aid of the love of his life.

All of a sudden, the music was stopped by the girl that was next to the DJ. She seemed to feel remorse about enabling this now. Then it got quiet for a moment after it went off. 

When he got to her, she was holding her ears, screaming over and over again, “please stop” but when Mike said, “El! El! Calm down it’s me, it’s me, Mike! I’m here” 

She snapped out of it and saw who was in front of her. He held her in his arms and reassuring her as she sobbed on his chest. 

An annoying laugh can be heard from his direction, “El? Why do you call her El?”

The voice from the blonde demon herself caught his attention. She really had the nerve to smile and laugh as if the stunt that she pulled was so funny. 

“No, the real question is what the hell is wrong with YOU?! Why would you and your so called friends do shit like that to her? You really think that’s funny??!”

“A few reasons actually. One, she’s a loser. Two, she’s a weirdo freak. Three, she’s garbage. And four, it was hilarious and you unfortunately ruined it for us. And five, and most importantly, she’s a little snitch who got me in trouble. If anything, she brought all this on herself”

There were no words to describe how disgusted he was with this girl for the way he’s talking about El, one of the sweetest, kindest girls he’s ever met and none of those things Angela said about her were even remotely true, this girl clearly never took the time to get to know her but she didn’t want to in the first place because she always looked down on her for not being on her level and thought she was better than her.

“I honestly don’t know what you see in her but I wouldn’t have done all this if she wasn’t such….”

“If she wasn’t so what? Mind finishing that sentence?” Mike gave her pissed off expression on his face.

“Or what? Gonna get your little loser of a girlfriend to hurt me with her mean stare? Because I doubt she’ll do shit to me anyways, she never does, so it’s her fault she’s in this position and she wouldn’t have if she wasn’t such a pathetic little shit with no friends” She mocked and laughed in his face.

Angela was obviously enjoying this, just digging and digging until she can get a reaction out of him. She knew he wouldn’t dare to punch her, he wouldn’t have the guts to, especially when there are witnesses around and she and these people she calls “friends” could make up a story of how he was doing the bullying instead of her just to make sure she doesn’t get in trouble and he will. And if she wanted to, she could also involve El in her lies.

Mike didn’t hit girls, his parents taught him that it wasn’t okay for him to ever do that, but for in this case, he felt like grabbing her by the bangs and swing her into the sun because seriously! what the hell was this girl’s problem?

He strongly wished Max was here right about now so she could do that job for him because he knows that if she was here and saw how terribly El was being treated here, Angela would be in the hospital right now in stitches. 

Mike looked over at Will, who was still standing there watching how this is going down, he nodded and mouthed, “Mike no, don’t hit her please”.

Then Mike shifted his eyes towards Angela’s boyfriend Jake, who was standing there watching and holding the chocolate milkshake in his hand that was intended to be thrown on El before Mike got into the middle of it and stopped it from happening. He smirked as he came up with a brilliant idea on how to get back at Angela without getting violent.

“What? You gonna hit me or something? Because in case you forgot, I’m a girl, which means you can’t put your hands on me so what’re you gonna do about it, twig?” She sneered, crossing her arms, laughing her ass off, looking back at her friends and some people in the crowd, some of them were laughing as well.

Mike smirked and chuckled, “You know? You’re right, I can’t hit girls because my parents told me to never do that no matter how mad they make me, but they never said I can’t do this!” He quickly swiped the chocolate milkshake from Jake before he could react and splashed it on her, causing her to fall back and slip on the rink, embarrassing the hell out of her in front of not just her friends but the everyone at the Rink-O-Mania.

There were a mix of gasps, “OOOO’s” and “OH SHIT!” comments coming from the whole crowd in complete shock. No one has ever dared to do that to the queen bee until now. They just kept looking to see what she was gonna do but to everyone’s surprise, she did nothing but sit there in a puddle of the milkshake, in complete disbelief and embarrassment, her blue eyes looking around at everyone’s face and saw they were staring at her, wondering what they were thinking right now and how they were gonna react to this. 

Were they gonna feel sorry for her and help her? They should because she’s Angela, the most popular, the most beautiful and one of most richest girls in school.

Or were they laugh and make fun of her? Surely her three closest dearest friends wouldn’t laugh at her, they cared about her. If that’s so then why are they just standing there and staring in complete shock along with the crowd?

The chocolate milkshake ruined her makeup, the eyeshadow mixed with it and almost made her look like a clown.

Her perfect blonde hair was now ruined, it looked similar to a golden retriever’s fur after it just got done playing in the mud.

And last but least, her cute little outfit was now ruined by the stains of the chocolate milkshake, needless to say it was no longer nothing to look at in awe. 

Mike felt no remorse or regret what he had just done, nobody messes with the love of his life and he means nobody gets to bully her and think they can get away with it. 

The silence broke after one guy spoke out, Angela thought the guy was gonna defend her but instead he said, “Dude! Call me crazy but doesn’t she kinda look like a swamp monster right now?” And soon then, the silence then turned into laughter.

She looked around and saw everyone laughing at her except for three goons, who couldn’t do anything for her at the moment because they were astonished and embarrassed for her that all they could do was watch. 

Angela was powerless and there was nothing she could do but just sit there and cry, her tears mixing with the milkshake and ruined eyeshadow. She didn’t wanna believe all this happening to her was real, that was all just a terrible nightmare that she desperately wanted to wake up from but nope, it wasn’t, this was all just reality and she was living in this real life nightmare.

After everything she put El through, this karma was rightfully deserved. Hell, even Will couldn’t believe that he actually did that to Angela, he was surprised that someone actually gave her a taste of her own medicine, and he was actually glad that it happened too.

El was quite surprised at what she was seeing but also satisfied that someone had finally stood up for her and it was her loving boyfriend that did that for her. She felt so protected and it was such an amazing, relieving feeling for her after what Angela and her pack of demons put her through since the beginning of her freshman year of high school and no one standing up for her until now.

The girl couldn’t help but crack a smile and then a laugh as the mean girl was sitting there crying about the position she’s in right now. Honestly, she had every right to after she had just tried to embarrass her just now, and for what? Because she thought she “snitched” on her? 

When in reality, El didn’t “snitch” on her, in fact she actually tried to cover for her. Angela brought it upon herself, she got herself in trouble with Ms. Gracey. Had she not trip El for no reason, avoided eye contact and basically told her on herself without actually doing it, she would have been off scott free, not that she deserved to though. So she had no right to get mad and take it to another level by pulling the stunt she did just now. She had it coming honestly.

The only thing good came out about this for her is that there was no video camera for anyone to record this, so she was lucky that didn’t happen or she would have never showed her face in public ever again.

Mike felt no pity for the girl and took El by the hand to leave with the rink with her and Will, but before he could leave the rink, he skated over to Angela, leaned down, smirked and told her straight up, “Oh and Angela, one more thing I gotta say to you, I don’t know if you saw the sign but it clearly said ‘no food or drinks on the rink’ and maybe next time you won’t look like went swimming in a massive pile of garbage dump”

The blonde girl could do nothing but look up at him and cry some more, but Mike wasn’t phased, it’s not like she slap or punch him in retaliation because all she relied on were just verbal attacks, probably to make up the fact that she probably can’t fight and the fact she was used to making nasty, rude comments without others standing up to her made her untouchable, but guess what? That all changed for her today.

Mike skated off the rink with El to meet up with Will so they can leave meanwhile, Angela’s friends and boyfriend came up to her to helped her up and leave this scene when it was over, then go straight home so she can cry how her life is over, and they were willing to deal with her nonstop dramatic crying because they still cared for her. 

The show was over so the crowd split the whole scenario discussing about what had just happened just now. Angela was pretty sure that her reputation will be damaged from this now.

“Mike that was…. that was really amazing!” El praised him, smiling brightly at him and hugging him in embrace. “Thank you for what you did for me back there” 

“I’m not gonna lie, that was pretty awesome the way you handled Angela, I have NEVER seen anyone doing her like that, ever. Glad somebody finally put Angela in her place” Will also praised him.

“Guys, it was no problem actually, when I saw what was happening, I couldn’t just stand here and do nothing while my girlfriend needed serious help from me. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t do something?”

“Angela has been bothering me for months and I’m sorry I lied to you about things being great for me here when it wasn’t” She apologized. “I just didn’t want you to worry too much about me”

Mike looked straight into her beautiful brown eyes, gently touched her shoulders, giving her a smile and told her, “El, I’m not gonna lie, I wish you had told me the truth about this from the beginning but just to let you know that I understand, I’m not mad at you, okay? You’re my girlfriend and I’d do anything for you and well, I just proved that when I embarrassed your bully back there” He let out laugh, making El laugh too.

“Again, thank you Mike, you’re the best” She gave him another hug and he hugged her back.

“Anytime El, next time please be honest with me because you know you can come to me anytime and I won’t judge you for it, okay? I’ll always be here for you and I know I haven’t said this to you but here goes. I….. love you”

That did it! That totally did it! First Mike defends her against her bully that’s been harrassing her for months, humilates her in front of everyone by splashing chocolate milkshake on her and making her bust her ass, and now has finally told her to three special words to her for the first time since he met her. Just when she thought she couldn’t love him even more, and now that skyrocketed. 

She responded by having a laughter of joy and spreading the most beautiful smile across her face. She pull him close and kissed him. “I love you too, Mike, I’m so happy you finally said it to me” She felt like she was about to grow wings and fly into the sky, that’s how happy she was right now.

“Um guys? Hello?” Will waved, getting their attention so he can feel less in an awkward position. “I hate to ruin the moment but can we please get out of here?” 

“Oh right! Sure!” said Mike. “Oh that’s right! It’s your birthday today, isn’t it? Ah man, I’m sorry I got so caught up everything that I almost forgot it was your special day today ”

“It’s about time you’ve noticed, man” Will chuckled. “Although I’ll admit, seeing you stand up to bullies like that was probably my favorite part so far of my birthday” He laughed. 

“I have an idea” El suggested, “let’s call Jonathan and Argyle to pick us up so we can buy a cake for Will and even get some pizza to celebrate, oh and we can even get some balloons too”

Will smiled, “I think that’s a great idea, thanks guys! You have no idea how much that means to me coming from you. I love both of you so much” 

“And we love you too, Will” said El, smiling. The trio formed a big group hug with each other. 

“Now come on, let’s split, guys” said Mike. “I could go for some pizza right about now as long as it’s not pineapple pizza” He laughed.

“They put pineapple on pizza?” asked El, “I would like to try that”

“Seriously?” 

“Why not? It’s sounds good” 

“It really doesn’t, you don’t wanna try that, it’s like the worse thing you can do it pizza” Mike laughed but is also being honest about it.

“Hey, at least it’s better than anchovies” Will gagged. “Let’s get the classic pepperoni pizza”

“Alright, man, it’s your birthday, it’s your birthday so pepperoni it is” Mike smiled, giving him a playful punch to the shoulder. 

The three friends returned their rented roller skates and got their shoes back before leaving the Rink-O-Mania. Today was truly a great day, no scratch that it was more than great, it was absolutely perfect, and it was just the way El wanted it to be and now she was gonna make sure that Will’s birthday was going to be perfect for him as well. 

As for Angela? Can't say that her day was "perfect" like she thought it was gonna be. Oh well, she should be glad that she just got splashed with just a milkshake because at least all the stains can come off and she'll come out looking fine in a few hours.

Honestly, If Mike didn't step in and stop the public humiliation of El from happening,  it would have gotten way worse than just a milkshake to the face and a fall, she's at least lucky El didn’t snap and didn't whack Angela in the forehead with something like a roller skate. That’s when it could have gotten more physical.

Maybe this embarrassing moment that she brought upon herself will humble her and hopefully she'll think about being nice to El and other people from now on. If that’s even possible.

All she knows is that she was gonna have to face everyone on Monday after spring break was over after what happened today and she was not gonna be ready for it but she knew she had to be whether she liked it or not.

It’s like what they say, what goes around comes around, and Angela definitely had that karma come around and smacked her in the face with it.

Chapter Text

El knew that Mike was coming to visit her but when she saw Dustin, Lucas, along with his sister Erica, she most certainly didn’t expect them to visit her during Spring Break. Mike haven’t mentioned that the rest of the crew were coming along with him, he wanted to surprise her and boy was she surprised and happy to see them. 

Although, she didn’t expect Erica to come along with Lucas, the main reason she came along is that their own parents wanted to go on their own Spring Break vacation and of course, they knew Lucas was gonna visit his friend in California along with the rest and they didn’t wanna leave Erica all alone so of course she had to go with Lucas.

The only thing that disappointed her about this is that she didn’t see her best friend, Max. She wasn’t mad at her or anything, just sad that she learned that she couldn’t make it due to personal problems that she was still dealing with because of what happened last summer. She couldn’t blame her for wanting time to herself.

Regardless, El still was gonna make sure that she was gonna have the best Spring Break ever without any problems like running into her bullies, Angela and her pack of sheep, who seems to enjoy making El’s life miserable even though she did nothing to them, she didn’t understand why. Hopefully, Angela and her pack of sheep found something better to do over the break rather than try to waste it by messing with El. She probably won’t have anything to worry about though since all her friends here are by her side to protect her, then maybe Angela and her crew won’t try to be cruel towards her. 

While she was writing to him, she didn’t tell him about it at first but then after encouragement and advice from Will, she eventually admitted that she had a bullying problem, she didn’t wanna lie to him because, like they always say to each other, friends don’t lie, and when he heard about what’s been going on, of course, he wasn’t very happy about it considering he’s been bullied himself and neither was the rest of the friend group when he told them about it, which is why he thought it would be a great idea that his friends came along with him to visit her on Spring Break so that if they ever run into that blonde demon, he and the others won’t hesitate to have her back.

Surprisingly on the first day of Spring Break, there was no trouble or problems getting in the way of the group’s fun. They had a great time the first day actually, plus it was Will’s birthday so they did some fun stuff together with him like going to the beach mostly for the bonfire party, then ordered a pizza for birthday dinner and don’t forget the birthday cake! Definitely can’t forget to have a birthday without a cake.

And since they were staying over at Joyce’s new house, they even had a sleepover and played Dungeons and Dragons, which El didn’t understand but when they explained it to her, she sorta got to understand it a little better but she enjoyed watching them play it anyway.

El nor her friends have not spotted or ran into Angela and her crew, which is great because now she can enjoy her Spring Break with her friends without any problems from some jerks from school. Hopefully, it would stay that way the entire break, and that her bullies would go away on vacation or something. 

But that was just the first day.

The next day, however, was…… interesting, very interesting to say the least. 

The group today decided to go to the mall, it was one of the most popular teenage hangouts in California. Before they split up to explore the mall, they all agreed to meet up at the food court during lunchtime at 1 pm.

When that time came around, they wasted no time meeting each other at their agreed destination. They were having a great old time together, having a nice group discussion about whatever they were talking about, not worrying about anything. At least…… that’s what they thought, unfortunately.

“Well, well, well, look at this” A female voice familiar to El and Will spoke from behind the group. 

Oh no…. Please don’t let it be-

“A-Angela?” exclaimed El, her facial expression changing from happy to anxious. 

Unfortunately, yes. It was Angela. 

Doesn’t this girl and her pack of sheep have anything else better to do than to bother her? Talk about obsession. 

“Well, I didn’t expect to see you here and your…..?” She chuckled and raised an eyebrow all confused as to who these people are with El.

“Friends” Will spoke up, “These are our friends from Hawkins”

Angela gasped, “Oh? Friends? Wow who would have thought? You know I’m actually surprised you even had friends at all, Jane. Let alone human friends” She mocked in a faux overly nice tone, laughing along with her goons.

“Wait, hold on, what the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Mike spoke up, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Well, she did a project on her precious daddy and she mentioned that she lived in a cabin in the woods and had a little squirrel friend named Mr. Fibley so I assumed her friends were, I don’t know, wild forest creatures?” Angela mocked while her friends laughed again.

And just like that, the crew immediately HATED this girl, especially Mike, who wanted to give this girl a piece of his mind for not only bullying his girlfriend in front of him and his friends but talking about Hopper as well.

“Hold on, What the hell did you just call us???” said Dustin, furrowing his eyebrows, giving her the meanest glare, along with the rest of the crew, they all stood up from their seats, getting ready to do anything to have El’s back no matter the consequences but Angela and her goons weren’t as scared as they should be, instead they were surprised they even liked El so much that they were willing to defend her and have her back, she found it unbelievable that it had to be a joke.

“Angela, leave us alone, I am with my friends and I don’t need you ruining that for me” El defended. At this moment, she wished she still had her powers so she can throw Angela and her friends out of the mall and probably into space if she could do that.

“Well that’s a rude thing to say, aren’t you gonna introduce us to your forest creature companions, I mean your friends?” Angela laughed along with her posse.

She almost cringed at the thought of Jane, the school “weirdo” and “freak”, but also she found it laughable at the concept of her having actual friends since she didn’t think it was “realistic” or “possible” for to her have people around her that actually like her and want to be genuine friends with her. 

Angela spoke again, “Let me guess, you must be an Orc” Referring to Dustin.

“You must be a Goblin, although you favor more as a frog” Obviously referring to Mike, which made El absolutely angry and it took everything in her power not to knock her out right then and there.

“And you gotta be an Orge” referring to Lucas. “And Yooou must be a leprechaun” Referring to Erica. 

“Wow, you know what, Jane? I gotta hand it to you, you sure do know how to pick freaks for friends just like yourself, I’m truly impressed” Angela clapped sarcastically.

Angela and her friends laughed at Angela’s rude remarks about El’s friends and boyfriend.

They have had absolutely enough of this girl, who the hell did she think was attacking them like that the way she did and out of nowhere when they were just sitting their minding their own business not bothering anyone?

They were about to do something they’d regret but not actually feel regret because they were about to go to jail for their friend but one girl from the group stepped in and was about to let miss thing have it.

“Oh really? Is that so? Then what does that make you? A dingbat?” Erica said, looking at her up and down in disgust. She didn’t take being called a leprechaun too lightly nor could she tolerate bullies so she decided she was gonna give her what she deserved that was overdue.

“I’ve heard better insults from a kid at my school and guess what? He’s EIGHT! Now ain’t that sad?”

“Um excuse me? What did you just say to me?” The blonde girl looked down at the young African American girl, eyebrow raised.

Erica sighed and rolled her eyes “Do I really have to repeat myself? Or are you just that damn stupid?”

Lucas said, “Erica, no, just stay out of this, we can-” 

“Will you let me handle this airhead? Please and thank you” 

Angela scoffed at what this little girl had just said to her right now, crinkling up her nose in disgust. “Now who the hell do you think-”

Erica cut her off by holding her hand up to her face and said, “Uh uh! I’m not finished, so shut up while I’m talking okay?”

“Airhead?! Okay let’s get something straight here, I-”

“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are, you plastic wannabe Barbie, but what you’re not gonna do is walk up here outta nowhere and bully my friends unprovoked, especially Jane, from what I heard, who you seem to love to make miserable from what she told us”

“Well, I wouldn’t if maybe she wasn’t a-” 

“And let me tell YOU something, from what I heard from Will and Jane, you’re the rich, popular spoiled brat who everyone loves, oh so you think. Let’s be real here, people probably don’t actually even like your ass, they love you for YOUR MONEY, And because of your looks, take all that away and you’re what? Can you answer me that?”

Angela gasped, “Wait, what the hell are you assuming?!”

Erica chuckled and said, “You didn’t seem to have a valid answer and answered a question with a question so I’ll answer for you”

“Alright, listen, You-”

“Are a nobody!” Erica finished her sentence with a smirk, “Repeat after me if you can pay attention, you may have all those little brainwashed sheep bowing down at your feet everytime you walk down the hallway, but sweetheart let me tell you something, in the real world, you are a total nobody!”

“First of all-”

“And let’s be honest, you only bully those because you think you’re hot shit and above everyone else that has less than you so therefore it makes you untouchable and better than them when in reality, you’re pretty much just a piece of shit and deep, deep down you’re probably only a bully two reasons:

Reason one: to feel like a queen bee when you’re actually just a wasp 

And reason number two: to cover up the fact that your mommy and daddy are secretly crying every day that they wished they sent you to boarding school but since they are too cheap to pay for it so they decide to deal with your annoying ass and your little insecurities that no one could care less about” 

“I…. what, you know what-” Angela looked around, struggling to think of a clever comeback but oh no! Ms. Erica wasn’t done yet, she wasn’t done embarrassing Angela in public, especially in front of Angela’s own friends. This cannot be happening to her right now.

“Oh and speaking of insecurities, how do we know you’re an actual blonde?”

Angela gasped, “Now hold on you little-”

“Ah! Let me finish, let me guess, you were trying to go for the Olivia Newton-John look? Um hate to break it to you sweetheart but that failed miserably, I’m even embarrassed for you”

Angela’s jaw dropped, she didn’t even know how to respond to that, matter of fact, Erica wouldn’t even let her respond, she just kept coming back for more, and rightfully so.

While Angela’s friends just OOOO’d and not saying anything to Angela’s defense because none of them had a clever comeback to defend her, The Hawkins crew just laughed, even El and she didn’t even know who that was that Erica referenced. All she knew was that Angela was getting brutally roasted by Erica, a girl who she was not even close with yet doesn’t hesitate to stand up for her and her friends, and El wasn’t complaining one bit, she loved what she was seeing.

“And you were so desperate to get validation and popularity, you decided ‘hey, let me bleach my dry ass hair so all the boys who never looked my way before can bow down, worship the ground I walk on, and kiss my ass.’ Now tell me I’m wrong”

Angela couldn’t believe that this little kid, whom she didn’t know, had the audacity to talk to her like this and assume things about her despite the fact they might even be true. Wait, were her feelings actually getting hurt? She could not let anyone see her get visibly embarrassed for the sake of her reputation, she won’t allow it and yet her face turned red like a tomato.

“What’s wrong? Got nothing else to say? Yeah, I thought so because you haven’t come up with a comeback for me YET” She chuckled, smirking, crossing her arms. 

“Well, I… Um you, well you are a-” She groaned and her face turned red as she saw that people were watching and waiting for her to say something back but she had no nothing else to say. 

“Awww you’re embarrassed now? You were just big and bad a couple minutes ago and now you’re letting a middle schooler beat you at this game?! If I were you, I’d never show my face in public again, matter of fact, that’d be good anyway so you won’t make babies cry every time they see you”

Angela looked back at her friends and expected them to defend her but to her surprise, they were covering their mouths trying not to laugh. Some friends they were!

“Are you all serious right now? You’re supposed to have my back and you’re standing here laughing while this seven year old brat is disrespecting me?!”

That’s when Lucas stepped in after seeing his sister be insulted, “Wait, the hell did you just call my sister-” But Erica stopped him as she can handle it herself. This WAS Erica Sinclair after all.

“Ah hold on, big brother, I told you I got this!” Erica told Lucas, then she turned back to Angela, scoffing. She wasn’t about to let Angela slide just yet.

“Oh? Is that so? Well, let me ask you something, Angelica or whatever your name is, are you hungry right about now?”

“Huh?” Angela tilted her head.

“Wow, I can already them rocks are just rattling in your head. Anyway, let me ask you this again, are you hungry?” Without a warning, Erica snatched the cheese fries out of Dustin’s hands.

“HEY! Those were mine!” He shouted.

“Because I have something for you to chow down on!” Erica threw the cheese fries on Angela’s shirt, causing her to scream in horror and the Hawkins crew and Angela’s own friends to gasp in shock at what just happened. It was weird how Angela’s friends were cackling up a storm when Erica was letting her have it but when it was cheese fries to the shirt, it wasn’t funny anymore and it’s “too far” now. 

What’s even worse about this now is that her scream caught the attention of EVERYONE in the mall, which became Angela’s worst nightmare, being humiliated in front of people.

“Hope you love the new touches I gave on your outfit, call that an improvement” Erica smirked.

“MY SHIRT! MY BRAND NEW SHIRT! Do you have ANY idea how much this cost me?!” She shouted.

Erica scoffed and laughed, “Please! Be grateful I made it look better, not like it was ever cute in the first place” 

“UGH!” Angela screamed. One of her friends named Chad went over to get a napkin to help wipe it off but didn’t think to use his brain to realize it wasn’t immediately working.

“STOP THAT! YOU’RE MAKING IT WORSE!” She screamed at Chad, making him drop the napkin. 

“I was just trying to help” 

“Then stop helping! Come on, let’s get out of here!”

Shortly when Angela turned around and left with her friends, she walked past the wet floor sign and slipped on the wet floor without noticing, causing her to bump into one of the employers of the smoothie shop and the tray of smoothies he was carrying to spill all on her hair, face and entire outfit. Angela’s mouth gapped as she didn’t see everything coming, it happened so fast. 

And to make things worse, everyone who saw laughed. Angela’s face turned red and covered her face as her friends immediately helped her up but before they can leave, Erica ran up to her with a camera that she bought with her and said, “Say cheese, Angie!” and snapped a few pictures of Angela looking ridiculous. 

“Awww now don’t you look pretty”

“No! PLEASE! Don’t show them to other people! Please! Please! Please!” Angela got down on her knees and begged Erica, which added more embarrassment for her but she was desperate for her reputation’s sake. Even Angela’s friends were embarrassed for her.

“I’ll get rid of the pictures on one condition, apologize to my brother and friends but especially apologize to Jane and leave her alone for good and us for the rest of Spring Break, and I’ll rip the pictures up and put them in the trash, not that it’s gonna make things better anyway since you pretty much made yourself look like a fool in front of everyone in this mall right now but I’m willing to cut you some slack” 

“Fine,” She turned to El and her friends, “I’m sorry Jane for being so mean to you since you got here and I’m sorry to all of you for being rude when I didn’t even know you”

“See now was that so hard?”

“So are you gonna get rid of the pictures now?” Angela asked with a faint but hopeful smile. 

Erica just burst out laughing, making Angela frown in horror, “Are you kidding me? Hell no I’m not getting rid of these! They’re hilarious! What? You thought I’d really let a bully off the hook just like that? Especially, when they just gave a half-assed apology like you did just now? Please!”

“But…. But……That’s not fair! What did I even do to deserve this?!”

Erica looked at this girl in utter disbelief, she truly thought she did nothing wrong which made all her comments about her being an airhead make more sense.

“Wow I don’t know, you tell me! Maybe you’re a snobby ass bully. Not sure, you tell me!” Erica said sarcastically, “Oh and life ain’t fair, sweetheart, so this is what you call, I don’t know, KARMA? If that’s a too big of a word for you to understand”

All Angela could do was scream at the top of her lungs and cry, letting her friends walk her out of the mall away from the scene. 

“And don’t let the door hit you too hard and by the way, one, don’t ever refer to me as a leprechaun ever again! And two, I’m eleven years old you air-headed bimbo with the terrible bangs!” Erica shouted. 

“And don’t you ever insult my sister again!” Lucas also shouted. 

“WowI never thought I’d say this the way you handled that chick was badass” Dustin praised. 

“Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone stand up to Angela like that but you took it up a notch and gave her a taste of her own medicine” said Will, smiling as he is impressed with the way Erica handled Angela. 

“Yeah! That was incredible!” praised Mike. He was glad someone stepped in to handle Angela before he would hav gotten in trouble for something he’d get in huge trouble for.

“Oh, it was no big deal, just putting another bully in her place where she belongs” She shrugged. “And plus nobody gets to insult my brother except for me” 

El walked up to Erica with a smile after seeing her stand up for her and her friends, she had some kind words for her, “Erica, thank you so much for what you did not only for me but for my friends as well, I’m grateful for that”

“No problem, El, and hey maybe she’ll leave you alone the next time she sees you at school thanks to me taking these pictures which, here, is for yours now if you’re feeling sad and need a laugh” Erica handed her the four pictures of Angela with cheese fries on her shirt and smoothies spilled all over her. 

El took the pictures and giggled, “These are very funny, I will keep these as a treasure. Again, thank you so much for what you did for me” She then went on to hug Erica, which she didn’t expect but thought was really sweet.

“Oh, what the hell, bring it in” Erica hugged her back in an embrace. “I wasn’t about to let someone especially a bully ruin our Spring Break” 

“Hopefully, she has learned her lesson and will leave me alone” said El.

“Please, with everything that happened to her just now, she better” 

“Hey um, I don’t mean to spoil the nice moment but you owe me a new order of cheese fries!” Dustin said to her. 

Erica rolled her eyes, “Okay, give me some of your allowance money and I will” 

“What? No way! I’m not giving you my money” 

“Then sorry!” Erica chuckled sarcastically, “looks like you ain’t getting shit!” 

“Aww come on!” Dustin whined. “You know what, Erica? You’re the worst and I mean that from the bottom of my heart”

“Oh! You’re breaking my heart! NOT!” 

After things quickly died down, the crew finished their lunch and began to leave the scene to go do whatever they wanted to do to enjoy their Spring Break. 

All day, El had this happy smile on her face, not only was Angela and her pack of sheep going to be out of the way for the entire Spring Break but going to leave her alone for good thanks to the public humiliation she put upon herself but someone finally stood up for her against her for the first time since she transferred into that school and got bullied. It was honestly refreshing and she was grateful that someone like Erica has made her Spring Break even better than before.

She couldn’t wait to write letters to Max and tell her all about it.

Chapter Text

"HA! Told you I'd beat you!" Dustin laughed as he defeated Mike in the Pokemon trading game.

"I almost had you, man!" Mike groans and shakes his head in defeat, chuckling.

"Well, what'd you expect using a fire type against a water type?" Dustin says, rolling his eyes. "Like come ON, man!"

"It was the only Pokemon I had on my team left, did I really have a choice since you knocked all of mine out?"

"Hey man, you should have had a better strategy and you would have won" Dustin argued, teasing Mike.

As Mike and Dustin bantered over their Pokémon battle card game, Eleven sat on the blue armchair near the table where she watched her friends were playing this card game called "Pokemon" in Mike's basement.

She was intrigued by the concept of Pokemon, it was a world where fantastical creatures with unique abilities existed alongside humans, forming bonds of friendship and trust. When she was first introduced to the games and the anime, she was concerned about the Pokemon getting hurt in battles, Mike reassured her that the Pokemon are okay and can be fully recovered, which eased her worries a bit.

She is happy that there are mostly trainers that love their Pokemon beyond battling and see them as friends, however, when she was watching the Pokemon anime, there was an episode called "Charmander, The Stray Pokemon, she also realized that trainers can abandon and abuse their Pokemon just because they don't fit the trainer's high expectations and standards. She felt deeply for the Charmander just waiting there on that rock waiting for its trainer to return when he had no intentions to come back.

What broke her heart is that it almost died because the fire on its tail almost went out and there was a scene where Charmander's old trainer was bragging about abandoning it for being "useless and weak" and even laughed about it, she just couldn't believe what she was seeing in that episode.

It made her blood boil because she thought how could someone be so cruel and heartless treat their Pokemon like that just because they thought it was "too weak"? As far as she knows and what she's learned, if Pokemon and trainers work hard, the Pokemon can get stronger but that was not the case for Charmander's old trainer "Damian". She knew if she was in that situation, she would know things will not go great for Damian for treating Charmander like that because it was clear he had no respect for Pokemon unless they win Pokemon battles for him and lived up to his unrealistically high standards.

She was touched that Ash, Misty and Brock were very kind to Charmander and saved it, then eventually became Ash's Pokemon and traveled along with him. She couldn't help but see parallels between the trio saving Charmander in the rain to save it and her own friends meeting her in the rain and having enough kindness to take her in for safety and shelter.

While there are trainers that will mistreat their Pokemon or mistreat them in general even if they don't belong to the trainers, she always acknowledges there is always people like Ash, Misty and Brock who will never abuse them like that and will be extremely kind and caring towards them and also see their Pokemon as more than just "tools" for battling and see them more as friends as well. It was sort of like how in her case, there will always be people like "Papa" or her bully from the Hawkins lab "Two" but there are also kindhearted people like her friends, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will and even Hopper.

She knows if she had Pokemon of her own if they were real, she knows she would never in her life mistreat them the way Damian did to Charmander, let alone abandon it for "being weak", that was not something she would ever do. Instead, she would treat her Pokemon with kindness and mostly treat them as her companions.

To her knowledge, she knows there's 151 Pokemon in total (As of now in 1999 until Johto comes out in the year 2000 in the USA) and that many Pokemon with many different special moves and special abilities as much as different types like Grass, Water, Rock, Normal, Electric, Fire, Flying, Ground, Ghost, Fighting, Bug, Dragon, Ice, Poison and last but definitely not least, Psychic.

It also was no surprise that she would be competely drawn to the Psychic types. One of her favorites though have to be Mr. Mime, whom she formerly referred to as "funny clown Pokemon with mind powers like mine", she just loved the idea that a creature that resembles a clown that looks harmless that has the same psychic powers as her and she immediately claimed it as one of her favorites. She also really liked Starmie, she thought it was, in her words, "A pretty star with a pretty red ruby on it", and it was both a Water and Psychic type, which was really cool to know that Pokemon can have more than type, it was one of the things that she found to be really cool and fascinated.

Her friends' favorite Pokemon, however, were different from hers obviously:

Mike's favorite Pokemon? Dragonite, because he admires its strength and versatility in battle, capable of learning a wide array of moves. Beyond its combat abilities, Dragonite's friendly and protective nature resonates with Mike, and his own desire to protect and support his friends. The majestic, dragon-like appearance of Dragonite also appeals to Mike's love for mythical and adventurous elements.

" Dragonite is just awesome, guys," Mike said with a grin. "It might not be the flashiest Pokémon, but it's dependable. It can fly, it's strong in battles, and it always looks out for its trainer. Plus, it's just cool to have a dragon on your team, right?"

Will's favorite Pokemon? Eevee, because Eevee's adaptability and potential for multiple evolutions captivate Will's creative and artistic side. He loves that Eevee can evolve into various forms like Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon, each representing different types and abilities. This versatility symbolizes Will's own potential and the different paths his life can take. Eevee's friendly and loyal nature mirrors Will's deep care for his friends and his gentle personality, making it the perfect companion for him.

" Eevee is amazing because it can be any evolved form you want it to be just by using a fire stone, thunder stone or water stone, It's just very special in its own way" Will said thoughtfully. "It might not be the strongest on its own but It's not just about strength—it's about versatility and it has the potential to evolve into so many different forms. It's like a blank canvas—you can shape it into something amazing based on how you train it and care for it. Plus, come on, who can resist those big eyes and fluffy fur?"

Lucas' favorite Pokemon? Gyarados, because Gyarados represents transformation and resilience, qualities Lucas greatly admires. The dramatic evolution from a "weak" Magikarp to the powerful, intimidating and the "badass" Gyarados as Lucas describes it. Gyarados's fierce appearance and formidable strength in battle align with Lucas's determined and bold nature, making it his ideal Pokémon.

" Gyarados is all about power and determination," Lucas said proudly. "I mean, it starts off as this tiny Magikarp that everyone underestimates, but as soon as it evolves into the badass called Gyarados, it becomes this unstoppable force. Now is that awesome or what?"

Dustin's favorite Pokemon? Arcanine, because Arcanine embodies loyalty, courage, and a sense of majesty, traits that Dustin values highly. He loves the idea of having a powerful and protective companion that is both reliable and fiercely loyal. Arcanine's speed and fire-based abilities appeal to Dustin's energetic and adventurous spirit. The Pokémon's canine appearance and noble demeanor also resonate with Dustin's love for animals and his protective instincts towards his friends.

" Arcanine is like the ultimate Pokémon companion!" Dustin explained enthusiastically. "It's fast, powerful, and totally loyal. Plus, it's like having a giant fire-breathing dog on your team! What's not to love?"

Although, Will found himself to be teased by his friends for choosing Eevee as his favorite Pokemon because it isn't as "strong" or tough looking as their favorite Pokemon and because of its cute appearance, but here's the thing, even though Eevee might not be the strongest, but what makes it special is that it has the ability to evolve to different forms and types, Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon, with just either the thunder stone, the water stone or the fire stone, and he thought it was really fascinating. Eevee is known for its friendly and loyal nature, much like Will himself, who is a good friend and deeply cares about his close-knit group. Eevee's cute and charming appearance also appealed to Will's artistic side, as he appreciated Eevee's design and the creativity involved in its multiple evolutions. It makes sense why he would love Eevee.

"Hey El," Lucas called her name, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yes?" She replies, her gaze moving over to Lucas.

He shuffled the cards in his hands, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Would you like for us to teach you how to play?"

El smiled at this offer, "Yes! I would love to learn to play"

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get your caboose over here so we can show you the ropes" Dustin said jokingly with a chuckle.

Eleven giggles and smiles, walking over to the table and sitting in an extra chair. "Caboose, that's a funny word."

With that, the boys started to teach El how to play Pokemon cards and showed her the ropes, as Lucas put it, making sure she was getting it and understood how it actually worked.

As the week went by, El got the hang of playing this Pokémon card game. At first, she found it challenging to remember all the rules and strategies. She felt a mixture of excitement and frustration as she learned. The boys were patient, explaining the different types of Pokémon, the strengths and weaknesses of each type, and the strategies involved in building a strong deck.

Eleven was determined to get better. She spent hours practicing, often staying up late into the night, studying the cards and memorizing their abilities. She loved the feeling of shuffling the deck, the sound of the cards being dealt, and the thrill of drawing a powerful Pokémon at a crucial moment.

She experienced a sense of accomplishment with each small victory. The first time she managed to knock out one of Lucas's Pokémon, she felt a rush of pride. When she won her first match against Will, she couldn't stop smiling for hours. Each game she played, she felt more confident and more connected to her friends. They were proud of her progress and celebrated her victories with genuine enthusiasm.

"Yes! I win!" Eleven cheered, laughing happily.

"Wow, Dustin, looks like El totally kicked your butt at this game" Mike teased Dustin, he rolled his eyes at Mike's teasing.

"Yeah, are you gonna admit your loss now?" Lucas chuckled.

"Fine, fine, I admit it! Three points for El and none for Dustin, there! Happy?" Dustin said, throwing his arms up in defeat, trying not to laugh.

"Looks like we taught El really well" Will said, chuckling.

"This game is fun! Thank you for teaching me to play" El said, smiling at the boys.

"Hey, no problem, El." Lucas said to her, giving her a friendly pat on the back. "We're also proud of you for getting better and kicking Dustin's butt at it" He joked.

Dustin rolled his eyes and waved off his comments "Aww shut up, Lucas!"

"Right back at you, man" Lucas laughed.

El laughed along with her friends, it was great being around people who were patient enough and cared for her enough to help her learn things like Pokemon card game, it shows how lucky and blessed she was to have great friends like Mike and them.

She wouldn't trade them for the world.

Now, she wondered if Hopper would get her own pack of Pokemon cards for her birthday since it was right around the corner. Once she asked him, of course he said yes and she was over the moon about it!

She couldn't wait to start trading too and she hoped she would get some good ones that shines. Mike told her they were called "the shiny Pokemon" cards, they mostly always had pictures of different colored Pokemon on them, and that she would be lucky enough to get one in a pack or if someone trades them with her.

She also couldn't wait once she gets more better and better at playing Pokemon cards, she might even can enter tournaments. Now that she was completely in the Pokemon fan club, she just couldn't wait to see what was in store for her in the future.

A month goes by and the boys had invited El to go see Pokemon the first movie, after seeing trailer for it on TV, it completely won her over. Hopper had let her go with them as long as they don't let her out of their sight and El doesn't use her powers in public, this was fair and he let her go with them to see the movie.

She even got one of those Ancient Mew cards they were giving out. After she saw the movie with the gang, she was blown away by what an amazing and emotional it was. She also found herself empathizing with Mewtwo due to the fact he was in a lab just like her, she just didn't see him a the bad guy but rather confused about his existence and that was something she can completely sympathize with him with.

Her and the gang were walking out of the theater gusting and raving about the movie, El turns to Mike and says, "Mike?"

"Yeah, El?"

"I changed my mind"

"Oh? About?"

"My favorite Pokemon"

"Oh? Let me guess, Mew is your new favorite Pokemon and Mr. Mime is out of the picture I'm guessing?"

El chuckles and says, "No, it's Mewtwo"

"Ah! That's a great one! He was badass, wasn't he? With those awesome psychic powers"

"Yes! Bitchin'" El happily says.

Mike laughs, "Yeah, that's a better word to describe him"

"The movie was bitchin' too" El added, smiling.

With that, the party had a blast watching the movie, especially El, and she hoped to watch it again soon because it was worth rewatching.

She looked at her Ancient Mew card and smiled, "I can't wait to show this to Hopper".