tonight was the night. the valentines day dance.
normally, mike would find these dances ridiculous. his mom would plead "just one more picture!" as she would excitedly smile at her son, his dad would give him a pat on the back and say "go get em, kid" and mike didn't like the attention.
eleven, on the other hand, had never been to a school dance before, and she was beyond excited. hopper and joyce had slow-danced down the hallways of the byers' home, showing eleven what dancing was. eleven thought the dress that hopper had bought was beautiful, and she couldn't wait to wear it with mike.
joyce had bought el a baby pink headband to match with her elegant, but casual light pink dress that flowed down past her knees. she twirled around in front of the mirror until she couldn't even stand straight.
hopper had bought mike a simple suit. the colour scheme was red (to match with eleven's dress) and mike thought it made him look like a clown. he was so embarrassed, and his face appeared to be more red than his suit.
however, tonight he was willing to risk his entire non-existent social life to give el the night of her life.
they had agreed to meet in front of the gym doors. when mike had arrived, will, dustin, lucas, and max were all by the door. will, dustin, and lucas were all dressed in plain black suits, and immediately laughed when they saw mike. max was wearing a plain yellow shirt tucked into a blue jean skirt, which probably belonged to her mother, judging by the size of it.
"do you think she knows where the gym is?" dustin asked.
"yeah, she knows. she's not stupid, i mean." mike smiled.
lucas stepped closer to mike. "can i talk to you for a sec?" he whispered.
mike nodded and they both stepped away from the group and further down the hallway.
"you have to swear not to tell anyone." he whispered.
"yeah yeah yeah. i won't tell anyone. now, what is it?" mike giggled.
lucas sighed. "you're dead meat if you tell anyone." he reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a paper folded so small an ant couldn't even lay on it.
"what is that?" mike asked.
lucas slowly unfolded the paper, which was visibly crumpled out of frustration many times. he handed it to mike, and looked away in embarrassment right after. "it's for max." he said quietly.
mike started to read the messy handwriting.
mad max.
why do they call you that?
is it because of your fierce, red hair
("resembling ronald mcdonald" was crossed out beneath it.)
or is it because you're insane: mad! maybe you're crazy.
i don't even know a lot about you...
but so what if you are crazy?
you and i; we can be crazy together, because i am insanely in love with you.
and so they might aswell call me "mad lucas", but that doesn't really sound cool so
"lucas it's-"
"i know." he rolled his eyes and took the paper out of mikes hands. "it's pathetic. it's awful. but i heard she likes poetry, so..."
"who told you she liked poetry?" mike asked.
lucas glared at him. "myself."
"it's not bad, dude. it really isn't. it's a much better upgrade from your last poem too." he laughed. "but maybe read it out loud. it'll be more romantic."
lucas nodded nervously and shoved the paper back in his pocket. "right. thanks." he smiled.
the two walked back to the group as if nothing had happened.
"what was that all about?" dustin asked.
"were you confessing your love for each other?" max giggled.
"mwah! mwah!" will started blowing kisses in the air as the group erupted into giggles.
mike turned to face the end of the hall just in time to see the love of his life walk through the doors.
el slowly walked down the hall, looking at the lockers, not even noticing mike wheeler staring at her in awe.
"holy shit." max exclaimed when she saw eleven. "nice catch, wheeler" she winked.
eleven noticed the group at the door. she smiled as she started to skip towards them.
"hey, el!" will waved.
"hi everybody!" she smiled. she turned to mike and blushed. "hi mike." she said softly.
"hi." he smiled and admired her dress. "you look gorgeous."
she blushed. being as confident as she was that night, she spun around and showed the group her dress. mike clapped and laughed at her adorableness.
"you look really nice, mike." she smiled
"do not make fun of this suit, okay?" he laughed. "i did not choose this."
el giggled. "i didn't choose this either!!"
"yeah, but at least you look good!" mike pointed to her dress.
"is this how you guys argue?" will asked.
they both smiled but shook their heads, knowing they could both become vicious when arguing.
now that the group was all together, everyone walked into the gym. they were greeted with loud music and bright lights that could give anyone a seizure if they stayed in that gym for too long.
they all danced for a while. eleven would just spin around in circles to every song, and dustin would flip his hair right beside her. will was in his own world, and danced like no one was watching. he had some pretty great moves, honestly.
mike, lucas, and max all stood there talking, and occasionally bopping their heads to sections of songs.
then, "africa" by toto was turned down, and replaced by "every breath you take."
dustin quickly made his way to the middle of the gym to ask out this short asian girl, who immediately said yes (to his surprise.)
eleven stopped spinning, and struggled to catch her balance. mike walked over, laughing, and holding out his hands so that she could hold them and actually stand straight.
lucas was just waiting for will to leave so that he could ask max his question. his heart was practically pounding out of his chest, as he wiped his sweaty palms against his pants.
suddenly, a short girl with blonde curls approached will. "do you wanna dance?" she smiled.
will gave her a nervous smile. "uhh, sure." he took her hand as they walked to the back of the gym.
"by the way" she started. "i'm gay. i hope you don't mind, i just don't want my friends thinking i'm a fag, you know?" she bit her lower lip
will smiled and nodded, suddenly much more at ease.
mike and el were still laughing at each other, and could barely focus on the fact that this was the last dance.
lucas turned to max. "uh, max?" he asked.
"mm?" she smiled.
lucas took a big breath and took out the paper, his hands shaking so bad that he could barely hold the paper.
he read out his poem. his voice was very shaky and loud over the music.
"wow." max smiled. "lemme see that." she took the paper out of his hands and started reading it. "did you seriously compare my hair to ronald mcdonald?" she laughed.
"i scratched that part out!" he laughed. "will you dance with me?"
max nodded as the two walked to the middle of the dance floor.
mike and el finally caught their breath as they made eye contact and smiled.
"do you wanna dance?" mike asked softly.
"i would love to." el smiled as they held hands and walked to the front of the gym,
their bodies were only separated by their arms, which were placed so weirdly due to school protocol, but they didn't seem to mind.
suddenly, everything around them disappeared. it was only them, and the music.
their bodies swayed to the song as they looked at each other in awe.
"can i kiss you?" mike asked quickly.
"you don't need to ask!" el giggled.
"it's just with everything that's happened, you know... i just wanted-"
"of course you can kiss me." el smiled as she felt mike's soft lips touch hers as the song ended.
"mike?" she asked.
"yeah?" he responded.
"thank you. for everything." she blushed.
he smiled and hugged his beautiful girlfriend. "and thank you for everything." he smiled as they both hugged; all of their problems suddenly disappearing.
while the lives of eleven and mike individually weren't perfect, together they were nearly unstoppable. despite the multiple bad experiences they've both faced, the two have remained positive, as they know the good far outweighs the bad, even when you're living in hawkins.
the end.
*
thank you guys so much for reading! i am truly so sad this book is over:( i hope you enjoyed it! feel free to comment any questions, and i'll answer them ASAP. i will be continuing to write other stories, so stay tuned for more!! xx