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“Hopper! Wait! I...I can explain!” Mike, half-naked, pleaded to Hawkins’ chief of police.
“Explain what , exactly?” Hopper demanded, stomping towards the teen. “How you and my daughter are in her bedroom, kissing, and you in just a towel?”
As the big man got closer, Mike’s life (or at least the last hour) flashed before his eyes.
An hour ago-
It was a warm May day as Mike made his way up to the cabin, his bike swinging left to right as he pedaled towards the woods. What had otherwise been a boring day was about to get interesting. Usually, on a day like today-a weekend-he’d have been up to the cabin early, picking up El and either hanging out at the cabin or riding into Hawkins to see their friends. But his mom had had errands to run, his dad was out playing golf with some coworkers, and Nancy was out with Jonathan, looking for a job for the upcoming summer.
So guess who’d had to babysit little Holly Wheeler?
It honestly hadn’t been too bad; but the anticipation of seeing El had been on his mind the whole time he’d watched My Little Pony episodes with his sister.
It didn’t matter anymore, he thought to himself, as he got closer. He finally got to see his girlfriend, and even better, Hopper wasn’t home yet. The Hawkins chief of police still had another hour or so of work, so Mike would get some alone time with El.
He was so consumed with thinking of his time with El that he wasn’t paying attention to the path in front of him as he neared the cabin. As a result, his front tire snagged an upturned tree root and before he knew it, Mike was flying off his bike. He put his hands out to brace his fall, but he still fell face first into a pile of mud, soaking his entire front.
“Ugh,” he moaned, slowly pushing himself up. Nothing seemed broken, but his hands stung from where he’d slammed into the ground. And everything was wet, sticky, and muddy. He finally stood up and examined the damage. Sure enough, his whole body seemed to be covered in mud. He could feel it on his mouth, around his eyes, in his hair, and in his ears. His clothes were soaked in mud, too.
Now what? He thought as he searched for his bike. He spat out a small clump that’d made its way into his mouth. Do I go home? He was already practically at the cabin; but he wouldn’t have much fun with El, all muddy like this.
Finding his bike, he picked it up and walked his way towards the cabin.
He arrived there two minutes later and leaned the bike against a tree. Walking his way up the steps, he did the secret knock on the door.
He heard the locks come undone, and before he knew it, Mike was looking into the beautiful brown eyes of Eleven as she smiled at him.
That smile was almost instantly switched to a frown.
“Mike?” she asked, confused at his appearance.
“Hey, El,” he said weakly.
“What...what happened?” She touched his shirt and looked at the mud on her hand.
“I sort of...fell off my bike on the way here.”
She looked over his mud-soaked clothes. “Did you...roll in it?”
“No,” he answered, feeling himself getting embarrassed. “I just...it was a big puddle.”
“Oh.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I should probably just go home so I don’t get mud everywhere.” Upon seeing the look of disappointment on her face, he couldn’t help but feel guilty at his clumsiness. “The last thing I need is another reason for Hopper not to want me here,” he explained.
“You can use the shower,” El suggested, perking up.
Mike thought about that. Honestly, a hot shower would feel good right about now. On the downside, he had a feeling Hopper may not like Mike taking a shower-and getting naked-when it was just him and El in the cabin.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Mike answered.
El tilted her head. “Why?”
“Because, I mean...if Hopper came home...he may not like it.”
She shrugged. “It’s just a shower.”
“Yeah, but...I don’t know.”
She tugged on his hand, all but pulling him inside; closing the door behind him with a flick of her head.
Reluctantly, Mike stepped out of his shoes. “But I don’t have any clothes to change into,” he told his girlfriend.
“You can wear some of Hopper’s,” she suggested.
Mike shook his head. “Hopper’s, like, ten feet taller than me.”
El paused in thought before saying, “Mine?”
“Uh...what?”
“You can wear some of mine,” she said, disappearing towards her room. Mike stood there anxiously for a minute, hearing dresser drawers open and close in the next room. Soon she returned, a heap of clothes in her arms. “Here,” she said, holding them up.
Mike glanced at the jeans, the short-sleeved flannel shirt, socks, and...oh.
“I, uh...I don’t need these,” he said, nodding at the underwear she’d brought with her.
“No?” she asked, confused.
“No, um…” He didn’t know how to explain; it was weird enough she was sharing her clothes with him, he wasn’t sure how to explain the differences between boy and girl underwear. “I can just...wear my own.”
El nodded, and offered the rest of the clothes to Mike. He wiped as much mud as he could on his pants before attempting to take the clothes, but his hands still were too dirty. Frowning, he said, “I don’t want to get them dirty, El.”
“Oh,” she said, frowning. “Um...I can put them in my room? And you can change in there when you’re done.”
Mike smiled. “Thanks, El.”
She smiled back before she walked to her bedroom and he padded over to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
He disrobed before turning on the shower. He stepped in and did his best to get as clean as possible. As scared as he was that Hopper could barge in, the shower did feel good, and he was more than happy he’d taken El up on her offer.
It took some time, but he was finally able to get off all the dirt and grime that had been covering his body minutes ago. The shower looked filthy, but he did his best to wash all the dirt he could down the drain. Is it going to clog? He wondered as he climbed out, wrapping a towel around his waist. Mike reached for his shirt to throw on, then remembered the clean clothes-El’s clothes-were in her room.
Which meant he’d have to go get them.
Half-naked.
In a towel.
Or, he could have her bring them to him.
Hesitantly, he opened up the door to the bathroom and peeked out. “El?” No response.
“El?” he called, a little louder. Still no answer. Where’d she go? Opening the bathroom door all of the way, Mike inched out of the bathroom, tightening the tuck on the towel as he stepped out. “El?” he asked once more for good measure. Still, nothing. He made it to her room, and cautiously pushed her bedroom door, opening it. There were the clothes, stacked on her bed.
But no Eleven.
Shrugging, he walked to the bed and was about to get dressed when he remembered to shut the door. He turned to go back, and as he did, El suddenly appeared in the doorway.
Mike self-consciously tightened the towel as she stepped into the room. “Where were you?” he asked.
She frowned. “I was outside,” she explained. “Trying to clean your shoes.”
“Oh. Thanks, I guess.”
She smiled. “They’re by the door.”
He nodded, as he slowly began to feel self-conscious about what he was wearing. Possibly sensing his embarrassment, Eleven rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen you without a shirt, Mike,” she said, meaning their trips to the pool.
“I know,” he stammered. “This just feels...I don’t know, different.”
“I’ll wait out here,” she said, beginning to leave the room. She paused, though, noticing something on his face.
“What?” Mike asked.
“You have something,” she said, walking over and scraping a dry piece of mud off his face.
“Thanks,” he said once she’d managed to get it off.
And maybe it was the kind gesture, or how close they were standing, but Mike soon found himself doing something he knew he shouldn’t be doing, leaning down to brush his lips against hers. He’d meant it to be a quick peck, but when El kissed him back, they soon found themselves in the early stages of a makeout session. El’s hands had drifted to his shoulders, her warm hands warming his skin as Mike’s brain told him to stop! but every other part of his body ignored that order.
The two were so caught up in what they were doing that they didn’t hear the front door open and shut, Chief Hopper arriving home. Nor did they hear the big man’s footsteps as he walked over to El’s doorway. What they did hear was Hopper, face red as a tomato at what he was seeing in front of him, bellow, “ Wheeler!”
And at that moment, Mike knew he was going to die.
Pulling his lips off El’s, he pleaded “Hopper! Wait! I...I can explain!”
“Explain what , exactly?” Hopper demanded, stomping towards him. “How you and my daughter are in her bedroom, kissing, and you just in a towel?”
“I...I fell in some mud, and…” Mike trailed off, moments of his life flashing before his eyes; a trip to a petting zoo when he was four, his first day of kindergarten, meeting the party, numerous D & D campaigns, finding El in the rain, Will returning, El returning, the Snowball….
Before Hopper could reach him, though, El stood in front of Mike, stopping her dad.
“Hop,” she calmly began. “Let Mike explain.”
Hopper looked over El’s head, his eyes on Mike. Mike swore he saw his impending death in the chief’s eyes. And even with El’s abilities, he wasn’t sure she could stop the chief from throttling him if he chose to do so. Flustered, he blurted out “I was riding my bike and I fell in some mud and it was all over me, even in my mouth and my hair and so I came here because I was already practically here anyway and I took a shower to clean the mud off and El was giving me some clothes to wear and then I had some mud on my face and she got it off and then I kissed her and then you came in, and…” He took a breath. “I’m sorry.”
El, who’d been looking over her shoulder at Mike, turned to look at her dad, who’d seemed to calm down somewhat.
“His clothes are in the bathroom,” Eleven said to her dad. “If you don’t believe him.”
Hopper took a step back, letting out a breath of his own. “Get dressed,” he said, pointing at Mike. “And you,” he said, glancing at his daughter. “You come out here with me.”
After a quick glance and a reassuring smile to Mike, El followed Hopper out of the room.
As the door shut behind them, Mike felt the air come back into his lungs. Slowly starting to dress, he wondered two things: could fourteen-year-olds have heart attacks? And since when did Hopper become so light on his feet?
El’s clothes were a little more snug than he would’ve liked, but once he had them on Mike emerged from her room. El sat on the couch, head down as Hopper stood, eyes on Mike.
“Sit,” the big man ordered.
Mike quickly sat down.
A lecture followed, with words like boundaries and rules thrown around, as well as phrases like unclog my bathtub and grounded for a week that didn’t make either Mike or El too happy. Still, as much as Mike didn’t like not being able to see El for a week, he was glad to leave with his life intact. And after a quick cleanse of the bathroom, and El putting his muddy clothes into a plastic bag, he was all set to leave.
Surprisingly, Hopper let Eleven walk him to his bike.
“I’m sorry I got you grounded,” Mike told her as they walked hand in hand.
She shrugged. “It’s okay,” she said. Smiling, she added, “He didn’t say I couldn’t use the walkie.”
Mike grinned. “No, he didn’t.”
Arriving at his bike, he stopped. “Talk to you tonight?”
“Tonight,” she told him.
And, despite knowing Hopper was more than likely watching them, the two shared a kiss, knowing they wouldn’t be able to for a week.
“Bye,” he told her, letting go of her hand and picking up his bike.
“Bye,” she said back, waving as he began to pedal away.
As he biked past the puddle of mud that’d caused this whole fiasco, Mike couldn’t help but smile. Not being able to see El for a week was temporary, but what he and El had? That was permanent.
Even with a little mud.