promise → mileven

one → math class

hawkins, indiana. 1987, september 14th. monday, 9:05am. hawkins high.

mike wheeler was a heartthrob. even though he was too oblivious to realise it, with his chiseled cheekbones and jawline, pale skin and contrasting dark hair, he had at least half the girls (and a handful of boys) in the school infatuated by him. he never really realised it because everyone knew he had some sort of impossible love - whether they knew the details of it or not was of utter disimportance to them - they simply didn't approach him, and the reason was because his fanclub consisted of a bunch of hopeless romantics that found the idea of gazing upon him from afar while he pines over an impossible love much more attractive than the idea of actually dating him. thus, in his short highschool career so far, mike had been dateless.

he was still best friends with all of his friends from middle school. however, in seventh grade, a short haired ginger tomboy joined their group, and max has been a member of it ever since. even though they weren't popular, but they weren't as unpopular as before - certainly, having a girl in their group did their reputation good, even if she was as foul mouthed and noisy as the rest of them.

"now, class, we have a new student. her name is jane hopper. jane, would you like to introduce yourself?" mr atkinson, the math teacher said.
the girl was lanky - not too tall for a girl but just tall enough to be taller than most. she was long legged, skinny, and sort of boney. she had protuding cheekbones and a thin nose, which was dusted with light freckles. her skin was pale, her brown eyes were big and her mousy brown hair was parted in the middle. she was pretty, in a sort of unconventional way. had she been born twenty years earlier, in the era of twiggy, she would've paralelled the supermodel but now, in the late 80s,when big hair, a bustier body and a more outgoing look was in, she just didn't look "right" anymore.
"my name is jane hopper, i'm sherriff hopper's niece and he took me in because of certain... circumstances." she said, speaking with a soft, quiet voice. there was a hint of nervousness in her voice and in the way she glanced around the room ever so often, but most of the students were left unfazed by it.
"um... i hope i can get along with you guys" she finished, not really knowing what to say.
"thank you jane. now, where to put you.... hmm, there's an empty seat next to mike over there, i suppose you can sit there" mr atkinson said, and as soon as she was seated, he began his lesson.

"hi, im mike" he told her, and she looked up at him from her notebook doodle in surprise, as if sne couldn't believe he was actually talking to her.
"um, im jane but i guess you probably knew already" she giggled a little in an attempt to hide the awkwardness of the situation.
"cool. how old are you? i'm sixteen" he answered, trying to make small talk with her.
"me too" she responded curtly, and their conversation died down.

"so we have a new student in our class guys. i had math with her" mike said at break, shivering into his jacket as the breeze brushed past him. september was only halfway through and it was already so cold.

"how is she, is she a bitch?" max asked, shaking her dishevelled strawberry red hair out of her face.

"she seems nice, but she's really nervous for some reason" he answered, nibbling on the pbj sandwich his mother had made him this morning. he was sixteen already, he had his own car but she was still convinced mikes needed her to make him food. he didn't complain, though, it saved him time. so, he continued eating his sandwich while listening to his friends bicker about some video game, wondering why the hell this mysterious jane seemed so familiar to him.

hawkins, indiana. 1987, september 14th. monday, 5:23pm. hawkins high parking lot.

"hurry up you doofus we're not gonna wait around for you all day!" dustin yelled out of the passenger seat of mike's banged up car. ever since he turned sixteen and got his grandfather's beat up old car as a birthday gift, the squad had ditched their bikes and relied on mike to be their chaffeur - before school, after school and if they were going to hang out somewhere.

getting them all in the car was a disaster. will was fairly easy - when he didn't have a massive canvas to bring home. today, luckily for mike, he didn't so he was glad he didn't have to figure out how to fit a painting the size of himself into his tiny trunk. dustin was slightly harder, he usually hung out with the young woman who was the lunch lady's aid, flirting or trying to get her to give him some more of that heavenly chocolate pudding. fortunately for him - and unfortunately for her - puberty had done him well and his teeth had grown in, so his charming smile paired with his beautiful locks left her a little weak at the knees. right now he was sitting in the passenger seat, enjoying yet another of her gifts - a chocolate pudding.
max would usually hang out with the stoners - even though she didn't smoke, at least not weed - trying to impress one particular boy with her skateboard skills. even though she'd never admit it, she had a huge crush on him. another habit she had was that she'd try to convince mike to let her hold on to his car as he drove around the parking lot, her dirty converse-clad feet firmly planted on her equally knocked up skateboard. she usually got detention from the dean when he noticed, and once she even fell and broke her pinky. now she can bend the tip of it both ways. will thinks she should definitely get that checked out. today she was sitting next to will in the back seat, instructing mike on which radio stations to put on. none, however, seemed to satisfy her so mike simply turned off the radio.
lucas was the hardest to gather. if dustin was the one with the boyish charm, mike - the hopeless romantic, then lucas was the player. he'd joined jv football in eigth grade and varsity in ninth, and not only was he attractive and sort of buff, but he also was very charming and knew exactly what girls wanted to hear when they wanted to hear it.
"lu-cas!" dustin yelled out his two-syllable name, finally getting his attention.
"coming!" he hollered back, grabbing his backpack by one strap and leaving his seat on the stairs amidst the group of girls. one of them grabbed his wrist, most likely offering him a ride so he could stay some more, but he seemingly shrugged it off, making his way towards the red car.

just then, mike noticed jane trudging along the pavement in her burgundy sweater, and as she shivered into it, he swore he knew her before, but he couldn't exactly put a finger on it. when lucas was finally in the car, he drove by her, slowing down and rolling down his window. the girl looked up from her daze, slightly frightened that a car approached her.
"hey jane, want a ride?" mike asked.
"where would she sit, dumbass. in the trunk?" max complained, kicki the driver's  seat.
"it's fine," she smiled "hopper wants me to walk to the police station anyways"

"guess what?" max chirped as lucas settled in his seat, breaking the silence in the car.
"what?" he asked, turning back, eager to hear the gossip the redhead was about to spill.
"mike has a crush on the new girl" she stated, smacking her gum.
"mikey-man! puttin the moves on the girls, just like me!" lucas exclaimed, wiggling his eyebrows "you finally grew out of your imaginary girlfriend phase!"
"el was real! how can nobody remember her!" he retorted, but no-one listened anymore.

lucas and max usually got out at the same place, the block of crumbling old apartment buildings, which should actually be considered as a monument, considering how long they'd been standing and how tall they were. max lived in them, but as she didn't want to face her mother right now - they frequently got into fights, mike had the privilege to see one, and their screaming match wasn't exactly a pleasure to hear - so she would hang out in the arcade until she knew her mother was asleep. lucas' college aged girlfriend lived in the apartment building and he went to visit her every day. she lived with her old,  deaf grandma and was a college dropout, but definitely wouldn't be dating lucas if he knew how many girls he flirted with on a daily basis. or if she knew his real age.

dustin was second-to-last to be dropped off and soon mike found himself on mirkwood, the road he always took to drop will off. they drove in silence, and the only noise to be heard was the sporadic croak of a crow, the low lull of his car's engine, and the sound of the tires  rushing pebbles as they slowed down to a stop before will's house.
"hey mike, can i tell you something?" will asked, nervously fiddling with his fingers.
"sure dude, you know you can trust me."
"i... uh... ithinkilikemax. bye, see you tomorrow" he hurriedly said, storming out of the car, leaving his best friend in shock. because, you see, a week before, his chocolate-loving friend said the exact same thing.

hoooooly crap, i freaking love writing 16yearold stranger things. btw, please don't start hating jane, you'll get to know her better and you'll like her more.

how was your halloween btw? i was dressed up as eleven and one person actually recognized me!

i hope you enjoyed this update! i'll probably come out with the next one later this week? idk we'll see