the year of el | mileven

ch. 15 | plane

"Are you done yet?" Max whined, growing impatient

"Almost." she replied, carefully applying mascara

"Well maybe hurry, before we're like forty.."

"Okay done" she grinned, handing Max a mirror

"And you're sure Lucas is gonna like this?"

"I'm sure" El answered confidently

"Alright, I'll hold you to that. But I better get going, I have to meet him at the diner around five"

A soft smile spread on El's face, as she thought how nice it was that they were getting dinner before the dance.

"Shut up, it's not even like that"

El shrugged "I didn't say anything"

"You didn't have to, I know what you were thinking" Max muttered, grabbing her skateboard.

She then looked over at El with a smirk "Thanks again though, I'll meet ya homecoming"

"Wait, we forgot shoes!" El yelled out, pointing at Max's sneakers

"It's cool, I'll just wear my chucks" Max laughed, boarding away in the new blue dress

✧

Mike grew nervous as he approached her house. His mouth became dry and it felt like his tie was gripping tighter around his neck.

He took in a slow deep breath while he stared at the front door "You can do this, You can do this" he reassured himself as he knocked slowly

The door creaked open and his mouth dropped "Wow.. you look... b-b-beautiful"

And that she did. El donned a well fitting silver dress with matching heels. Her hair was loosely curled and pink gloss shone from her lips.

"You look nice too. I like your suit" She gleamed, hoping he didn't notice the blush rising in her cheeks. He sure did look handsome in that black suit and red tie, it made her feel those butterflies again.

Mike suddenly jolted from his trance "Oh here, these are for you" he said, handing her a bouquet of white orchids

She stared at them, feeling the soft petals with her fingertips. They were so pretty and the lovely fragrance that came from them made her love them all the more. She had found another favorite aside from sunsets now and they were orchids. "I like them"

Rachel jumped in, disrupting the teens awkward moment "Oh my gosh, those are so nice! Let me go grab a vase for them" She said grabbing the flowers and rushing off into the kitchen "but Mike please come in! Make yourself at home!"

Mike sat on the couch unable to take his eyes off Eleven. She was definitely mesmerizing. "So um.. are you excited for tonight? He finally choked out

"Yes. I've only seen dances in movies but they look fun"

"Same here, I've never actually went to one either. Well I've been to dances at weddings but not actually a school dance"

El raised her eyebrows "You haven't?"

He shook his head

"What about the snowball?"

"No, I didn't go.. It wouldn't have been right, ya know to go without you" Mike affirmed, messing with his cuff link

She smiled. She was happy to know that he had been thinking about her during the time she wasn't there. It made her feel.. well special.

"This can be our snowball" She sweetly replied, putting her hand on his

"Alrighty picture time you guys!" Rachel interrupted, holding up her camera

They quickly moved their hands away, both of them turning red

"El, you look amazing" Hopper commented proudly "And well you don't look so bad yourself Wheeler" He motioned towards Mike

Rachel and Hopper made sure to get a lot of pictures of the two. They acted as if they were proud parents and if no one knew any better they could easily assume they were.

"Sorry we kinda got carried away, hopefully you two can still make it on time" Rachel said, looking at her watch

"It's okay, I think we'll be fine" Mike replied

Hopper grabbed his shoulder "Make sure you have her home by 10"

Rachel waved him off "Ignore him, just be back by 12"

"What? 12? but that's late!" Hopper huffed

"Let them have fun, Jim. This is El's first homecoming."

Hopper reluctantly agreed "Fine. 12, but not a minute later"

"Yes sir, Chief" Mike nodded, following El out of the house

"Bye guys!" Rachel waved

"Have fun and be safe!" Hopper shouted before closing the door

El became confused as she saw a station wagon parked on the curb "Is that your car?"

"Oh man I wish! but no it's my dad's. He flew out of state on business so he let me borrow it for tonight" Mike replied, spinning the keys on his fingers

"He flew?" El questioned curiously, wondering if his dad had powers of some sort

"Well on a plane" Mike said, opening the passenger door for her

As she slid in and buckled her seat belt she thought about planes. She really liked the idea of being in the sky like that. With her powers she could only go so high but even then it couldn't make her fly, it was more so floating. She was intrigued by the idea of flying on a plane to a place she hadn't been before.

"Can we go on a plane too?" she asked eagerly

Mike started up the car, smiling over at her "Yeah, someday we'll go on a plane"