you're my hope ~MILEVEN AU~

i - the lonely girl

"Probably because she stares at everyone" Lucas grumbled and then yelped, "Max! Stop hitting me!"

"She must be terribly lonely" Mike murmured, his tone light yet she could tell he was thinking deeply. Jane closed her eyes for a second, feeling oddly comforted by his voice before jumping back at the sound of footsteps nearing the door. 

"Whatever, I'm going to get food. Will, you coming?" Lucas sighed. 

The quiet voice of Will Byers piped up, someone who Jane knew shared her quiet nature and inability to jump in with everyone else into conversations. But Will had friends who looked out for him, making her slightly jealous. "You're really staying in here, Mike?"

"Yeah" Mike murmured distractedly as if he had his mind on something else. "You guys go and get food, I just don't feel like it."

Jane quickly slipped behind the corridor corner as the four figures exited the AV room without Mike. She watched them cautiously before sighing, grabbing some books out of her backs to find somewhere else to read, maybe underneath a tree outside if Troy Harrington left her alone for once. Not likely. 

Huffing out a breath, she made her way down the corridor. 

As her feet continued on past the AV room door, it was suddenly swung open with a huff that matched hers, the wood harshly colliding with her head, knocking her to the ground. Her books fell to the floor roughly as she landed with a bump on the ground, rubbing her head with a groan. A sharp intake of breath was heard from above her. 

"Jesus, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" 

Jane looked up with a cold stare to find a tall dark-haired boy standing over her, kneeling down slightly with concerned brown eyes. His face was full of freckles that were dancing around slightly on his pale cheeks as he frowned in worry, his eyes scanning her before widening when they got to her head. 

Jane rubbed her head once more before standing up slowly, making Mike bend down to pick up her books quickly. He fumbled about, gathering them in his arms before glancing at her apologetically. 

"I'm so sorry...I hope your head is okay! Here, these are yours, I am so sorry I made you drop them I wasn't really looking where I was going-" Mike rambled on aimlessly and Jane watched curiously, tilting her head slightly at why he was so flustered. 

"It's fine" she mumbled quietly, making his eyes light up slightly at the sound of her voice. 

Mike Wheeler was someone that she knew a little bit more about than the rest. She liked to watch him sometimes when she was curious. He seemed like a good student with high grades and a nerdy appreciation for science and AV equipment like his friends. He used to be small with fewer freckles and slightly rounder cheeks. However, over the past year Jane had noticed that he had shot up many inches, gaining more freckles and less meat on his bones due to his tall height. He had a head of dark hair that looked rather soft and contrasted greatly with his dark eyes and extremely pale skin. The year had been kind to him. 

She felt her cheeks heating up as she realized how long she had been staring at him, shaking her head slightly she took the books from his hands. 

"Oh, so you can speak" he joked lightly but then rubbed the back of his neck nervously when he noticed that she didn't smile. "Sorry....I'm Mike."

"I know" she glanced at the floor before moving to go past him, stopped by his hand on her arm. He scanned her face quickly before taking his hand off, muttering an apology. 

"What's your name?" he asked with kind eyes. 

She sighed. "Jane."

She pretended to not notice the way that his eyes widened slightly understanding who she was, and she was slightly shocked when he smiled lightly at her. 

"Well, nice to meet you properly" then he cringed slightly. "I'm sorry about hitting you with the door."

She nodded once and continued down the hallway, hearing him let out a long breath as she walked away. She had a strange feeling that she would be seeing more of the lanky dark-haired boy as the days went by now that he knew who she was. She scoffed at that small part of her that wondered what his opinion was after meeting her and if he thought she was creepy like everybody else did. 

Most of all, she got the strangest feeling like when you know that you are starting a new chapter in your life but you have no idea whether it will be a good one or a bad one. 

Later that day Jane arrived at the small cabin that her dad bought for them on the outskirts of Hawkins, trying to keep his daughter safe. Her dad was the police chief and extremely protective, despite her knowledge that he was a teddy bear under his cop exterior, especially when he cried at E.T. Jane opened the door with a heavy sigh, the warmth greeting her tired bones from the fire he had lit while waiting for her to arrive. 

It was winter and the nights were longer, the woods almost dark by the time she walked home from school while her dad finished work. He was very reluctant to let her walk alone but duty always called and she knew he had no choice but to do his job. She was perfectly capable of walking home by herself over the short distance of twenty minutes. 

"Hey, kid" her dad greeted her with a hug when she came through the door and she smiled, letting her be comforted by his familiar embrace. He was all she had after her mom left when she was just a small child, the pair had never heard from her since. 

"Hi" she mumbled into his chest. 

"Good day at school?" he ruffled her hair. 

She shrugged with a bored look and he nodded. He knew how tough she found school with all of the people and he was disappointed that she hadn't found anyone that she could confide in other than him. The other part of him was glad, knowing what most of the kids in this town were like and how she could easily be hurt or manipulated. 

"Come on, I made your favorite" he chuckled, leading her over to the small table by the kitchen where they both sat down to devour dinner. "I'm sure you will make some friends there eventually, kid. Just make sure they are good people."

"I don't know, dad" she sighed, poking at her food with her fork. "I don't see any point in getting close to people."

He simply ruffled her curls once in a way of reminding her that she had him, that she would always have him. 

Jane shook her head with confusion after spitting out the sentence. It was as if images automatically appeared in her head of a certain tall boy with freckles that made her cheeks warm up.

It was as if someone was trying to convince her that maybe there was a point after all. 

xxx

this was super fun to write! I am already enjoying writing this story and your feedback would mean a lot to me! I will update really really soon and I hope you are all liking the idea of it so far! Next chapter, we will see what Mike's opinion of a certain girl is..!!!

~Jodie