Mileven in Heaven

You & Me In DC

Back in February, the teachers at Hawkins Middle had started to mention the 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C. to the students and parents. Mike, being the giant history nerd that he was, was looking forward to it. He couldn't wait to visit all of the famous sites, historical landmarks, and museums, but also felt guilty that he and all of his friends were able to see such incredible things together, which his own girlfriend would never get to experience. The more he talked about it, the more bummed out she got, thinking about how much she would miss him when he was gone and how much she herself wanted to go on the trip.

He realized that it wasn't only El that would have to miss out on an opportunity like this, but rather every homeschooled kid in the county. He decided to negotiate with the principal and teachers, to see if they could start a program that would allow homeschooled kids to join public school students on the 8th grade trip. This had never been done before, but he was ready for the challenge. Though he knew that this would take a lot of work and fundraising to be able to execute, he was determined and pleased about the good deed that he was doing. It took some convincing, but he was able to get Hopper on board with the operation, by getting Joyce and his own mom to chaperone for the trip.

Mike was recently voted the student body president. With this position, he was able to have even more influence over the decisions that affected students at the school. This particular issue was something that Mike was passionate about, something that he kept close to his heart, so much so, that he even included it in his campaign. The principal and teachers were very impressed with his proposal and agreed to start what he called the "Homeschool Travel" program.

Before April 7th, the deadline for donations, Mike did everything he could to obtain the required sum for the new program. He fundraised at school every other Friday and earned a little money on the side by doing chores for his neighbors. Luckily, he was able to meet the requirement. His first instinct, of course, was to call El and tell her the great news, which is just what he did.

*dials phone*

*rings*

*picks up to answering machine*

"Hey there. You have reached-" said Hopper.

"El and Jim Hopper," said El.

"We can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave us a message, we'll give you a call back."

*awkward pause*

"*whispers* That's your queue, kid."

"H-Have a nice day!" said El.

The recording ended with Eggo letting out a single bark and both of them laughing. Mike had hardly ever caught her on the answering machine before, but even when he had in the past, he had never heard thisvoicemail message. It has to be new, he thought. He loved the message because it was very much like them. He began to leave her a message.

"Hey, El. It's me, Mike. It's 3:15 pm...um...Haha, 3:15! *sighs after laughter* Anyway, I just wanted to tell you to...PACK YOUR BAGS BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO D.C. WITH US IN 6 DAYS! Call me back when you get this. Love you! Oh, and cute message by the way! Okay, bye."

*hangs up*

After calling her, he continued on with his day, informing his parents of the status of the program as of then and working on his homework. At the time that he called her, El was walking her dog around the perimeter of her house. She rarely ever used a leash if she could avoid getting caught. Instead, she held onto her dog with her mind and guided it along the way. It felt more natural that way, it made her feel connected somehow. She walked into the house at the very end of his message as he was just about to hang up. She ran toward the phone, shouting: