No One Like You ◈ Billy Hargrove

2. Young God

And I've been sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool
For a while now, drowning my thoughts out with the sounds
But do you feel like a young god?
You know the two of us are just young gods

. .

Dani's in a daze as Eleven grabs her bracelet off the sink and tosses it at her, the younger girl then dragging her out of the bathroom as Dani shoves her bracelet in her pocket. Dani's mind seems to be in a fog until she feels her left wrist being turned over and Max's exclamation of holy shit snaps her out of it. Dani's freaked out expression then meets Max's astonished one, the red head then smoothing out her expression to one of acceptance and understanding.

"Hey. It's fine," Max says. "There's a group of us that know about Eleven. If you're like her, they'll be just as supportive of you. We've never actually met another like her."

"E-Eleven?" Dani frowns. "You let them call you by your designation from them?"

She shrugs. "My name is Jane, but I didn't find out until after. I'm used to Eleven, but they all call me El. It's nice."

Shakily breathing, Dani leans against the wall and places her hands on her knees. "This is not happening. This can't be happening," she mumbles.

Max quietly groans and rolls her eyes. "You're freaking out over nothing. Just go see Hopper. He'll explain everything. You don't have to worry about anymore scientists or doctors. That's all been taken care of."

"W-What?"

"We need to see Hopper," Eleven says again. "Trust me."

"Who the hell even is this Hopper person?" Dani wonders, her voice a little pitchy as she stands tall once more.

"The Chief of Police. He's El's legal guardian now."

Dani looks at Max in surprise, then to Eleven who's smiling and nodding. "You know what? Fine. Fine," she says again while clearing her throat. "My dad works at the police station too. Lets just go and get this over with."

"As much as I want to see and hear everything, my step brother should be picking me up soon," Max says as she trails after them. "Promise you'll tell me everything?"

Eleven happily agrees as Dani worries her bottom between her teeth, she putting her sunglasses back on to shield the uncertainty warring in her eyes. Max is still trailing after them as Dani heads towards her car, and a car honking just several yards away startles her. Max scoffs and mumbles something about her idiot step brother, and Dani chances a look at the blue Camaro's driver. The first thing she notices is the smoke wafting from the guy's mouth as he hangs out the driver's side window, cigarette dangling from between his fingers, and his lips twitching into a smile as he lays on the horn until Max yells at him.

Dani rolls her eyes behind her sunglasses. "What a charmer."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Max grumbles. "He'll take it as invite into your shorts." Dani flips the guy off when she finally makes it to her car, her lips twitching against her better judgement as his laugh rings out loud enough for her to hear. "Anyway," Max says. "I should really go before he gets mean. I want to know everything tomorrow."

"Sure. Hopefully I'm still here by tomorrow." The younger girls go quiet and Dani glances at them. Shoulders dropping, she quickly explains. "My dad's really protective. Anything that has to deal with.. you know," she mutters and flashes them her tattooed wrist, "freaks him out. He'll want to put as much distance between me and them."

Before they can assure her that everything is going to be okay, an engine revving stops them. Tires screech and then Max's step brother's car slams to a halt right in front of them. "Hurry the hell up, Max. I got shit to do other than waiting on you." Max sighs with a roll of her eyes, she giving up and stomping towards the passenger seat of his car. His gaze darts towards Dani, his smirk coming back in full force. "Hey. I'm Billy."