𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐌𝐞 ; 𝘉𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘳 ✓

𝟐𝟖.

Hawkins High | Wed 1:58 PM
El Hopper

As soon as the bell rung, El was out of her seat and speed walking down the hallway. She had her fourth period with Max, and this is what she's had to do all week to insure they didn't run into each other. This was starting to feel like a real breakup, and in some ways it was. El couldn't sleep, she'd spend the whole day thinking about her, and she was always in a bad mood. El never imagined it would be this hard to get over her, but there she was.

While at her locker, she silently removed and put away some books, preparing for the last period of the day. She reminded herself that once she got home, she would be in the clear from both Max and Lucas. El didn't know if she could hold her tongue around him, and knew the guilt would get to her eventually. She closed her locker and began to walk to class, but before she got there, she was interrupted by a loud banging.

El recognized the sound, and expected to see Troy pushing Will into his locker. What she saw instead was much more surprising.

"What the hell Mike!" She yelled while yanking his arm and pulling him away from the poor boy who was now on the ground.

The jocks who were behind him laughed at the sight, and laughed even harder when Mike turned around to look at them and said "Girls am I right?" While pointing at El. Her eyebrows furrowed and she dragged him to the side so she could talk to him.

"Why would you do that!? I thought you liked him!?" She said, whisper-yelling that last part.

"I do! It's just...everything's been so crazy lately. I've gotta keep up my image—"

"Fuck your image! You're no better than all the other football players that you claim you're better than!"

Mike's lips parted but nothing was able to come out, her statement made him completely speechless. He wanted to be offended but the shameful expression on his face told El that he knew it was true. It was never his intention to come off that way, he simply just wanted his secret not to come out. The thing is, he didn't know what secret he was keeping.

He wanted to say that a part of him liked girls, to try to convince himself that he was at least half normal and that his feelings for Will were fine because he could feel them for a girl too. But every day that passed, his gut was telling him something he already knew: He was a homosexual.

El walked away and left him frozen in place. She was disappointed and no longer thought of Mike as highly as she once did. Mike used to be the only decent jock, a reminder that not every guy was terrible. He was the guy who comforted her when she was nervous about cheering in front of a crowd. The guy who stayed in the hospital all night when she broke her arm. The guy who was there for her when Hopper told her she was adopted, even though she wasn't sad at all. Her image of Mike was now tainted and replaced with someone she didn't recognize, someone she couldn't stand to be around.

All she could do was shake her head and go to her next class. Before she stepped in the room, she heard the lockers slam again. El sighed and accepted this as reality. Mike was a closeted bully, the type of people that made her scared to come out.

***

As if the situation wasn't bad enough, El was going through her own emotional problems. She couldn't talk to Mike, Max, or Lucas and had no one else to turn to...except for Heather. Heather has become a frenemy of sorts, someone who El was annoyed by but constantly gravitated towards. Besides, she hadn't been completely terrible in the past few weeks. Heather would walk down to the sophomore hallway every morning just to see her, she would yell at everyone but her at practices, and she's who El's been sitting with at lunch lately. El wasn't sure what changed but didn't want to ask, being afraid to jinx it.

So after school, the two went for a walk. El didn't want to take her to her cabin since she starting to feel like her dads been overhearing some things he shouldn't, and instead they strolled along the sidewalk right outside of the woods leading to the small house.

It was a warm evening. The sun was starting to set, the sky becoming a mix of dark orange and pink hues. As they passed Mirkwood, they were hit with with the strong scent of pine wood that was so familiar to the area. The only sound that could be heard was the chirping of crickets and shoes on concrete, faint background noise coming from Hawkins square.

The girls enjoyed each other's company, neither feeling the need to say anything right away. El was mainly focused on the scenery while Heather couldn't keep her eyes off of her, unbeknownst to El of course.

"So...what's going on?" Heather asked, breaking the silence.

"Well I just needed someone to talk to and you're like my only other friend so..." El said truthfully.

Heather wanted to reiterate on the fact that El considered her a friend, but instead focused on her words instead of her face. At least El felt like she could come to her, even if she was the last option.

"Ok Jane El, what's on your mind?"

El smiled at the fact she finally called her by her nickname and then sighed before she spoke. "You know Max, right?"

"Your best friend? Yeah i've heard of her." Heather joked, earning a soft punch to the arm.

"Well ex best friend, and we were more than just friends."

Heather knew exactly what she meant.

"What do you mean?"

El stopped and faced Heather directly while looking down in shame. El was proud of herself but she expected people to act a certain way if she came out to them, so she prepared herself. Prepared herself for the pain Heather would inflict on her because of what she loved—which was females.

"I'm a lesbian."

Heathers face instantly became an expression of shock and pure joy, she could have a chance. Heather saw El's shameful look and tilted her head up by her jaw so that El was looking at her in the El.

"I'm a lesbian too." She said, making El feel less like the odd one out.

Heather stared longingly into El's eyes while El confusedly darted her eyes side to side. Why was she looking at her so intensely? She better not do what El thinks she's about to do, they're in public. Anybody could walk by and see this.

After an uncomfortable couple of seconds, Heather made her move and began to lean in, causing El to dodge the kiss and turn it into a hug. The hug was very awkward. Heather tried her best to stop herself from crying from rejection, thinking that even though El is gay, there's no way she could ever like her. El couldn't help but feel a little guilty and a little shocked that Heather would ever try to kiss her, feeling like she should've seen the signs.

After pulling away, the continued walking around the block in silence once again. This wasn't a peaceful silence, but rather one full of tension. They walked around the block another time before getting to the cabin entrance way and separating.

To be continued...

Who do y'all like better rn, Troy or Mike?

[7/26/20 | 1307 words]