EL WAS nervous the whole entire day right up until lunch. usually for the first day of school, she would normally worry about having friends that she knew in her classes so she wouldn't be a loner, having nice teachers, but no- now she had bigger things to worry about.
mike wheeler.
mike wheeler was her biggest worry right now. she saw him walking to his next class from across the hall when she was headed to her 3rd period class. just the sight of him and knowing that max was gonna make her actually talk to him at lunch was terrifying. but she wasn't gonna back out.
el knew that this was her shot. her shot to finally do something risky. these last four year of high school, el always played by the book. she never took risks because they scared her. she had never once asked a boy out, it was always boys asking her out. el could be crushing on someone for years and still never admit her true feeling. max knew she was like this, she knew that el wasn't a risk taker. max was very different, which is why her and el are best friends. el brings max back into reality and calms her down and max makes el more social and outgoing. they were the perfect duo.
el had lunch after fourth period and right now she was in fourth period. she had AP english and they weren't really doing much besides the teacher talking about themselves since it was the first day of school. el wasn't paying too much attention to the boring stories her teacher was telling because she was too busy thinking about what was about to happen in the next...oh shit! 10 minutes!
el's heart rate sped up and she tried to think of something else to get her mind off of it but it was no use. why am i so nervous? he's just a dumb boy...
oh don't kid yourself, he's not dumb. he's so smart...and handsome...fuck, he's never gonna like you, el though. el didn't even have that big of a crush on mike. sure, she thought he was cute and she knew he was smart, but she never talked to him enough to determine wether or not she had a crush on him. who knows, this could end up blowing up in her face and he could turn out to be an asshole.
el thought about all the possible outcomes and finally the bell rung. el took a deep breath before she stood up and collected her things. before she started to make her way to the spot where her and max meet up for lunch all the time. el's heart sunk when she saw standing max there, already with lucas...and mike. their other friends, will and dustin were there too. will and dustin never really spoke to el, mainly lucas' friends would just speak to max and el would just be there...just listening. she hated when lucas would come up to them- well, come up to max- at lunch because it made her nervous. lucas, mike, dustin and will were always together at lunch and when they would come up to them and only pay attention to max, it made el feel left out.
el sighed and continued walking. max glanced over and noticed el coming and immediately excused herself from lucas, who was the one she was talking to and started to make her way over to el. el calmed down a little bit when she saw her making her way over to her.
"dude," max started, "lucas and i have had two classes together so far, it's going good." max told her. el gave her a small smile and let out a breath. max's eyebrows furrowed she could sense el was nervous. "hold on." max said, stopping in her tracks which caused el to do the same. "are you nervous? about talking to mike?" max asked. el sighed and looked away from her.
"yes." el truthfully said, "i mean, what are we even gonna talk about? i just- i don't know how to keep the conversation going and i-" max cut her off, "el, you're overthinking." max said, "okay...calm down, take a deep breath." max said breathing in and el did the same. max released her breath and so did el. "he's. just. a. boy." max said slowly, "and i'm gonna help you out with him. only for today though." max said. "el, you're not socially awkward okay. talk to him like you'd talk to me." max said.
el sighed, "alright." she said. max smiled and locked her arm with el's as they started to make their way over to the group of boys. max's "pep talk" really did help el a little bit. she's right, he is just a boy. what's the worst that could happen? el thought.
"i'm back." max said as they finally made it back to the boys. "you guys remember el, right mike?" max asked.
"RIGHT MIKE"?! why would she ask mike directly?! oh god, he knows i like him now! wait no- i dont like him i just think he's cute! shit this is already going to terribl–
"of course i remember her, i'm not brain dead you know." mike said, cutting el put of her thought, "hi el." he said. the gentle way he spoke to her and said her name made her even more nervous, but she put that aside. "hi, mike." el said, giving him a smile smile. el and mike stayed there with faint smiles on their face for a good three seconds before el spoke again.
"and uh- hi lucas, dustin and will." el said. "hi." everyone else said in unison. "anyone else starving?" dustin spoke up. "no dustin. it's just you." lucas joked which caused dustin to give him the middle finger right in front of his face. "actually i am," will said, "want to get lunch?" will asked dustin. dustin nodded, "anyone else wanna come?" dustin asked. everyone else shook their head, "no thanks." el said. dustin nodded, "we'll catch up with you guys later if we find you." will said. everyone nodded and watched the two head to the cafeteria.
"hm. you know lucas, i am actually kinda hungry. come with me to the cafeteria?" max asked. el's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "yeah sure." lucas said, starting to walk. "u-uh, w-we can all go?" el asked. max turned around, "um, how about you and mike stay here. we'll be back in a little." max said.
shit shit shit shit shit! what is she doing?!
"come on." max said, gesturing for lucas to follow her.
FUCK!
el watched them walk away and she could practically feel her heart slowly sink and beat quickly. she said she was gonna help me out today! el slowly turned back and she looked at mike quickly before turning away and giving him an awkward smile. it was silent for a few moments before–thank god–mike spoke up.
"so what classes do you have next?" mike asked her. don't be awkward, don't be awkward. "hm," el thought, "i think my next period is history with..." el trailed off, "you know what, i have my schedule in my pocket let me just get it out." el said. mike let out a laugh, "yeah okay." he said. el reached into her back pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper. she unfolded it and handed it to mike. mike took the paper from her hand and examined it, "hey we have 6th period art together." mike said.
"oh great, you're gonna get to see just how awful of an artist i am." el joked, thought she was being serious too. she wasn't the greatest at art. mike laughed, "hey i'm not one to judge, i nearly got kicked out of art freshman year." mike told her. el let out a laugh, "how do you almost get kicked out?" she asked him. mike smiled, "lets just say that...you know what, i just dropped all the paint on the floor." mike admitted. el laughed again. "it was totally an accident though! my shoes were slippery!" he defended himself which made el laugh even more.
"why the hell are you still in then? i mean no offense but i would've fled the whole school if that happened to me." el sarcastically told him. "wow thanks." mike joked which made el hold back a smile, "honestly i have no idea why. i think it's because i like drawing and stuff, even if it looks like a five year old drew it." mike told her. "well, we have that in common." el told him.
el and mike talked for the rest of the lunch period. it had been 15 minutes when they realized that lucas and max probably weren't coming back so they walked off, getting tired of standing in one place for too long. the bell rang and mike walked el to class since it wasn't very far from his next class.
el's nerves were gone once she started to have an actual, real conversation with him. she had never attempted to have one with him, she had always been too awkward. but their conversation wasn't awkward and it actually really funny and had el genuinely laughing and smiling.
el couldn't wait for 6th period.
-
mike and el had sat next to each other since the teacher had told them that they'd be able to choose wherever they'd like to sit as long as they don't be too loud. the teacher had given an example of an orange on the board and everyone had to do a realistic drawing of it. this art teacher really didn't care if it was good or not, she was just interested in the day ending.
"el..." mike trailed off, looking at her attempt to draw the orange. "what?" el asked him curiously, looking up at him. mike looked up at her and then back at her drawing, "...that's fucking terrible." he told her and el gasped. "you are an asshole!" she told him, taking her paper out of his sight and mike laughed, "how do you fuck up an orange, it's literally just plain." he said between laughs.
"oh yeah, then why does yours look like a peach?" el asked him. mike raised his eyebrows, "do you know how a peach looks?" mike asked her, "this literally looks like an orange." he told her, holding up his paper. "nu-uh." she said, "look, it even has the little buttcrack like how a peach does." she said. mike held in a laugh and furrowed his eyebrows, ""the buttcrack"?" he asked her. el nodded, "right here." she pointed to it on his paper.
mike looked at his paper and his eyes widened, oh shit it does have a buttcrack, he told himself. "you know what. that was an accident." he told her. "mmhm, whatever you say." she told him. mike was about to erase it when he stopped himself, "you know what. i think i'll keep it, it's a unique orange." he told her.
el laughed and playfully rolled her eyes, "you're a dork." she told him.
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a/n: now we're really getting started yall