CHAPTER TWO;
THE PROPOSITION.

today was better.

well, sort of.

el refused to allow the whispers and stolen glances to faze her as she moved through the halls of hawkins high. sure, she thought maybe people would've found some new gossip about some else to dish out by now, but nonetheless, she continued to ignore it all.

at least, she tried.

today was different than yesterday, though. the students of hawkins once pitiful eyes had changed and were now filled with shock and spite. she walked out of the bathroom earlier to find a group of girls just waiting to cast their cold glares on her.

but why would anyone be angry at her? she was the victim, here. she had been betrayed, she was the one with the aching heart in her chest.

el huffed, dropping her heavy chemistry textbook on her lab desk. running a hand through her slightly grown out waves, she plopped onto her stool.

"eleanor," the voice of her fiery red-headed friend chirps in a surprisingly formal tone.

el raises a brow, lifting her gaze to the girl taking the seat beside her. "maxine?" she returns, confused as to why they were greeting one another with their full names. she senses tension when max's eyes narrow towards her. she sighs. "are you serious? you're angry with me, too? what the hell is going on?"

"are you seriously going to play dumb?" max quizzes, not lightening up with her harsh glare.

"wait, what? i'm confused. what are you talking about?" el wonders, genuinely lost.

max sighs, giving up the cold shoulder act. "look, i'm not angry about you two, i just can't believe you didn't tell me! like how did it happen? no, here's a better question: when did it happen?"

the more words that fell from her rapid-paced lips, the more she confused the brunette beside her. "whoa, slow down. what the hell are you talking about?"

"what do you mean? i'm talking about the fact that you're dating mike wheeler."

and that was the moment eleanor jane hopper died.

okay, she didn't die, but she stopped breathing for a good, full minute.

"i'm dating who?" she asks, unable to process the ludicrous information that had just fried her circuits.

before her ginger lab partner can reply, in walks mr. green to announce that class was in session. he soon passed out their pop quiz, ensuring that no talking was to occur for the rest of the period.

after an excruciatingly quiet 45 minutes, the bell for lunch rang, and el could finally get to the bottom of whatever the hell was going on - or whatever people thought was going on, but isn't.

she grabbed her books, and walked out of the chemistry class with max. "where did you hear that mike and i are dating?" she queries as they head to their lockers to put away their books and head to lunch. she sees a smirk tug at her friend's lips, giving her a teasing shrug. "did mike tell you that?"

max laughs, "nah, i heard about it in spanish this morning. and then, some girls were bitching about it, claiming they had dibs on him for when he and brooke called it quits." she goes on, "so, how did you two --" she stops when el opens her locker, only to stick her head inside. "um, what are you doing?"

"hiding from the world," she answers in a monotone. she had somehow gone from being single in both the boyfriend and best friend department to now supposedly dating hawkins' alleged bad boy. "the universe must really hate me," her soft but still emotionless voice refracts off the metal of her locker.

the set of friends stood there, receiving looks from their peers as the hallway cleared out for lunch. max threw a scowl towards a few kids staring judgementally at el who's head remained in her locker.

"do you plan on coming out anytime soon because it's taco tuesday and i missed breakfast." no response. groaning, the mayfield girl tugs on the back of el's shirt, pulling her out of her locker. "there you are, turtle."

she exhales deeply before grasping the scrunchie she'd tied her hair back with for the quiz, and removed it, freeing her shoulder-length tresses. "we aren't dating," she admits while retrieving her sack lunch.

walking a few lockers down, they stop at max's for her to chuck in her own books. "wait, so, if you aren't dating, why'd mike tell dustin you guys are?"

el's eyes swell in size instantly, "he said what?! i thought you said you didn't hear it from him!"

"i didn't, i heard about it in spanish, and i have spanish with dustin who heard it from him -- who then told me," she explains.

"i am going to kill him," she states, firmly. "what the hell is he thinking? he thinks he can tell people we're --" her own gasp stops her. "brooke," also known as mike's girlfriend -- well, ex-girlfriend, now, but that was irrelevant.

whether or not the two were together, he was hers. it's as if brooke had placed some unspoken claim on the freckled boy that warded off all the other girls, keeping them at a safe enough distance that they could only stare and gawk at his raven curls.

"yeah, she's probably going to douse you with pig blood," agrees the fair-skinned ginger.

at hawkins high, everyone knew their place on the food chain. el considered herself to be somewhere in the middle, not unknown, but no one was ever expecting her to ever waltz into school one day with her hand intertwined with troy harrington's, the star football player. she'd imagine max was above her as she was also one to put herself out there, not to mention she was dating lucas who's also on the team. ranking with the athletes were both shelly and brooke, cheerleaders. also at the top was mike wheeler with the bad boy reputation he'd picked up in ninth grade, and could never shake off.

"can we just drop out of school and prostitute ourselves?" el asks, her tone serious but max knew there was no way in hell she would ever consider such.

they approached the lunchroom to find it buzzing with the bustling students of hawkins high. el immediately scans the cafeteria, searching for his dark curls, fired up and ready to confront him.

but as lunch ticked by, he never showed.

to be completely honest, she didn't expect him to. her step-brother and his friends usually hung out in the a/v closet, a club they all started in middle school.

she remembered begging them to let her join, but they claimed she didn't have the credentials. she always knew it was because she was a girl and they were boys. 'boys rule, girls drool,' she remembered mike saying in the sixth grade when she showed up to their meeting.

now, a/v club was just an excuse for them to not eat in the obnoxiously loud cafeteria that constantly smelled of the mystery meat of '81.

"okay," max begins, "i'm going to meet lucas." the redhead met her deep-skinned boyfriend behind the bleachers just about every day during the last 15 minutes of lunch. she claimed it was to catch up on one another's day because their school schedules barely intersect, but el knew they just made out.

el nods, not surprised. she figured she'd head to english early, not wanting to sit by herself. the friends bid one another a goodbye and went their separate ways.

she watched her steps as she sauntered through the desolate halls, heading back to her locker to grab her folder for class. much to her surprise, a tall and lanky raven-locked boy was leaned beside her locker, waiting on her.

she squints her eyes, remembering the trouble he had caused her.

"mike."

he looks up from the pencil he was twisting between his fingers. he smiles, "ah, just the girl i was looking for."

"yeah, i got that," she snarks, gesturing to her locker as she steps closer to the boy in black.

his lips pursed. "you're angry," he notes, receiving a 'ya think' expression. "why?"

"why?" she repeats, unlocking her locker. "hm, maybe it has something to do with you telling people we're dating," she bites, her cheeks tinging a shade of rose from her rage.

"ah, i thought that might be it, but i didn't want to assume. you know how chicks get when you start assuming shit," his words earn him a glare as she slams her locker shut.

"why are you telling people we're dating?"

his holds up a steady finger, "wait, i never said we were dating. i might have hinted at it to lucas and dustin and then it's possible people overheard us at the diner, but i never confirmed anything. people interpret things differently, and do what they wish with the information."

she scoffs, walking past him but she knew he was following her. "you're an ass."

"ouch. your words hurt me, ellie," he mocks, making use of the nickname he'd heard will use countless times. she doesn't even bother justifying him with a response. "would you just wait a second?" he pleads, trying to keep up with her quick pace. he didn't understand how she was so much quicker when his legs were so much longer.

she huffs, stopping abruptly. "what?" she spews, bitterly.

he smirks, sensing her frustration. "first of all, you need to learn to relax. you're so uptight all the time --"

"you don't even know me," she defends, gripping her green folder tightly.

"i'm observant," he counters, lowering his brows.

she rolls her eyes. "if you have a point, make it."

"why? afraid of what will happen if you're not ten minutes early to class?" he taunts, adding to her irritation. he notices her steps backward and extends a hasty arm to stop her. "whoa, okay, wait. you're right, i do have a point."

she kinks a brow, letting him know he has her attention.

"it's actually more of a proposition. you see," he starts. "i want my girlfriend back --"

her brows furrow, "what does that have to do with me?"

"well, if you'd let me finish, maybe you would know," he sharply points. "i want brooke back, and i'm betting you want revenge on shelly and troy, right?"

she pretends to ponder it, "actually, i'm good. you see, people do this thing called 'moving on' with their lives. it's pretty effective, you should consider it."

his deep brown eyes narrow in disbelief, "that's bullshit. your best friend fucked your boyfriend, and you're trying to pretend you don't want to get back at her?" el averts her gaze, unwilling to admit that it did sound tempting. "look, we both know shelly likes me and troy sure as hell doesn't. what would piss them off more than you moving on and being my girlfriend."

a thick layer of surprise coats her porcelain feature, "wait, did you just ask me to be your girlfriend?"

mike chuckles, "aw, don't flatter yourself. allow me to rephrase. my fake girlfriend."

her mouth gapes slightly, still confused. "you think by dating me, that's going to make brooke get back together with you?"

he nods vehemently, "brooke gets crazy jealous. eventually, she'll dump that tool from georgeburg and be begging to get back together."

she laughs, "aw, that sounds like such a perfectly healthy and functional relationship."

"at least she didn't screw my best friend," he returns, causing her light laugh to cease. she begins to turn around, bothered by his comment, but he catches her wrist. "okay, okay! that was a bit far, i'm sorry."

"look, i'm sorry brooke dumped you, but i have no interest in fake dating you, mike wheeler," she confesses with a shrug. "i just want to move on with my life."

he takes a step forward, lowering his voice, "no one just wants to move on. not when they did what they did to you." his voice was coaxing, almost like the devil on her shoulder.

she swallows the lump that had formed in her throat, shaking her head. "well, i do."

he was slowly backing her towards the lockers. "you saw their faces yesterday when you grabbed my hand. imagine the damage we could do, el."

the offer was tempting. she found herself genuinely considering it before the bell for the fifth period rang, pulling her from her dark thoughts. she shook them away, "no."

he tilted his head, resting his palm on the navy blue locker behind her. it was like he had challenged her into a stare-off of sorts, and she wasn't backing down. she held his gaze.

slowly, students began to trickle through the halls, and, to mike's good fortune, shelly and troy turned the corner. their fingers were clasped and their taunting laughs resonated to el's ears, grasping her attention.

she broke her stare and looked at the couple, feeling an ache in her fragile heart when he kissed her cheek.

mike whispered, "it hurts doesn't it?"

she nods, her eyes still on her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend. it did hurt, it hurt like hell.

eleanor made the impulsive decision to return the pain that was in her own chest. not another beat could pass before she grasped the back of mike wheeler's head, pulling his naturally cherry lips on her own.

not even surprised by her sudden action, he kissed her back.

she was surprised to find mike's lips to be softer than troy's. his were always chapped, claiming chapstick was too feminine. she always thought his reasoning was stupid but stayed quiet.

el felt a hand cup her cheek, cold to the touched from the metal it was previously pressed against.

the students that were trickling the halls averted their gaze from the heated public display of affection. the girls rolled their eyes, and the boys shared coy smirks.

finally, mike pulled away from the liplock, giving them both the chance to reinflate their oxygen-deprived lungs.

she fluttered her eyes open to peek over his broad shoulder, delighted to find both troy and shelly staring with disgruntled expressions.

she gazed up at the boy in front of her.

"i'm in."

...

a/n: eeek !! thank u thots for reading !! x

word count: 2406