CHAPTER FIFTY;
MIKE SUCKS.

a very hesitant el made her way through the almost vacant halls of hawkins high. she, ever the overly prepared, accidentally arrived a little early to get her schedule.

evidently the students of hawkins would rather freeze in the parking lot than enter the building any earlier than they had to. perhaps she would've gotten that memo if she would check her phone that was steadily buzzing in the back pocket of her mom jeans. she opted against the dress and decided to stay within the limits of her comfort zone of this particularly uncomfortable day.

she knew avoiding him wasn't a sustainable option, but her feelings were still very much hurt and she wanted to sort out her thoughts before his freckled face could distract her from them.

she just hoped the generous amount of concealer she applied beneath her eyes would be sufficient in hiding the bags her night of crying rewarded her with. first impressions were sort of important today, and she definitely didn't want to look like a nervous wreck — even if she felt like one.

her tired eyes zeroed in on the room numbers as she passed classrooms until she finally found her first period, room 121. she inhaled deeply before opening the door to see the classroom did not yet contain any students but just the teacher, a pudgy older lady with gray and brown hair.

the teacher looked up at the sound of the door. "ah, you must be," her eyes flirted back to a paper on her desk, "miss hopper?" el nodded with a meek smile. "you're an early bird, aren't you? well, you can go ahead and take a seat. i'm afraid my only open seat is in the very back back beside the window."

once again, el nodded. "oh, that's fine. thank you," her own eyes scanned her schedule again, "mrs. wingate." the lady confirmed her identity with a nod and returned back to her papers.

as soon as el made it to her desk, she made the bold decision to check her phone. she didn't know the cell phone policy at hawkins high, but she hoped they didn't enforce the same "out of sight at all times" rule like her previous school.

she bit her lip before tapping her phone to life.

love🥺

are you up?
delivered at 7:09 am
i'm sorry
you were right
i was being an ass last night
delivered at 7:20 am
can we please talk before 1st period?
delivered at 7:27 am
have you left your house yet?
el, please reply
i really am sorry
let me tell you in person
delivered at 7:31 am
i don't like fighting
i'm so fucking sorry
delivered at 7:35 am
well, hopefully i'll see you soon
have a good first day
love you ❤️
read at 7:48 am

was it cruel to leave a 'love you' text on read? yes. would she have burst in to tears and maybe even combust into pieces if he had left one of her 'love you' texts on read? most likely.

she really was about to text back a simple "love you, too. i just don't want to talk right now," but then max's incoming texts distracted her and she clicked the notification without thinking.

max🤩

where are u
mike is depressed as fuuuuck

in my first period

class doesn't start until 8
we normally just stay in the student lot until we have to go to first

i had to get my schedule

ohhhhh
ok so what's wrong w dumdum
he is br0ken

we had a fight

lol did u win
bc he looks like he got knocked on his ass

no
i don't think either of us won

why did y'all fight

long story

well there's 5 min until the first bell so type fast

basically a girl asked him out a few weeks back and he never told me abt it so i got mad
and then he brought up sebastian to justify him not telling me
and then it just snowballed

that wasn't a very long story ?

it felt like a long story when it happened
i'll explain it more later
i just didn't want to go into too much detail rn

well how did it end
bc mike is being emo and more boring than usual
he's all like 😔🤧😡🤬😪😐😤😣😒
yes he's made all those faces in the past 10 min ^

it ended w him agreeing that my insecurities are an inconvenience for him 🙂🙂

oh shit
i'm actually really shocked
mike is always so 🥰💖🤩✨😍🤪❤️ when it comes to u
i can't believe he would say that

neither can i ☹️

aw el
i'm sorry
are u ok??

i'll be fine
i'm just going to avoid him i think

lmao that's what i do when lucas and i fight
well maybe this so good
couples fight
u guys are always mushy so it's natural that u two would fight eventually

i guess
it just sucks bc it's my first day and it's already off to a terrible start

true
damn el
mike sucks!!!!!
i've been saying it for years

at this moment in time, yes ur right he does suck

hahahaha
ok so who's ur first period??

mrs. wingate for econ

she's nice
she's also v clueless abt cheating and ppl being on their phones so that's good
who's ur second?

mr. chu for biology

omg yay yes ok me and will are in that class !!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳
ok i have to get to first but i'll see u next period
and don't be sad, el
today is going to be great
mike is temporarily irreverent

not to me 🤧
but ur right
no being sad
see u soon
read at 8:01 am

soon enough, the class began to crowd with students. most of them were too tired from it being first period to notice her, but she definitely felt a few pair of eyes.

she straightened her shoulders and sat up a bit taller, hoping her face did not display her growing discomfort. most of the groggy students were still on their phones and so she decided to do the same.

she was mindlessly scrolling through her twitter timeline when a voice snapped her attention, "hey, are you new?" her wide brown eyes flickered up to see a pretty blonde girl with a soft smile taking the seat in front of her.

"yes."

the girl giggled and looked next to her where another student, a pretty indian girl, was taking the spot beside her. she looked back to do, "i'm lucy, and that's mira. what's your name?"

"i'm el," she hesitatingly replied. el's past experience with high school currently had her on high alert.

"el," mira repeated, seeming to test the name on her tongue. "that's cute. so, where did you move here from?"

"i'm from newcastle," el felt bad for having such short answers but she really didn't know what else to say.

lucy's eyes lit up, "oh, i love newcastle! they have the cutest downtown. ugh, i'm thinking about having my senior pictures taken there." her friend nodded in support of that idea. "oh so, why did you move here, if you don't mind me asking? it's just that i feel like newcastle is a lot less boring than hawkins. i can't imagine why anyone would want to live here instead."

the shy brunette shrugged, wracking her mind for an appropriate response that wasn't the truth. understandably, she didn't want people knowing about her experience at her old school. "my grandparents live here, and my dad works a lot. he didn't like me being home alone all the time so here i am," she said with an awkward laugh.

the two girls nodded, not questioning it. the blonde beamed a bright smile. "well then, welcome to hawkins high! if i can offer you any advice, steer clear of the the cafeteria meat loaf, the boys locker room, and walking head of hair that is mike wheeler," she said with a light laugh before turning back in her seat to pull out her books for class.

luckily she turned just before she could see el's eyes bulge at the mention of her boyfriend's name. she felt her cheeks heat up and her stomach churn at the many implications her comment could've had.

was she an ex? someone that liked him? someone that he — slept with?

el knew this would happen eventually, but seriously? her first class hadn't even started and she had already been made aware of how infamous her boyfriend was.

her eyes lifted to admire the long silky blonde locks in the desk in front of her. yes, his type. well, his former type.

she shook her head, trying to clear her mind of any and all things mike wheeler-related.

...

a/n: anywaaaay!!! lol i have no idea what i'm writing this was never in my plot plan so i'm just winging it. thanks for reading tho!! hope u all enjoyed mike's suffering. xx

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