Shout-Outs: grievesforyou, Stranger Things, tank03, Exploding Helmets, and HarTREEGrove
.
Chapter 7
El frantically cleaned the house like the Party's parents were coming for a visit because she didn't know what else to do with herself. She hadn't been able to stomach her lunch or sit still long enough to start The Trumpet of the Swan. She was trying to pull Max's skateboard out from under the couch when everyone got home from doing whatever they were doing that afternoon.
"Wow, is Karen coming for a visit?" Max asked as she dropped her backpack in the middle of the hallway.
Will turned down the music that was blasting from the kitchen counter. "What happened? Is everything okay El?"
"No. . ." El abandoned cleaning up, sitting helplessly in the middle of the living room floor.
"Karen is coming for a visit?"
El shook her head. "No. Mike. . ."
"What did he do now?" Lucas asked, eyeing Max impatiently.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"El, what happened?" Dustin interjected before an argument could break out.
El hesitated and then sighed. "Mike didn't do anything. We were just. . . studying and then Jeff showed up to bring me a book for our lit class. He thought it would make it easier for me to start reading—"
Max's eyes lit up. "Jeff showed up here?"
"He was here for, like, 2 minutes and all he was doing was bringing me something for an assignment!" El insisted.
"Did you tell Mike that?"
"He left before I got the chance to explain what was going on."
Max looked absolutely triumphant. "He was jealous."
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Stop gloating. It's not like you had anything to do with it. This was just a lucky coincidence."
El eyed them suspiciously. "What are you guys talking about?"
Max couldn't stop the guilty look from spreading across her face. "Well. . . here's the thing—"
"We've been trying to get you and Mike back together!" Will interjected saying it before he could stop himself. "Well, mostly we've talked about how we would do it. Except for the one time when Max decided she would go rouge and put one of her half-baked plans into action."
"That blind date," El said.
"Yeah. . ." Max shrugged sheepishly. "It worked, didn't it? You were jealous."
El huffed. "You shouldn't do that kind of stuff. I'm sure it violates the Party rules somehow. Is Jeff your doing too?"
"Ha! Mike came up with that problem all by himself. I'm sure he ran out without even bothering to ask you what Jeff wanted, right?"
El looked at her warily and sighed. "Max," she said warningly.
"Mike can overreact sometimes but he always comes around," Will added helpfully. "I'm sure he'll come back from wherever he is, willing to listen to whatever explanation you have for him."
"Jeff just brought over a book for a class assignment. He has a girlfriend. . . I think. . ."
"I told you!" Lucas interjected.
"I was going to ask him if we could get back together," El continued, ignoring him. "Eventually."
"Wait! Were the two of you actually talking again!?" Dustin asked, looking surprised.
El nodded. "Yeah, we just didn't want to tell you because you guys have a tendency to overreact and we wanted to keep it between the two of us for just a little bit."
Max looked incredulous. "When did this happen?"
"After the blind date," El replied, sighing again.
Max's mouth dropped open. "You mean. . . it actually worked?"
"Hardly!" Lucas scoffed. "It was probably just a very lucky coincidence. We still had to listen to hours of music and they didn't actually get back together because he went on a date with Kelley. They just started to talk again."
"We decided to be friends again." El smiled. "It was kind of fun going behind your backs."
Dustin shook his head. "We're all a bunch of dummies. . ."
"Now I have to go and talk to Mike," El said. "I need to explain what's going on and let him know I'm not interested in anyone else except for him and then. . . I guess we'll see what happens after that."
"What are you going to do? Show up wherever he is and declare you love him like some soppy lead for a romantic comedy?"
El stood up and kicked the skateboard under the couch. "In case you haven't noticed, I am the soppy lead in a romantic comedy, Max. I always have been and I don't even care."
"Are you going out dressed like that?" Dustin asked, looking at her baggy sweats and New Kids On the Block concert t-shirt critically.
"I hardly think Mike's going to care what she looks like. . . "
". . .maybe she should change though. He likes that floral mini-dress, right?"
"If you're going to go all out, you should put some makeup on while you're at it. . ."
El put up her hand to quiet them down. "Thanks but I've got this handled."
.
Mike rearranged the pile of Highlights for the second time in a row before turning his attention to the worn out collection of videotapes. He was trying to find the case for Gidget Goes to Hawaii when El appeared in his line of vision.
Kneeling on the ground, he was struck by how powerful all 5 feet, 4 inches of her really was. He dropped the VHS box he was holding and scrambled to his feet.
"You left," she said, pulling at the hem of her skirt and looking at him wide-eyed and serious. "Why?"
"I told you. . . I forgot I volunteered this afternoon," Mike said even though it sounded more like a lie than ever now.
"You never forget volunteer hours. Besides, it looks to me. . . you aren't volunteering. You usually read to the kids—"
"The playroom needed to be cleaned," Mike interrupted, which was not a lie. When he had shown up unexpectedly, Maggie had been more than happy to put him to work. "Maybe I'll read to them later."
"You know Jeff is seeing a girl named Cricket."
Mike's heart started to beat a little faster than usual. "Cricket? That sounds like a made-up name." even though he knew he had seen her hanging outside the British lit classroom, waiting for Jeff to come out, he had barely noticed her though because she wasn't El. Now, he tried to recall the details of what she looked like.
"Well, it's not made-up. I saw them together at the store last Saturday," El retorted, interrupting his train of thought as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "Which, by the way, is when Jeff told me he would drop off a book for me to use for a school assignment."
"A book?" Mike repeated dumbly.
"Trumpet of the Swan, we're reading it in our children's lit class. I've kind of been distracted lately and he was trying to help me catch up. Because he's just that kind of guy, he sort of reminds me of you actually."
Somehow, during their conversation, they had met in the middle of the playroom.
"He reminded you of me, huh?" Mike ran his fingers through his hair. "That doesn't make me feel any better, you know."
"Well, I probably wouldn't have ever given him a thought except I broke his eggs at the grocery store and I had to talk to him."
"You didn't come here to talk about Jeff, did you?"
"Oh. . . um, no. Did you know our 'friends' have been conspiring to get us back together?"
Mike looked surprised. "They have?"
"I guess they haven't really been able to put a plan into action. Except Max—"
"Went behind everyone's backs and set me up with Kelley," Mike guessed. "What was she trying to accomplish?"
"I guess she was hoping I would be jealous."
"You were and we did start talking again afterward," Mike pointed out. "Not that I would ever give Max the satisfaction of knowing she did something right."
El daringly reached out for his hand. "There's something else." she could see the glimmer of hope in his eyes, she knew what it looked like in his face. "I probably should have said this when you broke up with me. . . I know I don't want anybody else except for you. I think if I was going to find something better, I would have by now."
"Huh?" Mike looked confused.
"We should have never broken up," she explained slowly. "We both know neither of us was ever going to find anybody else. It was very. . . short-sighted of you to think we needed to see what we were missing out on."
Mike grinned. "You're so cute when you use big words."
El smiled. "Thank you. Anyway, are we going to get back together or not?"
Mike looked taken aback. "What?"
"I don't know about you but I want to get back together," El said.
Mike laughed. "Just like that. No big romantic gesture or anything?"
"Does there have to be a big romantic gesture? We're going to be together for the rest of our lives. We'll have plenty of time for that."
Mike nodded. "Right. Well, for your information, I was planning on getting back together with you eventually."
"It was taking you too long. It's taking too long right now—"
Mike leaned in and kissed her, interrupting her flow of words. "I think I'm going to have to get used to saying you're right dear," he said, beaming at her. "I love you."
El smirked. "I know."
Mike laughed ruefully and shook his head. "I guess I deserve that."
"I love you too."
They didn't say anything again for a long time. Mike was content just to hold her for a little while.
The End
.
Author's Note:
Comedy, I don't know her. . . although, for a second, I imagined a world where one of the patients interrupted them with "El and Mike are kissing again!" Anyway. Thank you for sticking with me on this journey, I enjoyed writing this. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this final chapter. I have more coming soon.
Until Next Time!
Love,
Holly