It was September of 1985 and next week was Jane Hopper's first day of high school (or any school at all). She had been studying all year, but she still worried she wouldn't be ready. Mike had been helping her with math and science, since those were his strongest subjects, and she had been pretty quick to pick up on those concepts. English, however, was the bane of her existence. She still had words of the day, and her vocabulary was expanding all the time, but she was still not big on conversation. She didn't know a lot about the world, and that made learning words more difficult for her. She enjoyed reading, but she would have to pause and look up the meaning of words pretty frequently. Hopper ensured her that even people who graduate high school still don't know a lot of words, and that made her feel somewhat better. The one thing all of her friends worried about, was how she was going to do interacting with all the mouthbreathers at school. Jane, however, was not at all worried because she simply did not care what anyone was going to think of her.

The day before school was going to start, Hopper had to take her to the High School to make sure all of her paperwork was in and she could start school this year. On the way, Hopper decided to give her some ground rules.

"Jane, I need you to promise me something," Hopper stated, his eyes still on the road.

"Yes," she replied, glancing at him.

"You can't use your powers at school, not even just to move a pencil, got it?" he asked, looking at her.

"Got it," she said, grabbing his hand. They drove the rest of the way in silence, his hand still in hers.

When they reached the school, Jim and Jane walked in and headed for the office where an incredibly bored looking secretary greeted them. Hopper started talking with her while Jane glanced around. The high school was much bigger than the middle school, but had a similar feeling to it.

"Hello, I'm Jim Hopper, we talked on the phone last week," he said smoothly.

"Right of course!," the secretary replied. "You must be Jane," she said warmly, looking at her. Jane was wearing a yellow dress and her hair, though now at her shoulders, kept it's curls. She was adorable.

"Hello," Jane said nervously. She didn't know why she felt nervous, but talking to adults she didn't know always seemed to make her uncomfortable.

The secretary smiled back and turned her attention to Hopper.

"The Principal will be with you in a minute," she said, as she walked to her office, presumably to let her know the Hoppers were here.

Hopper and Jane sat down in the waiting chairs.

"Don't worry, kid. Just remember the story," Jim said softly to her. She nodded. The official story was that Jim had gotten Jane's mother pregnant without knowing, and had recently adopted her as his own. When asked what happened to her mother, Jane was supposed to say that she's sick and now she's staying with her dad. Since Terry Ives was listed on the birth certificate given to them by Dr. Owens, it would be best just to acknowledge the fact that she really was sick and unable to take care of her. That way, if anyone decided to look into it, they wouldn't get caught in a lie.

"Right this way," the secretary announced. The Hoppers stood and followed her into the Principal's office, where a woman in a pantsuit was waiting for them. She stood and shook Hopper's hand.

"Chief," she said with a nod. "Please, sit down," she offered with a smile. Once all of them were seated, the principle opened a file that was on her desk. "Alright, let's see what we have," she mumbled to herself.

The principle proceeded to pull out documents from the file. Thanks to Dr. Owens, there were forged documents to help her get into school without a hitch. "The birth certificate and the transcript are all here," she brainstormed aloud. "I'm going to need you to fill out these," she said handing them a packet, "and I believe you'll be all set for tomorrow," she finished with a smile.

"Thanks," Hopper said, grabbing a pen. There was some stuff to sign and fill out emergency contacts and all that. Once he finished, he handed them back to the principal and they were out the door.

"See," Hopper said, "That wasn't so bad."

"No," Jane agreed. "Not so bad."

On the way home, they picked up some carry out for dinner and rented a movie. It was her last night of summer and Hopper wanted it to be a good one. Over the last few months, the Hoppers hadn't gotten into any arguments, mostly because Jane was able to see her friends, fairly frequently. Once summer had begun, Jim and moved them into a small house on the edge of town and started introducing her to some of the townies to help her transition to school life. This also meant hanging out with Mike was much easier as well. She hung out with her other friends too, but Mike was at their house at least once a week for the whole summer. Hopper acted all over-protective, but it was obvious that he liked Mike and didn't mind him spending so much time with his daughter. Hell, it even made Hopper's life easier. Happy Jane = Happy Jim. Now that they didn't have to hide Jane, Hopper bought her her own radio so she could keep in contact with her friends. The range didn't even matter, because she could simply amplify it with a quick nosebleed.

"Okay kid, you better get in the shower. You have a big day ahead of you," he smiled at her once their movie was finished.

Jane nodded and headed off down the hallway. After her shower, she was picking out her clothes for the first day. While going through her closet, which was a mixture of Mike's clothes that she had been collecting over the summer, Nancy's hand-me-downs, and clothes Hopper had bought her, Jane heard her radio softly. She picked it up and heard,

"Jane, it's Mike, do you copy? Over." She smiled and replied,

"I'm here, over."

"Are you excited for tomorrow? Over."

"Yes and no. But you'll be there, so it can't be too bad. Over."

Mike Wheeler's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I can't wait. Over."

"Goodnight Mike. Over."

Goodnight Jane. Over and out."

"Hey! Eggos! Get 'em while they're hot!" Jane heard from her bedroom. She shot out of bed eagerly, despite the fact that she'd barely slept from excitement. She ran into the kitchen to see a plate of eggos in front of her seat. Hopper smiled proudly at her as they sat down for breakfast. She started on her eggos basically jumping in her seat.

"It's the big day," Hopper said, sharing her excitement. She nodded and continued eating. "You nervous?" he asked. She nodded again and paused.

"What if it's too hard?" she wondered.

"It won't be, and even if it was, I'm sure that Wheeler kid would more than love to help you with your homework." Hopper tried to sound annoyed but ended up smiling at the thought.

Jane headed off into her room, determined to look perfect on her first day. She knew people may recognize her from the snowball, but she still needed to make a good first impression. Plus, maybe Mike would tell her she looked beautiful again. Grinning, she started grabbing her outfit and thought about what makeup she should put on.

The Hopper's were en route to Hawkins High with about fifteen minutes to spare, giving Jane more than enough time to find her classes so she wouldn't get lost. When the Chief's car pulled up in the loading zone, he reached for a hug from his daughter. She rolled her eyes and hugged him before stepping out of the car.

"I'm picking you up from Joyce's at 7, but if you need anything, just go to the office and ask them to call me," Hopper said worriedly.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Okay Dad."

Hopper smiled at how normal that sounded as he sped off to work, looking back at her as she trudged into the school.

Jane looked up curiously as she entered the school, her eyes combing for her friends. Her gaze landed on Mike and he waved her over excitedly. Mike was standing with Will and Dustin, Lucas hadn't arrived yet. Once she reached them, Mike wrapped her into a hug. She smiled into his chest, noting that he seemed to have even grown taller in the last week since she'd seen him. Once he released her, she gave Will a quick hug, followed by Dustin.

"El-uuh Jane, sorry, are you excited?" Dustin asked.

"Yes," she answered simply. Typical. Then, Lucas and Max walked up to them.

"Hey!" the group chorused to them. Jane looked Max up and down and then looked back at Mike smiling at him. Max and Jane didn't have any real problems, but they definitely weren't close. Jane was a little slow to warm up and Max had been trying but was making little progress. The party started comparing schedules and seeing if they shared any classes. Mike helped Jane with hers.

"I'll walk you to your classes if you want," he said to her. She nodded. They seperated from the party to show her where her locker was. "I'll meet you here in between so you don't get lost, okay?"

"Sure," she said softly.

Mike took that moment to really soak her in. She had her hair basically all natural and curly, but with one clip to keep it out of her eyes. She was wearing some light brown eyeshadow and mascara that made her eyes warm and glowing. She even had a light pink sundress on that reminded him of when they snuck into AV with her. He couldn't help smiling,

"You… you look great!" Mike exclaimed.

"Thank you," Jane replied with a smile that melted his heart.

"Okay, your first class is this way…" He led her to where her classes were and soon enough, the bell rang. "I'd better go! I'll meet you at your locker!'

"Bye Mike."

Jane walked into her classroom, which was (of course), English. The teacher, Mr. Benson was stopping people and showing them their assigned seats. When she was next, she told him her name.

"Oh, you're the Chief's mysterious daughter." Jane received a couple of odd looks from her classmates after that. She nodded and he pointed her towards the middle right of the classroom. When she sat down, she glanced around her and realized who was sitting next to her.

"Hi Jane," Max said from her left.

"Hello."

"It's kinda nice, knowing someone in your class, isn't it," Max continued, trying to make small talk.

"Of course," Jane said giving a shy smile.

"People will stop starting in a couple of weeks," Max said matter-of-factly. "I was new last year."

Jane just nodded.

"So…" Max tried again. "You and Mike huh?"

"What about us?" Jane asked crossly.

"Are you two dating?"

"No," Jane said. "Should we be?"

"Well, that's up to you guys I guess," Max said with a shrug. "Me and Lucas are dating, so if you thought I liked Mike or whatever, I don't."

Jane considered that. She smiled a genuine smile back at Max.

"Friends then?"

"Yes."

Soon enough, class officially started and Mr. Benson put them to work. Jane understood mostly everything he was explaining and eventually, the bell rang. She shuffled out of class and met a grinning Mike at her locker.

"How was it?" he asked.

"Good. I have Max so at least I won't be alone."

"That's awesome! This next one is biology, we have that together!"

They starting walking to their class and Jane grabbed his hand. He smiled down at her, his heart racing. The biology class was set up with lab tables and their teacher allows them to choose their lab partners, so obviously, Jane and Mike sat together. The class went by quickly, and Mike walked her to her next class, not letting go of his hand until she had to walk into math. No one she knew was in that class, but the teacher placed her in the front, so she didn't have to talk to anyone. Next was lunch, which she was very excited about. Sure enough, Mike was waiting at her locker, lunchbox in hand. She grabbed her bagged lunch and they headed to the cafeteria. The met up with the rest of the party and dug in.

"How's it going, Jane?" Will asked her.

"Good. I like biology best." To that, Mike blushed.

Jonathan and Nancy stopped by to say hi to everyone before sitting down at their table. The rest of the day went on without a hitch, Mike walked her to every class. She ended up having another class with him, art. She had Will and Lucas in her social studies class, and Dustin in Gym. When the final bell rang, she beat Mike to her locker and was collecting her stuff when someone came up to her. She assumed it was Mike, but when she glanced up, it was a face she didn't recognize. It was a guy who was a little shorter than Mike, but still tall. He had blonde hair and green eyes. She stared at him, waiting to see what he wanted.

"You're Jane Hopper, huh?" He asked confidently.

"Yes."

"My name's Carter. I'm a Sophomore." He put his hand out and she shook it hesitantly. When she didn't reply, he said, "Well, I hope I see you around." And with that, he walked off. She thought to herself, that was weird.

"Hi Jane, what did that guy want?" Mike asked her as he walked up, his eyes a little wild.

"Just said 'See you around'." She shrugged.

"Well, he's kind of a mouthbreather, so I wouldn't talk to him again," Mike said jealousy. Jane thought he looked cute when he was flustered.

"Okay Mike." She grabbed his hand and they walked outside to the bike racks, where they hopped on Mike's bike to ride with the rest of the party over to Will's. On the ride there, Jane enjoyed the feeling of being so close to Mike, and she rester her head on his shoulder. They all road together with Max the only one skateboarding. Jane felt a bit embarrassed about when she knocked Max off of her board, but she shrugged it off. Too late now.

When they reached the Byer's, they all went inside and raided the kitchen for after school snacks. Once their mouths were full of food, they all started complaining about what classes sucked and who they had to sit next to. Jane was happy that for once she understood what they were talking about. Jane took a seat next to Mike on the couch while everyone else was still gathered in the kitchen.

"Mike?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he said, looking down at her and grabbing her hand.

"Are you my boyfriend?" His eyes widened. "I was talking to Max and she said her and Lucas are dating so, are we?"

"Uh, I mean, do you want to?" He said, heat rising to his cheeks.

"What exactly do girlfriends and boyfriends do? I've seen them on TV but..." she

wondered.

"Well, they kiss and hug and miss each other when they are apart, but you can only be dating one person. One special person," he explained.

"I think we should be then," she decided. He had to refrain from laughing with glee.

"Okay!"

The others started trickling into the room then. Mike smiled softly at her before grabbing both of their backpacks. "Do you have any homework?" he asked her.

"I think so, but I might need help," she admitted.

"O-okay! I can help you!" She smiled, thinking of what her dad had said that morning.

The whole party started on the little bit of homework they had from the first day. Soon everyone was done, besides Jane, but Mike was explaining it all to her.

"I'm sorry Mike," She said suddenly.

"What? Why? You didn't do anything."

"I'm not smart enough for high school," she said, looking at the ground.

"Jane, look at me," he said fiercely. "You killed the demogorgan, you closed the gate, you saved the whole world. You can do anything, including school."

"Promise?" she asked.

"Promise." He continued explaining the concept of her algebra homework, and after about an hour, she started to understand it. But the best part, was watching Mike explain. He was so smart and it made her oddly proud of him. She smiled, and continued her last math problem.

In the other room, Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Will were trying to play Monopoly, but they couldn't help a little gossiping too.

"I heard Carter Tims went up to her today and introduced himself," Max said.

"What? Why? Carter? To El- I mean, Jane? That makes no sense! She's just a freshman and he's POPULAR!" Dustin exclaimed. They all shushed him to make sure their friends didn't hear.

"I'll ask Mike about it later," Will decided. They all knew that Carter was a notorious player, and if Jane was his latest interest, that meant Carter would be on the prowl for her.

"How do you think the rest of it went for her?" Lucas asked.

"She seems to be doing alright. She's obviously a little quiet, but that's just her. She only really ever wants to talk to Mike," Max stated, thinking about their discussion in first period. Only when she brought Mike up did Jane engage in conversation with her.

"Well DUH," Dustin said. "They're totally googly-eyed for each other!" he said, chuckling.

"Yay! That's right!" Mike told her, as her pencil hit the table. She grinned, pleased that she had finished her homework. Mike looked at her glowing face and thought about everything she had been through. Mike had known she was something special, someone extraordinary, not only because of her powers, but because of who she was. She was the strongest person he had ever known. After she was gone for his life for 353 days, he realized how much of a void she had left in his life. As soon as she had returned to him, he never wanted to let her go. She was all he thought about anymore. Something inside of him stirred, and he kept looking into her warm brown eyes. Eyes that could kill a man without even straining, yet still remained pure and innocent when she looked at him. He leaned in and he heard her huff a surprised breath before their lips met. This was only their third kiss, but he knew it was his favorite thing in the whole world. They parted and smiled to each other, still only inches apart.

"I'm glad you're my boyfriend, Mike."

"I'm glad you're my girlfriend, Jane."

Joyce came home at about 5:20 from her shift at the store. Lucas had gone with Max to make sure she got home okay, and Dustin had to head back to be home before dinner, so Joyce was greeted with Will, Jane, and Mike sitting on the floor of her living room, watching Indiana Jones on the TV. She noted that Mike had his arm around Jane, but chose not to say anything, and definitely would not be telling Hopper when he came to pick her up later.

"Hi Mom!" Will said when he saw her.

"Hi Ms. Byers," Mike and Jane added.

"Hello you guys! How was your first day of High School?" She asked eagerly.

"It was good," Mike said.

"I like my art teacher," Will said.

"I like lunch," Jane said.

They all laughed a little at that. Joyce smiled to herself, pleased to see that all three of them were doing well at school. She knew that high school could be cruel, but hoped they would enjoy it together. When she was in high school, she would have killed to have a friend group like Will. She smiled again, thinking of her only friend in high school. Her smoking buddy who always gave her a lighter...

Hopper sat in his office, going over some open cases. None of them were very serious. One house got tee-peed and another person had reported a bike stolen. Normal Hawkins.

"Hey Chief," Steve Harrington said. He had just been hired last month as a deputy. After the events of last year, Steve figured he really liked helping people and didn't really seem interested in college, so he went out for the Police Academy after graduation. Hopper basically had to hire him since the other two officers he had were doofuses.

"Hi kid," Hopper said.

"Jane's first day was today," Steve investigated. "How do you think she did?"

"I'm sure she's fine, you know her. She's a tough cookie." Hopper smiled, thinking of her. He glanced at the clock, which told him there was only 20 minutes left before he could pick her up form Joyce's.

"Glad to hear it." Steve returned to his desk, and grabbed and apple from Flo. Steve was still pretty close with the kids, but of course the age gap made it a little strange. He and Dustin were by far the closest and considering how much shit had happened his senior year, he didn't really want to be close with any of his old 'friends'. He laughed to himself, wondering how Dustin had done at his first day of high school...

Soon, the kids heard Hopper's car pull up. Mike quickly let go of Jane's hand. She looked at him suspiciously, but didn't say anything. Joyce opened the door for Hopper, who waltzed in and immediately opened his arms for Jane, who ran to give him a quick hug. He kissed the top of her head.

"How was it?!" he asked excitedly.

"Hard, but Mike helped me!" she told him. Hopper smiled and nodded at Mike. He let go of Jane and gave Joyce a quick side hug.

"Thanks for letting her stay," he whispered.

"Honestly, she's no trouble," she replied.

They heard another car pull up. Jonathan walked in, followed by Nancy.

"How was your first day, Will," Jonathan asked him.

"It wasn't bad," Will said, smiling.

"Okay Mike, time to go," Nancy said. With a sigh, he nodded,

"We should get going too, Kiddo. I picked up some dinner on the way over here that's getting cold," Hopper stated. Her eyes lit up at the mention of dinner.

"Bye, Will," she told her friend. "Goodbye Mike. I'll radio you before bed." She wrapped him in a big hug that gave her butterflies.

"Goodbye Jane," he whispered to her.

With that, the two of them left the Byers house and got into their separate cars, but couldn't get each other off their minds.

"So," Hopper started once they were in the car, "tell me about your first day, you little high schooler." She laughed at that. Jane loved when he goofed off with her.

"It was nice. I'm going to have to study a lot more to keep up, but it's nice. Not hiding. Being...normal."

"Oh I bet," Hopper said, a little wistfully. They drove in comfortable silence for a little while.

"Mike's my boyfriend," Jane said out of nowhere.

"What?!" Hopper exclaimed. She looked at him, confused.

"It's where you hug and kiss and-"

"I know what it means, but when did this happen?!" He didn't seem mad, just… shocked.

"Today, after school." Jane didn't seem at all bothered by Hoppers reaction, just stating very matter-of-factly.

"Well, o-okay. I guess that's fine, thanks for telling me." Hopper looked to be visibly holding back his anger, but Jane didn't seem to notice or care.

"Sure, Dad." His heart swelled when he heard her call him that, boyfriend drama soon forgotten. Of course she had said it lots of times before, especially when they started going out in public, but she now exclusively referred to him as Dad. It felt so right to both of them. They all had started calling Eleven Jane after the gate was closed and things turned sort of normal. She was still in hiding, but she wanted a real name, not just a number. It took a while, but everyone started saying Jane, which made her feel like she really was her Mama's daughter, using the name she chose for her. Not the name Papa gave her that wasn't even a name at all. Her friends slipped up and called her El a lot at first, but they got it eventually. Jane looked down at the blue bracelet Hopper had given her to cover her tattoo. She knew it used to be his daughters and he had given it to her because she was also his daughter now. She grinned the rest of the way home. Home. She finally had one of those.