Wow... So, uh, I flaked haha

Sorry if you were anticipating the continuation of TLOML, a lot has been happening in life but that's all excuses. The real reason I haven't been updating as I often did is because I hit a massive wall of writer's block, and I don't really know how I want the story to go. I mean, obviously everything's gonna be all gravy in the end but for now, I haven't really had a lot of inspiration, and I realized a little too late that the story is a bit much for such a novice as myself when it comes to writing.

This doesn't mean the story is over or that it's dead, I'm still occasionally writing what little I have to add to the next chapter, just understand that for now, I want to start waaaay smaller.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this tamer piece that I'm already loving.

The floppy-haired boy's head bounced up and down against the window as the bus barreled down the dirt path, the trees passing by at a rushed crawl.

Mike wheeler hadn't expected his summer to go this way, it wasn't supposed to. He was supposed to be writing and planning his next D&D campaign with The Party, maybe hang out at the arcade, and bike around Hawkins.

But no, he was here on this beat-up school bus heading for summer camp, 'cause why not?

When Mike was told at dinner a week ago that he'd be heading to camp for the summer, he practically flipped his shit, Nancy laughing like it was the funniest thing she'd heard all year. Mike begged and protested but his parents wouldn't budge, he was going to summer camp no matter what.

It wasn't even one of those science camps that Dustin went to the year prior, either. It was just trees, a lake, and all the other shit people do at regular camp.

And now here he was, head limp against the window, constantly banging against the glass as the bus bumped up and down against the rough terrain of the outdoors. He was bitter and his mood had been sour, but at least he had his one reprint of X-Men on hand.

It was the only thing keeping him sane at the moment.

He couldn't get comfortable sitting straight so he tried slouching a bit, but there was no change, his back and ass hurt like hell. He settled for leaning against the window, even though it was kind of hard to focus on the illustrations and text on the comic and he was sure that within a few more minutes he'd have brain damage.

Mike's bitter mind couldn't help but remind him of his parents' reasons for him to go.

"Who knows, Mike? Maybe you'll make lots of cool new friends!" his mother had said excitedly, trying and failing to convince her only son it was a good idea to go to summer camp.

"Not possible," Mike replied matter-of-factly, turning to his dad. "How come Nancy doesn't have to go?" he whined.

"Son, your sister has a job now, she has a responsibility to maintain," Ted said proudly. "You'll have to wait until next year to have a job but until then have fun, I used to always go to summer camp, it was what almost everyone did!" he continued, also trying to convince Mike.

"And Mike, you're fifteen, maybe you can catch a summer fling with a cute girl," Nancy suggested/teased, but by that point, he was no longer listening, he just wanted to disappear.

Mike didn't know what to say, it was futile to try and convince them to let him stay, he knew that now. He just wished he could magically put together all the right words so he could.

He flipped the page of his comic lazily, but as he was about to read, someone sat next to him. Mike looked up curiously, who wanted to sit next to Micheal "frog face" Wheeler?

His answer was quite terrifying and soul-crushing, actually. It was Troy Walsh.

Terrifying because Troy had a wicked smile on his face, he was up to no good, and soul-crushing because this meant Mike had the whole summer to be picked on by Troy, alone. He had no other friends and Troy could now single him out.

Mike was frozen as he held eye contact with Troy, he didn't know what to do but he knew something bad was going to happen.

"Hey, Wheeler. Didn't know you were crawling out of that cave you call your basement. What brings you to camp? Your parents want to get rid of you, frog face?" the way he was speaking to Mike only terrified him further, and Troy was looking at him so intently that it didn't take long to notice. "Aww, what's wrong, Wheeler? Am I scaring you?" the shark was closing in.

Mike had set the comic down and was leaning more heavily against the window, trying to get as far from his long-time bully as possible. He couldn't find his voice and his heart was pounding with fear, he felt like he was going to have a heart attack. Troy had gotten more violent over the years, breaking Will's arm in the eighth grade and knocking a few teeth out of Dustin freshman year, they stayed away the best they could, but Mike had nowhere to run.

"Come on, Wheeler, answer me," he had Mike pinned against the window, he had nowhere to go. "Answer me!" Troy barked, getting in Mike's face.

Mike kept trying to shrink back, looking more and more like a scared child. But he was getting pissed, so he surprised himself, and his bully. "Go fuck yourself, Troy!" he yelled.

"Hey! What's going on back there?!" Mark, a camp counselor sitting at the front of the bus, called out to them. His voice rang through the bus and both Troy and Mike finally noticed that everyone around them was silent and staring at them.

Now it was Troy who looked a bit spooked, a bully caught in the act. "N-nothing!" He sounded slightly off to Mike, not as smug as usual. "I was just having fun with my friend here!" Troy called back, his voice back to normal.

Mark narrowed his eyes at Troy and studied Mike's still scared expression. "You, skinny kid, come here," a few kids snickered as Mike got up, he shot Troy a dirty glare before grabbing his comic and slipping into the aisle, slowly making his way over to the counselor who practically saved him. "Sit here. And no more funny business," he said, pointing to a seat occupied by a girl who looked to be his age with short, curly hair. She was looking out the window.

Mike sat, his heartbeat still coming down from whatever the hell that was in the back of the bus. He closed his eyes for a bit, leaning his head against the back of the seat. He took a few breaths and continued with his comic, quickly finding the last page he was on.

He must've been really focused 'cause he didn't notice the girl turning to look at him every now and then, didn't even notice when she stopped turning away and just full-on stared at him.

Mike did notice, however, when she scooted closer to him and looked down at the comic in his lap. "What are you reading?" she asked, her voice was soft and he almost didn't hear it over all the ruckus near the back.

Mike's eyes left the page he was on and ever so slowly traveled up her body, he didn't fail to notice all the curves graciously shown over her shorts and 'Camp Hawkins' shirt. His gaze admired her body for a few more seconds before landing on her face, and when it did his breath caught in his throat.

For a second he thought she was an angel, he could see her cheeks glowing pink, she must've seen him staring, ogling her. "W-what...?" he asked, he no longer knew what planet he was on.

Her blush turned dark quick, crimson now, but she giggled sweetly. "I said 'what are you reading?'" she was smiling and even if Mike had his eyes closed he'd be able to tell, she sounded like she wanted to laugh like a dope.

But that only left Mike much more speechless, forget the fact that this beautiful girl just asked about his comic, she clearly showed some interest in him. It was both shocking and the best feeling in the world, Mike felt like he was dreaming now, his nightmare turned into a good dream, the best dream, in seconds.

With a quick bout of sudden self-consciousness, Mike felt like an idiot for just staring at her and not replying to her question. "Uh, it's a comic book, heh," he finally said nervously. "It's an X-Men comic, issue number three," he clarified, not wanting to have to explain how much of a nerd he was.

She only nodded and looked back at the comic for a second. "So what's happening? In your comic, I mean," she asked with what sounded like genuine interest. Or she's just bored, Mike thought, trying to be realistic and quell his hopes that she'd be interested in him in any way.

"Oh, well, uh, in the panel that I'm on, Scott Summers, or Cyclops, is realizing that Jean Grey, a badass telekinetic, among other things, would never go for a nobody like him. His powers are very destructive and they come from his eyes so he always has to wear shades and stuff, he's scared of hurting her and he thinks maybe she'd be scared of him, I guess," Mike explained the best he could to the pretty girl before him who'd probably never even picked up a comic book before, realizing maybe he was like Cyclops in a way.

He could destroy someone's social status just by looking at them, that was his power. His mood darkened and he closed the comic, rolling it up and slipping it into his back pocket, he looked down at his lap.

She looked at Mike for a bit, then turned to the window and watched the trees once more. "Well, I think maybe he shouldn't assume she wouldn't like him; if she can move things with her mind then maybe she could understand his fears better than he thinks, and if he has powers then he isn't such a nobody. No one is, powers or no powers," she said, still looking away from him, saying it as if she knew it for a fact. Mike felt his heart flutter slightly, he didn't know if she was talking about him or Cyclops, maybe she could read him better than he thought. Maybe.

"Yeah, well maybe he is a bit stubborn but he's been around people who don't accept him for who he is..." Mike said slowly, subconsciously talking about himself, he realized a bit too late, though. "I mean, his powers! They're, uh, scared of his powers and that makes him scared of himself sometimes," he tried to recover, but he didn't even know that much about Scott Summers and the way he thought.

She turned back to him, a sweet smile spreading across her face. "Good point, maybe Jean should show him that it's okay to be different," she looked him up and down and Mike shivered in his seat, thankful that the rocking of the bus masked it.

Both their cheeks turned a light pink as they continued to look each other in the eye. Mike thought nothing could ruin this moment...

Until the bus suddenly stopped and nearly everyone fell forward into the backs of the seat in front of them. "All right, campers! Welcome to Camp Hawkins! Please step off the bus and find your bags right outside, and unless you've been here before stay with me and we'll head to the dining hall together," Mark ordered, now standing next to the bus driver.

Everyone did as they were told, and while Mike was searching, Troy shoulder checked him and walked off with his two new goons, one equally tall, paler version of Mike with blond curls on his head and the other a short, buff Hispanic kid.

Mike didn't let this phase him, instead, he realized that he hadn't asked for the pretty girl's name. He looked around after picking up his bags and saw Jennifer Hayes and Stacey Albright talking to her. Mike was about to wave to her but the girl looked at him and laughed with them, something like (regret?) disdain in her eyes.

She really was Jean Grey, just as much as he was Scott Summers, Mike thought. His shoulders sagged heavily and he turned away, once again dreading what this summer had in store for him.

With one final, heavy sigh, Mike walked away from the bus, wanting to be alone.

After Mike left the group, he walked into the woods for a bit, not going too far but not staying close.

He just needed to walk for a bit and clear his mind, or just get away from everyone. He couldn't help feeling like a fool; he already had his hopes so high that maybe they could get together, him and the angel he met on the bus, but she just looked at him like everyone else did, and that absolutely crushed Mike.

Without realizing it, he was going further and farther into the woods, one was his in his mind and the other he was aimlessly walking through.

All he could think about was how maybe it was his fault somehow, 'cause he couldn't imagine her doing anything wrong. He also felt immensely foolish for already catching feelings for her, but how could he not? In the few minutes that he met and talked to this girl, she opened his eyes and gave him a hope he hadn't had in a long time. It was hope that maybe he could be accepted by someone who wasn't family (but even then it was kinda shaky) or already a nerd.

But then she smashed it to pieces with the grossed out look she gave him, all the hope left his body and he felt empty, cold even. The summer sun didn't exist for him anymore, he hugged himself and looked down in shame.

I can't help being like this... And she was talking all that shit about it being okay to be different, Mike thought bitterly, but even in his head he sounded so hurt.

He continued his walk, stopping only when he was met with a lake, a big one. Mike figured it probably wasn't the lake that the camp used, it didn't have any boardwalks and he couldn't see any cabins or people anywhere. His legs hurt so he looked around for a place to sit, and when he turned he saw that one of the bigger trees looked hollow inside. At least someone knew how he felt, Mike thought and chuckled humorlessly to himself.

He set his bags down near the edge of the lake and walked over to the tree, entering it's hollow inside and sitting on the floor. It was spacious, even with him sitting in it, but his outstretched legs peeked out from the knee down.

The view from where Mike was sitting was almost otherworldly, everything looked surreal and he felt like he was apart of nature, as stupid as that sounds. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, only exhaling after a beat or two.

Mike was filled with something like joy or pride, this felt like his spot and his alone. There were no markings or litter around, maybe it was undiscovered before Mike.

He smiled brightly, no one knew of this place, it was his!

"Hey, Scott Summers," the familiar soft voice greeted.

Or not.

"I saw you walk off, I almost didn't find you but I saw the bags you were carrying, I thought maybe you were eaten by a bear or something," she giggled sweetly, and Mike was filled with dread.

Mike had to open his eyes, and even before he did he knew what was coming.

Hesitantly, he opened them. And when he did he lost his breath again, she was covering the opening of the tree, the sunlight from outside making it look like she was beaming. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

But he was left even sadder and more confused, why did she follow him? After looking at him like he was made of slime and laughing with her popular friends, he thought maybe she was just pretending to care about his comic. He thought she might be telling her friends about how lame he was, and how he couldn't keep his eyes off her.

"Uh, hey, J-Jean Grey...," he decided to play along, he didn't want to hurt her feelings and was too scared of confronting her. "Why did you, uh, you know, follow me?" his curiosity got the best of him, so he settled for a more conversational question, he had to know why she was here.

She seemed to think of what she was going to say, tilting her head and rolling her eyes skyward, but he could tell from the smile on her face that she already knew her answer.

"Well, for one, you're about to miss Mr. Abrams' big speech that he always gives on the first day," she suggested, but Mike could tell that was more of a joke. "And, uh...," Is she blushing? "Well, I didn't catch your name, and while calling each other fictional hero names might be fun, I'd like to know you're real name," she smiled sweetly, and Mike hated himself for practically melting in her hands.

"I-it's Mike. Well, Mi-Michael Edward Wheeler, but just Mike Wh-Wheeler's fine," he said shyly, he hated how he'd stutter, practically telling her just how much she made his heart flutter.

"And, uh, what's your name?" Mike's voice was shaky again and he couldn't tell if it was because of how stunning she was or how scared he was that she'd just be another bully, he so desperately hoped she wasn't.

She smiled brighter. "Well, Mike Wheeler, my name's Jane. Jane Eleanor Hopper, but just El's fine," she seemed to be in thought for a few seconds, looking like she was considering something. "Uh, do... You got room for one more in there?" she seemed really shy and quiet now, more so than she was on the bus.

Mike gulped almost audibly. "Uh, yeah. Just, squeeze right in, heh," Mike brought his knees up closer, scooting towards the side of the hollow tree so she could sit.

El put her bags near Mike's and slowly walked back, she walked in and slid down next to Mike, sitting similarly to him; knees drawn up slightly. They sat in silence for a while, and for whatever reason, it wasn't awkward anymore.

They shared a comfortable silence, but they were both trying to come up with something to say; neither wanting to miss an opportunity of being alone together, even with what Mike's mind was battling with.

He was unsure and tentative as all hell, but he pushed himself to talk to her. His mindset was that although he may feel like shit and not want to ruin this moment, he had to talk to her, had to not let his chances with her go to waste, bully or not. "You've been here before, right? What's it like here? Any better than Hawkins itself?" he went with the easiest topic, wanting to get to know her and her experience with this place.

El seemed to think of her answer, he could see something like remorse cross her face. "Well, when I first came here I absolutely hated it, my dad forced me to come and I didn't know anyone; I was really shy and had no friends for the first week," she explained, smiling to herself. "But after getting comfortable with the counselors, I decided it couldn't hurt to try and talk to someone my age. I first talked to the girls in my cabin, and that's how I met Stacey and Jennifer. After introductions and a bit of an awkward stage, we started to hang out regularly, eating at lunch together, making friendship bracelets, all sorts of things little girls did at summer camp. And it was fine... for the first two years," they were both staring out at the lake, occasionally sharing glances as they talked.

"What happened after the first two years? I saw you la- talking, with them... You guys seem alright," Mike spoke carefully, not wanting to upset her or assume too much.

They both looked at each other for a minute, El smiling sadly before answering. "Well, we didn't really hang out back home, so after summers we didn't really talk, besides the scarce phone calls. So, when we came back last year they were really different, I mean, I don't think I would've recognized them if I hadn't seen them before. They were like different people entirely, they were snotty and acted like they were too good for anything, they even wore tons of make-up!" she exclaimed, both of them laughing lightly.

"Yeah, Jennifer was kind of nice, she even had a crush on my friend, Will," Mike recalled, not really remembering when she let her family's money go to her head. "So what happened after you all came back, did anything big change in the friendship?" Mike felt relief that she clearly wasn't like them at all, but he felt sorry for her and thought maybe she'd like to talk it out.

"Well, at first we still did all the things we used to, sometimes we'd hang out with other kids too. You might've guessed, but after a while, they no longer did any of the fun stuff: We didn't hang out with anyone else, we didn't mess around in the woods, and they wouldn't get in the lake for a second, they just wanted the boys to look at them or whatever, it was gross. But I just couldn't let go of my friends and I knew they wouldn't change so I just go with their jokes and try to make excuses about anything I don't want to do... It sucks; when you thought you knew someone well and they just turn out to be the worst," she finished with a sad sigh.

Mike spared her a look and saw how distressed her expression was, and he felt his heart break a little. She didn't deserve to look so sad, of all her expressions this was Mike's least favorite, even if she was just as beautiful.

Feeling bold and wanting to take her pain away, Mike slipped his hand into hers, intertwining them. Jane looked at their locked hands, then up and their eyes locked almost immediately. Mike offered a warm smile, he could feel his face burn a bit. "I'm sorry your friends turned into jerks. But hey, at least you don't have to deal with them picking on you," Mike gave a small laugh, she squeezed his hand and he took it as a good sign, feeling his heart speed up from its already fast drumming.

"Thanks, Mike," she smiled brightly, and he just couldn't help but feel like this girl would be the end of him, she was so stunning. Then her face fell a bit. "Wait, they haven't messed with you, have they?" her expression turning to one of worry and slight annoyance.

Mike didn't want to start anything or mess up her friendships more, so he answered as honestly as he could. "They have. But it's honestly nothing I can't handle... Nothing I haven't had to handle... And besides, Troy's way worse. That mouthbreather can suck my fat one," he decided to shift the blame of bullies after seeing her (very much cute) angry face, and he was pleased when she laughed at Mike's remark on Troy.

El took a minute to admire the view from which they sat, then turned to Mike for a minute. "You really are a cool person, Mike," she smiled admirably. "I'm glad you had to move up front with me," they chuckled, and Mike squeezed her hand. They looked at each other, their eyes both tracing triangles into the other's face; moving from one eye to the other, then down to each other's lips. Mike felt himself moving forward, everything was going slower, he noticed.

Mike's eyes closed as he continued to lean into her, searching for her lips. He didn't see her eyes growing wide, the panic written on her face almost comical.

He continued to lean in, he could feel her exhales on his face, so close. He realized he wanted nothing more at that moment than to kiss her lips, to be enraptured by everything El. To make her happy and be there for her always was all that he could think of.

But before that could happen, before Mike could kiss the nicest, most beautiful girl he'd ever met, she pulled away. He first noticed that she ripped her hand away, then opened his eyes to a wide-eyed El, she looked scared and Mike felt his heart pang.

Shit! Why did I have to mess this up?! You idiot, Mike!

Before he could profusely apologize and further embarrass himself, El spoke up. "Uh, w-we should go... They might think we're missing by now," she excused, but she must've noticed how lame it sounded, 'cause she tried again. "Mike, I... We should go...," Mike didn't know what to do, he was scared, hurt, and extremely confused.

She got up, not waiting for him to respond. El grabbed her bags, gave one last look towards a heartbroken Mike and the hollow tree and stormed off.

Mike couldn't stop the one tear from falling down his face, he blinked away the rest threatening to escape and buried his head in his knees. He felt the cold surround itself around him again, he wanted so desperately to be home, in his bed.

It was only the first day and Mike could already tell it would be the longest five weeks of his life.

Welp, let me know what you think, and please be constructive.

I think updates will come 5 days apart, 10 max.

I have a bunch of ideas for one-shots, so I'll be sprinkling some in every now and then, so look alive ;)