The cafeteria was bustling with lunchtime excitement. Mike Wheeler kept anxiously looking up, searching the room. Besides one class that he had with her, this was the only time of day he saw her, and that was only for the five minutes it took her to eat the sandwich she always brought from home. Then she would disappear for the rest of the lunch period.

"I wonder where she goes every day." Mike picked at his food. He'd seen her leave just a minute ago.

"Who, the weirdo?" His friend Lucas rolled his eyes at Mike.

"She's not a weirdo. We don't even know her." Mike was annoyed. They all could be considered weirdos. Lucas wasn't being fair. Mike crammed the rest of his lunch back into his lunch bag. "I'll see you guys later. I have to go do something." He didn't wait for a response and had soon left the cafeteria and was heading in the same direction he'd seen her go. Jane. Her name is Jane. He recalled the class he had with her, chemistry. She sat in the back and was always very quiet. He'd find himself wanting to turn around and look at her during class, maybe smile at her, but from his seat in the front of the room he knew he would be caught by someone, if not the teacher then another classmate who would undoubtedly make a big deal of it and end up causing both of them embarrassment.

He had seen her turn left as she exited the cafeteria so if she wasn't in the hallway she had to be either in the gym or the library. He took a chance and checked the library first. It was silent as he opened the doors, not a single student milling about the room. It was a large space though so he thought he would do a quick once over to check in the stacks and the study carrels. He had looked almost everywhere, not even seeing the librarian, when he noticed in the far corner a table. He couldn't help but stop where he was when he saw her sitting at the table with her nose in a book. The noontime sunlight was filtered through a skylight and fell around her head and shoulders like an angelic blanket.

Jane Hopper had started her junior year of high school in a new town and at a new school. She'd had a hard life growing up, having been adopted just a year prior by a policeman who had taken her from the foster home she had been in when there were some issues with the government. But she'd always had issues with the government. Even as a baby. She knew she was different and she could tell her peers thought so as well. She had never had any friends, always the butt of jokes or the "freak" to the other children at school. When she was around 12 years old she just started keeping to herself and not exerting any more effort on trying to make friends when she clearly never fit in with the other kids. She had been escaping to the library at lunchtime every day since the seventh grade so she could avoid the torture of having to sit alone while everyone else seemed to have a social group. She had gotten used to it. It was just the way her life was going to be. She had accepted it. She had her books and she liked photography. There was something about being behind the lens that appealed to her. She liked the quiet serenity of nature. She was engrossed in her book, The Stranger by Albert Camus, and didn't see anyone standing in front of the table until she heard a slight cough and looked up.

"Um, hi." He said.

She looked around, making sure he was talking to her. He was.

"Hi."

"Do you mind if I sit down?" He asked.

"I don't mind." She went back to reading.

He sat down at the table, staring at her. She seemed to sense his staring and looked up at him. When she made eye contact he took his chance.

"I'm Mike. Mike Wheeler. We have chemistry together. Chemistry class, I mean."

"Right." She said quietly. She was not used to talking to people. Or, she wasn't used to people talking to her.

"So you're Jane?"

She shrugged. "I guess so. I call myself Eleven though."

"Why?" He asked, genuinely interested.

"I have my reasons." She stated flatly, signaling that she was not wanting to take that part of the conversation further.

Mike sighed. He hoped he didn't sound too ridiculous as he finished what he wanted to say to her.

"Um, so anyway, I noticed you always leave the cafeteria and I was wondering why. I followed you today, well, kind of. I don't mean to pry but I was just curious."

She put her book down and seemed thoughtful for a minute. Mike noticed that her eyes were the most lovely shade of brown.

"I don't have anyone to sit with and people make fun of me so I just come here every day so I can be alone. It's easier to be alone when people aren't pointing it out to you." She looked rather sad, but then went back to reading.

Mike's heart ached at the sentiment. She was really pretty, now that he was sitting right in front of her and didn't have to steal sideways glances. And she was smart, judging by her reading choices, and her voice, though soft, was like listening to music.

"So what do you like to do for fun?" Miked asked, trying to change the subject to something that might elicit less melancholy answers.

"I like to read." She said.

Great, now I'm just pissing her off. Mike thought.

"And I like to be outside, like in the woods. I like photography."

"I'm in the backpacking club." Mike offered. He tended to ramble when he was feeling nervous. "We have an overnight trip planned for next weekend. I'm kind of looking forward to it. I got a bunch of backpacking stuff for Christmas last year because my dad used to backpack when he was young and he seemed excited that I was interested. He's never excited about my interests." Mike noticed that she was now staring at him. He continued, "my friends aren't really into it but I thought it would be cool to try something new." He finally stopped himself. He felt like he was wasting her time, annoying her, or just making himself look like a complete idiot.

She looked at her hands, still clutching her book. "I'm in that club. I wanted to take pictures of the scenery. I've never been backpacking before though. My new dad pulled some strings to get me into the club after sign-ups had already passed." She looked hopeful but worried as well.

"Are you scared to camp in the woods?" Mike asked.

"Not really. I'm scared to be with a group of people that don't really want me to be there. I want to experience it for what it is, not try to be invisible the entire time so they don't call me names and make me hate even being there." Her mouth turned into a frown. It wasn't an angry frown, it was like she was trying to control her face so her lip didn't start trembling.

Mike couldn't help himself. He reached across the table and patted her hand. He could feel his ears getting red and his cheeks flushing. "It's going to be okay. I'll be there. I will stick up for you. You can walk with me if you want." He pulled his hand back, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. She seemed like she needed a hug but he didn't think the first ten minutes of their friendship was the time for him to do that.

"Thanks, Mike." She smiled, a crooked little half smile that made him feel butterflies.

He coughed, trying to break himself out of the spell he was sure he was under. "So, should I call you Jane or Eleven?"

"I prefer Eleven but I know it's very weird. I'm weird enough. You can call me Jane so you don't get picked on too."

"How about I call you El? Short for Eleven? I don't think that will draw attention."

She looked pleased. Someone was trying to put her feelings first and it was a foreign concept to her. Especially for it to be someone her own age. She didn't want to get hopeful that she might actually have a friend but it was hard not to when he was looking at her with those eyes and he seemed so caring and honest.

"I'd like that." The bell rang and she stood up. "Thanks, Mike. It was nice talking to you. I would like to walk with you on our backpacking trip." She smiled at him then, not a half smile but a real smile. It took his breath away. He watched her go and the warning bell had rung by the time he remembered that he still three classes that day. He got himself in gear and just made it to chemistry. He wasn't late but he was the last one there. He spotted El in the back of the room and their eyes met. He couldn't help but smile at her. She smiled back and he noticed how her cheeks turned pink. It made him feel weird, but in the best way. He took his seat and class started.

The plan for the backpacking trip was that they would leave the school on a Friday afternoon, hike a short distance to some pavilions where they could camp for the night and eat dinner, then the following day they would do the bigger part of the hike and camp one more night. Their food would be waiting for them at the campsites each night so that they didn't have to bring a lot of extra weight. They were to all have snacks and lunches with them but were supposed to keep the rest of their equipment as light as they could. They were going to be hiking the Falls Canyon Trail and Mike was excited. He and El were sharing a seat on the bus, her having the window seat, and he could tell she was eager to see waterfalls and whatever else she might want to photograph. They were bouncing down the road when one of the group leaders stood up to address the students.

"Just so everyone knows, when you go backpacking, for some reason it always rains." He waited for the collective groan from the students to subside before he continued. "Rain gear was on your list of essentials. I just wanted to remind you so that when it happens, and it will, I don't get a lot of people crying that they want to go home."

"I hope it doesn't rain." El was dejected. "I don't have any rain gear. I only have what my dad put in my backpack."

"I have extra stuff. I know they said to pack light but I brought all of my gear. I have an extra poncho. Or you can wear my raincoat and I'll take the poncho. Either way." Mike's warm smile immediately lifted her spirits.

They finally rolled into the parking lot near the trailhead. Everyone clambered out of the bus and went about finding their gear. Mike shouldered his pack and then helped El find hers amongst the bags sitting on the ground, having been removed from the compartment on the bus.

"It's that one." She pointed at a drab green pack that looked like it had been to Vietnam...twice. Mike picked it up and helped her put it on.

"Look at the freak and her Army bag!" Someone yelled.

"Fuck off, Troy!" Mike seethed.

"Mike, it's okay. Just ignore him." El put her hand on his arm and he immediately felt calm again.

"We're going to have a fun time, El. I promise. This is going to be a good weekend." He smiled. "And think of all of the cool pictures you'll get to take!"

She grinned. Oh, wow. Her grin!

"Does your camera have a self-timer?" Mike inquired.

"Sure. I might have a crummy backpack but I have a nice camera. Hop got it for me for our first Christmas together."

"Hop? You call your dad Hop?"

"Well, it's like a nickname for Hopper. Everyone calls him that. Maybe if I'd lived with him since I was little I'd call him dad but it just seems strange since I'm seventeen and I've never really had a dad. Maybe someday I'll call him dad but for now, Hop is fine for both of us."

The explanation seemed to make sense to Mike. They followed their group onto the trail. Their leader was giving a list of instructions before they set off in groups of two so that they didn't trample each other or clog the trail for other hikers.

Mike and El joined the group, standing in the back of the pack.

"Now, stay together at all times. The difficulty of this trail is marked "hard" so there is always the danger of falling or getting hurt in some way. If this happens use your signal whistle to alert someone. If it starts raining stop and get your rain gear on and then continue. We will meet at a group of pavilions tonight where you can all set up your tents and we'll have dinner ready when you get there. The pavilions are on the trail so you will run into them as long as you stay on the trail. And that brings me to the most important rule...stay on the marked trail. Extremely important! This forest is expansive and if you'll take a moment to look around, you'll notice that the trees look the same. It would be very easy to become lost quickly and that could end up being disastrous. Follow the white blazes at all times."

Students paired off and started up the trail, leaving space between themselves and the group just ahead of them. Mike and El ended up as the last group to set off. After a little while they couldn't see anyone ahead of them but it was fine since El was bust taking pictures and Mike was busy watching her do it. They had been on the trail for about an hour.

"Why do you call yourself Eleven?" Mike asked as El took a picture of the horizon. The leaves had the mid-October colors that were currently at their brightest. It was breathtaking to look out at all of the foliage.

El sighed. "I like being friends with you, Mike. I don't want you to think I'm weird. I mean, I am weird, but I don't want to be too weird and then you don't talk to me anymore."

"That won't happen."

El pondered. She let her camera rest from the neck strap and walked over to Mike. She was wearing a leather bracelet on her left wrist. She looked down at it and then pulled it back. Mike gawked at what he saw. It was a tattoo that said 011.

"What is that?" Mike asked. He had taken her wrist in his hand to inspect it and even though she felt exposed and scared, his hand on her wrist felt nice so she let him do it.

"Well, it's a tattoo. I've had it since I was a baby."

"Who would tattoo a baby?" Mike asked, incredulous.

El shrugged. "I told you I was strange, Mike. Maybe someday I'll tell you the whole story but for now I'd like to see what it feels like to have a friend for once so I'm going to hold back the stuff that will send you running. For now. If it's okay." Her eyes pleaded with his.

"Sure, El. But please know that I'd like to know the whole story. I won't turn away from you. If you trust someone with sensitive information they should count themselves lucky that they seemed trustworthy enough to be told. I won't let you down."

And she knew he wouldn't. She just wasn't ready for him to really see her for who she was. It was nice being normal and with him she felt like a normal teenager.

"Can I ask why you still call yourself Eleven when you do have a real name?"

"Growing up I was always alone. The tattoo says 011. 0 means nothing. Eleven is two ones next to each other. It's so I always remember that even if I'm next to someone I'm still alone."

A/N: Let me know what you think! I know what is going to happen, just not sure if anyone else wants to know.