Requested by user TABMayfield.

Content Warning: use of a derogatory term relating to people who are mentally disabled

September seemed so far away and then all of a sudden, it was the 9th and El was bouncing around the cabin. She was so hyper, in fact, that Jim nearly forbade her from her favorite sugary breakfast of Eggos and syrup, but he knew he couldn't do that to her. After all, it was her very first day of school and the kid was excited to get to spend all day with her friends, instead of stuck in this stuffy cabin. So, she got her waffles topped high with whipped cream and sprinkles and doused in buttery syrup.

Well, Jim thought as he washed the dishes, those teachers are sure gonna earn their pay today.

El sat by the window, having pulled the kitchen chair over so she could gaze out into the woods. Summer still lingered in the air. The grass and leaves were green, the morning air was warm and comfortable, and El could even hear the birds chirping through the walls of the cabin.

She had woken up at five in the morning, just like a little kid on Christmas Day. Thankfully, she knew better than to wake Hopper up too, so she silently got dressed and then waited until 6:30 when the man finally rolled out of bed.

El had put on a simple blue dress with sensable black shoes, the perfect first day of school outfit and one that Joyce had actually picked out for her. The hair was another story. Her curly brown locks were adorable, but untameable and difficult to manage. She knew if she brushed them out, they'd get poofy and frizzy, which was "in style" as Nancy had told her, but she didn't have all the hair sprays and products she had. So, she grabbed a blue headband and pushed her hair back like Nancy showed her. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.

The girl fussed in front of the mirror for about a half hour, picking at blemishes on her face and tugging at her dress. El was nervous. She'd done more than most thirteen year olds, but she'd never been to school before. She couldn't even get a good feel for what school would be like, since the boys and Max seemed to have a love-hate relationship with it. One day, they would complain about bullies and homework and the next they were chatting nonstop about what cool science experiment they'd gotten to do.

"Alright, kid. You ready?" Hopper called as he stuffed his wallet in his back pocket. El perked up immediately and nearly fell off the chair.

"Yes! Ready!" She replied and grabbed the purple backpack that Jim bought her the week before. Inside were notebooks, pencils, crayons, and all sorts of school supplies the girl would need.

Hopper couldn't say he was thrilled that El was going off into the world, but she was so happy and excited, and he knew he was making the right decision. He watched as she ran to the truck and scurried up into the passenger's seat. If she'd had the keys, she would have driven off without him!

Jim got in the driver's side and they started down the winding country road to the middle of town where the school was. He glanced over at his daughter, who was vibrating with excitement as she pressed herself against the window to watch the trees go by.

He did worry about her, quite a bit in fact. She had learned so much from Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy tutoring her, but she was still a little behind. He hoped that with real lesson plans and concrete homework, he would be able to catch her up. He'd have her moved into different classes, sign her up for more tutoring, send her to summer school, anything they had to do to help her. He knew El was smart. All he had to do was get her to show her intelligence in a more uniform setting.

He told the teachers that El was his new adopted daughter, but she'd had a rough few years and didn't speak much. He tried to make her origin story sound as vaguely tragic as possible so they wouldn't ask too many questions, and he seemed to have succeeded. Everyone at the school agreed to keep an eye on her and not expect too much the first few weeks. He also anticipated weekly meetings with her homeroom teacher to make sure she was on track. Anything, he'd decided. He'd do anything for that girl.

One thing he didn't worry about was the other kids. El was already starting at a new school with a leg up on other kids; she already had five friends. And, although he thought all of them were weird as hell and he wished he didn't have to think of Mike and El being together together, they were good kids and he felt safe leaving her with them.

They pulled up to the school and Hopper circled around to the parking lot so he didn't have to drop her and keep moving. He put the car in park once he found a space and turned to El who was beaming up at him. He couldn't fight back the smile that blossomed on his face in return.

"Alright, kid, what's your name?" he asked, trying to sound more serious than he actually did.

"Jane," she replied.

"But you'll ask people to call you El…"

"Because my middle name is Ellen."

"Good. And what are you not going to use in school?"

El rolled her eyes and stuck out her lower lip. "Powers."

"Good." Hopper reached over and ruffled her hair a little, careful not to disturb it too much. He didn't have to be awake at five in the morning to know she'd put a lot of effort into her appearance. He then pulled off his bracelet-Sara's bracelet-and handed it to her. "For good luck."

She slipped it on, just as she had during the dance. "Good luck," she repeated. El then smiled expectantly up at Jim and he knew she was waiting for when he would finally release her. He chuckled, reached behind her, and pushed the passenger door open. The girl scrambled out so fast, she nearly fell.

"Have a good day, kid. I'll be here at three."

"Three. Got it. Bye!" She waved at him and then took off running towards the school. Hopper watched her until she disappeared inside the double doors.

Hopper tapped on the steering wheel of his truck as he waited in the parking lot for El to show up. He let out a deep sigh, threw his neck back towards the roof of the car, and leaned forward to pop a few joints in his back. He knew he should be more patient. It wasn't even three yet.

His day at work had been grueling. Well, there were a couple traffic stops, a half hour court session he had to show up for, and a woman crying about a lost cat or dog or some kind of pet. But, after battling otherworldly beasts and saving kids from alternate dimensions, a lost pet seemed pretty softball compared to what could be happening.

As he left, the Harrington boy was walking in. Steve was going to shadow a few officers some days out of the week after his college classes. He'd wanted to join the police force right away, but Hopper managed to convince him to get a degree first and then a job was as good as his. It turned out that "If you don't go to college, I'm not getting you shit because I don't have time for another dumbass on my police force" was argument enough.

Finally, the bell rang and instantly kids flooded out of the school. Hopper straightened up and searched the crowd of kids, but he realized he wouldn't be able to tell one from the other until they were in the parking lot.

Thankfully, it only took a few more minutes before he spotted El marching across the street, over the grassy divider, and into the parking lot where Hopper's truck was. He leaned over and opened the door for her so that a minute later, she could climb into the front seat.

The moment she sat down, he knew something was wrong. She stared straight ahead at the glovebox and her lips were pursed as though she'd sucked on a lemon. He looked her over worriedly, noting that she seemed physically okay, but her shoulders were slumped and she looked completely dejected.

He put the car in drive and eased out of the parking lot. "So, uh. How was school?" he ventured, stealing a glance at El.

"Stupid," she spat.

Okay, so that's where they were. He figured it was normal for the kid not to enjoy school, but it seemed to go deeper. "You hung out with your friends, right?" He couldn't imagine the gang being anything other than perfect angels towards her, but he had to be sure that wasn't the cause of this attitude.

"Yeah," she shrugged bitterly and turned to glare out the window.

Hopper sighed, drummed his fingers on the wheel again and then finally reached over to turn off the radio. "Kid, what happened at school today?" he asked.

For a long moment, El didn't say anything. Hopper worried this would be another one of those issues that he'd have to pry out of her. "Nothing," she said. There was a short pause before she continued, "Bad. Not a good day."

Now they were getting somewhere. "Why was it bad?" Hopper asked.

She didn't respond. Instead, after another moment of thoughtful silence, she asked, "What is 'retarded?'"

"What?" Jim quickly looked at her, his brows furrowed and his mouth opened his shock. "Why would you want to know that?" But, El didn't answer his question and instead just looked back at him with a hard, dejected stare. Hopper turned his attention back to the road. "It means slow. Held back. Um, not smart, I guess. But it's not a nice word and you should never use it. Who did you hear it from?"

El looked down and then back out the window. "I'm retarded."

Suddenly, Hopper swerved and pulled the car over onto the side of the road. Both were pulled forward as the car came to a quick halt and he threw the car into park. He whipped around to El who looked back at him with wide eyes. "No. You. Are. Not," He seethed, pausing between each word. "You are not. Who said you were?"

"A boy," El squeaked out. "A few boys. I couldn't answer questions. They said I was retarded."

"They're wrong."

"I didn't get any answers right."

"They are wrong."

"No they're not!" El shrieked suddenly and then promptly burst into tears. Hopper immediately felt bad. Maybe this wasn't the best way to talk with her about this. Wordlessly, he undid his seatbelt and and gathered her into his arms. Her wet tears hit his skin and he felt terrible. He wished he could take this pain away from her.

"Kid, I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. I shouldn't have yelled." He gently pushed her away and looked down at her tear stained face. "But those kids are wrong. You're very smart, school just sucks."

El shook her head. "I don't know anything. I'm stupid. I'll never be smart."

Hopper studied her face for another moment before leaning back. "Do you want to give up, then?" he asked. She looked at him incredulously. "I'm serious. Do you want to stop going?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"What was the best part about today? Not the bad stuff, just the good stuff."

El thought about that for a moment before giving the answer Hopper knew was coming. "Friends."

"Were your friends around when those kids said that to you?"

"Yeah."

"And what happened?"

"Yelled. Made them go away."

Hopper placed a hand on her shoulder as El had the realization that he was hoping she would come to. She didn't want to stop going to school, she just wanted to be treated kindly. And, while that might not happen on its own, she had great friends there who would protect her from bullies.

"Listen, kid, I know it's hard," Hopper started. "I can't even imagine what you're going through. I mean, I was the new kid at some point, but I'd always been in some kind of school. You're starting all over and some kids, they don't understand when other people have tough times. I don't know why they were mean to you, but it's probably 'cause they are either mad about something personal or they don't wanna be the next kid that gets picked on. That's what's stupid. But you got your friends and they've got your back."

El pondered this for a moment. She looked up at him with big brown eyes outlined with redness and searched his face. "Not stupid?"

"What? No!" Hopper chuckled and pat the girl on the back. "Stupid? Really? You think someone stupid could learn as much as you have in the past few months? Kid, you went through hell. Those kids don't have shit on you. So what if you got a few questions wrong? You saved their asses from the literal end of the world!"

That brought a smile to her face and she leaned over, grabbing Hopper into a hug. He rubbed circles on her back, grateful that she was finally brightening up. It pained him to know that someone had been mean to his little girl, but he was also glad for the opportunity to talk through these feelings with her. That's what Joyce always said, anyway, that the kid needed chances to learn how to deal with different emotions. And no emotion stung more than the hot anger and deep sadness of some shit kid bullying you on your first day.

"Come on, kid. I'll pick up burgers for dinner okay? Sound good? Then we'll tackle that homework and show them how smart you really are."

El nodded, feeling lighter. Hopper put the car back in drive and started down the road again. She was still a little sad from school, but she was excited to see her friends again.

Besides, it was kind of fun to watch Max beat that mean kid up. But, she figured, Hopper didn't need to know all the details.

Thank you for the suggestion! I also just want to note that I abhor the use of the 'R' word in a non-academic, insulting manner, but I felt it would be jarring and time period-appropriate.

I'm also on team Max and El being bffs and Max would throw down for her girl.

Thanks for reading!