- Mr. Melvald: Okay, that looks like twenty-two dollars and fifty-six cents.
- Joyce Byers: Uh, yeah, you know, uh... I gave Jonathan all my money for... for the copies for the posters. Uh, I need an advance.
- Mr. Melvald: Yes, well, of course. Of course.
- Joyce Byers: Thank you. Yeah, uh, I was thinking two weeks?
- Mr. Melvald: Yes, I understand, but, you know, I have to pay Jeffrey for covering...
- Joyce Byers: Donald. I've been here ten years. right? Have I ever called in sick or missed a shift once? I've worked, uh, Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving. I don't know where my boy is. He's gone. I don't know if I'm... gonna ever see him again, if he's hurt... I, uh... I need this phone and two weeks' advance. And a pack of Camels!
- Mike Wheeler: Hey, um, I never asked your name.
- [El shows her arm]
- Mike Wheeler: Is that real?
- [goes to look closer; El pulls away]
- Mike Wheeler: Sorry, I just... never seen a kid with a tattoo before. What's it mean? Eleven?
- [El points to herself]
- Mike Wheeler: That's your name?
- [El nods]
- Mike Wheeler: Eleven... okay. Um, well my name's Mike, short for Michael. How about we call you El, short for Eleven?
- [El nods]
- Mike Wheeler: Um, well, okay. Night, El.
- Eleven: [softly] Night, Mike.
- Mike Wheeler: You're in trouble, aren't you?
- [Eleven just looks at him]
- Mike Wheeler: Who are you in trouble with?
- Eleven: Bad.
- Mike Wheeler: Bad? Bad people?
- [Eleven nods]
- Mike Wheeler: They want to hurt you? The bad people?
- Eleven: [Makes a gun hand, points to her head, then at Mike] Understand?
- Jonathan Byers: Do you even like baseball?
- Will Byers: No, but... I don't know. It's fun to go with him sometimes.
- Jonathan Byers: Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something?
- Will Byers: I don't know.
- Jonathan Byers: No, all right? He hasn't. He's trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay?
- Dustin Henderson: [watching Mike give El a sleeping bag] You really think she's psycho?
- Lucas Sinclair: Wouldn't want her in my house.
- Nancy Wheeler: [he's stuffing some Eggos down] Slow down, Mike. That's disgusting.
- Mike Wheeler: Do a lot of studying last night?
- Nancy Wheeler: Yeah, actually, I did.
- Mike Wheeler: What was your test on again? Human anatomy?
- Nancy Wheeler: [Nancy kicks Mike's chair and he kicks back] Hey, what's going on?
- Nancy Wheeler, Mike Wheeler: Nothing.
- Dustin Henderson: He's never this late.
- Lucas Sinclair: I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed.
- Dustin Henderson: I thought you liked his plan.
- Lucas Sinclair: Yeah, but obviously it was stupid, or he'd be here.
- Mike Wheeler: Is there a number we can call? For your parents?
- Dustin Henderson: Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?
- Lucas Sinclair: Did you run away?
- Mike Wheeler: Are you in some kind of trouble?
- Lucas Sinclair: Is that blood?
- [reaches for her]
- Mike Wheeler: [slapping his hand away] Stop it! You're freaking her out!
- Lucas Sinclair: She's freaking *me* out!
- Dustin Henderson: I bet she's deaf.
- [claps his hands at Eleven; she recoils]
- Dustin Henderson: Not deaf.
- Mike Wheeler: All right, that's enough, all right? She's just scared and cold.
- Mike Wheeler: [handing her clothes] Here. These are clean, okay?
- [El presses her cheek against them, then stands and tries to undress. The boys scatter; he stops her]
- Mike Wheeler: No, no, no!
- Dustin Henderson: Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!
- Mike Wheeler: See, over there? That's the bathroom. Privacy. Get it?
- [shows El to the bathroom, tries to close the door and she stops him]
- Mike Wheeler: You don't want it closed?
- Eleven: No.
- Mike Wheeler: Oh, so you can speak. Okay, well... how about we just keep the door just like this?
- [cracks it]
- Mike Wheeler: Is that better?
- Eleven: Yes.
- Dustin Henderson: This is mental.
- Mike Wheeler: At least she can talk.
- Lucas Sinclair: She said 'no' and 'yes'. Your three-year-old sister says more.
- Dustin Henderson: She tried to get naked.
- Lucas Sinclair: There's something seriously wrong with her. Like wrong in the head.
- Dustin Henderson: She just went like...
- [mimics taking off clothes]
- Lucas Sinclair: I bet she escaped from Pennhurst.
- Mike Wheeler: From where?
- Lucas Sinclair: The nuthouse in Kerley County.
- Dustin Henderson: You got a lot of family there?
- Lucas Sinclair: Bite me! Seriously, though, think about it: that would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy.
- Dustin Henderson: Why she went like...
- [mimics taking off clothes]
- Lucas Sinclair: She's an escapee is the point. She's probably a psycho.
- Dustin Henderson: Like Michael Myers.
- Lucas Sinclair: Exactly! We should've never bought her here!
- Mike Wheeler: So you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?
- Lucas Sinclair: Yes. We went out to find Will, not another problem.
- Officer Callahan: Missing kid, suicide. You must feel like a big-city cop again, huh, Chief?
- Jim Hopper: Well, I mostly dealt with strangers back then. Benny was my friend.
- Dustin Henderson: I think we should tell your mom.
- Lucas Sinclair: I second that.
- Mike Wheeler: Who's crazy now?
- Lucas Sinclair: How is that crazy?
- Mike Wheeler: 'Cause we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?
- Lucas Sinclair: So?
- Mike Wheeler: So if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and *your* mom...
- Lucas Sinclair: Our houses become Alcatraz.
- Mike Wheeler: Exactly. We'll never find Will. All right here's the plan. She sleeps here tonight.
- Dustin Henderson: You're letting a girl...
- Mike Wheeler: Just listen! In the morning ,she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings the doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. They'll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she comes from. We'll be totally in the clear! And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Will.