"EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE" Will Byers x Reader

Changes // chapter 4

Y/n's POV 

'Are you in my mind right now?' Will whispers. I close my eyes, focusing on all of the sounds. I can still hear the group arguing, but when I open my eyes, I'm with Will. 

'I think-I think so,' I say. 'Where are we?' 

The lights go out, shrouding us in darkness. 'Don't let go, okay?' I hold onto Will's hand tightly. The machines flicker around us, and the door of the Arcade swings open. Bits of white fluff float around us. 'I think we're in the...' 

'Upside down,' Will finishes. Red lightning cracks over head, illuminating a large shadowy figure in the sky. 

'Will, Y/n! Are you okay?' Mike's voice breaks through the darkness. My eyes snap open. Mike's standing next to the door. 

'Yeah. I just...' Will trails off, looking out at the parking lot. 

'We needed some air.' I answer for him. 'All that arguing is exhausting.' 

Mike scoffs. 'It's your turn on Dig Dug. Let's take that top score back, huh?' 

I'm not entirely sure why Will doesn't want to tell Mike the truth. Or why I don't. But something tells me, the danger isn't fully over yet. Maybe it never will be. 

...

'Hey, Will?' I ask, standing next to his locker. He seems distracted by something, looking down at a piece of paper. I close my eyes, zoning in on his mind, seeing what he sees. Huffing, I grab the paper. 'Who the hell did this?'

Will smiles slightly, despite the sadness in his eyes. 'Don't worry about it.' 

'Worry? I'm not worried.' I reply. 

'I know that look.' Will slams his locker, tossing the paper aside. I laugh. 

'What look?' 

'The one that means you're ready to go all supervillain on someone,' Will states, matter-o-factly.

'Oh, so now I'm a supervillain?' I snort. 'Look, tell me if it gets worse, Kay?' 

Will sighs. 'Alright. But don't do anything stupid.' 

'I won't,' I promise. 'If someone hurts you, it's their funeral.' 

I give Will a final shrug, as he grins widely. 'At least it's not mine. Don't know if I could stand another funeral.' 

I bite my lip. 'Don't remind me.' 

'You didn't go to it, did you?' Will tilts his head. 

'No.' I admit. 'I didn't want to believe you were dead. The funeral would've made it much more real.' 

'True.' Will nods, walking by my side to Mr. Clark's class. 

'You better not die on me,' I glare. 

'Cross my heart,' Will replies with a smile. 

...

'Meet the human brain. I know. I know, it doesn't look like much.A little gross even, right? But consider this.' Mr. Clarke slams a fake brain on the table. 'There are a hundred billion cells inside of this miracle of evolution. All working as one. No, no, I did not misspeak. I did not stutter. A hundred billion.' The door opens, revealing the principal, and a girl with red hair. 'Ah, this must be our new student.'

'Indeed. All yours.' The Principal says. 

Mr. Clark nods, and smiles at her. The girl immediately tries to escape to the back of the class. 'All right. Hold up. You don't get away that easy. Come on up. Don't be shy. Dustin, drum roll.' He points across at the curly haired boy. 'Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine.' Dustin does a final roll. The girl looks slightly annoyed. I squint, trying to read her emotions. Annoyance, obviously, a slight amount of disgust, worry, anger, and finally, sadness. Interesting. 

'It's Max.' The girl mutters. 

'Sorry?' Mr. Clarke tips his head. 

'Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max.' Max mumbles, her head lowered. 

'Mad Max.' Dustin hisses. 

'Well, all aboard, Max.' 

...

'There's no way that's Mad Max.' Mike comments, as we stand by the fence after school. I roll my eyes. 

'Can we please just get over it?' I groan. 'Who cares?' 

'William does,' Lucas raises his eyebrows at me suggestively. I roll my eyes, but stay put. 

'Girls don't play video games.' Will says. I open my mouth dramatically. 

'Excuse me, William?' 

'I mean-I-uh, you could, I mean you can, if you uh, if you wanted to. I mean, you do, and you're great at it-but uh-' Will's stutters make me smile slightly. 

'Will.' 

'What?' 

'Calm down.' 

'Right.' 

'And even if she did, you can't get 750,000 points on Dig Dug. It's impossible.' Mike adds, his voice raising in annoyance. 

'But her name is Max.' Lucas points out. 

'So what?' Mike scoffs. 

'So, how many Maxes do you know?' Lucas retorts. 

'I don't know.' Mike says. 

'Zero. That's how many.' Lucas replies. I roll my eyes. 

'I'm going to go introduce myself.' I say. 

'What? No!' Mike says loudly. 'You can't!' 

'Why not?' I shake my head. Ignoring his feeble protests, I make my way up the the redhead. She looks at me when I approach her, frowning a bit. 

'Um, hey,' I bite my lip. 'I'm Y/n Wheeler. I'm in your science class.' 

'Right,' Max mutters. 'Are you friends with the stalkers?' 

'Stalkers?' I echo. She points. I see Dustin, Lucas, Will and Mike staring. 'Right, them. Yeah. They just want to find out if you're the one who beat their high score on Dig Dug.' 

'Oh, at the Arcade?' For the first time, Max smiles a bit. 'Yeah. Yeah, that was me.' 

'Cool.' I grin. 'Do you-do you want to hang at the Arcade after school?' 

'Sure,' Max nods, hesitating. 'That would be cool.' 

..