Walkie

Chapter 1

Walkie | Mike and Will: Their Season 4 story:

CONTENT WARNING: cursing, mentions of death
​It's October 4, 1985. I woke up in my bed, for what was going to be the last time. My boxes of clothes stared at me from across the room. It was really happening.
​I rolled out of my sheets and changed my clothes, then packed up my pajamas. They barely fit in the old cardboard box. An aroma of eggos snuck under my door. El must have been awake.
​I picked up my box of clothes and fled out of my room. It hurt too much to be in there.
​"Breakfast is ready," my mom told me from across the kitchen.
​I went to set my box down on the coffee table, but it was gone. With realization sinking in, I set my box on the floor instead.
The sun peeked through our curtains, and I saw a silhouette outside. It was Jonathan. He was just sitting there on our swing bench, rocking forward and back. I knew he was struggling with moving too, but I didn't expect to see him just sitting empty like that. I didn't have time to talk to him right now though because we were gonna be leaving soon.
​I walked back into the kitchen and plopped into my chair at the table. El was sitting next to me, looking at her eggo on her fork. She was examining it like it was some sort of science experiment. After eating breakfast with her every morning for the past 3 months, I knew this wasn't usual of her. She would usually be shoving it in her mouth like she hadn't eaten in months.
​"You okay?"
​She rushed to stop looking at her food and looked at me.
​"Yeah, I'm okay," she quickly responded while holding back her tears.
​"I'm nervous too, it'll be okay. We'll have each other."
​She looked down and barely nodded as her lips were quivering. A tear formed in her left eye. I leaned over and gently rubbed her shoulder. I reached my hand across the table and grabbed the chocolate chips.
​"Maybe some extra chocolate on your eggo will help."
​She turned to me and chuckled under her breath, a small smile growing on her face.
​All of a sudden, my mom comes storming in the kitchen.
​"Alright guys, chop chop. Karen just called and the kids are on their way over right now."
​El shoved her eggo in her mouth even faster than usual. Next thing I knew, the waffle had vanished. She grabbed her crumpled napkin and wiped her mouth. But she missed the whipped cream on her nose.
​"Uh, El, there's still some whipped cream on your nose." I pointed to her nose with my shaky finger.
​Her eyes opened up like a curtain and her jaw dropped. She rapidly brushed her nose off with her hand.
"Oh crap, Mike's gonna be here soon! I need to clean up."
She jumped out of her chair and ran to the bathroom. I knew she was making sure she was all freshened up to see Mike. Even though they weren't technically together anymore, I could tell she still loved him. And I think he loves her too. Even though it hurts, I'm still happy for her. She's been through so much, so I'm glad he can make her happy.
My plate was covered in syrup and my hands were sticky. I grabbed the plate and quickly washed it in the sink, then put it in our silverware box. It was filled to the top.
I paced around the house to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. I opened the door to my room and peeked inside. To my surprise, my stuffed frog was still on my dresser.
Back in fifth grade, Mike gave me the frog for my birthday. The frog was really important to him because he was bullied a lot when he was little. People would always call him "frog face". He gave me the frog to remind me that no matter how much people bully me, I will always be important to him.
I quickly ran to it and picked it up. I hugged it tight and let out a sigh of relief. The sun shone through the window onto the frog's eyes. The eyes reflected on me, and I felt a sense of peace for the first time in a while.
I stood there looking out my window, just reminiscing about my childhood. All of the fun times I had with my friends were gonna be gone soon. My deep thoughts were suddenly interrupted by knocking on my door. I walked over to open it, and Mike was standing there.
"Hey!"
"Hey, Will." Mike looked me up and down, then realized I was holding the frog.
"You still have that? Man that was so long ago."
"Yeah, I do. I wouldn't throw away something my best friend gave to me. Even if it was from three years ago."
Mike chuckled.
​"Have you finished packing yet?"
​"Yeah, I hav-..." All of a sudden, I remembered something I forgot to put away. "Actually no, I forgot one more thing." I rushed over to my dresser and opened the top drawer. There it was, my D & D box. I gently picked it up and walked past Mike. He followed me out of my room. The donation box was glancing at me from the living room. I strolled over and placed it in.
​"Dude, that's the donation box." Mike stated concerningly.
​"I know, I'll just use yours when I come back... if you still wanna play." I was a little nervous bringing up D&D again after our fight last summer. He didn't even seem like he cared about it anymore.
​"Yeah, but... what if you wanna join another party?" He looked nervous asking me this. I hope he doesn't actually think I would leave all of them for some goons in California.
​"Not possible."
​A huge smile grew on his face. I don't know if I've ever seen him smile that big. He gently chuckled as I strolled out of the room. I went out onto the porch to help load stuff into the truck. Jonathan had removed himself from the bench and started helping Mom.
​"Do you need any help?"
​"Yeah, can you bring out the box of silverware?"
​I nodded and waltzed back inside. I leaned over to pick up the box, and I could see Mike and El in my room through the corner of my eye. I looked through the crack in my door from a distance, and all of a sudden I saw her walk up and kiss him. My stomach dropped. I kind of felt like this would happen at some point, but I didn't expect it today. It was a stab in the heart.
​I sniffled for a moment and collected myself back together. The box was getting heavy, so I hurried and took it outside.
​My face was flushed as the cold autumn air hit my face. Water built up in my eyes. I held them in as long as I could. I quickly handed the box over to my Mom and walked away. But I heard footsteps following me. Then a tap on my shoulder. It was Jonathan.
​"Hey, are you okay? It looked like you were crying."
​"I'll- I'll talk about it in the car," I stuttered.
​"Okay." He patted my shoulder and walked back to Mom. Mike's sister, Nancy, was standing in the moving truck pushing boxes around on the floor.
​I carried myself to the porch and sat on the swing, just like Jonathan had. The swing rocked me forward and back like a cradle while I slouched forward. I just watched Nancy and Jonathan helping Mom pack, wishing I had something like they had.
​When Jonathan started to fall in love with Nancy, she was dating someone. I just hope something like that could happen to me and Mike. I mean he obviously loves El, and I do too. But maybe he's not in love with her anymore. I don't know what he did after El kissed him, so who knows.
​Memories flooded my mind of all the things we did together. All of the things he did for me. He was always there for everything. He brought me out of upside down episodes, stayed with me during my possession, and always listened to me. The fact that his support won't be there with me once I move scares me. Even though we can still call, he can't physically be there with me to comfort me anymore. I'm not ready to leave.
​I sat back up and turned around. And to my surprise, I saw Mike's silhouette through the window just looking at me. El wasn't near him anymore, she was still in her room. He was just gazing at me, and we locked eyes. I turned away and slouched back over again. Tears started to roll down my cheeks even more. I had kind of zoned out from everything. I just felt empty, even though everything was sinking in at once.
​All of a sudden, I felt someone tap my shoulder. It was Mike.
​"Hey, um, can I sit?"
​I looked up at him and nodded. I scooted over to give him room. And for some reason, he moved closer to me again.
​"Are you okay?"
​"Yeah, I'm okay," I said sarcastically.
​"Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it. I'm here to listen." He put his hand on my shoulder and kept it there. My cheeks turned pink instantly. Hopefully he didn't notice. I took a deep breath.
​"I'm just not ready to leave you."
​Mike turned and looked at me softly. It seemed like my words took him by surprise. Like he didn't think I cared that much about him.
​"I'm not ready either. I mean, you're my best friend. I need you here. I've always needed you here. The days you were gone were the worst days of my life. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come back alive."
​I saw his eyes start to tear up. I didn't expect him to cry already.
​"Hey, I'm still gonna be here. And we'll see each other on Christmas too. You're not gonna lose me, don't worry. I'm gonna call everyday," I told him assuringly.
​Mike smiled at me.
​"I hope this isn't weird to ask, but I saw El kiss you when I was in the living room. Are you guys back together now?"
​His face quickly turned red and he took his hand off of my shoulder.
"Oh yeah, um, I'm not sure honestly. I think we are? I don't even know how I feel anymore. I just moved on from her dumping me so it's kinda complicated. Plus with her leaving too it's gonna be kinda weird."
​"Ah," I slowly nodded at him.
​There was a long pause of awkward silence. We both just stared into the distance, but he kept glancing at me. I'm not sure why. Maybe he just wanted to make sure I was okay. Eventually, I turned and looked back at him. We just gazed into each other's eyes. It felt like we were the only people in the world. Everything around me was gone. Our hands were by our sides, and they stayed next to each other. His brushed against mine, and he quickly moved it away, almost like he was scared of something.
"And about El, honestly I don't think I have those kinds of feelings for her anymore. But I need to be with her, she needs me. At least for now. But please don't tell her that, okay? I don't want to worry her."
"I won't, don't worry."
​"Thank you. I just know she's struggling a lot with losing Hopper still and I don't want to break her more than she already is. I want her to have some time to heal still."
​"Yeah, that's understandable."
​The sun was shining right in my face. Right when I was about to get up and move in the shade, I heard my mom in the distance.
​"Hey Will! We're ready!"
​I turned and looked at Mike, tears starting to reform in my eyes. His pupils were wide, and he slowly nodded to let me know that it was okay. I pushed myself up and walked over to Jonathan's car. Max, Lucas, and Dustin came out of the house and strolled towards the cars and Mike followed. This was really going to be the last time I hugged them for a long time. I couldn't help but cry.
​Mike walked to me and his face looked blank, like he was processing something. I came forward and wrapped my arms around him. He laid his head on my shoulder and grabbed my back. I didn't want to let go, but Lucas started to walk towards us. I slowly slipped my hands down Mike's arm and pulled away. I wasn't ready, but I had to.
​"Don't forget about me, okay?" He told me, his voice choked up.
​"I never will." We gazed into each other's eyes while we still could. But I couldn't forever. The longer we locked eyes, the harder it would be to leave. I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder. Startled, I turned around.
​"I still can't believe you're really leaving," Lucas told me gently.
​"Me either."
​We embraced in a long hug. I hadn't hugged him in a long time. I started crying even harder. He was one of my closest friends. I don't think he's going to end up reaching out to me much while I'm gone. We were kind of falling out lately, so it wouldn't shock me if I don't hear from him for a while. We let go and I walked to Dustin.
​"I'll miss you dude," he said to me while pulling me in for a quick hug.
​"So will I."
​We separated and I was just looking around. I saw Mike hugging El, their foreheads against each other. Max was standing by them. I didn't know if I should go to her or not. We were never really close, but she was still a friend. I figured I should tell her bye, even if it was awkward.
​I paced over and tapped her shoulder. Startled, she turned around and wrapped her arms around me.
​"Bye, Will."
​We kept hugging for a brief moment.
​"Even though I don't talk to you a lot, I'm still gonna miss you," I told her.
​She let go and smiled.
​"Me too."
​I turned and walked towards Jonathan's car. Nancy was standing there. I've barely talked to her ever in my life, even less than Max. But I gave her a quick hug anyway.
​"Goodbye Nancy."
​She hugged me back gently. We didn't hug for long though. She pulled away and smirked.
​"You're gonna love it in Cali. I know it."
​I chuckled through my tears and walked towards the passenger side.
​I looked over towards the moving van again and saw my mom next to it. Her face was flushed like she had just cried her heart out. She was the only one who didn't have anyone to say bye to. Even though she still said farewell to everyone, she had no one close anymore.
​Ever since Hopper died on the Fourth of July, she's been really unstable. I can tell she tries to act really happy around us for our sake, but I can read through her mask. I mean she lost her best friend and almost boyfriend. She had already lost Bob last year, so it was a lot.
​She looked at me and nodded, signaling that it was time. I slowly nodded back, inhaling deeply.
​I opened the car door and sat myself down. I put my backpack between my legs and adjusted the seat. It was nice and warm from the sun shining on the car. Mom and El were hopping into the moving truck. Everyone was just watching them. Max wrapped her arm around Lucas, and Mike just looked blankly at both our car and the truck. If I went back out and said a final goodbye, I wouldn't be able to leave.
​Jonathan opened the driver's door and sat down. He adjusted the mirrors and put the key in the ignition. The car made a loud whirring sound and warm air started to come out of the heat vents.
​"You ready?"
​I looked over and nodded hesitantly. Tears were filling my eyes.
​"Alright."
​We slowly moved forward, following the moving truck. I looked back through the window, watching everything I ever loved fading away. Mike and I locked eyes again. It's like we were glued together from a distance and couldn't separate from each other until a barrier was put between us. The first tree on the corner went past my window. He was gone. ​
Jonathan and I sat in silence for a while. I think we were both still processing everything. He had to leave his girlfriend, so I know it was a lot for him too.
He turned and briefly looked at me.
"So, what was wrong earlier?"
I turned away from the window, tears still in my eyes.
"I just didn't want to leave everyone."
I wasn't ready to tell Jonathan the truth. Today was already rough; I didn't want to risk having a bad reaction to me confessing I have a crush on a boy in addition.
"I know, me either. But hey, you'll still be able to call them. And I know you're gonna make a bunch of new friends too. You're a nice kid. I know everyone's gonna love you in Cali."
I turned and smiled at him.
"Um, I saw you crying on our swing this morning," I admitted to Jonathan.
"Oh. It was the same reason as you. It's just hard to leave everyone."
"Yeah," I paused briefly. "Do you know what you and Nancy are gonna do?"
"I don't know. I'm gonna still stay in touch with her obviously. So we'll see how it goes."  He paused briefly. "I wonder what will happen with Mike and El."
My face went frozen, and my stomach sank.
"Oh yeah, um, I saw them kiss before we left actually."
"Oh."
My eyes were rapidly looking around the car. I didn't want to look at Jonathan. I felt too guilty for having a crush on my sister's boyfriend to look him in the eye. But I had had a crush on him for years, even before she came into our life.
We sat in silence for the rest of the car ride. The only thing heard in the car was the faint music pumping from the speakers.
After a long 10 hours of driving, we stopped for the night. We already could barely afford our new house, so we couldn't afford a hotel for the night either. We just parked our cars in an empty mall parking lot and slept in them for the night.
It was pitch black out. Only the street lights shining through the window lit up the car. Jonathan and I had put the carseats down so we would have more room. We put a blanket on the floor of the car to lay on. We got settled down and he fell asleep in a flash. I turned over and laid on my chest. I grabbed my backpack and took out my journal. I opened it and flipped through the pages.
I used to draw pictures for Mike all throughout the summer. I would work on them when I was home and show them to him when I saw him next. Some of them didn't get past the sketch stage, and I kept them in this journal.
We also were kind of each other's pen pals for a bit too. We came up with doing that since we knew we were gonna write each other letters all the time once I moved. So it kind of helped us prepare for that. I took all of his notes with me and kept the important ones in here. One of them was really sweet.

Hey Will! I had so much fun today. I know we had already watched Day of the Dead, but it was so fun to watch it again. Plus, it was nice to have a do-over since you had your mind flayer sense in the middle of the movie the first time we watched it. Thank God it didn't show up this time. It wouldn't have felt right watching it with anyone else since I first saw it with you. I hope you had fun too.
- Mike

I remember opening that note for the first time in my room one night. It almost made me cry then. But this time it did.
I kept flipping through more pages and came across some more drawings. Then I saw another note he sent me.

Hi Will! I don't know when you'll get this, but thank you for the drawing you gave me! You're so talented, I could never draw like that. It was so good that it deserved to be hung up on my wall. Don't worry, I still have all your other drawings too, but this one was too good to just be put in a binder. Make sure to send me more!
- Mike

​I cherished this one forever. It made me feel like I meant something special to him. I kind of needed that reassurance that he still cared about me after our fight we had last summer.
​I reminisced for a few more moments, then closed my journal. I closed my eyes and dozed off, my eyes still watery.
​The blinding sun peeked through the windshield and my eyes peeled open. I sat up, feeling groggy from my lack of sleep. I stayed up too late thinking about my friends and Mike. I really didn't think I would be able to handle moving away from them, but there was nothing I could do about it.
​I was just sitting, looking at the floor, when I suddenly heard pounding on the window. I jumped and turned around. Thankfully, it was just my mom.
​"Come on, we've got to get going!" It was hard to even tell what she said at first because her voice was so muffled from the glass window between us.
​I reached over and shook Jonathan's shoulder.
​"Get up, we're about to leave." He groaned and slowly rose up. We crawled back to the front seats and got situated.
​Mom came back one more time to make sure we were up.
​"You ready?"
​"Yeah, we're ready!" Jonathan yelled back.
​My mom jogged back to the moving truck. It was amusing seeing her try to jump up into her seat. I could see El's hand reaching over and helping to pull her up. Then we took off.
​Jonathan and I were just sitting there, looking at the road ahead of us. Then Jonathan broke the silence.
​"I heard you crying last night."
​I looked at him, my eyes big and my cheeks flushed.
​"Oh, uh, yeah it was nothing."
​"Will, you know you can talk to me, right?" His eyes were full of concern and empathy when he turned towards me.
​"I know. It's just... I don't know, it was dumb."
​"Hey, it's alright. I won't judge."
​I took a deep breath and sighed. My breathing became shaky.
​"I just... I miss everyone so much, but..."
​He turned and looked at me, frowning. I think he knew I was about to drop a bomb on him.
​"I especially miss Mike. A lot." Jonathan leaned over and patted my shoulder.
​"I understand. I miss my friends a lot too."
​"I know, but... this is different."
​He stared into the road, his eyes slowly getting bigger.
​"He's more than a friend to me. He's not like you with your friends. I really like him. A lot."
​I looked down at my seat. Droplets of water flowed down my cheeks.
​"I just... I feel like a shitty brother. El has been through so much, and now I go and start missing her boyfriend? I can't do that to her."
​I could see Jonathan out of the corner of my eye just staring blankly. I could tell he was still processing it all.
​"And I know this is a lot to drop on you, but I'm not like you. Love is easy for you. But I don't know what to do about this. It's the real reason I was crying yesterday honestly. I wasn't ready to leave him."
​Scared, I glanced at Jonathan, trying to read his face.
​"Well, this is a lot. But I'm not mad at you or anything. I just need a second to process it." He looked down at me and gave me a slight smile.
I turned to my right and looked out the window. The foliage on the highway blurred as we drove quickly past them. The scolding sun warmed my skin.
Jonathan kept driving. I could tell he didn't know what to say. Jonathan is already a pretty quiet person, but he was being extra silent at the moment. I was nervous for what he would eventually tell me.
We eventually got off of the highway and got stopped at a light. He quickly turned and looked at me.
​"How long have you liked him?"
​I wasn't expecting him to bombard me with this question so soon. It took me by surprise.
​"Oh. Um, since we were little."
​"You know what I mean, Will. Not when you started liking him as a friend, but when you really liked him."
​"But I have really liked him since then. I mean not right when we met, but it didn't take too long."
​"Oh."
​There was an awkward pause.
​"I mean, it's okay for you to like him. Just don't take any jealousy out on El. She's really fragile and she doesn't deserve to get hurt like that. If things end with El and Mike, then that's different. But wait for things to end with them first before pursuing Mike at all. Don't split them up for your sake."
​My cheeks flushed and I was rushed with guilt. I hadn't even done anything, but for some reason I felt like I had already done something wrong.
​"I won't. Don't worry."
​"So that's why you were crying last night, huh?"
​"Yeah..."
​We sat in silence for a few moments. Then he turned to me and smiled.
​"Hey, um, I made a mixtape before we left that reminds me of Nancy. Wanna listen to it together? Maybe it'll help you calm down some."
​I wasn't really sure how thinking about Mike's sister would help me at all, but I figured at least maybe some of the songs would make me think of Mike.
​"Sure."
​"Awesome." Jonathan reached down the side of his car door and pulled out a cassette. Then he popped it into the car. After some static sounds played, Should I Stay Or Should I Go started piping out of the speakers.
​"Oh yeah, I had to put a throwback in the mix too. I can't make a tape without this on here anymore."
​I turned to him and chuckled.
​"I sang this all the time when I was in the Upside Down. I'm pretty sure Mike heard me singing it one time." We both burst out laughing. "God, that's gonna keep me up at night."
​"Don't worry, he probably forgot about it." Jonathan's bright smile lit up the car.
​"No way. He still remembers how we met. He definitely remembers." I chuckled and looked down at my hands in my lap. Jonathan chuckled with me.
​We sped down the road, finally enjoying ourselves some. It had been a long time since I had listened to a mix tape with Jonathan. It brought me back to the old days. My worries fled my mind, until we arrived in California.
​Hours later, we drove into our new neighborhood. I started to shake. It was really hitting me that we were moving. This was real.
Jonathan saw me shaking and put his hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, it'll be okay, alright?" I nodded hesitantly back.
We slowly pulled into our new driveway. I got a quick look at the exterior, and it was a lot bigger than our old house. It was a warm terracotta color. It looked nicer than I expected. Jonathan stopped the car and we got out. I put on my backpack and we walked over to Mom and El by their moving van.
"Do you have the keys?" Jonathan asked Mom.
"Yeah, hold on."
She looked down in her purse and scrambled through everything.A small lighter fell to the ground, along with some scrap papers. El and I walked over and picked them up for her. She was too busy panicking looking for the keys, so we just held onto the stuff that dropped.
"Damnit, where the hell are they?" she spoke to herself. "Wait..." She clenched her lips and stuck her arm down into the depths of her bag. She pulled out the keys and a bright smile grew on her face. "I've got them!"
"Alright, let's go!" Jonathan cheered optimistically.
Mom started jogging up the driveway and towards the front door. She looked back at us until we caught up to her.
​"You guys ready?" She asked with a smile on her face.
​Jonathan, El, and I all nodded in unison. Mom stuck her key into the doorknob and turned it. She gently kicked the door and pushed it open.
​We strolled inside and looked around at the tan colored walls. It looked so empty because we hadn't moved our furniture in yet.
​"It's so big in here," I thought outloud.
​We continued to pace around the halls.
​"Hey, there's your room Will!" my mom shouted from across the house. I sped over to her and was greeted with a big empty room. The walls were a golden brown and it had a really nice window. I slowly walked inside the space.
​It smelled like old wood and dust settled on the floor. Setting my bag on the floor, I looked around, trying to think about how I wanted to arrange everything.
​One thing I knew was that I wanted to make drawings and paintings a lot. I mean, I've been drawing since I was little, and it's always helped me cope. I wanted to start making art for my friends and mailing it to them.
​I wanted to start making paintings soon, so I went back to the car and grabbed my box of paint supplies. As I was leaving my room to go to the car, I saw El leaning against the wall in the hallway. Her face was red and wet.
​"You okay, El?"
​She took her hand and wiped under her eyes. She was trying to be subtle about it. I went over and gave her a hug. She rested her head on my shoulder for a brief moment.
​"Yeah, thanks," she said while continuing to wipe away her tears.
​She quickly strolled past me and went towards her room. She flung her arm back to shut the door from a distance, then turned around frowning. Her eyes were glued to the doorknob like she was in a trance. Scoffing, she walked back to the door and slammed it shut.
​El used to have telekinetic powers, but she lost them last summer before she moved in with us. I've seen her try and see if they're back multiple times, but her face is always flooded with disappointment anytime she does. I feel bad for her. Her powers were her safety net, and she doesn't have that protection anymore.
​I fled the hallway and trotted down the driveway to the car. To my dismay, I saw my mom on the driver's side crying. I tiptoed over and tapped the window.
​"Mom, can I come in?"
​She frantically looked up, her eyes wide. Pushing her bangs in front of her eyes, she nodded. I don't think she wanted anyone to see her crying.
​Slowly, I opened the door and sat down.
​"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.
​She kept shaking her head.
​"No it's fine, I don't want you to be worrying about me or anything. You guys are going through so much already. I don't wanna put more on your plat-"
​"Mom, it's okay. You can tell me. I don't mind, really."
​She had a look on her face as if she felt obligated to tell me now. Reluctantly, she began to explain everything to me.
​"I just wish Hop was here. And I feel like I'm a horrible mother to El and I really wanna try my best to make her happy because she lost her dad and-"
​"You're not a bad mother. You're the best mom in the world. I mean, you sacrificed everything to get me back, twice. And now you've welcomed El with open arms and treated her like your daughter."
​"But she's still so upset. I can't even make her happy."
​I wasn't exactly sure what to say.
​"I know she's struggling, but losing Hop isn't your fault-"
​She started crying really hard.
​"But I closed the gate on him! If I hadn't, I wouldn't have lost him, El wouldn't have lost him, Murray wouldn't have lost him! It's all because of me!" She banged her fist on the steering wheel and accidentally hit the horn. The loud honk made her jump.
​"If you wouldn't have shut the gate, all of us would have been dead! Including El. You saved all of us."
​Mom leaned back in her seat, building up momentum to hit the dashboard again.
​"But I couldn't save him, Will! If I would have turned the fucking key sooner, none of this shit would have ever fucking happened! If I would have looked up the right planck's constant, none of this would have happened! If I fucking tossed that gun to Hop correctly so he could shoot that asshole, he wouldn't be fucking dead!"
​She fell back in her seat, sobbing as she let out all her anger in one huge exhale. I turned and looked out the window to see Jonathan approaching the car. He opened the door.
​"What's going on out here?"
​"Nothing, just go inside! Both of you!" Her voice was shaking from how much she was crying.
​Reluctantly, I got up from my seat.
​"What the hell was she screaming about?
​"Just, give her some space, Jonathan."
​I continued to walk past him and quickly opened the front door. It made a loud thud as I slammed it behind me.
​"What's wrong?" El asked as I walked past her room.
​"Nothing," I said gently, hoping to not worry her.
​Going at the speed of a horse, I ran to my room and threw the door shut. Taking a deep breath, I layed down on my back. I didn't even have my bed in the house yet, so the floor was my only option.
​Tears poured down my face.
​"Damnit!" I shouted as I threw my fist to the floor.
​My tears turned into waterfalls, and I couldn't even catch my breath. I was shaking uncontrollably everywhere. I sat up, trying to find something I could throw or anything. As I looked around, I saw the frog Mike gave me on the floor. El must have brought it in the house. I caught my breath for a second and crawled over to it.
​Gently, I picked it up and just looked at it. I sat criss-crossed and just held it in my lap. Tears came down even harder. I put my head down on it and just sobbed into it. I was already upset, and now I missed Mike even more. I needed him by my side, especially right now.
​"Fucking damnit! Fuck!" It sounded muffled as I shouted into the frog.
​I stretched out and just layed on my chest, using the frog as a pillow for my head. Everything released at once: my tears, my breath, my stress, everything. I didn't want to even get up, this was the only comfort I had left.
​Suddenly, I remembered that I had my backpack in my room. That's where my walkie was. The only way Mike would hear if he was at Dustin's Cerebro, but it was worth a shot.
​I dug through my bag, trying to find it. Eventually, I felt a hard box. There it was.
​I quickly pulled it out and lifted the antennae. Shaky, I began to speak into it.
​"Mike, do you copy? It's Will."
​In silence, I sat waiting. The walkie didn't speak.
​"Mike, it's Will. Do you copy? Over."
​I sat there on the floor, slowly losing hope. All of a sudden, someone came in on the walkie. It was Mike.
​"Will, this is Mike. Do you copy? Over."
​Nervous, I waited for a moment before I would answer.
​"Yes, it's Will. I copy, over."
​"Hi! I'm surprised you're up still! It's so late. Over."
​"Well remember, time zones. Over." As my tears slowly faded away, I was able to let out a chuckle.
​"Oh yeah, true," Mike started to laugh. "I feel so dumb now, over."
​"Wait, what are you doing up so late then? Isn't it like midnight there? Over."
​There was a long pause of silence.
​"Oh, um, I just wanted to say hi! Over!"
​"But you have school tomorrow! You're gonna be exhausted! Over!"
​"It's worth it though, over."
​I chuckled again. Hearing his voice washed everything away.
​"But still! You should get some rest! Over!"
​"I wanna talk to you though, please, Will. Over."
​Getting nervous, I continued the conversation.
​"I want to talk to you too, but don't blame me if you're exhausted tomorrow. But I'm here to talk as long as you want. Over."
​"Okay, thank you. Over."
​Everything was silent for a while. I wasn't sure what to say exactly. Suddenly, he broke the silence.
​"I really missed you earlier. Over."
​"Me too. Man you missed it, I was crying right before you called. So thank you for calling cause hearing you calmed me down again. Over."
​"Same goes on this end. I was already a mess within 30 minutes of you leaving yesterday. Over."
​There was silence for a moment. I wanted to say something, but I was scared it would make it awkward. But I decided to be brave and say it.
​"I just wish I could hug you right now. Over." I started to tear up.
​Mike was silent at first.
​"Me too," he told me, choking up. "Over."
​Still laying on the floor, I rested my head on the walkie. It felt like he was right there with me. Like I could feel him through the speaker. My ear was blown out when Mike spoke again. He was laughing and crying.
​"I just wish I could fly you back home. And then you could sneak to my house and I could hide you in my basement so I won't lose you again. Over." I could hear his tears in his voice. I wanted what he told me too.
​"I'll just steal Jonathan's car in the middle of the night, drive the thousand miles back to Indiana, and bam, I'll be back with you, over." I chuckled as I rambled on.
​"I think my plan sounds better," he laughed, "less illegal too. Over."
​I slowly realized how much I already missed his witty jokes and humor. That was just one of the things I loved about him.
​"Smart idea. Another smart idea would be for you to go to sleep though, it's getting late. Over."
​"Nooo, talking to you is the only good thing that's happened today. Over."
​I wasn't sure what I should say. I didn't want to upset him.
​"I know. It's been the highlight of my day too. But you really need sleep. I don't want you to miss school. Over."
​He was quiet for a moment.
​"Okay, fine," he responded gently, "I'll go to sleep. Thank you for talking to me tonight. Goodnight Will. Over."
​"Anytime, I'll call you tomorrow. Goodnight Mike. Over and out."
​I didn't close the antenna yet. I wasn't ready to.
​I layed there, my ear against the speaker and my hands wrapped around the body. It was the closest thing to hugging Mike that I had. It was already 10pm. I fell asleep right there on my floor, holding him tight.