Ashes Falling Upwards (stranger things, Will x OC/reader)

Will Byers

So that's Will Byers, huh?

Ash examined the back of the boy's head two rows in front of her as the teacher droned on about conjugation of verbs. He was kind of short, with a bull cut, a plaid button up shirt and a simple pair of jeans, listening attentively to the lesson and jotting down notes occasionally.

He certainly didn't look like someone who'd been kidnapped by a strange creature. He didn't look like someone who knew anything about the things she'd been through.

But the more she watched him the more she noticed the little things he did, the way he twitched at any sudden noises, the little bounce his foot did randomly, the way his eyes flicked back and forth between things like a scared animal.

It definitely seemed like he'd been through something. Not only that, it seemed like he was still going through something. Ash wondered if it was related to that place, just like her problems were. Even if not, she still needed to talk to him and figure out what happened. So they could help each other. So they could understand each other. And, most importantly, to find out if he knew about the shadow tendrils in her dream.

"Ashley Park!" Mrs. Connor yelled, snapping her book closed. "Do we have a problem with your ears on our hands or do you think you can just ignore me?"

Ash flushed as the entire class turned to her. A couple kids giggled. Will frowned. Erin gave her a joking eye roll from the next seat over.

"N-no, mam. I'm sorry."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Then could you please tell me the correct conjunction to use here?"

"Sooo," Erin teased, sidling up to Ash as she swapped out her books in her locker, "someone's got undead eyes for Zombie Boy."

"Got what for who?" Ash murmured absentmindedly, her mind still locked on the look Will had given her. What if he hated her? Or thought she was weird? Would that affect her probability of becoming friends with him?

"Zombie boy." Erin swung open her locker, pulling out a tube of lipstick and a handheld mirror.

When Ash gave her another blank stare the girl sighed, applied a line of light pink lipstick, then pointed the butt end of the tube at Will as he walked by, chatting with a couple of his friends.

"Byers. You were staring at him all period."

"Ah." Ash worried at the corner of her book,
tearing the paper into tiny shreds, drifting towards the floor like those particles of gray dust.

"I don't get what you see in him, but if you really like him that much I guess I'll help you out." Erin finished her top lip, turning her head from side to side in the eye of her mirror.

"L-like him?" Ash yelped, looking around her nervously. "I totally do not like him."

"Riiiiight. And that's why you were staring at him so hard you didn't hear the teacher."

"I don't like him," Ash tried again, closing her locker and leaning against the cold metal of  the door, "I'm just interested in him."

"That's literally the same thing, Ashie." Erin finished and snapped her mirror closed, turning to her with a mischievous smile. "And I say go for it. I mean, they're, like, the nerds, but we're basically background characters in this school, so we don't have much popularity to lose anyway."

"I'm telling you, it's not like that!" Ash tried, but her friend was already making her way towards their next class. Groaning, she followed her, feeling like the girl had something sinister planned.