dull - Byler

-2-

wills POV

biology, my first class of the day, of course had to have a test, we always have tests on Fridays. after making it through the test, I turn to my left to talk to Mike. but, to my disappointment he seems to have disappeared.

I don't know the reason, but he's been like this the whole fall.. pulling away from the group, always in the back. the others don't seem to notice, but I do. I notice that he's silent, walking behind slowly. I notice him missing classes, and failing them.

I know he's in pain.

and right as I look to his seat, he bursts through the door, and I can't help but stare. not because he's clearly drained, but because of how beautiful he is. I've always adored his brown eyes, that seemed to have become dull.

he takes a seat to my left, blankly staring at the board. I grab a piece of paper, and quickly write-

"are you coming to the movies?"

I nudge him, and he looks over to me. handing him the paper, his eyes seem to light up a bit. as he writes, I watch him. there's dried blood all over his hands, and his hands are pale.

I'm given back the note, which reads-

"yeah, pick me up."

I smile after reading it, glad I'll get to see mike (and my other friends) over the weekend. glancing back up at him, he gives me a weak smile. just like this morning, he jumps when the bell rings. he grabs his bag, which seems almost empty. he looks back at me, and I realize I also need to get up.

we don't have our second class of the day together, or third. ill see him at lunch.

making my way to geometry with max an el, he seems to stay close to me. when I reach the door, I look back to say goodbye, but he isn't there anymore.

"will. lets go!" max yells at me. since el moved in, the three of us have gotten really close, max is as much as my sister as el.

as I start walking again, she turns back around, and her hair swings in the air. I quickly take a seat, to not aggravate max even more.

despite being in geometry class well above our grade, we grasp the concept easily, so we spend most of the class passing notes, at least when we had our work done.

caught up in talking about our plans this weekend, whos gonna buy snacks, tickets, etc, we don't realize how fast the time past, a 45 minute class seeming like 10 minutes.

startled by the sudden ringing, I spring out of my seat. we all very quickly make way to English, where we see mike leaving. instantly, we make eye contact, and I walk up to him. he walks past, and into chemistry.

I walk in and read the instructions on the board. even though I'm a fast worker, the assignment takes the whole class. after putting it on the teachers desk, she thanks me, and everyone runs to lunch.

I saw the party at our usual table, everyone already eating, except for mike. lunch passes quick, just as normal. and my afternoon passes by too.

I'm glad that for once, I'm happy. but, that doesn't matter. because I know mike isn't, that's my main concern. so, when we're leaving, I talk to him. I want to be here for him.

"I know you wanted to pick you up this afternoon but, do you want to come over? I think it'll be easier that way."

"yeah, sounds good.." the wind blew in his hair, and he looks so beautiful, even under the gloomy sky.

so even when everyone else splits up, El and Max hand in hand, on their way to Max's, Lucas and Dustin going their own ways, me and mike walk slowly on the sidewalk.

I don't know what to say, but I also don't want to walk in silence, so I attempt to start conversation.

"hey.. how have you been?" I ask, looking in his eyes that are devoid of life.

"...good. how are you?" he said, not averting his eyes from the ground.

"I've been doing better..." I'm well aware he's lying, but I don't want to bother him. I shouldn't force him to open up.

against my wishes, the rest of the walk we were silent, and I only broke the silence when I opened the door and told him we were alone.

"both my mom and Jonathan are working late, so we have the whole house to ourselves!"

"so, what do you wanna do?" mike says, talking for the first time in a while.

"do you want to look at my new drawings?" after I say that, his eyes seem to light up.

mikes POV

"do you want to look at my new drawings?" will asked, much to my own excitement.

I nod, excited to see his drawings. I haven't been over here in god knows how long, so I guess it's fair I'm pretty excited.
   
     making our way to his room, I realize that his house had changed a lot. new paint, new flooring, it looked pretty good.
 
    but his room hadn't changed one bit, covered in posters wall to wall, along with pictures and drawings.
   
     he closes the door behind me, standing, looking around his room.

    after hearing him sit on his bed, I follow behind him. quickly after I sit next to him, our shoulders touching, he hands me the sketchbook.

   as I flip through the pages, he explains every drawing to me, whether it be a DND character, one of our friends, or castle byers. he's a great artist, so I know who and what every drawing is without him having to explain, but hearing his voice seems to soothe me.

    time passes quickly, and before I know it we're off to the movie theater.

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