𝙗𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 - byler

11

it was almost noon. mike refused to get out of bed the next day except when he got up to grab the breakfast his mom left in front of his bedroom door.

he was in bed on his phone, staring at jane's texts. she asked him if it's true that he got suspended because someone told her that.

after thinking of what to tell her, he typed, "literally not true. staying home from school cuz im sick." he hit send.

mike knew that jane would probably eventually find out that he's lying, but he didn't care. all he could think about was will's bruised face that he punched repeatedly. yesterday, he was mad, but now he felt bad and embarrassed. especially after nancy yelled at him last night.

he doesn't know why he did what he did. he wanted to put all the blame on troy for provoking him and for already having will cornered in the bathroom but he knew he also had himself to blame.

-

"why is this book so freaking high?" will said to himself as he went on his tippy toes to try to get a book that was on the highest shelf. he was too stubborn to go get one of the step stools that the school library had.

a step stool was placed on the ground next to will, "thought you might need this."

will looked over at the person. he vaguely recognized him from pe class during freshman year.

"oh, thanks."

the person had a friendly expression, "uh, bill, right?"

"it's will," he stepped up on the stool.

"oh right, will! will, will, will. i won't forget your name again," he continued to repeat will's name to himself quietly.

will smiled to himself. no one ever put in that much of an effort to remember his name.

"anyways, i'll see you around, will." the person waved and flashed will another smile which made will's knees feel a little wobbly.

will held on to the shelf for a second to regain his stability.

i forgot to ask for his name.

"there you are! i thought some idiots had you cornered or something."

"lucas, stop worrying about me. i give you permission to worry when those mouth breathers come back to school," will said as he stepped down from the stool with a book in his hand.

"dude, look at your face-"

"-yeah, i know i look like shit!" lucas looked taken aback. "what?" will looked at him weirdly.

"it's so weird hearing you swear."

will walked towards the librarian to check the book out.

-

karen had left lunch outside of mike's door several hours ago. it was around dinner time now so she knocked on his door and picked up the empty dishes.

"mike, come down for dinner."

"i'm not hungry!" mike felt his stomach grumble.

"we need to talk," karen opened his door and mike scrambled to shut his laptop.

karen found this a little suspicious. "what were you doing on your computer?"

"n-nothing."

karen also saw his phone on the bed. "i want all of your electronics now." karen cursed herself under her breath for not doing this earlier.

"but i have homework-"

"-now. i'm not letting this suspension be a vacation for you."

mike groaned and put his phone and computer on the edge of his bed. "there."

"what about your ipod?"

"i don't even use that anymore!"

"mike." he got up and looked in his closet for his ipod. "i'm waiting."

"yeah, i know."

karen walked towards him and looked at his closet. "why is it so messy in here?"

mike found his ipod and handed it over to his mom, "here's the stupid thing." he shoved past her and sat on his bed.

"your dad and i want to talk to you so come downstairs. also, i cooked meatloaf."

mike lied back in bed and groaned. his mom walked out and mike followed shortly after.

-

"just don't let that faggot get to you," mr. walsh said while chewing on steak.

mrs. walsh sighed at the language her husband used but didn't say anything about it.

"his family is just an entire train wreck. got nothing better to do than to get guys like you in trouble. next time if you're gonna fight him, make sure you get that queer real good."

troy just listened while nodding as his father went on about the byers family.

-

after getting scolded by his parents, mike somehow convinced them to let him keep his computer to do schoolwork.

mike thought it wouldn't hurt to try another gay quiz. he wanted to try to be more openminded and honest this time.

"do you ever fantasize about kissing someone of the same sex?"

mike immediately had someone pop into mind who wasn't his girlfriend and felt embarrassed.

"we're gonna be honest, we're gonna be honest," he whispered.

he took his time with each question and eventually got his results.

mike squinted at his computer, "bi-curious? what the fuck is that?"

-

"if we play, do we get one of those cool t-shirts?" max asked. she, lucas, and will were standing in front of a bulletin board filled with papers about different clubs and school activities to join.

dustin laughs, "yes!" he made sure his hellfire club shirt was visible.

"really?" max pretended to be interested.

"everyone gets a t-shirt. we make 'em ourselves, and if you," dustin paused, "you're being sarcastic."

"it sounds kinda cool," will shrugged.

max rolled her eyes and pulled will and lucas away.

"she was being sarcastic," dustin muttered.

"maybe we should join," will tried to convince his friends.

"we are trying to look for more activities to put on our college application. do you think being a 'hellfire club member' will help?" max laughed.

"well, colleges like it when you... join stuff you're interested in."

"so why haven't you joined the gay straight alliance?" lucas asked.

"you could maybe befriend troy and james there."

will giggled, "i forgot about them... kissing."

the person from the library waved as he walked past them, "hey, will!"

will waved back.

"woah, he's hot." lucas' heart slightly dropped when max said that.

will gave max a playful glare.

"i think that's the guy he beat up," someone in an ushered voice said to jane while pointing at will as he walked by.

"you have got to be kidding me. look at the poor dude... i didn't think mike was a violent guy." jane tightly embraced the books in her arms. "plus, he lied. he lied to me."

"you gotta break up with him," courtney chimed in.

"but we just started dating."

britney shook her head, "but he lied to you. what does he think you are? an idiot?"

jane bit her lip, "you're right. i'm dumping his ass."