stranger things imagines.

persistence: lucas sinclair.

lucas sinclair knew from the moment he gained footing in his high school life,
that one day he would end up dating y/n l/n.
it didn't matter that she was part of an entirely different friend group,
it didn't matter that she had never looked his way,
it didn't matter that they didn't share any interests just yet,
because he would do anything to be the perfect man for her.
all he had to do was break the barrier of her blindness and as soon as y/n saw him for his true self,
she would swoon just as hard as he did the very first time he laid eyes on her.
"oh, give it up,"
mike groans from lucas' side,
where they stand just a few feet away from y/n l/n herself.
"i'm telling you, man. i've hit a growth spurt! i've even got a few chest hairs now, okay? she's...she's bound to fall in love with me."
in the midst of her conversation,
y/n feels a pair of eyes baring through her and turns to find the person in which this stare belongs to.
when she settles her gaze on lucas sinclair,
he hurries to bury his head in his locker.
"yeah, real good job at wowing her, sinclair,"
dustin taunts with a laugh.
lucas swats away at his friends before asking,
"is she still looking?"
"nope. you're good."
but when he pulls back to stare at her again,
he finds that her eyes haven't moved an inch.
he freezes while dustin bursts into laughter at his side.
her eyebrows draw together in confusion at his behavior,
which forces his heart to race in his chest.
"dude, wave at her!"
mike whispers harshly,
giving this paralyzed boy a shove to snap him out of it.
he does what mike suggests and brings his hand up in the gesture of a wave.
y/n's once confused expression melts to be replaced with a smile,
and she waves back.
lucas smiles immediately upon the action and burns it into his memory for forever to come.
then she turns away from lucas and back to the conversation before her.
"oh, my god,"
he whispers then exclaims louder this time,
"oh, my god!"
"wow, she waved at you. wonderful news."
lucas rolls his eyes then gives dustin a playful shove.
"y/n waved at me!"
"what's next? a smile?"
"she did that too!"
lucas can't help but to laugh along with his friends,
even through this incessant taunting.
the rest of the morning is pure bliss for lucas sinclair.
the perfect meeting,
the perfect first glance.
he thinks he's rather untouchable,
until it all comes crashing down at lunch.
he sees her and at first,
even dares to walk up to her and talk.
maybe pass a few casual words around,
maybe even invite her to his basketball game tomorrow.
but when he sees her lips plant themselves against the cheek of someone he knows all too well,
he knows it's over before it's even begun.
and to make matters worse,
the cheek that was fortunate enough to feel y/n's soft lips was none other than jason carver.
"oh, you're kidding me,"
lucas groans.
he falls limp into his designated spot at the lunch table,
surrounded by his old friends and newer ones.
"woah...when did that happen?"
dustin asks.
even he finds it odd.
a girl like y/n wasting her time with jason?
lucas has never seen a greater injustice.
it bothers him so much,
that when her eyes find way to his,
he hurries to look away without much of a friendly greeting this time.
y/n watches as lucas turns away from her.
she wonders what happened in the last hour that turned his giddy smile into this.
this rush to look away from her,
accompanied with a stare of stoicism.
jason prods at her leg to say,
"what? you checking out sinclair?"
she shrugs.
"maybe...why? you jealous?"
y/n teases with a grin thrown his way.
he rolls his eyes,
considering they'd been best friends for far too long to be anything more than that.
it's hard to look past the many events that happens in childhood.
"i could set you up, you know? he's on my team."
"really? couldn't tell by the jacket none of you will ever take off."
she prods at the food in her tray while listening to his chuckle.
"i don't think he likes me, anyway."
"i could always ask."
y/n shoots him a glare and demands,
"don't you dare."
jason throws his head back with a laugh so loud,
that it reaches lucas sinclair in his moment of sulking.
"probably wasn't even that funny,"
he mumbles.
"come on! maybe they're, like, cousins or...something,"
will offers,
though he doesn't look completely convinced of this himself.
lucas gives will a look of ire to ask,
"you kiss your cousin?"
the boy sits back in defeat,
all while his friends are left to watch.
until lucas leaves because y/n's giggles are too much to bear,
especially since they're brought forth by none other than jason.
the pompous douchebag.
doesn't y/n know how much better she'd be with me?
lucas thinks as he walks through the isolated hallways,
trying to find hope where it's been lost.
meanwhile his friends stay behind in the cafeteria,
plotting a way to bring their friend and his lover together.
consider it an impossibility and dustin henderson will think of a hundred different ways to make it true.
including this.
but before dustin can do much,
he comes to find that y/n l/n has disappeared.
where else would she be besides chasing down lucas sinclair?
they've never had a conversation in their lives,
yet that smile brought her in for reasons unknown.
"lucas! hey,"
she greets once he finally stops speed walking to face her.
a look of surprise falls over him,
but he quickly shakes it away to say,
"hey, y/n."
"you okay? i saw you leave like you were sick or something."
she exhales a small laugh to make this interaction less awkward.
lucas' heart softens at her question.
not only did she notice him leave,
but she chased him down to ensure his health.
how could he ever stop loving her?
"i'm fine, yeah. just...just, uh, going to the library for some-some extra studying."
he says it like he's not even sure of it himself,
which is how y/n knows he's lying.
but she won't press it any further than she already has.
chasing him down was a bold move,
even by her standards.
"oh, okay! well, uh...the library's upstairs, you know?"
lucas scratches the back of his neck at this.
he knows he's been caught.
but what's he meant to do?
admit he left because seeing her with with someone else made him physically ill?
especially when that someone else was ultra-douche jason carver?
no,
better to horribly lie then admit the godawful truth.
"yeah, yeah! i was taking the long way, you know? get some...some exercise in."
"right! yeah...okay, well..."
y/n looks around for something more to say but is left empty.
"i'll see you around, lucas."
"yeah! definitely."
she turns to walk away and balls her fists together.
you're embarrassing yourself,
she reprimands,
grimacing at the interaction. 
was that all it took?
a smile and suddenly,
she's dying to find out more about him?
when she turns the corner to go back to her lunch table,
she slams right into a group of boys and stumbles back.
"i'm so sorry,"
she says.
"i wasn't paying attention."
"hey! y/n l/n,"
dustin henderson exclaims,
like it's a surprise to see her despite them going to the same school since they were toddlers.
"it's y/n, guys."
she waves slowly at the boys to mumble a small,
"hey."
"mind if i steal you for a minute? to talk about uh...math homework?"
"math? we have history together—"
"yes! history,"
dustin corrects before hurriedly pulling her aside.
"how are things with jason? rocky, maybe? feeling like a breakup might be coming up? it happens, especially since mercury is in retrograde, you know?"
dustin taps his chin with his forefinger before he says,
"you know...if you want to break up with jason, say for someone better suited for you, you can tell me."
y/n can't decide if she wants to laugh or berate dustin.
she wants to laughs at the absurdity of her ever dating jason,
but she also wants to berate him for getting in her personal life.
"i'm not...i'm not dating jason. where did you even get that idea?"
"don't tell me you're his cousin...you shouldn't kiss your cousin!"
y/n scoffs to say,
"he's my childhood best friend, you freak. besides, i kissed him on the cheek. what does this matter, anyways?"
a look of relief overcomes dustin at her words,
despite them ending with an insult.
then he leans in to inform her,
"know my best friend lucas? well...you didn't hear this from me, but he's been hopelessly in love with you since freshman year. now, i told him i said, "pick someone else. she's a different species." but he didn't listen...obviously."
y/n doesn't ask him to clarify what he means about her being otherworldly.
she figures it has to do with the difference of cliques,
but how different are they really?
dustin and y/n have been somewhat friends since elementary school.
lucas and jason are on the same team which makes them friends.
their worlds practically bleed together.
"he likes me?"
"like is too small. love is too much...how's devoted to you sound?"
"like we're married,"
y/n answers.
"fine...uh, he admires you?"
when she doesn't answer with a quick quip,
but instead let's this newfound knowledge settle within her,
dustin grows into a wide grin and points.
"you like him too, don't you?"
"i don't know."
"how do you not know? you either do or you don't. and since you can't say you don't like him, it means you do."
y/n furrows her eyebrows at the boy before her and mumbles,
"you're insane."
"maybe. but i'm right."
she rolls her eyes and accepts defeat.
maybe all it took for lucas to like her was one look.
maybe his one smile towards her is means for a crush after all.
"he thinks you're dating jason,"
dustin now says.
y/n shakes her head quickly.
"well, i'm not. that's gross."
she bites at the skin around her nails before finding the courage to ask dustin,
"will you tell him that? that i'm not with jason?" 
he smiles greatly.
"i'd be honored to."
"you're enjoying this, aren't you?"
he nods.
"watching my best friend pine over a girl way out of his league, only to find out she likes him too? yeah...it's great entertainment."
before she can say anything else,
the bell rings above them and brings their lunch period to an end.
"i'll tell him to meet you at the end of the day, by the back entrance, okay?"
"o-okay,"
y/n agrees.
dustin hurries off and meets with the rest of his friend group,
surely to inform them of this union,
and leaves y/n in a tangle of her own nerves.
what will lucas say to her at the days end?
will they agree to explore this?
or maybe his crush only survives on her ignorance.
now that she's breached that and offered more,
maybe it'll fade and he'll find another to fixate on.
she groans into her hands at the anxiety of it all,
but finds small pleasure in it.
these are the things one remembers years into the future.
how nervous they were to meet their crush,
how flushed they were thinking of them romantically,
how beautiful it is to anticipate and wish for more,
yet fear it so.
jason comes up from behind y/n and asks,
"ready?"
to begin their routine walk to class.
she knows she should tell jason what's happened,
but she figures she'll wait until there's more to tell.
and knowing jason...
he'd probably try to interrupt her and lucas' meeting as some sort of hazing or just to humiliate the girl that's almost like his little sister.
so y/n will sit on this small secret and smile for the rest of her day.