One Summer//Byler

Chapter 7; Threat

9:21 am June 22nd, 1986.

Will's POV;

I wake up after a long night. I don't even remember falling asleep last night. After I took a shower, I just went straight to my room, and I don't remember anything else. I must have been so tired that when I reached my bed I passed out. It doesn't matter now. "Just because you don't like girls doesn't mean you can say things like this about me and El's relationship!!!" Oh yeah... that. Those words Mike said last night replay in my head over and over again. I'm just going to eat breakfast.

I get out of my bed and rub my eyes. I open my door after giving myself a moment to collect my thoughts. I get into the kitchen, and my mom is making breakfast. "Good morning, Will!" My mom says with a smile on her face as she spreads blueberry jelly on a piece of toast. I sit down in one of our old chairs. "Do you want strawberry or blueberry?" My mom says. "Blueberry, please." I say. My mom hands me the piece of toast with blueberry jelly on it that she was previously working on. "Thank you, mom." I say with a half smile.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" My mom says as she washes off her butter knife before making more toast with jelly. "Oh, it's nothing." I say. I already could tell she knew. "Is it about you and Mike's fight?" She says, stopping what she's doing, placing her right hand on the counter and leaning on it while she puts her left hand on her hip. I say nothing in response to her. I stopped eating, too. I just froze. "Will, you can talk to me." She says, walking over to my side. "I-I know. It's just not that important." I say. "Will..." She says. "I'm fine, mom." I say, looking up at her. "Alright..." My mom says in defeat, knowing she can't get me to talk if I'm not ready to. I continue to eat my toast. "Once you're done, can you wake up Jonathan and Argyle." My mom says, resuming to making toast. "Yeah." I say dryly.

I finish up my toast, and I head to Jonathan's old room. I knock on his door loudly. No answer. I knock again. "Jonathan? Argyle?" I yell. No answer again. I'm not one to invade someone's privacy, but they aren't answering my knocks. I open the door. No one's there. I start panicking. "Mom! Jonathan and Argyle aren't here!" I yell. What if the Demogorgon got them? That's impossible, though. El closed the gate 2 years ago. What if I'm wrong, though?! What if the Demogorgon took them both last night?!! Like when I went missing... "Will? Will are you okay? Sweetie!" My mom yells, and I snap out of it. "Yeah?..." I respond. "Are you okay?" My mom says. "I'm fine, just thinking." I say to her kind of hoping she would get what I meant. "Hunny, you need to block out those thoughts, okay?" She says. It's always the same response. She acts like she doesn't even care... "I think Jonathan and Argyle headed out early this morning." She said. "Yeah... I guess so..." I say. I wasn't convinced at all.

Jonathan's POV;

I knock on the Wheeler's door. "Coming!!" I hear from the inside of the house. The door opens to Mrs. Wheeler's face. "Oh, hello, Jonathan. I assume you're here for Nancy?" She says. "Uh, no. We're actually here to talk to Mike." I say awkwardly. Why am I being so awkward? We've known- Well, I've known the Wheelers for ages, unlike Argyle. "Oh! Come on in, Mike is still sleeping, but you know you're always welcome here!" Mrs. Wheeler says cheerfully. "That's fine, we can come back later, when Mike's awake." I say, reciprocating Mrs. Wheeler's energy. "Mike usually wakes up at 11 or 12am if we don't wake him up. It's fine!" She says. "N-" I say, but Mrs. Wheeler cuts me off. "Nancy! Can you wake up Mike?" She yells. "Sure, mom!!" Nancy yells from upstairs. "You didn't have to, Mrs. Wheeler." I say nervously. "Jonathan, you've known us for years, and Mike needs to wake up and eat anyway. It really is okay." Mrs. Wheeler says to me in a cheerful yet serious tone.

"Wake up, Mike!" Me and Argyle hear Nancy yell from upstairs. "No!" Mike whines. "Mike is being more stubborn today." Mrs. Wheeler chuckles. "Leave me alone, Nancy!" Mike whines again. "Mike, I will drag you out of bed, down the stairs if you don't get up right now!" Nancy yells at him again. "Wheeler is being stubborn today." Argyle says.