(BEING EDITED) When Night Falls - Will Byers

CHAPTER ELEVEN - Tears

*USE OF THE F-SLUR WILL BE PRESENT IN THIS CHAPTER*

March, 1984

FELIX'S POV

RINK-O-MANIA, LENORA CALIFORNIA

Eventually, Eleven and Mike joined us at our table, and Will and I moved to one side of the table, so they could sit beside each other. 

Will nudged me gently, and started to whisper. "Angela, Stacey, and the others just walked in..." I looked, and saw them. They were coming over here.

"Awww, hello, Jane!" The girl with blonde hair, who I assumed was Angela, smiled at El.

"Um... Mike, this is my friend, Angela..." Eleven looked uncomfortable.

Mike smiled. "El- I mean, Jane, has told me so much about you!"

Angela smiled at him, and turned to Will and me. "So, who are you? Are you Will's boyfriend?"

"Leave me alone." I glared at her.

"You're Russian? You're not gonna bomb us, are you, little fag?" She and her friends erupted into laughter.

"No, but I may just have to snap your necks, if you keep up that attitude." I titled my head and smiled. They laughed harder, and Angela turned back to El.

"Well, come on, friend!" Angela took El's hands, and handed her milkshake to another boy in the group. As they went onto the rink, the song 'Wipeout' came on. 

"Oh, they're in for it now." I grumbled, climbing over Will, and briefly saw his cheeks turn pink. I skated over, and just watched.

Will came up to me. "You aren't going to hurt them too bad, are you?"

I shook my head. "No, don't worry."

I watched angrily as they circled her and mocked her. She fell, and the same boy dumped the chocolate milkshake all over her dress.

I skated out onto the floor, heading towards El. "Hey, you bitch, why would you do that?" El got up, and clung to me, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"She's a freak, just like you. And, what are, blind or something?" She cackled, gesturing to my scarred eye. "A blind fag. A freak." I tilted my head, and she fell, hitting the rink hard. I skated away with El, as she sobbed. I quickly wiped the blood from my nose. El skated away from me, and I lost track of her. I thought about what Angela had said. I was a freak. A tear slowly fell from my eye. It had been a while since I'd last cried. I had lost so much, and didn't feel anything anymore.

"Are you okay? I heard what she said..." Will came up to me, as I untied my skates, and put on my converses. 

I nodded, swallowing back the tears that so badly wanted to fall. "Yeah, I'm fine." I clenched my jaw. I put my skates back on the counter where we got them, and that's when I realized that tears were about to fall. I entered the bathroom, and stared at myself in the mirror. There was a boy in there, around my age, washing his hands.

"Hey, are you alright?" He looked worried, as he dried his hands with some paper towel. 

I sniffed, wiping my cheeks. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" He had super nice hair. It was black and fluffy. He wore a David Bowie shirt, and had black ripped jeans on.

I nodded. "Yeah... cool shirt, by the way."

He smiled. "Thanks! My name is Cam."

"Felix. It's nice to meet you." 

"Same to you!" He smiled. "Are you from around here?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm from Indiana, and if we wanna go into detail, I'm originally from Russia. I'm visiting some friends."

He nodded. "Cool, cool. Well, if you're free at some point, and you wanna hang out, I come here pretty much everyday. Maybe I'll see you again?" He looked hopeful.

"Maybe. I'll see you later, Cam. Bye." I said and nodded, and left the bathroom.

I got out, and saw Angela sobbing on the ground, with a huge gash on her nose.

"What happened?!" I was shocked.

"El hit her in the face with a roller skate." Mike was shocked too.

I fought a smile. "She kinda deserved it."

~~~

BYERS HOUSEHOLD, LENORA CALIFORNIA

We arrived at the Byers' house. There was Murray, sitting at the table.

"Hey, guys! Hey, Felix." Murray always tended to speak Russian with me, which I appreciated because it felt more normal to me.

We all sat down for dinner. I was sitting in between Argyle and Jonathan, for some reason. 

Joyce broke the silence. "So... Murray is here because I'm going on a business trip in Alaska, and he's going with me!"

"Alaska?" Will exclaimed, through a mouthful of food.

"It's not a business trip, you're going to find Hopper, aren't you?" I said and looked up from my plate at Murray.

His mouth dropped. "How do you know?!"

"I know everything. Maybe you'll find my father... slim chance, especially considering how huge Russia is... I'd love to go back some day."

Murray thought for a moment. "What's his name?"

"Dmitri Antonov." Murray nodded. As if he would find him. Last thing I remember about him, is that he was learning English, and was about to become a prison guard.

"So, your name is Felix Antonov? Not a very Russian first name."

I nodded. "True, but my mother was looking at more English sounding names when she was coming up with them."

Joyce had an awkward smile. "Could we maybe... speak in English please?"

"Sorry..." I looked back down at my food.

"She hit someone in the face with a plastic skate. She got shmacked." Argyle said and nodded, closing his eyes. "She's fine, though."

"She didn't look fine..." Mike was mumbling. I glared at him, as El left the table.

"Not even gonna go comfort her?" I stood up. "Fine, I'll do it for you." I shook my head, as I angrily went upstairs. I took my duffel bag and bass guitar up with me. 

I quietly entered her room, and saw her on the bed. "Hey, you alright? If it helps... I think she deserved it. Karma's a bitch, after all."

She cracked a smile. "Why is Mike like this?"

I sighed. "My guess is that he doesn't know how to show his affection properly, because he never had a model to base it off of."

She nodded. "He's never said 'I love you'..."

I pulled her in for a hug. "In time, El... I'm not saying what he's doing is right, but I'm sure he'll say it when he's ready."

"Thanks for your help, Felix..." She smiled, and I wiped her tears.

WORD COUNT: 1050