Salt To The Wound (A Stranger Things Story)

Season 5- Chapter 10: Progress (Troy's POV

Troy was making some progress in his upper body. But not much progress in the lower body, and he was starting to fear, that'd he'd never regain those abilities ever again.

He was regaining a little bit of feeling in his hands, but they were still kind of numb. He had feeling in then, but not enough to move around on his own. Dustin was sometimes busy and what would he do then? Well, he was about to find out.

"Holy shit, uhm Troy, I have to go do something, uhhhh think you can get to class on your own?" Dustin asked and Troy took a deep breath in and then out. "I can try," Troy said and Dustin then smiled and walked away. Truth was, he wasn't making it to class on his own, he looked around for a familiar face. He then saw Jake and he knew that was his only option. "Jake," he said and Jake turned and looked at him. "Look, I hate you, but please get me to class," Troy said and Jake crossed his arms. "Sure," Jake said and Troy smiled. It was awkward the entire way there, considering Jake did try and kill him, whilst Troy almost did kill Jake. Adding on to that, he had 6 out of 8 of his classes with Jake. And Jake wanted to salvage what was left between the two, but it was too little too late.

After class, Jake approached Troy, who was planning to stay in the class for lunch, since he liked the teacher. Troy saw Jake approaching him and he rolled his eyes. "Look me asking you to bring me to class wasn't an invitation to come and talk to me," Troy said and Jake sighed. "What happened?" Jake asked and Troy looked at him like he was oblivious. "Oh uhm where to start? Oh well, you pretended to like me to get close to me, oh and the part where you almost killed me, oh and," Troy began when Jake cut him off. "I didn't pretend to like you, I mean it was the original plan, but it turned into something else, then you broke up with me and I went mad," Jake said and Troy smirked. "I wish I could feel my body so I could slap the shit out of you," Troy said and Jake nodded. "That's fair," Jake said and Troy scoffed. "Look, Jake, you can't fix something that's shattered, what we had it broken and no brand of glue, no matter how strong, is going to bring that back together, just do us both a favor, and let that stay broken," Troy said and Jake looked down. "Well maybe I can make a new form of glue," Jake said and Troy shook his head. "Just go, walk away, and don't look back," Troy said and Jake shook his head. "I walk away and there's no chance of fixing us," Jake said and Troy shook his head. "There never was," he said. Dustin then walked into the classroom to help Troy out. Troy then left and what they had, was gone for good.

While on the car ride back, Troy was thinking about how to send his application. He knew NYU wasn't that easy to get into and he also knew that it was costly. He had plans of being a film director and maybe even getting into acting himself and this was the best way to do it. He needed to send the application as soon as possible for a better chance. He was doubting himself, even though he had some damn good grades, never going below a B+ in any grade ever. He had teachers that liked him and could send a good note on the application as well. He had everything going in his favor, including pity, but he didn't want this wheelchair to define him. That's why he was trying to get out of it as soon as possible, if he got accepted into NYU, he wanted it to be for his whit, not his disability. He was his own worst enemy in this matter and he needed a confidence boost, but not from someone he knew, he needed it from someone he didn't know for it to count in his mind.

He asked Dustin to come with him because he was going to see his idol. The best film director he'd ever seen. Martin Scorsese directed almost all of Troy's favorite movies and he's been taking a break for a long time now. He wasn't sure if Martin would answer considering he's pretty famous. And surprisingly, he did.

"What brings you two boys here?" Martin asked and Troy smiled. "Mr. Scorsese, you're an amazing film director, and I want to know how you did it," Troy asked Martin looked at the two and let them in.

"My grades weren't the best, but I somehow got into NYU. From my understanding, yours are outstanding, I have no doubt you'd make it," Marting said and Troy smiled, finally gaining that boost of confidence he needed to send that application.