monochopsis - byler

first day on the job.

(mikes pov)

"Was that Will? Why is he running so fast?" Dustin asked. We were at the mall and a boy with a bowl cut almost trampled us. We all were 99% percent sure it was Will. Even if it wasn't, Will couldn't get off my mind. I made him feel so, bad. I'm just like my father. I remember our first fight. Will had been bullied for so long for being "gay" and I just said "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" to him. I'm such a shitty friend. 

I don't want William Byers to fear me. I don't want to be seen as his father or Troy Walsh, who had previously bullied both of us. 

"It doesn't matter. Let's keep looking for something for Will" Lucas says. "We are the reason he's mad."

"I still can't believe you guys treated him like that when I was gone. I'm not trying to make you guys feel bad but that was fucked up." Dustin lectures us.

"Yeah I agree with both of you but if that was Will we should make sure he's okay! He hasn't reached out to any of us since two days ago" I agreed.

"We can go to his house in a few day. We will have the gifts and a bucket full of apologies to use." Lucas replies, trying to brighten the mood. "Also, if that was Will, him almost running us over means he's probably still mad. We should give him some space."

...

(wills pov)

(time skip to the tuesday before school starts/will's first day)

It was my first day on the job today. I was up early and had a small duffel bag with my uniform, my Walkman and an umbrella because there is supposed to be rain later. For breakfast I decided to have avocado toast. 

Mom was out last night again. I think she's been going on dates with someone but I also know she will always miss Bob. I wonder if she talks about me to other people, I hope she doesn't. Stuff like that is embarrassing.

I was about to open the door to leave, but then the doorbell rang. I opened it and saw three boys. Those three boys were Dustin, Lucas, and Mike.

"Hello?" I said spitefully.

"Will we are so sorry about the other night. We thought giving you space would help. We also got you some watercolors!"

"I really appreciate this guys, but I have to get to work soon. We can hang out another time when I'm off." I replied, my mood changing from seeing that they were here to apologize. "Also, I'm still mad, just not as much."

"Wait you have a job? Where?" Dustin asked.

"Questions will be answered later! I'm gonna be late if I don't get going." I replied before hastily leaving.

Johnathan's old car works better than it looks. It's almost fully functional. The appearance of it is not so good though. The tan and yellow hue of it is pretty unflattering if I do say so myself. But since it still goes pretty fast, I got to work with 10 minutes to spare, which gave me enough time to change into my uniform and leave the rest of my stuff in the break room. Max came in 5 minutes later, she was breathing heavily and it looked like she ran here. Luckily for Max, she was already in uniform.

"Hey Max. Seems like you were in a hurry." I tease.

"I in fact was in a hurry! My brother bailed on driving me at the last minute." Max complained. Sometimes I forget that I'm the only person who can drive in my friend group.

"Oh right you can't drive yourself." I joke. "Well if you need a ride, we don't live too far apart. I can drive you if you need me to."

"I might have to take up that offer of yours Byers" Max then grabs my hand and drags me over to the kitchen. "Let me show you the ropes bud. It'll take time so don't expect everything to be perfect first try."

...

My first day went smoothly, luckily I got sort of the hang of things before rush hour started. I didn't have to do that many orders since it was my first day, but I still did a decent job on the ones I did do. Me and Max bonded a lot too. We both really like music, and we are the only other ones to know what it's like to have an older brother. Our experiences are definitely different, but we still have some shared stories. I think working with Max will be fun. I think she would be someone who would support me being gay. We were never that close so I'll have to get to know her better first.

I also drove her home. It was extremely awkward because her brother Billy thought we were dating each other, so Max yelled at him and I just sat there. 

When I got home I was faced with mom and two other people. Jane Hopper and her father, Jim Hopper. I would've been just as worried if just the police chief were in our house. But the fact that his daughter was there too, that scared me even more. 

"I'm glad you're home Will! I wanted to properly introduce you to Jim, you obviously know him from the accident. I also know you know El. They are going to be living with us now as me and Jim are dating!" If I was drinking water I would've spat it straight out.

 "Your what?"

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