[ 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 & 𝙶𝚕𝚞𝚎 ] ~ 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙱𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

III - Project Day

Antonio huffed, sliding into his seat behind Will and slinging his backpack onto the floor beside him. "It's finally Friday, thank God." 

Will turned in his seat, leaning an arm over the back of his chair. "You excited for Spring Break?"

"Uhm. . .Yes." He said in a 'duh' tone. "Aren't you?"

"Well- Yeah. Uh- Tomorrow's my birthday so that's exciting, I guess." Will muttered with a slight shrug.

"It's your birthday tomorrow? That's awesome!" Antonio smiled. Over the mere week he had known William Byers, he had grown a tinge of a crush on the boy. Despite his better judgment, that was. He knew better than to get overly attached. He'd be at a new school within the month. And either way, there was little chance Will would ever feel the same about him. 

Though, despite his best wishes to push the crush aside and get rid of it as fast as possible, with his small crush came a minor obsession. It always happened, no matter how hard he tried. He noticed that Will and Jane always got to class at the exact same time, meaning they had the period before together. Which he had learned, when memorizing Will's schedule, that it was physical education. Antonio had seen the way Will scratched the nape of his neck when he was nervous. The way he absolutely lit up when his friend from home, Lucy, called. The way he practically ran to go get the mail when he knew there was a card in there for him, which were also always from Lucy. This made Antonio jealous at first, until he heard that she was dating someone named Dustin and that they had been in love with one another for the past three and a half years. That lifted his spirits a bit, assuring him there was nothing romantic between Will and Lucy. Antonio had  also noticed how much Will doodled. That, plus Lucy mentioning she had gotten him markers, brought him to the conclusion that the Byers liked art. So. . .he'd just have to run to the store after school and buy him something art related. Maybe some oil paints, he'd noticed paint brushes drying on the counter when he was over there the first time for their study group.  

"Oh, hey El." Antonio smiled. He had also grown used to calling the girl 'El' rather than Jane. He wasn't sure the origins of the nickname, but he did know that only trusted people got to call her it, and that made him feel special. She also seemed more comfortable with the name than with her first name. So when she told him to, he didn't hesitate to start calling her it.

"Hi Tony." She smiled back, her expression slow. 

"What's wrong?" Antonio frowned, not letting the way she wiped her cheek go unnoticed. 

"Oh, it is nothing." Jane gave him a bright smile, the entire uncomfortable expression forsaken. She had placed her diorama messily onto her desk, tripping over someone on the way past. 

"You sure?"

"Yes, I am just excited for Spring Break."

Antonio gave a slow nod in response, deciding to leave it at that. He didn't want to pry, it wasn't his business. And if all Jane wanted to say was she was excited, then he'd keep it there. She turned forward, repositioning the diorama so it sat straight only to get hit in the face with a spitball. Antonio shot up, refusing to deal with this bull shit. He jumped over the desk behind El and stood up to a brunet boy sitting next to a blonde bitch who was laughing. "I'm sorry. I think you just did something really fucking stupid." Antonio hissed, grabbing the boy by his collar and dragging him to his feet. 

"I- I-" The boy sputtered, laughing anxiously and looking at his friends.

"You need to apologize. Now." 

The entire class was staring at the two boys, anxiously waiting for Jake Brown to do something about this new kid getting up in his face. But he didn't. "Uhm- W- What?" Jake's voice shook.