heaven- byler 🤍

2.

i can't handle change- roar

will walked out of his science class, immediately heading to his locker to put away his books and head to the cafeteria to meet the party. after about a minute of walking, he was approached by the infamous troy walsh. at first, will didn't notice the taller boy was behind him, but when will turned around after putting his books in his locker, he was face to face with troy and james. "hi?" was the only thing will could say.

"hey, byers, i, uh, i was wondering why you didn't give me the answers to question 6 on the test? i mean, you seemed rather confident.." troy said in a mocking tone.

will stared at him for a second. "i didn't want to get caught talking. i would've gotten 0%. i didn't wanna disappoint anyone." he said quietly.

"disappoint anyone? you've already done that, byers. you disappointed your dad so much that he left you." troy said, staring intently back at will and high-fiving james.

will didn't know what to say. by not giving troy the answer to one simple question, he had dug his own grave. his breathing started getting heavier and he could feel his heart beating loudly. troy's arms were in a circle around the smaller boy, making sure that he couldn't walk away. "please, can you let me go?" will asked.

troy scoffed. "the fairy speaks?" the boy turned to face james. "let me go, troy, please let me go." he mocked will in a high pitched voice, moving his arms and, without realising, enabling will to escape.

will ran as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough. troy and james had heard his feet hammering against the floor and ran after him, surrounding him once again.

"you tryna run away from us, byers?" troy shouted, attracting the attention of several other students.

one of those students being mike wheeler.

"yeah, you can't run away, byers. no one's gonna save you." james said, agreeing with his friend.

"hey!" mike shouted at the taller boys. they stared judgementally at him, making his stomach fill with anxiety. the hallway went silent for a few seconds.

"what? we don't have all day, wheeler." james said, narrowing his eyes at mike.

"let- let him go!" mike yelled at the boys.

"you what, wheeler?" troy almost yelled.

"mike, go. it's fine." will whispered, only just loud enough for mike to hear. obediently, mike walked away, still in the corridor, walking aimlessly.

in situations like these, mike always felt helpless. ever since he, lucas and dustin got girlfriends, they haven't been getting bullied as much. will refused to get a girlfriend. he wasn't interested in that sort of stuff. he was still only a teenager.

normally, troy and james continued to shout at will, not really anything new. mike walked back over to see what was going on, and when troy and james left will alone, which they often did after several minutes, mike helped will up if he was on the floor and walked him away.

that didn't happen today, though.

"leave me alone!" will shouted at troy when he had finally had enough of the name-calling and threats. this caught troy off guard. he wasn't usually shouted at, especially not by will byers.

"what did you say, queer?"

james walked away, snickering to himself. for some strange reason, whenever people shouted at him, his first instinct was to laugh.

"i said l-leave me alone, troy." will said, his nerves getting the better of him.

"god, stop stuttering. i get you're probably kinda scared of me but relax. stuttering ain't gonna help, is it?"

will stared up at him, his nerves turning into an anger he couldn't stop from boiling over. he had to physically stop himself from punching troy in the face.

"you look angry, byers. but i'm not st-st-stuttering, am i?" troy said, making fun of will. "you wanna know why, fairy? it's because i'm not s-sc-scared of you." his tone was still mocking.

will said nothing.

there was nothing to say.

"well, i'm bored now." troy said when will didn't react to him. "tell your dad i say hi when he finishes banging some girl your brothers age." troy snickered to himself before walking off.

will looked up to see that the corridor was mostly empty, one of the only people there being mike, fighting back laughter that was probably caused by troy's joke. "what?" will asked.

"nothing, that last sentence was kinda funny though." mike said. will rolled his eyes and started walking away. "you alright?" mike asked.

"leave me alone."

"woah, will, i was just joking."

"leave me alone, mike."

"i'm sorry, i didn't know that you were so-"

"leave me alone!" will yelled. mike just stared at him before walking past.

"what's your problem, will? i can't control my laugh, can i?"

"why are you laughing at a joke about my dad anyway? you know i'm sensitive about that."

mike stared judgementally at will for a minute. "whatever, man." he said to the shorter boy, nudging him with his shoulder as he walked past. will stood there for a second in shock. then, he walked to the cafeteria.

***

as will walked into the cafeteria, he saw max, lucas, dustin, el and mike sitting next to each other. he overheard the conversation they were having, which was probably about what had just happened:

"are you sure you weren't just being an idiot?" max asked.

"shut up." mike said, a sour expression on his face. "i wasn't being an idiot."

"what happened again? you were there when troy was picking on him and then he got mad at you for... nothing?" lucas asked.

"basically."

"bullshit!" the ginger-haired girl exclaimed, smacking her palms against the table.

"what? just shut up, max."

"i'm just saying! i know will and i know that he wouldn't get mad at you for 'no reason' or whatever your bullshit excuse was! what did you do?"

mike rolled his chocolate brown eyes. he sighed. "i laughed at one of troy's jokes."

a chorus of oh's erupted from the table, a shocked expression appearing on max and dustin's faces. lucas looked disgusted. el looked angry at mike.

"this is why i dumped you, mouthbreather.." el muttered under her breath, making max laugh.

"so you admit that you messed up?" max asked mike, eyebrows raised. "it makes a change, doesn't it?"

will walked closer to the table, sitting in the only available seat.

the one next to mike.

mike huffed and rolled his eyes when will sat down.

"dude, what's your problem? is he not allowed to sit here?" lucas asked.

"i don't really care where he sits. i'm not his boyfriend."

will exhaled and stood up, finding somewhere else to sit. he heard max call his name once or twice but chose to ignore it as he headed to an empty table on the other side of the room.

this is so dramatic lmfao

1176 words