011 ~ A Mileven Fanfic

Chapter the Second

Third Person (The majority of part II will be 3rd person)

Mike had one more friend in their group of 5. He was an enigma, almost as mysterious as Mike himself. He spends all of his time in the art room, winning city, county, even state awards for his paintings. All anyone knows is that he's never had a girlfriend and he went missing for a week in 6th grade, had a funeral, came back to life, and was never the same since.

Will Byers, unlike the rest of the group, did not grow up weak-in-the-knees attractive and pining for a girl. In fact Mike and the boys had bets on whether or not Will was actually gay. But will was still just as close to the whole group. And his understandable PTSD was still raging but not quite as prominent and more open to the boys. While they may have lost a vital member of the group, they certainly grew closer over the last few years.

It was the end of the school day. Mike, inheriting Nancy's Volkswagen when she went to college, was in charge of the driving for each member of the group. As everyone began to pile into the car, Mike noticed Will struggling to fit something into the trunk. He sighed and went around to help him and what he saw made him melt down into tears.

It was a painting. Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Max were standing in a semi-circle surrounding a young, bony girl in a pink smock dress with shaved hair, blood coming out of her nose. She was smiling, smiling like she did that night she was taken. The light seemed to be shining down on her but accidental, like the sun was just drawn to her and didn't even realize. All of their faces seemed to be mesmerized by the wonder of what stood before them. It was beautiful.

Will looked at Mike's face and nudged him."You can keep it you know? I have a bunch of paintings of her, it's alright. Besides, I kind of made this with you in mind. It's meant for you." Mike simply nodded, hoping Will would be able to sense his gratitude because he was unable to voice it. He finally choked out a thank you and will smiled, giving him a small shoulder squeeze before shoving it into the trunk finally and going to sit. Mike stood outside the car for a second, staring at the painting, crying softly. The boys were patient and so was Max who had been filled in on the whole ordeal years ago. They knew he needed space.

Finally, Mike walked around and opened the drivers door, getting in. They have a weekly rotation of passengers seat and today was Tuesday, so Lucas was upfront, fiddling with the radio as Max yelled at him. Mike began to drive out of the parking lot, oblivious to the gaggle of girls behind him whispering about the retreating car. Max laughed and leaned over to whisper about it with Will until Dustin gave Will a you-know-I-like-her-let-me-whisper expression and started whispering to her and then Lucas became jealous and Mike and Will exasperatedly made eye contact in the rearview mirror. A day like every other.