Will
The car ride to school was quite. It wasn't an awkward silence nor was it a comfortable one, there was just no interaction between the two Byers children as there was nothing to say. There wasn't much to say anymore. Johnathan had idly put the mixtape he had made for his brother into the stereo, hoping to make him feel a bit more calm about what was to come. To feel a bit braver. Courage through music, not through liquor (as their father would prefer).
As soon as they pulled up outside the school Johnathan ejected the tape, and turned to his brother, who was staring out the window towards the building, the building he hated from the pit of his gut, though the such strong emotions associated with this place his face would say other wise. For Will Byers had mastered the perfect mask. No one could really get to him here. No one would see him cry. No, not this time. Not this time.
"Cmon bud, time to go." Johnathan said tapping his shoulder, Will nodded in reply and got out if the car, his breath turning into white clouds as he closes the door. After letting his brother put his bag onto his back he began to slowly trail behind him, keeping his gaze on his shoes, not wanting to draw attention to himself, get as he walked he found feel some ones eyes upon him, and it made his skin craw at the thought,
Bullies.
And before he knew it he was staring straight back at a pair of intensely dark brown eyes. The eyes of a boy.
But these eyes were not mean or judgmental, these eyes were curious and inviting. These were the eyes of someone who cares.
Will snapped his head back towards the floor, realising a breath that he hadn't realised he was holding. He and Johnathan then walked up the stairs to Hawkins elementary school, Will clutching the rails to support himself, the goosebumps still visible on the back of his neck.
•••
"Class please may I have your attention," a man with slick shiny black hair called out to the room of spiritless children, "we have a new student joining our class today, he and his brother have just moved here from the city," a few people looked up at this, "please give a warm welcome to Will Byers!" Everyone looked up.
30 pairs of eyes trained on Will Byers, and he hated it.
He quickly walked to a desk in between 2 boys, his eyes still on the ground, a place his sight has grown to recognise. He sat down and folded his hands on his lap, trying his best to not look up and make unwanted eye contact with any of the 30 people still staring at him.
The teacher cleared his throat.
"So, today we will begin with telling each other about our summers, if you'd please turn to the person on your left-" the class had erupted into conversation, drowning out the sound of the teachers voice.
Will say awkwardly, now staring at his hands, knowing who ever was at the desk next to him was probably wondering why he wasn't begging to tell him about all the awesome stuff he did during the summer, probably thinking about how much of a freak he was, thinking to tell his friends to beat him up later on that day-
"So... uh are we gonna like, talk?" The person questioned , to which Will did not reply.
"Oh, Ok." His voice was soft, not harsh or mocking, nor laced with sarcasm, none at all. Will looked up.
He saw the boy sat next to him, he had dark curly locks of hair, that looked soft to the touch, it framed his high cheekbones perfectly, his cheekbones that were littered with freckles like tiny stars, he had deep brown eyes with short eyelashes that just brushed his brow bone, eyes that were familiar to Will. The boy turned his attention back to Will, causing him to jump and quickly look back to his hands, swallowing nervously.
The boy took a long sigh, "Ok if you don't wanna talk maybe I could do the talking?" He asked, will looked up slightly to see the brown eyes looking at him intently, "Ok? Well um, your names Will and my names Micheal, Micheal Wheeler that is, but my friends call me Mike."
Silence.
"I'm gonna tell you about my summer," he said, "So me and my friends play in the woods a lot, but mostly we hang out in my basement, we did a lot of that this summer, it got wet for a bit and my shoes got wrecked" Will looked up to see the boy grinning, "I walked mud through the house this morning, my mom got so pissed." He laughed. Will could feel the corners of his mouth twitching. "
"My friends are called Dustin" he pointed at a boy with curly hair sat two rows in front, "and Lucas." He pointed at the boy sat next to him who had dark skin and looked rather ambitious about something he was saying to the boy with curly hair. They sat and watched for a bit, Will could hear various words such as 'campaign' and 'party'. "You guys play Dungeons and Dragons?" The question slipped from his mouth.
"Yeah... wait- you play Dungeons and Dragons?" Mike said in an excited voice,
"Yeah!" Will replied, his tone almost matching, "I had the manual and everything, me and my brother would sometimes play it I guess..."
"That's so cool!" Mike said, "Did your friends from your old school play too?"
Will visibly flinched, he could practically feel Mikes face fall, "Oh, sorry-"
"No, no, it's fine." Will said in a monotone voice, looking at his lap yet again, "I just um wasn't really on the 'popular' side..."
"Oh... well don't worry cause neither am I," He turned to face Will fully, "we can be losers together? With Dustin and Lucas of course."
Will looked up, his eyes meeting the dark ones again, and not leaving this time, "Do you, Will Byers, wanna join our party as cleric?" He proposed.
Will smiled, the first genuine smile that had crossed his lips in weeks, "Yeah, yeah I would." He answered, a strange feeling at the pit of his gut as he looked away from Mikes eyes after what seemed an eternity. He had made a friend. He had a friend.
Will couldn't stop smiling for a whole 5 minuets. Not even when the teacher announced their pop quiz on Thursday.
•••
AN// HEY how are y'all? Just wanted to say again that this is an unedited piece of trash and I will go back as I am sure my grammar is TERRIBLE. I am updating quite a bit, which is unusual so don't be really irrational if I disappear for like a month. THANK YOU FOR SO MANY READS AND VOTES ALREADY!!! All your comments are so nice and helpful guys, well goodbye ma byler shipping buddies.
