Dark Crush (Mike Wheeler x Reader x Will Byers)

Chapter 015

A/N: WARNING! WARNING! LONG CHAPTER AHEAD! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Bob was currently driving Will to school and as they were heading down the road, Will was staring out of the window, when Bob spoke up.
"Was that you I heard milling around last night, or was that a ghost?" He asked, turning to the boy. Will turned his head to look at the adult.
"Yeah. Me, probably." Bob nodded a little.
"Another nightmare?" He asked.
"Um... no." Will's eyes once again connected with the scenery outside, causing the atmosphere to fall silent again.
"Did I ever tell you about Mr. Baldo?" Bob asked Will.
"Mr. Baldo?" Will repeated Bob's words, his eyes looking up to the male.
"Yeah. I was a little younger than you, standing in line for the Ferris wheel at the Roane County fair." This caught Will's attention as he turned himself to face Bob.
"Mhm."
"And suddenly, I feel this fat white glove tap me on the shoulder. I spin around, and there he is. Mr. Baldo." Bob explained, occasionally taking small glances at Will. He then imitated the clown's voice and reached his hand out and curled it a little. "Hey, kiddo, would you like a balloon?" He chuckled and so did Will a little. "Go ahead, laugh. It's funny. It wasn't funny back then, I can tell you that. I couldn't get him out of my head. Every night, he would come to me in my dreams. And every night when he came to me... I ran. It got so bad that I made my mom stay in the room with me until I could fall asleep every night."
"Really?" Will asked, looking forward at the road.
"Really. It went on like that for months. And then one day, the nightmares suddenly stopped." Will looked at Bob as he said that. "Wanna know how?"
"How?" Will was desperate to know... this shadow monster plagued him every night and he just wanted it to be over.
"Well, I fell asleep... and just like always, Mr. Baldo came to me. Only this time, I didn't run. This time, I stood my ground. I just looked at Mr. Baldo in his stupid face, and I said, "Go away. Go away!" Will was imagining this happen himself, taking in every single word Bob was saying. "Just like that, he was gone. Never saw him again." Will looked at Bob again. "Easy-peasy right?" Will nodded, his eyes going back to the road.
"Easy-peasy."
"Just like that." Bob snapped. They arrived at school, Will grabbed his bag and got out of the car, swinging it on his shoulder.
"Have a great day, kiddo!" He said. Will just turned and started walking to school. As he walked to class, he stared at the ground feeling all the stares at him. He would often make eye contact with the kids around him and he hated it. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around and saw (Y/N).
"Hey," He smiled at her.
"Hello. W-wait I thought you were supposed to be with Rihna." Will said.
"She's at my place in my room. Gia's gone so she can roam around a little." Together the two walked to class. (Y/N) had recently been moved to behind the boys in class, so she sat right behind Mike and Will.
As Will sat in class, listening to Mr. Clarke explain Phineas Gage and his injury. While Will stared at his teacher, he could feel something staring at him. He turned around and saw Max looking, she turned her head and looked away almost immediately. He ignored it and looked back to his teacher and then Dustin burst into class and sat in his seat. He told everyone, including Max to meet him at the AV club during lunch.

~Lunch~

Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, (Y/N), and Max were all in the AV club, waiting for Dustin to show them this unbelievable thing he claimed. He opened his little container and they all looked inside and saw the slimy creature moving around. "His name is d'Artagnan." The curly haired male reached in and picked it up. It had grown much larger than when he found it. "Cute, right?"

"D'Artagnan?" Mike asked.

"Dart for short."

"And he was in your trash?" Max questioned.

"Foraging for food. You wanna hold him." She backed up a little, shaking her head profusely.

"No, no."

"He doesn't bite."

"I don't want to-" She was cut off by Dustin dropping Dart on her hand. Her face contorted in disgust. "Oh, God, he's slimy!" She immediately passed it to Lucas. Once it landed in Lucas's hand he panicked too.

"Ugh! He's like a living booger!" He then passed it to Will, who had unconsciously reached out for it.

"Ugh, oh, God!" He turned to give it to (Y/N), who yelled "Nope," and grabbed his wrists, moving them towards Mike, who caught Dart. (Y/N) then grabbed Will and moved behind him, poking her head out and looking over at Mike. The dark-haired male moved his hands up to inspect Dart.

"C-careful Mike... he could spit in your eye..." (Y/N) muttered, causing everyone, except Mike and Dustin, to take a step back.

"What is he?"

"My question exactly," Dustin said. He placed a few books in front of everyone, all different sizes. "At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog."

"Pollywog?" Max questioned.

"It's another word for tadpole. Tadpole is the larval stage of a toad."

"I know what a tadpole is," Max added, stopping Dustin from explaining that any further.

"Alright, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?" Dustin opened to a page that he had marked with a yellow sticky note. "Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Yeah, but aren't there nonaquatic pollywogs?" Lucas questioned.

"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact." He then opened up another book. "Indirana semipalmata and the Adenomera Andreae. One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?"

"Maybe some scientists brought it here and it escaped?" Max suggested.

"Do you guys see that?" Mike asked, looking at Dart. "Looks like something is moving inside of it." Soon all eyes were on Dart. Mike moved the lamp on it and it screeched loudly, causing everyone to jump back. He jumped over the wires that were connected to its container and ran for the darkness that was at the edge of the table. However, before it could stop, it slipped and slid over the edge. Luckily Dustin caught it before it fell.

"Woah. It's ok, it's ok." He said, trying to calm it as everyone stared in worry. (Y/N) eyes were glued to it... it was... so freaky. She moved closer, right in between Mike and Will, touching them to get a closer look. She wanted something in front of her, in case it jumped at her face. The two males didn't mind at all. "I got you, little guy." Dustin said, smiling at Dart. It chittered happily. "I know you don't like that. It's ok." Lucas stared at Dustin, his eyes squinted. "And there's another thing. Reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him." "So, if he's not a pollywog or a reptile..." Lucas started. "Then I've discovered a new species," Dustin stated, smiling. His finger ran over Dart's slimy back. 

Will stared as Dart made his chittering sound. He remembered the night he threw up the slug and it crawled down his drain. Then he remembered the sound he heard Halloween night... it was all around and Rihna wasn't there that night. (Y/N) looked over at Will... he seemed to be lost in his own train of thought. She reached out and grabbed his arm, shaking it a little, but nothing happened. The loud bell caused everyone, especially, Will to jump a little. Lunch was over. As they all walked out of the room, (Y/N) stopped Will.

"What happened?" She asked. He didn't speak, he just stared.

"N-nothing." He said, quickly. Then followed the others out as they talked about telling Mr. Clarke. (Y/N) stared at Will's back as he walked away.

"Why are you lying to me Will?" She muttered. (Y/N) didn't follow them, she just stood in her spot, then walked out and closed the door behind her. She saw Will follow the group, but then he slowed down to a stop. She looked down and then walked to her locker.