Rina & Will

That's a Nice Name

September. 1986. Ring Ring. The piercing sound of the bell echoed throughout Park High School, a clear sign that school had been let out. William Byers walked out of Science Class, walking over to his locker in a fast pace. Will was the kind of kid that had no friends, not even one. He was very shy and would always sit alone at lunch, knowing he had no one to talk to. Today, was like any other day. Will walked from his locker and out the school door. He gathered his homework and sat underneath a tree, right outside of school. In the flood of kids exiting the immense doors after a long day, he noticed one particular kid. 

Jerry Miller. Quarterback on the Park High Football team. Will then noticed that he was marching in his direction, with his fists tight at his sides. "Crap." Will sighed. "HEY NERD!" Jerry boomed as he got closer to the young boy. Will had the face of pure fear as Jerry got up close to his face and grabbed his notebook with one swift stroke. "The hell! You actually write all this crap?" Jerry bawled. Will stuttered in response. "Wel-well.. uh..uh it was about a really important-" Jerry cut him off. "Uh um whatdya say? Couldn't hear because of all your st-stuttering." Will pushed his head farther against the tree. Jerry laughed in the boy's face and took Will's notebook to tear it. Will didn't have the confidence to fight back. He just watched in terror as the bully brutally ripped apart his notes from math class right before his terrified little face. Jerry threw the remains of his hard work back at his face. He marched away laughing. "BYE NERD!" Will looked down in his lap at all the shreds of paper. His teary-eyed blurry vision made it difficult to see.

A small-boned, pale faced, young teenager sat behind a tree. Rina Davis looked around the big stocky base of the evergreen at Will. Who was brushing all the paper scraps off his pants. She had watched the moment of Will getting harassed unfold, which gave her a feeling of understanding to how he probably feels. She looked with grief at the sad boy who was hunched in front of the tree intently focusing on a worksheet. She only has one friend, but like Will, has a really hard time making any. Rina took a deep breath and swiftly got up off of the ground. She walked over to Will at a sort of slow pace all because of how nervous she was. Her skirt swaying right below her knees as she did so. Will looked up when she finally arrived next to him, with a slight surprise that somebody was looking at him without an ill-mannered expression.

"Hi." Her voice sounded soft, yet sweet. "My name's Rina." She had that voice that had the power to lull someone to sleep. "Will.. my names Will." Rina smiled. "Will.." She repeated. "That's a nice name." Will grinned. He couldn't believe she was actually nice to him. "Uh thanks I guess?" Rina giggled. "No one has ever given you a compliment before huh?" Will shook is head. Rina gently sat next to him, and looked over at his school work. "Whatcha working on?" Will grabbed his homework. "Oh just some chemistry. I also have math, and a little bit english to do too." Rina hummed in understanding. "Wait you're in 9th grade right?" She asked. Will nodded. "Yeah why?" Rina smiled. "Because I'm in 9th too!" Will grinned in reply. "Oh cool! I never knew!" Rina looked at the school doors. "Yeah. Park High is a pretty big school so it makes sense for us not to know each other." 

Rina focused her eyes back to him. "Sorry if this is a sensitive topic Will, but I feel really bad about what Jerry did to you." Will widened his eyes. "You saw that?" Rina nodded. "So you were spying on me?" Rina shook her head. "No. I wasn't spying on you. I was doing my homework over by that tree over there." She pointed to the evergreen she was sitting by. "I wasn't looking at you the entire time Will. It was only when I heard Jerry scream your name across the clearing." Will sighed. "Ohh. That makes more sense." Rina got on her feet. "Hey you want to work on our homework together? I sort of need help on my math." Will smiled. "Yeah sure Rina." After Rina walked over and back with her assignments, they began working on their schoolwork. Rina would ask Will questions, and Will would ask Rina questions. They seemed to be getting along pretty well. Will tapped Rina on the shoulder in a way that quickly snapped her out of her trance doing her history. "Rina.. that's a nice name." Rina beamed. "Thank you Will."