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"hey mike!" will greeted him the next day seeing him upon arrival to school.
mike ignored him. maybe he just didn't hear me, will thought, yeah, that had to be it. he felt more confident, seeing that only he and will were outside the school, out of the whole friend group. will wondered where eleven was, but it didn't matter, he was happy to see mike.
"mike," will whispered, tapping the taller boy on the shoulder after running up behind him.
but, mike didn't turn around. not even for a second. will felt a knife butcher him in his fragile little heart- and the pain only worsened when mike continued walking into the hallways of the school, his pace quickening every passing second.
will continued walking next to him. this was very bold of the small boy. "m-mike? did i do something wr-wrong?" he stuttered out, tears had threatened to spill.
mike abruptly stopped in his tracks, glaring at will with his piercing, venomous brown eyes.
"fuck off, byers."
will was speechless, hurt, and most of all, broken. he'd never felt so broken in his whole life. frozen in the hallway he stood, as the boy he liked stormed away, distance parted them even more. at that moment, will couldn't stand being alive, in a world where mike hated him. mike hated him. he couldn't stop thinking about the venom in mike's voice when he spoke, the way he stopped in his tracks just to say that— it hurt so, so much. no, now he was crying, in the middle of the hallway. tears spilling involuntarily. stop, will, he tried telling himself, just stop, you're at school. students around began to eye him and whisper. it was all too much. suddenly, he broke out of his frozen trance and ran outside the school to get some air.
he thought he was alone then, but max and lucas were coming into school at the same time. "will!" they both said enthusiastically, but their smiles faded when they saw his red face and tear-stained cheeks, and how sad and scared the soft boy looked.
"oh no, will, what's wrong?"
"will, are you okay?"
"we're here for you."
"yeah, you can talk to us."
"n-no," he wiped his eyes, agony in his face and chest, everywhere. he couldn't take it. "i-it's so st-stupid. i w-wanna go h-home."
"tell us what's wrong," max said softly, patting his back. lucas hugged him and sat him down on the stairs beside the entrance of the school.
