Golden Hour - W.B + M.W

Chapter One

"Oh, get up, idiots! You're already late!"

Max's voice seemed as though it was being yelled through a loudspeaker to Mike's ears. His body jerked and he jumped up and out of his sleeping bag, only taking a few seconds to glance at Will, who was standing up beside Max, his hands on his hips. He seemed to be glaring at Dustin, who was muttering insults and curse words under his breath for waking him early- early, in fact, is definitely not a half hour after they normally arrive at school.

Mike grabbed the nearest pair of jeans and pulled them on hastily, Lucas doing the same, while Dustin pestered Maxine for being in the same room as the boys while they got dressed. ("Oh, please, 'dusty-bun', we've seen a bunch of human guts form into a giant monster that destroyed the entire mall and killed hundreds of people, and you're worried about this?") 

He looked over at Will again. Fully dressed, brunet hair combed neatly- sometimes Mike wonders if he just wakes up like that. However, his attention was taken from the boy as Eleven walked into the room and crossed her arms, giving all of the sixteen year old boys a disappointed look- when you've disappointed El, you've disappointed your mom, dad, any and all gods that may somehow exist, and probably every universe that exists.

Mike rarely ever got that look. The only time he got that look was when they were arguing and she 'dumped his ass' (had every reason to), but, aside from that, the look never appeared again. Not even when Mike had to explain to her that he wasn't in love with her anymore- at that point, she only smiled. Almost like a knowing smile- no one ever questioned it.

And all the stuff that happened two years prior? Now, it's over. It's finally over. They get to have the happily ever after they wanted, no Demogorgons, no Mind Flayers, no torture.

Which leads up to now. Stressing about, not flashbacks, not ugly flesh-eating beats, but being late for school.

*

Everyone in the party hopped on their bikes quickly, Max on the same one as Lucas, and Eleven on her own one. Will, Jonathan and Joyce all saved up enough money to buy her one last Christmas at the Wheeler's and she cried for almost twenty minutes about it. The only reason she stopped crying was because Steve decided it would be hilarious if he took out Mike's sock drawer and dumped it on her.

What did he learn from that? It wasn't.

Everyone pedalled as though their lived depended on it, Lucas falling behind as his girlfriend slightly weighed him down. However, both of them decided to take up the job of annoying the living hell out of Dustin, basically screaming the lyrics to Never Ending Story. Eleven looked as though she was about to die of laughter, but she was the only one (except for Lucas and Max themselves) who found it that funny. Even Will was getting slightly aggravated.

After a few minutes, or a few rounds of singing and Dustin flipping his friends off, the six friends arrived on school grounds. They managed to arrive only five minutes into their first class, science, which they sprinted to.

The door to Mr Thomas' classroom swung open. Silence took over the room as all eyes rested upon the six students. Dustin, being in the front of the party, gave the teacher an awkward smile. "Hi Mr Thomas! Uh..." he hesitated. "Nice weather outside, yeah?" The man at the front of the room only frowned and crossed his arms, giving a similar look as Eleven would. "Care to explain why you're ten minutes late to your first science class this semester?" He asked. A few students snickered.

Before Dustin could say anything, Max cut through the group and spoke for him. She was always the best at speaking, and at times she spoke for people in the party so they wouldn't embarrass themselves. This was one of those times.

"Actually, sir, these idiots slept in. That's it. Will and I had to wake them up. Pathetic, I know. They slept in." She said, emphasizing the last part when she turned to the rest of the class. The students who were giggling before had started laughing and hiding their faces in their textbooks. Mr Thomas looked slightly amused, but mostly disapproving. "I expected better from you five," he said, nodding his head towards Dustin, Max, Eleven, Lucas and Will. "But I can't say I'm surprised by you, Michael." Mike's face went crimson as Will and Dustin had smirks tugging on their lips. "Sit down. Thank god you didn't miss much."

And Mr Thomas was correct- they barely missed much. It was the annual Science fair, which sounded so much cooler than it actually was. The party usually loved science, but this 'event' was just a hassle and a rush to get everything done after nights of procrastination. One boy, Jared Kleinman, had managed to finish a whole science project in one day in the eighth grade. One day. And it wasn't due until three weeks from then. He was labeled the robot of the class, which was a vote by everyone including Kleinman himself.

As the teacher explained everything that would happen during the event, Mike let his mind wander. He caught himself spacing out, staring at his best friend's face from two desks to the right of him instead of looking out the window like usual. Michael took in all his facial features, his hazel coloured eyes, the way his hair was now short and parted directly on the side instead of his usual bowl-shaped haircut, the way he tapped his pencil on his desk anxiously, as though still waiting for something unexpected to happen...

And then it did.

"Michael, are you even listening right now?" Mr Thomas asked loudly, snapping Mike out of his thoughts. He felt heat rise up to his cheeks. "Sorry, sir." He mumbled, audibly. Lucas snickered and Max elbowed him.

"Anyways," the teacher continued. "Dustin and Lucas, you two will be partnered, and lastly, Will and Michael. Now get to work, the assignment is due on the thirtieth."

Great. Mike really was about to emotionally die inside.

He was about to be forced to spend far too much time with the very person he had been aiming to stay away from. The reason he dated Eleven in the first place was to distract himself from the fact that he liked Will. And now Will is going to be his partner for a ridiculous event that has no objective other than to embarrass yourself with your badly put together piece of trash that the teachers call art.

Though Mike didn't want to think about it, he knew the future was inevitable- he knew that he was going to have to say something about his situation. Will was an incredibly bright human being. Hell, Mike wouldn't even be surprised if he had figured it out by himself.

The worst part is the fact that, aside from the dread and fear, Michael was actually thrilled to be spending time with William. It was like being a teenage girl, fangirling over some random celebrity that, lets be honest, don't even have any relevance in your life- except it was different. Will meant the world to him, even if it was platonic. If telling the truth meant losing him then damn, feel free to pitch Mike off the bridge over top of Suicide Lake, because there is no way he will be the same without Will.

He had only expressed his feelings- leaving out the romantic part, because no way in hell was that going to happen when he was still with El- once before, and that was when Will was being possessed by the Demogorgon. He had explained everything, from the moment they met in kindergarten to the events leading up to Will being taken into the Upside Down. It broke his heart into a thousand pieces to only hear him respond with the same thing as before:

'Why am I tied up?'

*

"Mike? Michael? Michael, snap out of it."

He felt himself being shaken awake. Mike blinked once. Twice. Will and Eleven we're standing in front of his desk, Eleven's hands on his shoulders, shaking him. She sighed. "You okay?"

Mike only then realized he had tears streaming down his face. He quickly hid his face and wiped his eyes with his sleeves "M' fine." He said, voice muffled by his sweater. He looked up and noticed that everyone else in the room, thankfully, had left. Will and Eleven didn't look convinced, but as soon as Will started trying to speak, Eleven elbowed him lightly as to say 'leave it alone'. "Come on, Mike, we have a free period, let's go to the park." El said, a small smile playing on her lips. Mike smiled gratefully at her before standing and following his friend out of the classroom.

Yeah, this might even be worse than the whole Mind Flayer thing.

*

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