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silence. a deadly, loathsome silence. tension filled the waiting room. dustin had wondered why he'd overreacted. he knew what he did was wrong. what the fuck was will byers doing to him? why did he care so much?
"do you like him?" mike said quietly. he looked at his feet, afraid to make eye contact with dustin for even a nanosecond.
"i don't know," dustin replied, "do you?"
mike scoffed, "you gotta like him if you kissed him, dustin." the other's stomach dropped at that comment.
"k-kissed h-him?"
"oh yeah, i saw that. i happened to be outside when you did it. and then he hugged you, so obviously he likes you back." mike's voice broke there. running a hand through his raven hair, he looked out the window. no, he thought to himself, don't be sad about will, he's an asshole, remember?
"i don't think so, he would've kissed me back if he liked me," dustin sadly said, "he most likely would've kissed you."
mike blushed and laughed. if will kissed him, no doubt, he would cup his face and kiss back harder. no matter how mean he was on the inside, there was no denying that he would definitely kiss will byers. yet here he was, after cursing him out in the hallway; here he was with a telekinetic girl in his basement who totally still liked him. here he was, not telling dustin about will's hateful comments about him and eleven. mike and dustin hadn't made eye contact once.
"dustin henderson and michael wheeler, in my office, now," principal coleman's door creaked open almost on cue; his bushy eyebrows knitted together in anger and frustration.
"yes, mr. coleman," said the two in unison.
"would you boys like to tell me how you got into an altercation first period of the day?"
"will byers, sir," said dustin, humbly, "he was crying and i felt like mike didn't even care about him, so i snapped at him. it was my fault."
"you mean that new kid from seattle?"
"yes, mr. coleman," mike piped up, "dustin and i were both responsible, we're sorry."
the bald principal sighed. "alright, you two have in-school suspension starting tomorrow, and there you both will write a 600-word research essay about the chemical processes in the brain when we experience strong emotions, understand?"
