Bruised Boy Byers - Byler

7

                                                                                  513 words

Mike and Will sat cross-legged on his bed, a pile of different comic books in between them. If you asked Mike if it was weird for a boy to read Wonder Woman, he'd definitely say it was, but if you caught him alone it was a whole different story. Both he and Will loved superheroes. They'd read any superhero comic they could get their hands on and Mike has come over to Mike's house and read him, mostly since Mike could afford them. Not that Will didn't have a job, he worked as a house cleaner for an old woman who lived about a block away from him, but dad was always getting into Will's savings. Mr. Rodriguez always just spent it on useless things as alcohol, using the petty excuse of 'I let you live in this house, this is the least you could return!' before smacking him for being 'ignorant' and 'greedy'. Will didn't even bother to argue with his dad anymore. At least he didn't work for anything, though. The old woman was very sweet and sometimes even gave him cookies and other old lady things. Unsurprisingly, she also had a chubby orange cat named bean that he adored. He loved animals, though his parents would never let him get one, and he wouldn't want an animal to suffer as he does. Will would never wish what he goes through to anyone.

"Will?" Mike asked suddenly. Will jumped and looked at him, startled and breathed heavily.

"Oh, yeah?" Will replied, his heart still jumpy. Mike frowned.

"You just seemed kinda out of it. Are you ok?" Mike urged, an unreadable expression strewn on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok. I was just thinking," Will said fastly, fidgeting with the tips of his fingers, his eyes avoiding Mike's. Mike bit his lip and gazed at Will. He knew he was lying, but Mike didn't wanna put him on the spot.

"Oh, ok. You wanna go to bed?" Mike asked, shrugging. Will nodded and put down his comic book. Mike tried countless times to convince Will that he can sleep in his bed, and every time Will refused. He didn't want to take it again and already felt like enough of a nuisance. He was a nuisance. No one even wanted or liked him. They were just nice out of pity. Insecurities crumbled down on him, burying him in the rubble of bad thoughts, dust covering his eyes and wrapping around his throat. It was hard to breathe here. It was hard to breathe in the crumbling ruins of his own self-worth. Oh god. Waves of painful depression pounded onto the shore, taking the last of his happiness with it, pushing it to the very bottom of the ocean where it sank and suffocated. Mike shook Will.

"Hey! What's wrong! A-are you ok? Will?" Mike panicked his hands on Will's shoulders and his eyes wide. Tears were streaming down Will's face, who was shaking all over. Will just shook his head, standing stiflly. Mike knit his eyebrows, his face filled with concern. 

  {It's cool being able to release my feelings out into a character. It's also cool being able to write a character with mental illnesses, which makes him more relatable to me and maybe some other people! If anyone wants to reach out to me I'd love to talk <3 I hope life is treating you well!}