troy walsh and melanie stanton were always the talk of the school- they were constantly talking about what gifts they were receiving from one another and bragging about how well their relationship was going. they were a model for how most of the students at hawkins high would want their relationship to be like. for will byers, however, it was different. he didn't want to be constantly talking about his own relationship with everyone else. He would rather have a comfortable, long-lasting relationship before he even told his friends he was dating someone. In will's perspective, looking at troy and melanie was a chore. he could tell- along with his friends- that neither of them were very invested in their relationship, and did it only for attention's sake. either way, they were doing great faking their attraction to each other.
summer was finally time to forget about the relationship status of people none of them cared about.
and that was at the top of will byers' mind as he exited the horrific building for three months.
Will's POV
"Good riddance," I said, talking about Troy and Melanie rather than the school itself. Eleven, and probably the whole party too, must have misunderstood.
"Yes, I did not know that school would be such a long and stressful journey." Eleven explained. She was enrolled in the school only seven months ago, around wintertime. We tried to tell her that it would not look like what she'd watched on tv- in reality it was a weight we were all forced to carry around all the time. At this time Mike spoke.
"We tried to tell you-" he was cut off by Lucas. "I knew it! I told you it wouldn't be all fun and games!"
"Lucas, there's no need to make her feel bad." Max piped in.
"I don't feel bad, Lucas." We continued walking. First was Max's house, and Lucas was staying there with her. We waved good bye to the two of them, continuing to pedal down the long winding roads.
The next house was Dustin's, and we stopped at his front yard and waved goodbye at him as his cat ran out of his house and scratched at his feet. Now it was just me and Mike.
I tried not look at his smile while he talked. It always made me so happy and so sad at the same time. Happy, because he was happy. But sad, because he isn't mine.
We rode father, laughing and talking about summer plans, finally reaching Mike's house. I stopped at his front yard as he did, him walking his bike over to his garage.
"Wanna stay over for a bit, Byers?" I considered it for a second. However, I couldn't. If I was planning on getting my homework done, I couldn't have Mike's adorable face disrupting my focus.
"Can't. Promised Mom I'd be home for game night," I lied, feeling guilty, but reassuring myself that it was better for us in the long run.
"Oh, okay..." Mike said, slightly blushing. I waved goodbye to him and rode off, my cheeks pink.
Mike's POV
I went into my room and immediately crashed onto the bed. It was kind of disappointing that Will couldn't hang out. I love when he smiles. When he laughs. When he's happy. But not like that. We're just friends. Always have been, always will be.
Friends.
The word reminded me of my girlfriend, Eleven. Shit, El. I haven't talked to her in two days. I guess I was just caught up in all the end-of-school stuff.
I thought it would be a good idea to go over to her cabin and see her. She might be worried.
I ran downstairs and out the garage door, grabbing my bike and hopping onto it. I didn't bother going fast, there was no rush. I would get there when I got there. Sometimes I never really admired the place I live. Looking up, I can see the crisp green treetops contrasting with the baby blue sky. Unfortunately, I should've looked where I was riding. A bump in the road came and my bike toppled over on the concrete, causing scratches all over my palms and knees. I winced. Suddenly, a noise came from around the corner.
"Mike?" It sounded. Will. I looked at the boy in front of me as he hastily approached me. He had a worried look on his face and, even with my entire body in pain, everything felt just a small bit better.
"W-will, what are you doing here?" I asked, trying my best to get up. Will held his hand out and I grabbed it, my face now a couple inches away from Will's face. We both stepped back awkwardly and looked down, until he spoke up.
"I was heading over to Lucas', I left my supercom over there when we all slept over there the other night," he explain. I watched his lips as he talked. They were so beautiful. But not like that, like I said, we're just friends.
And that reminded me of why I came here in the first place: to see El.
"D-do you need help getting back to your house? Where were you even going anyway?" he asked.
"I went to see El, since it's been a bit since i've seen her."
"Oh," Will said, his voice dropping a bit lower.
"You okay?" I asked. His nodded vigorously.
"Of course," Will stated, a smile on his face. I looked fake.
"Okay, let me know if you wanna hang out sometime! bye, bud." I hopped on my bike and rode away, feeling the air hitting my face, like I was swimming upstream. Like the universe was trying to hold me back, back there with him.
Will's POV
I watched him ride away, and every time he got farther away my heart sunk deeper, and deeper.
Until it was like my heart was a hole, that existed once before, but the fire that once burned there had extinguished. I sighed, and grabbed my bike, heading back home. After all, there was no reason to continue going where I was going. The supercom thing was a coverup, obviously. I was going to Mike's.
I pedaled back on the path, going back home.
Or at least, that's where I intended to go.
\\
Hello everyone! this is the first chapter of "Great Minds"! Im super excited to work on this, and im sorry this one is short, I just wanted to get the first chapter out there!
