I, Will Byers, Am Not a Victim

Chapter 27: Unexpected Help

I woke up the next day feeling numb. I wasn't necessarily angry or sad, but numb. After everything that happened, it was like I couldn't feel anything. I was isolated from the party; there's no way I could bring myself to talk with Dustin or Lucas while Mike might be there. I felt like El had benched me, not that I blamed her. All I had left was my family, but I wasn't ready to talk to them about what happened.

I desperately wanted to make things right with Mike, but the only way I could do that was to tell him everything what was going on. I knew that he would forgive me and be my friend again, but if I did that, he would try to help, putting himself in danger. After weighing my options, I chose not to make up with him right away, not because I didn't want to, but to protect him. I'd rather him hate me than be dead.

I expected the next day of school to be just as bad as the last one,and for the first half of the day, it was. It didn't help that Mike, Dustin,and Lucas were in most of my classes. All I could do was lookin my notebook or look straight ahead, avoiding eye contact.

Near the end of lunch, I got some much needed help from an unlikely person: Max Mayfield.

"Will," she said to me as she sat right beside me. "I saw what happened yesterday. I'm sorry. Mike can be such as asshole sometimes." I nod in agreement while sitting down. "Hey, you know what? I've been thinking about cutting school for the rest of the day, why don't you come with me?"

I thought about this for a moment. I had always been a model student, getting high grades and never cutting class, but with everything happening to me, why not? I nodded my head in agreement as we head out the back door. I grabbed my bike and she grabbed her skateboard.

"Follow me," said as she hopped onto her skateboard. I was shocked at how fast she could move on her skateboard. I was having trouble keeping up with her on my bike, but she at least looked back to make sure I was behind her. I wasn't sure how to feel about this, but at least it was better than staying in school and/or moping around. After about 20 minutes, we ended up at her house.

"Come on in," she said as she grabbed her skateboard and I grabbed my bike. "Nobody's home, like usual, so there's nothing toworry about. Here, grab a soda." She took a can of "New Coke"and tossed it to me. It didn't taste bad, but I wished they would have stuck with their old formula; there was nothing wrong with it to begin with.

"So," she said casually as she sat on the couch across from me,"Is Mike just being his usual 'charming' self or is something else going on?"

  "Well," I said back as I chuckled a little. "It's kind of a long story."