Chapter Text
She said ,’Where do you wanna go
How much do you wanna risk?
I'm not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts
Some superhero
Some fairy-tale bliss
Just something I can turn to
Somebody I can kiss
I want something just like this…’
Will
Will groaned internally. Why, he wondered, did they Ever kill off Vecna? If only he had known about what this year was about to bring….
Will Byers was, by and large, not at all happy. It was a Monday (first reason for a grumpy mood), adding to which he already had a huge pile of homework, that too in Maths. And it was only the first period!
He slung his backpack over his shoulder, and dragged his feet to his next class, English. This one, he shared with most of the Party – which sadly involved his sister and… well, him.
Sure enough, as soon as he entered the class, there was Dustin, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here, and beside him Mike and El, arms around each other and oblivious to the rest of the world. If they could, Will thought, they’d start kissing in class only, by the look on their faces.
Dustin pointed to the chair beside him, picking up his backpack. ‘Thank god you’re here,’ he murmured in a low voice, ‘son of a bitch hasn’t even looked up at me in these past five minutes. I could gag.’
Will raised his eyebrows, just as Lucas entered, Max tagging along beside him.
‘Good morning gents , and lady,’ Lucas said, giving a fake courtesy , ‘How are we doing this fine Monday morning?’
‘Oh shut up!’ Will said, grumpily , just as Mike said dreamily from behind him, ‘the best possible Monday, yeah,’ and El giggled.
Will could throw up.
‘All right Class, settle down!’ Mrs Reynolds called out, ‘I am going to pass you the papers from last week’s class test.’ At this, there WAS an audible groan from everyone. Mrs Reynolds said ‘Yes, indeed. Most of you didn’t even write like you belonged to Junior year. I will hand them out to you, you go through those and learn something , understood?’
The day was gradually getting worse , at least for Will. His grade at English had dropped to a C ( ‘Must do better next time, Mr Byers), another pile of Science homework got piled up, which nobody except Dustin understood, in history Will had to endure being alone with Troy and his gang again, who were turning into the worst possible bullies for him- taunting him about everything from his appearance, to how they thought he “liked to kiss boys” (Will didn’t know when he would snap, just how far), lunch break was again taken up by Mike and El, this time kissing as if glued to the lips (Will pointedly looked away!) , he had forgotten his text books for Spanish class….
All in all, he was just glad that the bell rang, and it was time for Art.
Will was alone amongst his friends attending this class , for which he was glad. It was the only place where he felt a semblance of sanity, at least in school , and he couldn’t be eager enough for the class to start.
Will had let Mike go, he closed his eyes at the thought. He remembered Mike telling El, ‘My life started the day I met you,’ and Will had thought, ironically, that was the moment that his own life had felt like ending – the world as he had known, had truly ended for him then. Not only was he taken, but his childhood, his best friend, even his Mum- so carefree, so happy, even that had changed.
But none of that was Mike’s fault.
Just as it wasn’t his fault that for many years , almost for five years, Will had been in love with Mike.
Mike never knew, and if Will could help it, never would. He had once tried to know whether Mike felt the same way, back in the field, when Robin had clocked him clearly. Since then, Will had accepted himself, he really had - and it was freeing just as Robin had promised.
But it was at times like this when Will felt unreasonably angry at Mike. If nothing , El was his sister, Mike should stop for the sake of that.
The door to the class opened and Ms Anderson walked in, smiling. ‘Well, good afternoon,’ she said, ‘I know a lot of you are eager to start on your next work,’( at those her eyes sparkled kindly at Will). ‘But first let me introduce you to our new student Mr Colin Reed, who will be joining us from today. Mr Reed, would you like to say something about yourself?’
Will’s eyes immediately fell on a boy, not much taller than him, smiling up shyly at the class. His hair was a bit messy, as if he had tried to fix it with his fingers one too many times, a notebook clutched in his hand, a nervous little smile plastered to his lips. He raised his hand, as if unsure whether they would reciprocate or not, and said ,’Hi, I am Colin and I am from California’, then after rocking on his heels once or twice, he rubbed his hands and said, ‘Yeah, that’s about it.’
Few people greeted him, others just nodded before going back to their work .
‘Will , why don’t you show Colin around, and how things are mainly done here? ‘she said.
Will shrugged, ‘ Sure, why not .’
Colin came up to him, and putting down the notebook, extended an arm, ‘Hi, Colin here.’
‘Will,’ he introduced himself, smiling. There was something about Colin that immediately felt soothing, like a balm, to him.
‘Am I far behind everyone?’ he asked.
Not if you let me help you, a small voice said in Will’s head. He was surprised, that voice had always been particularly reserved for Mike ( or his lack of presence). This was the first time it quipped for some body else.
Will MUST be going crazy.
‘Not…. Not really, no. Here, let me show you around,’ Will said.
As he proceeded to explain various stuff and also the basic Who’s who of everyone. Colin smiled, now his eyes brightening up bit by bit. They were, Will noticed unhelpfully, an earthly brown tinged with green, and Will wanted to get lost in them…
‘So that’s about it, really. Pretty simple.’ Will said .
Colin scratched his head, and said ,’Okay… cool. Thanks a lot. Let’s start then.’ And salute-ing Will’s paint brush with his own, started painting.
Will let himself go – in the painting; his brain, eyes, fingers and brush moved as if they were all connected. This was his time - his only, and nothing could take that away from him.
So it was a surprise when the bell rang, too soon already.
‘Wow’, he heard a soft voice saying from behind him, ‘You’re… amazing, you know that?’
Will had drawn a bird’s eye vision of Upside Down Hawkins.. to the untrained eyes, he thought , this would indeed look artistic, but to them…. Will shuddered involuntarily.
‘You okay?’ Colin asked.
‘Yeah, yeah sure .. um thanks, I guess?’
‘Wow, you so do NOT know how to take a compliment,’ Colin said, this time smiling ear to ear.
‘Still learning’, Will said, with a smile himself .
‘So , see you tomorrow? ‘ Colin asked, gently rocking once on his feet , sounding a bit apprehensive. This time Will associated this with maybe a little nervousness on his part.
‘Yeah, sure, tomorrow’, Will said, and as Colin turned , Will felt a little tinge off disappointment
Maybe, love (or infatuation) can happen at first sight.