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“Once upon a time, there was a boy named Will the Wise. He was best at drawing and fighting monsters,” Will’s face scrunches in delight. “He was best friends with Mike the Brave. They never went anywhere alone, because they never wanted to. One day, Will and Mike went to the park,” he shakes his head. Mike holds Will’s drawing closer. “To play in the woods behind his house. But first, they had to tell Will the Wise’s mommy, so she wouldn’t be scared!” Will giggles and follows Mike to the kitchen.
“What are you boys up to?” Joyce plants a kiss on Will’s cheek and Mike’s forehead, the latter beaming up at her. She will never be able to express how grateful she is to her boy’s first, real friend.
“We’re going to play outside! If that’s okay with you, Mrs. Byers.”
“Sure thing. Make sure to bundle up first. And be back before dark!” The boys smile and throw on jackets before racing outside. Mike finds a stick and passes it to Will before finding another for himself. They sword-fight as Mike narrates,
“Mike comes in for the attack, but Will is too fleet of foot! He dodges and counters with an overhead sweep. Mike ducks just in time to save his brain. Thank goodness for that! What’s this? A sneak attack from Will, and- oh! Mike has been struck in the chest. It’s all over for Mike the Brave!” He puts on an elaborate, slow, dramatic death as he collapses to the ground. Will kneels down, laughing as Mike takes his hand. “‘Twas an illustrious battle, Will the Wise. It was truly an honor to be slain by thine hand.”
With that final note, Mike closes his eyes and lays still, as though dead. After a moment, Will shakes his shoulders. His laugh turns into shaky gasps, and Mike opens his eyes, seeing the distress in his friend’s face. “Woah, hey, it’s okay. It’s just pretend, right?” Will nods, wide-eyed and panting. Mike pulls him into a hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Will’s breathing evens out, and he pulls away, smiling softly. Mike smiles back. Sometimes the games go a little too far.
“After a well-won battle, Will the Wise revives Mike the Brave, so they can keep being best friends forever. Their first task as best friends forever is to… catch a frog!” Will nods, and the boys run, hand in hand, to the pond to look for signs of amphibians.
——
So on it goes, two best friends unburdened by the eyes of judgmental adults and societal expectations of boys in the 80s. For the whole summer, they played together, as Mike told stories and learned to understand Will in a way few had tried and none had succeeded.
By the time first grade started, they barely had to work at communicating. Mike and Will knew each other so well, they didn’t have to clarify to know the answer to an unasked question. They moved in tandem, never going anywhere alone, because they never wanted to.
Mike never really considered what other people would think about him or Will until Mike made some new friends.
——
“Hi, Mrs. Byers! Can Will play? These are our friends from school.” Joyce cocks her head at the smiling faces next to Mike. She hadn’t known Will made new friends, but she supposes she didn’t have much of a way of finding out.
“Sure, honey. I’ll go get him.” She leans down to kiss Mike’s forehead, and he smiles widely, as if bragging about his friend’s mom treating him like a son.
“You’re gonna love him. Will is my best friend in the whole world!” He could have just as easily said ‘in Hawkins,’ given that, at 6 years old, those meant the same thing to him.
“What does he like to do?” Mike beams, trying to decide where to start.
“He likes to draw and paint and play outside. He loves the swings almost as much as me! Sometimes we play pretend or if it’s rainy we like board games and comic books too.” Mike stops gushing about his friend only because he hears footsteps down the hall. Will pops out, nervously looking between Mike and the two boys next to him.
They wait for him to say something, but he doesn’t. “Will, this is Dustin and Lucas from school, remember? Dustin’s superpower is that he doesn’t have collarbones and Lucas’ is that he’s really good with a slingshot!” Will smiles and Dustin smiles back, saying,
“I’m altho really thmart!” His lisp makes Will chuckle in spite of himself. Lucas’ eyes dart back and forth, confused.
“Can’t he talk?” Mike just shrugs, as if to say ‘who cares?’ and takes off towards the forest.
“Come on! We’ll show you the coolest places to play in the woods. Sometimes his brother plays with us but he’s basically a grown up, so not most of the time.” Jonathan is nine. “He’s probably busy dating girls, right, Will?”
A chorus erupts of “ewww”s and “cooties!” Will laughs, giving Mike a playful push. They lead their new friends to the frog pond and the climbing tree and the jumping rock. Lucas finds some pebbles and shows off his slingshot skills.
“Will thinks that’s awesome!” Mike smiles at Will, and he smiles back.
“How do you know? He didn’t even say anything.” Mike shrugs again. Dustin interrupts, eyes wide,
“You’re like a mind reader! Maybe that is your thuperpower!” Mike laughs and shakes his head.
“Only if it’s Will. I don’t think I have a superpower. Not like you guys.” Will shakes his head, grabbing Mike’s arm. “Oh, well I guess I’m pretty good at telling stories. Or at least Will thinks so,” he teases. Lucas and Dustin exchange a look, the latter mouthing the word ‘cuckoo.’ Lucas rolls his eyes.
“Okay then. Let’s hear one.” Mike looks to Will for reassurance, and he nods. Taking in his surroundings to search for inspiration, Mike begins,
“Once upon a time there were two warriors, Will the Wise and Mike the Brave. One day, they met two new friends, um… Lucas the Gallant and Dustin the-“ he turns back towards Will, who’s laughing at Dustin’s awestruck face, “Dustin the Humorous! At first, the warriors were unsure if they should allow these newcomers to join their secret party but, after careful consideration, and a test of bravery,” jumping off the jumping rock, “Will the Wise and Mike the Brave have deemed their new friends worthy.”
Dustin throws his arms around Mike and Will, grateful to be added to the party. Lucas shakes his head but allows himself to get pulled into the group hug. “Mike, that is totally your thuperpower!” The boys all laugh, and Lucas finally pushes past his reservations, playing with his new friends.
——
One day, waiting for Will to get out of the shower, Jonathan showed Mike a new record he got for his birthday. By this point, the boys had all but become family, spending as many nights together as apart. Mike is lounging across Jonathan’s bed, completely unabashed and carefree, something the older boy has never felt.
“Hey, Mike. Does it worry you that Will is nonverbal?” He receives a clueless frown and presses on. “I mean… does he have trouble at school or with friends?” Mike shakes his head. Sometimes their teacher gives him a strange look, but it’s not just Will. It’s all four of them now, but that stuff never matters. Mike and Will have great friends.
“What’s ‘nonverbal’ mean?”
“You know, how he can’t talk.” Mike stares blankly.
“What do you mean? Of course he can talk. Otherwise how would I know that he likes milk duds better than m&ms and that he doesn’t want Lucas to know he still thinks the jumping rock is scary? How would I know his favorite color is yellow and his least favorite food is asparagus, especially when it’s all floppy. How would I know that if he didn’t tell me…”
Jonathan cocks his head, perfectly mirroring his mother. He has never heard his 6 year old brother speak a word. As far as Jonathan is aware, he can’t. He briefly considers if Will talks to Mike when they’re alone. Then the more plausible idea that Mike can just read his mind. “Do you mean he talks to you when I’m not there?” Mike shrugs, trying to think of a time when he didn’t know what Will liked or wanted.
“He’s just quiet.” At the sound of the door opening down the hall, Mike smiles and skips off to go talk to his friend. Jonathan follows behind and listens through the door to Will’s room. He hears Mike rambling and occasional questions with no responses, but Mike continues as if he understood the answer.
Jonathan wonders if Mike just makes up answers and Will goes along with them.
He looks at Will’s drawings, essentially covering the house. He does use an awful lot of yellow.
Some time later, as the boys lay in bed at their sleepover, Mike remembers his conversation with Jonathan. “Will?” The boy turns sleepily, a question in his eyes. “Will, can you talk?” Will shrugs, as if the question never occurred to him. Why would he need to speak out loud when Mike understands him plain. “I guess I never realized that when you tell me things, you don’t do it with your voice like other people, you know?”
Both boys stare in silence for a while. Another question pops into Mike’s head, one that concerns him more than most things at the age of six. “Has there ever been something I didn’t know that you wish I did? Something you wish you could tell me?”
Will thinks for a moment, considering all of the things Mike has taken the time to learn and figure out without a single word said aloud by him. There may be nothing Mike doesn’t know, but there’s plenty Will hasn’t said. Finally, he turns to look at his best friend again, and whispers, “I love you, Mike.”
For the first time in their friendship, Mike is the one left speechless. He throws his arms around Will in a tight hug. Neither boy could be happier as Mike responds, “I love you too, Will. I never doubted you for a second!”
Mike makes a mental note to tell Jonathan not to worry about his little brother. He and Will fall asleep holding hands like otters, no language needed at all.