ACE OF HEARTS ( mike wheeler! )

CHAPTER FIFTY

"Gross," Robin replied. "Don't say boobies."

"Boobies."

Cassie laughed at her brother while he continued to discuss the topic, doing his best to convince Robin to ask out Vickie. This went on throughout the rest of the car ride, and once they finally arrived at Hawkins High School, Robin couldn't wait to step out of the vehicle.

"To the gym, everyone!" Ms. Kelly called to the incoming students, pointing her arms in the direction of the gymnasium. "Pep rally! To the gym. Go support your Tigers! Go, Tigers!"

As Cassie stepped out of the car, she was not able to spot any familiar faces outside, so she figured they were already in the gym. Turning to Robin and her brother, Cassie waved, "I'll see you guys later, I'm gonna go find Mike, Dustin, and Max."

After departing from the others, Cassie quickly made her way over to the gym. Once inside, her eyes immediately searched around for a familiar head of black hair. This process wasn't hard, because Mike had grown five more inches over the last several months. Racing over to the boy, Cassie called, "Mike!"

"Hey, Cassie!" Mike greeted, wrapping her into a tight hug.

"Look, I'm not saying that my girlfriend is better than yours..." Dustin trailed off, just as the two pulled apart.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Cassie turned to the boy, "Nice to see you too, Dustin."

"Sorry, Cass," Dustin replied, smiling awkwardly. "I was just telling Mike that Suzie's, like, a certified genius. She helped me get my Latin grade up from a D to an A."

Mike rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well, Cassie helped save the world, like, three times."

"And yet, you still have a C in Spanish."

"Valid point, Dustin," Cassie joked, patting Mike on the back. "I can't help you with that one."

When she turned back around, Cassie suddenly noticed Max standing on the other side of her, completely spaced out with her headphones on. It was strange that Cassie had not noticed her approach them, she must've been extremely quiet.

"Hey, Max, is everything alright?" Cassie asked the girl.

Nodding, Max shortly replied, "Yeah, fine."

Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short by the the marching band, who loudly entered the gymnasium. Just after the music started to play, the basketball team began to file out of the locker room, jogging over to the center of the gym. Near the end of the line, Lucas Sinclair appeared with a beaming smile, waving out to the crowd of students.

From the bleachers, Mike, Dustin, and Cassie clapped for him, while Max remained with her arms crossed, looking down at the boy with an expressionless face.

"Good morning, Hawkins High!" Senior basketball captain, Jason Carver's voice boomed from the microphone. "First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand!"

"We've literally been clapping for five minutes straight," Cassie whispered to Mike. "What more does he want from us?'

Mike chuckled, "I don't know, but my hands are actually starting to hurt."

Focusing her attention back onto Jason, Cassie listened as his voice grew soft, "You know, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, it's been a tough year for Hawkins. In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team and I said..."

The boy paused for a moment, taking a long breath before speaking, "Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Billy. Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. Think about every one of our friends who perished in that fire. What did they die for? For us to lose to some crap school?"