𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭

i. THE PEP RALLY.

     

     185 days since Will left. Approximately six months. Charles hasn't been doing so well. He felt like a piece of him was missing. First Billy, then Hopper and his mom. Everything has gone to shit, it was all so terrible. And not to mention, it's gotten worse. And his grandparents hadn't noticed at all. He says it's fine. They're getting old. They don't even care.

But everytime he says he isn't hungry, they expect he just eats after at a different time. But about a month or two into the semester, Dustin Henderson confronted him. "You're not doing okay, man... imagine how upset this would make Will. You could die from this. I've done some research with Suzie, and don't worry, I didn't name you." The boy reassured him and Charles' face just scrunched up.

"What the fuck do you mean?" He puts on his cold demeanour instantly. He pushed Dustin away as he had to everyone else, Max, Lucas and Mike too. He even ignores Robin who's been trying to get his attention and talk to him. He pretends he doesn't see her and goes the other way. But apparently someone had said something. So he started seeing Ms. Kelley, the guidance counselor after the winter break.

Even then, he didn't open up. He just talked some bullshit about not being able to sleep and getting headaches a lot. He just wished he could be with Will. Or see his mom again. Today, March 21st, 1986, was just like any other day as he woke up and dialled Will's new house's number. He felt bad for the long distance calls added to his grandparents' bill. But he can't stand not talking to Will everyday.

"Hello, Byers residence." El sounds peppy and Charles figures it's because she finally gets to see Mike since September. "Hi El... can you tell Will I need to talk to him?" He asked and she hums. "Hi Charlie!" She replied then giggles. "I'll go get your lover boy."

He blushed hard and glanced around. Thankfully he didn't forget Will's birthday tomorrow and is happy he gets to go to California for a week, his grandparents said yes to him going with Mike to Lenora Hills after saying no to both Thanksgiving and Christmas, so tomorrow, he flies out to Cali and gets to see Will after being apart for so long.

"Hello?" Will's voice snaps him out of his daze. "Hi." Charles says instantly and Will smiles widely. "Hi..." He says and it's quiet for a moment. "I miss you." Charles murmurs and Will giggles softly, "I miss you too... what time is your flight?" He asked and Charles glanced up at the clock. "6:30. Ted and Karen said they'd come pick me up around 5 and drive Mike and I to the airport." He explained.

"Then I get to see you... kiss you. And hug you." Charles' face is bright red and so is Will's as he smiles, glancing around the home. "I can't wait... I love you." He says and Charles smiles wider. "I love you more! I gotta head to school but I'll see you tomorrow." He replied.

"Yeah. Definitely."

When Charles arrives to the school, he sighs as he locks up his bicycle and saw Ms. Kelley informing students to go to the gymnasium for the pep rally. Seriously? So early in the morning? He grumbled as he walked towards the woman who waved at him. "Good morning, Charles! You're my 2 o'clock today, right after Max." She says and he nods. "'Kay..." he walked off because he saw Robin behind him. "Hey! Wait up!" She had shouted.

He glanced back and she caught up to him, adjusting her jacket. "Hey." She smiles and he glanced away. "Hey." He says coldly and she sighs. "How have you been?" She asked and he shrugs. "Fine." He replied and she points with her thumb behind herself. "I saw you talking with Ms. Kelley... do you see her sometimes?" She asked and he shrugged.

"A few times." He responded, glancing around to look at all of the students. He spots Dustin and Mike standing together. The Hellfire Club. So fucking bullshit. He sent a sneer at the pair wearing the shirts which clearly confused both of them. He looked away and sighed. "I'm gonna go sit over there and think about shooting myself in the head. Bye Rob." He walked off and she paused, watching him.

"That's not funny!"

She let out a sigh as the boy sat down and pulled on his headphones on his Walkman. He's been listening to a lot of metal lately. A lot of screaming. Drowns out every little bad thought he has. It kinda helped him avoid listening to dumbasses around him too.

The one thing he didn't like about the Hellfire Club was neither Mike or Lucas ever even wanted to play D&D with him and Will last summer and now they're in a D&D club? It was so bullshit. And so unfair to Will.

He made the music louder when the pep rally began. After some point, he noticed Lucas look to the crowd so he took off his headphones, resting them around his neck. He really wish he hadn't. "Think of our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. And Sarah Dumont." Jason looked directly at Charles who glanced down.

As the basketball team captain goes on, Charles quickly got up and left, putting his headphones over his ears as tears brim at his eyes. Boys don't cry. Boys don't cry. He tries his hardest to remind himself as he walked into the nearest bathroom and sat in one of the stalls. By then, he couldn't stop himself as he ripped off the headphones and sobbed softly into his hands that are over his face.

That's when he heard it. "Sweetie, are you okay? Is it a bad lunch you ate?" It sounds like his mom, looking up at the door with wide eyes. "Mom?" He quickly stood up and the door is shaking. "Open the door! And come eat lunch with me!" The voice yelled, the pitch of the voice getting deeper and scarier.

"Lea--leave me alone!" He said, backing away before putting his headphones back on. The door stop shaking and he looked up, tears are still rolling down his face. He slowly opened the door and see the bathroom was empty. He let out a shuddered breath before quickly leaving the bathroom, rubbing his eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

authors note he's back, my boy is back 🫶 and ofc, u know, he's targeted by vecna bc he has sm trauma he can't unpack, poor bb
+ decided to update this bc i'm impulsive and impatient (it's a deadly combo) and i'm like nearly done with part one of my eddie fic and about a quarter of part four of my el fic, so here it is, the long awaited update