bird boy ☼ stenbrough DISCONTINUED

.20

bill mentally cursed himself. he had no idea how to ask him! he should've thought this through before blurting his name out. mike looked over his shoulder at bill and turned himself back around. this time he didn't stop, he just biked around bill in circles.

"what's up?"

"d-do you think you can d-do me a favor?"

•
•
•

so there they were, hiding behind a bush in front of the library, going over their plans. "once a-again, you are going to g-go into the library, go straight t-to the non fiction or in-informational section and look f-for books on birds. i basically n-need as much information as i can guh-get on as many bird types as possible. th-thhen check them out, but don't mention anything a-about me. try to avoid stan, the buh-boy with the curly hair and kippah. he t-talks too much." bill laughed out the last part as he thought about stan. he could talk to anybody for hours if the topic was about birds.

"you got it, bill." mike spoke as he pushed himself off the damp ground. he brushed his hands on his already dirty jeans, and made his way to the entrance. he was actually really happy bill was making him do this because he might make a friend out of it! mike has always wanted to talk to bill, but he was too scared. he's not really sure how public school kids act, and his only experience with them was with the bowers gang. they've basically traumatized him.

he walked into the painfully silent room as he clutched onto his satchel, and immediately scanned it to find any sign that says 'non fiction.' he spotted it in the back and he sighed of relief. he hasn't seen stan yet, so maybe he won't notice that he's there and he can get in and out quickly.

he tip toed over to the section, trying not to disturb the old ladies who were reading and slipped into a row, hiding himself from the open room. he let out a sigh and scanned over the millions of torn bindings, tilting his head to the right so he could read the titles.

his eyes stopped on a certain series called everything you need to know, but they were specifically drawn to the one about birds. It was a pretty thick book, so he assumed that was the only one he would need.

he flipped through the pages carefully, becoming quite satisfied with his find. hopefully bill would like it as well. he wouldn't want his newly found friendship to end so soon.

"i've read that book so many times. it's my favorite! were you looking to check it out?" mike jumped at the sudden sound and turned his body around. 'curly haired boy with the kippah,' mike thought as his eyes trailed up to the boy's head. 'it's stan.'

"yeah i was actually." since mike was raised with manners, he couldn't quite get himself to not answer stan's question. it would probably ruin mike's day if he didn't.

stan's eyes instantly lit up and a smile made his way into his face. "do you like birds?" he asked, a little too excitedly.

mike paused to think about this question. he tried to think of what answer would create the least amount of conversation. it's not that he didn't want to talk to stan, because he's always up for making new friends, but bill told him he talks too much and he really needed to get back outside. "i don't have an opinion. i'm just doing a project."

"on anything specific? maybe i could help!" stan took a step closer and batted his eyelashes, trying to look very friendly so mike would take up his offer.

"no—uh. i didn't really get that far yet. i was just looking into some animals and this is the first book i grabbed, so i guess i'm doing it on birds." mike looked down at the book again, not wanting to make eye contact with stan. he thought if he looked slightly uninterested that stan would get the memo, but he didn't.

"well that's ok! i could still help you! i know a thing or two about birds." stan laughed to himself, him being the only one to get the 'joke.'

"maybe i can come back sometime, but right now i'm really needed at home. i was only supposed to take ten minutes here. sorry stan."

"how did you—"

mike ignored stan as he brushed past him, picking up his pace to get to the check out.

stan let out a small sigh as he finished his sentence. "—know my name?" he spoke softly, slowing down his sentence as he realized mike was already gone.

he turned around to look for him,
but there was no sign of the boy, anywhere. stan sulked as he made his way over to the back corner, next to the big bay window that over looked their town. he usually came here when he had nothing to do, or if he was upset (but that was rare for him, at least in the library).

stan climbed onto the cushions and rested his back against the wall, getting comfortable on the pillows. his face was inches away from the glass as he looked around, occasionally watching people go by. that's when he saw something that made his stomach churn.

the boy from before was outside, hugging his bill.

stan squinted his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows, trying to get a better look at them. as each second passed, stan's fist and jaw clenched harder with anger. they've been hugging for too long and stan didn't like that one bit.

stan's body began to shake as he slowly broke down. he never thought he would be the one to get jealous, but he couldn't help it. he finally just got bill, he didn't want him drifting away so quickly.

stan couldn't help, but continuously think about the fact that bill lied to him. stan asked to hang out after work, but bill told him that his grandparents where coming over, so he would be stuck in his house all day.

now he's out with the mystery boy and being flirtatious with him? stan felt utterly nauseous just thinking about it. why would bill lead him on like that?

stan physically couldn't look away as the boys pulled back from their hug. they both made their way towards their bikes and stan noticed bill whispered something to the other boy. he nodded back at him and they swung themselves onto their bikes, riding off into the distance.

stan took in a shaky breath as he closed his eyes and brought his head into his knees. he really wanted to know what was going on, but he also hated confrontation. maybe stan was just over analyzing the situation, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but think that bill was just joking.

'bill denbrough doesn't actually like you. did you really think that? wow stan, that's pathetic.'