I HATE THAT I LOVE YOU ! ( byler )

xi. The Party

Mike wasn't bothered the next day he arrived at school. Everyone except his friends ignored him, even the teachers.

"How are you holding up?" Mr.Clark asked him one afternoon. Mike knew he meant well, but instead of being rational he walked out of room mid-lesson. He hid in one of the boys bathroom stalls for the rest of the day, sobbing quietly.

No one came to get him, and he appreciated that. Sometimes it just felt better to have things to yourself.

He'd spent the last week in El's house with Holly. Now that he had reported his parents for abuse, aunt Terry said she'd be more than happy for them to live with her. Even if they were family, Mike felt like an intruder, like he didn't belong. So he left a lot, usually in the woods.

Usually in Castle Byers.

He stepped into the classroom, Ms. Dakota waiting on her desk. She was the new Social Studies teacher. She gave him a wary look.

"Any reason why you're 15 minutes late, Mr. Wheeler?" She asked spitefully. Mike rolled his eyes, walking to his seat, however, he didn't get a free pass this time.

"So that's lunch detention today, any complaints and I'll extend it to the next day." She commented. Mike turned around.

"What?" He furrowed his eyebrows, soon realizing his mistake after Ms. Dakota widened her eyes.

"And that's day two of detention. Wanna keep going?" The class stared at Mike and his every move. He hated the feeling of thirty pairs of eyes glued on him. Mike sucked his teeth and headed to his seat. He sat down miserably and took out his text book. He slowly tuned out Ms. Dakota's annoying voice, not paying attention.

The rest of the school day he spent in the library. He didn't bother going to lunch detention either, since the teacher didn't come to get him, he figured someone told her about the incident that happened the last few days and decided to leave him alone. This only made him feel worse.

He scanned the spines of the books, but never picked one up. He sat in a bean bag chair that was left far in the corner of the library, he was completely hidden. He contemplated going to the nurse and pretending to have the flu or something like that. Wouldn't be hard to fake considering he already feels fatigued and lifeless.

But that would bother aunt Terry too much.

He opened his backpack and scanned through one of his notebooks. They were filled with Will's drawings. He loved every detail he placed, every drop of ink by his markers or pens, Will always created a masterpiece.

One of his drawings was of the party and their characters in D&D. That one was his favorite, and it was Mike's too.

"Hey," he heard a voice behind him. Mike turned to face one of the girls in his class. Jennifer.

"Oh, hey." Mike mumbled, quickly putting away the notebook in his hand. Jennifer sat down next to him, smile on her face.

"You look like you need a break." She pointed out, smaking her gum loudly, twirling her brown hair around her finger. Mike sighed.

"Yeah, I really do." Mike responded. He needed a break from life, to feel free and for his problems to melt away. That would be fun.

"Well, good for you, I have a party tomorrow. Everyone's coming." Jennifer slid him a card that was bright purple. He read it.

PARTY AT JENNIFER'S HOUSE!
DATE: FRIDAY JANUARY 18TH
TIME: 5:00 PM
ADRESS: STREET 108, 10543, HOUSE 16