✰ star boy ✰

1. new boy

will byers was your average thirteen year old boy. he was average at school, had an average life, and spent a lot of time with his...oh well...average friends.
will was content with his life. he had never necessarily had an issue with the way he had lived. he lived in an average sized house with his mother (joyce), his brother (jonathon), his father (jim hopper), and his sister (el). the five were very happy, and rarely had arguments that were larger than things such as who got to watch tv at noon.
will did notice though, that he had always felt...different. yeah, that's the right word. will
felt different than his friends. he could never put a finger on it, but he knew that something about him made him very different from his best friends, lucas and dustin.
ah, lucas and dustin. they had been will's friends since kindergarten. they met on the swings, when will asked to be their friend. the three had been inseparable ever since. they never dreamed of having a group bigger than the three of them. much like will's family, they were all happy and content.
6:45
oh great. 6:45. will's least favorite time of day. it was a cold january morning, and will would've done anything if it meant that he didn't have to leave the warm, snug feeling that his blankets brought to him. but, he sighed, took a deep breath in preparation for the cold he was about to face, and jumped out of bed. brrr. he shook his head, threw on a crewneck, a pair of black jeans, and some converse and made his way downstairs.
"good morning will" el kindly greeted her older brother. he smiled back at her in response, and sat down at the table.
"hey kiddo, you're looking pretty bundled up this morning!" hopper remarked as he leaned over to rustle will's hair.
"dad, not my hair," will laughed and wrestled his father's hands away from his hair, "and anyways, i'm bundled up because, in case you aren't aware, it is the middle of january." hopper laughed, and with that, will grabbed a piece of toast, gave his mother and father a hug goodbye, grabbed his backpack, and set off on his bike to lucas' house.
dustin and will would always meet lucas at his house before school. it's been their tradition for as long as they could remember. but as will's bike tires made their way through the new fallen snow of the sinclair's driveway, he realized that he was alone. no dustin, no lucas. he stood for a second, waiting to see if lucas would run out of his house or if dustin was just running late, by neither came. he checked his watch and sighed. he was going to be late. he pushed his bike out of the driveway, and then rode as quickly as he could to school.
by the time will managed to get to school, he was covered in snow. his shoes, as well as the bottom of his jeans, were damp and slushy. he sighed once again, but, knowing there was nothing he could do about it, he headed off to his first period class.
as he opened the door, he tried to ignore the stares of his classmates. instead, he walked briskly to his seat, nodded to his teacher, mr clark, and that settled it.
less than a few seconds later, he felt a tap on his shoulder. he turned around slightly in his seat and came face to face with dustin.
"hey, will. sorry lucas and i didn't meet you today. we rode to school with max."
"max? is he new?" will responded. a new friend? why hadn't they bothered to tell will?
"well first of all, yes. max is new. max is also a SHE, not a HE." dustin laughed, playfully slapped will's shoulder, and went back to his work.
will was flabbergasted. a GIRL friend? they wanted to bring a GIRL to the group, and they didn't even bother to tell him? will glanced at lucas and rolled his eyes. sure enough, he was talking to an unfamiliar red headed girl next to him, paying no attention to will.
as will began to work on his assignment, he heard the door open once again. boy, was he getting tired of these distractions. he decided to ignore whatever or whoever was at the door, and continue with his work. he could faintly hear footsteps walk towards his teacher's desk, as well as a bit of murmured whispering. he continued working, figuring whoever had entered the room would leave soon enough.
a few minutes passed, and will glanced upwards as he heard footsteps approach him. in front of his desk stood a long, lanky boy with dark hair. dark like a night sky.
"hi, i'm mike. are you will?" the boy, apparently named mike, asked.
"yes, i'm will" will smiled politely and then looked back at his assignment, not sure why this boy was talking to him.
"sorry, i guess i should've explained better. i'm new. mr clark said i should take the seat next to you" mike stood awkwardly, looking back and forth between will and the ground.
"yeah, sure. go ahead. it's nice to meet you, mike." will said politely, still not taking a good look at mike.
will heard mike drop his school supplies on the desk next to him and take a seat. he decided to finally take a peek at this boy's face. glanced quickly around, to make sure nobody could see him, and then set his gaze on mike.
mike must have had the same idea, for he had already laid his eyes on will.
will stared at the twinkle coming from the boy's  dark eyes. it was like stars within the night sky.
"star boy," he whispered, under his breath.
he smiled at mike before returning to his assignment, happy as could be.