𝕮𝖗𝖆𝖟𝖞 𝕿𝖔𝖌𝖊𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗...

We were in Chemistry. I was actually trying to concentrate but Mike kept making these stupid immature jokes about the teacher and making me laugh.

I guess, at some point, we laughed a little too loud because mAdAm Bradley (the weird chem teacher from chapter nine) started making her way towards us.

"Something funny, boys?" She asked.

Mike just burst into laughter because he had just made a joke about her saying those exact words to someone else a few minutes ago.

I covered my mouth and looked away to avoid laughing. I peeked up at her and her face was red with anger. She came closer to us whispered, "I asked if something was funny, boys?"

She placed her hand on Mike's back and begun rubbing it. He sat up almost immediately and scrunched up his face with disgust.

"Please, stop touching me.." He muttered.

"What?" She asked although he heard him very well. Her hand rested on his cheek now. Something about pissed me the hell off and without thinking I slapped her away.

"He said get off." I scoffed.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be such a troublemaker." She raised her eyebrows. "That's detention for you, young man."

Immediately, all the confidence I had prior, vanished. I've never gotten in trouble for anything in school before. I slumped back in my chair and watched Madam Bradley walk away.

I turned to see Dustin and Lucas staring at me, wide-eyed. I turned to Mike and his face was exactly the same as them.

"Wow. I don't think I've ever seen you get that angry before." Dustin whisper-yelled.

"C'mon, Will gets angry easily, he just doesn't act in it. But, seriously, wow." Lucas said.

"Thanks, Will." Mike smiled, tapping my shoulder.

My heart fluttered and my ears went warm.

"For what?" I asked.

"For getting her away from. She makes me so uncomfortable." Mike sighed.

"I think you should tell the principal. It's really weird how she's touches students like that and gets away with it." I scoffed.

"Others have reported it but he didn't do anything about it, unfortunately." Lucas shrugged.

"I think he only cares about the rich students." Dustin pouted.

"Oh?" I said, turning to Mike.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell him. Don't be surprised if he still doesn't do anything about it though." Mike laughed.

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Period 2 Maths, 10.15am,

MAX'S POV:

I was sitting with my head down on the desk. Maths is so fucking boring. What's worse is that El is actually interested in it so she won't let me distract her. Dustin was being stupid and blowing raspberries at the teacher when he wasn't looking and Lucas was also focused on the actual work.

I looked over El to see Mike and Will laughing. Ughhh, last thing I needed was to see them being all lovey dovey when I couldn't laugh like that with El at the moment. They've been really close since the event at the mall. I guess that's what they're usually like. Will was helping Mike out with problems he didn't understand and Mike wasn't even focused. He was looking at him. He was looking at him the way I look at El. Odd.

Oh.

Well, I'm surprised I didn't figure it out sooner. Doesn't take a genius to see they like each other. I sighed and placed my head in the table once again. This time, I got the attention of Eleven.

"Okay, what is it?" She asked, laughing.

"Hm?" I said.

"You've been sighing all lesson," She laughed "You really think I didn't notice?"

"Well, you were giving Math more attention than me so I thought maybe you loved it more than me." I pouted, playing with a strand of her short, curly hair.

"Of course, I love you more than Math." She laughed, ruffling my hair then pecked my forehead.

"I love you too." I smiled, pecking her forehead.

"Ew." Dustin laughed, jokingly.

I jabbed him in the arm in with my elbow.

"Oh my god, Mr. Preston looks bald from this angle." Lucas said, wide-mouthed. We all just started laughing. I'm so glad we moved to Hawkins, I don't know what I'd do without these guys. I wish Mike and Will were laughing with us, instead they were laughing at their own stupid joke. They were close, they could practically kiss.

"Why don't you guys just make out at this point?" I said, rolling my eyes jokingly and making kissy faces at them.

It seems they took my joke a little too serious because their faces went red. Will slumped in his chair and covered his face with hands and Mike laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

They clearly do want to make out💀

I guess Lucas happened to hear my comment about Mike and Will.

"Max!" He whispered.

"What?" I whispered back.

"Can we talk, like at break?" He asked.

"Uh, sure??" I said, confused.

Wonder what that's all about.

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Break,
10.50am,

"That class was so fun!" Mike laughed.

"Yeah, for you. I had no one to laugh with." I sighed, stretching. I walked up to Lucas and tapped his shoulder. "What did you want to talk about?" I asked, yawning.

"I'm sure you only said it as a joke but," Lucas whispered, "Do you really think Mike and Will like each other?"

Well, I wasn't really prepared for that question but I answered anyway. "Kinda, yeah."

"I've been thinking the same thing for a while now. By a while, I mean years. They've always been really close and sometimes when we younger, they'd hold hands like it was nothing!" He whisper-yelled.

"I think they do but their both probably too scared to tell each other." I laughed.

"Do you think we should do something about it, like give them a little push, or just leave them to figure it out themselves?" He questioned.

"If we leave them, they might never do anything about it for many more years but, I think we should still leave them to figure it out themselves." I smiled.

"Yeah, I thought so too." Lucas laughed.

"Any luck with new girls?" I asked, jabbing his arm with my elbow jokingly.

"Nope." He sighed.

"Good luck." I laughed before walking to El.

She was talking with Will and Mike and sure as hell, they were so close, one swift movement and they could kiss. Their hands were literally like 2 inches from touching. They're both super oblivious.

"You done ignoring me now?" I asked, placing my head on Eleven's shoulder.

"I was never ignoring you." She laughed, turning her attention to me. "I was just trying to concentrate." She huffed, poking my cheek with her index finger.

"Sure you were." I laughed.

"Oh, right! I got you something!" She smiled suddenly.

"Oh? You did? Well, that's nice and all but what's the occasion? It's not my birthday or anything." I questioned.

She reached into her bag and brought out a small box. It had baby pink wrapping and a white, sparkly bow.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Open it, open it! Quick!" She exclaimed. She was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"Okay, okay, I got it!" I laughed.

I tore the wrapping and opened the box. There lay two rings. Both exactly the same. They were simple, silver rings but they had a pretty butterfly in the middle of it and two small ones on both sides of the bigger butterfly.

"Awe, well isn't that just adorable??" Dustin smiled.

"It really is. Thank you so much, El!" I laughed, hugging her tight. I wasn't a fan of butterflies, in fact they scared me quite a lot but it was a gift from El, how could I turn it down?

I slipped on one of the rings on my ring finger and stared at it in awe. I reached for the other one but El took it and slid it onto her ring finger.

"They're matching rings, for the both of us!" She smiled.

"Oh my god, that's even better!" I laughed. I pulled her into a short hug and pecked her lips. She's so sweet, how could you not love her?

"This is reminds me of the painting you did for me." I heard Mike whisper to Will. "Thanks, it was really nice."

Will smiled and moved closer to each other. I looked down and they were literally linking pinkies. Lovebirds.

"This is really nice, when did you get it?" I asked El, shifting my focus.

"When we were at the mall. Dustin and Will helped me pick it out." She replied.

"Awe, thanks you guys!" I smiled.

"Wow, Max is being nice, I'm kinda scared to be honest!" Dustin laughed.

I looked back to Mike and Will and they were full on holding hands. I don't even think they're aware of it.

"Maybe we should get matching rings too." Mike suggested, laughing.

"Why're you guys holding hands?" Dustin asked. What an idiot, if he points it out like that, they're gonna stop being all cute.

And as I guessed, they did. The moved away and let go of each others hands. Their faces were both flushed and probably warm to the touch.

"Why'd you say that?" I whisper-yelled, knocking Dustin on the head.

"Ow! What did I do!?" He pouted, rubbing his head.

"They were finally getting along so well and you just had to go and ruin it, huh? Idiot." Lucas sighed. "But don't hurt him like that, Max. Y'know, when you hit people, it's quite painful."

"Can't believe you're ridiculing me right now." I pouted, rolling my eyes.

"I'm not, just," Lucas sighed. "I can't with you two."

I placed my head El's shoulder and started playing with her hair.

"Wait, what do you mean they're finally getting along?" Dustin asked.

"Don't you know? They had a little fight and Will was kinda ignoring Mike." Lucas sighed.

"Oh, that's what it was! I thought something was off about them." Dustin said.

"You're such an idiot sometimes." I sighed, face palming.

I looked back to Mike and Wil and they were back together. Again, so close, a swift movement could cause them to kiss. It's like their glued together or something.

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Period 4, English,
12.10am,

MIKE'S POV:

We were only about 10 minutes into the lesson when I noticed Will seemed upset. I was going to ask what was wrong but I felt like he would just say nothing and not tell me. But I decided to ask anyway.

"Something wrong? You seem upset." I whispered, nudging him slightly.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." He sighed in response.

I placed my hand on his shoulder asked what was wrong again. "Will. What's wrong?"

"It's just, seeing what El got for Max, I feel like I should have gotten you something that required me to actually spend money." He sighed, resting his face on his palm.

I can't believe he still doesn't think it's good.

I cupped his face with my hands and said, "Will. I'm pretty sure it's the thought that counts and besides, your painting was great, I love it."

"Are you don't want anything else though?" Will asked.

I bit my lip slightly. There is something else I want. Something I can't exactly ask him for.

"No, there isn't, don't worry." I smiled. "Unless you want to get matching rings too?" The last sentence was sort of a joke but I did hope he said yes.

"...Do you want to..?" Will asked, his face slightly flushed.

"Well, I-I don't mind?" I shrugged, trying my best not to sound desperate.

"Okay!" He smiled.

He's so adorable. I let go of his face and used my hands to cover mine. I could feel face become hot.

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Period 4, English,
12.45am,

WILL'S POV:

I was helping El with some words she couldn't understand when I suddenly felt something heavy on my shoulder. I turned to see Mike, half-asleep, resting his head ony shoulder.

"Mike." I whispered, shaking him gently. "C'mon, get up. You might get in trouble."

He just mumbled a bit and returned back to sleep but before doing that, he took my hand and linked his pinkie with mine. A few moments after, he let go of my pinkie and held my hand properly. My face went warm and my heart fluttered a little.

I squeezed his hand tight and turned to face El to continue helping her.

"Oh, Will, what does sarcastic mean?" El asked. "Dustin keeps saying Max is very sarcastic and I do not know what it means."

"Well, it can be used in a funny way. Sometimes, it can be something someone says but it may mean the exact opposite. For example, if Mike were to say, ' Wow, your shirt looks really nice. ' when it's incredibly obvious that your shirt is ugly. I don't really know how to explain it, sorry. Maybe you should ask Max." I laughed.

"Why did Mike say your shirt is ugly?" Mike asked. I turned to see him waking up.

"It was just an example to explain something to El." I laughed. "You sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did." He smiled, yawning. "Oh." He said looking at our joined hands.

"Oh, sorry-" I said.

"It's okay." He smiled, squeezing my hand tighter. "Also, could I copy your work?" He asked.

"Or maybe you should've been paying attention and not sleeping." I laughed.

"Pleaseeeee!" He whined, hugging me.

"Okay, okay!" I laughed, gently shaking him off me.

"Thanks." He smiled.

A few minutes later, the bell rung and we headed towards the cafeteria.

01.05pm,

MIKE'S POV:

We sat down at our usual table and everything was going perfectly normal. I looked to Will who was sat beside me and again, he had no lunch.

"Will? Aren't you going to eat anything?" I asked.

"Oh! I'm not hungry, I had a big breakfast." He laughed nervously.

"Are you sure? You can have some of mine if you'd like." I suggested.

"No, really. I'm okay." He smiled. "Thanks for caring though."

Something about that was so odd. Will was never picky with what he ate so why was that suddenly changing? I pushed away the subject and continued eating.

"How'd your date go, Eddie?" Dustin asked Eddie.

Turning to face him with the most ridiculous smirk ever he simply responded, "Very well." And continued eating.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"Oh, I can't tell you that." He laughed.

"I bet it was no one." Dustin whispered.

Eddie rolled his eyes at his stupid comment and flicked a pea at him. "It was someone. I'm just not sure if they would be comfortable with me telling anyone just yet. Especially you guys."

"Oh? Why is that?" Lucas questioned from across me.

"Oh my god. Is it someone we know?!" Dustin whisper-yelled.

"Maybe." He said, smiling.

"One of your rings is missing. The skull one I think?" I said. "Did you happen to give it to your date?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Yeah, I did. Guess I need to get it back from him-" He said then stopping. "Shit."

Will immediately turned to me as if looking for my reaction to his sentence. I kept my face straight. I don't know if that's the reaction he was looking for though.

"Your date..it was a guy?" Will asked. It seemed Eddie's date peaked his interest.

"Yea. Something wrong with that?" Eddie asked, as if interrogating Will.

"No, no! Of course not! I was just surprised I guess." Will muttered.

"Okay, so they're a guy. That makes it easier to figure out who you're date was." Dustin said, rubbing his chin. It's as if he's trying to be some sort of Sherlock Holmes.

"And it's someone we know.." Lucas whispered, also rubbing his chin.

"Gareth! Show me your hands!" Dustin yelled.

"Okay??" Gareth replied. At the same time, Lucas was checking Jeff's hands. I guess they were looking for Eddie's missing ring.

"Mike! Gimme your hands." Dustin commanded.

"What the fuck. Why would I go on a movie date with Eddie of all people?" I sighed, face palming. Rolling my eyes, I showed him both of my hands.

"Dude. You're all under 18. I can't legally date any of you not that I would if you were over 18 anyway." Eddie laughed.

"So it's a guy that's over 18 that we know?" Will questioned.

"I don't know if you know him but-" Eddie tried to say but was cut off.

"STEVE!?" Dustin and Lucas yelled simultaneously. Eddie nodded. I actually didn't expect that at all. When did they have enough time to bond so well that they even decided to go on a date??? I had no idea they even met. And I also didn't know that Steve was into guys too.

"Oh, in case you guys didn't know, I'm actually gay." Eddie said.

"Oh, cool. Glad you trust us enough to tell us." Jeff smiled.

"Well, you already knew I was on a date with a guy. I think you would've figured it out sooner or later." Eddie laughed.

"You're gay??" Will asked, wide-eyed.

"Yup. That's what I just said, wasn't it?" Eddie replied, laughing slightly.

"Right! Sorry.." Will muttered. "It's just..always been presented as a bad thing, so I was bit surprised when you said you calmly."

"Oh. Well, most people see it as a negative thing for some reason but y'know, it really just depends on your point of you, no?" Eddie said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Will responded. He looked down for a little bit then he smiled to himself.

I guess he's just shocked because of what's always happened to him. Constantly being called slurs is obviously not fun. I guess this is the first time (+ Max & El) seeing it as something other than negative. I wonder how he would react if I told him I liked him.

Come to think of it, what am I? I don't think I'm gay because I've liked girls before and even dated one but I'm not straight cuz I like a..guy. Wow, I can barely even admit it. Although I don't mind it or mind if anyone is, I guess homosexuality has always been portrayed as something negative.

"Mike? Are you alright? I asked you before but you didn't seem to hear me." Will asked. I guess I was in too deep of thought to hear him.

"Sorry, I'm fine. I was just thinking of something." I replied, smiling.

"Uhm, this might seem like an ' out-of-the-blue ' question but..do you happen to have anything against LGBTQ people..?" Will whispered.

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"What?"

That came out a lot harsher than I meant it to. What gave him that idea? Is what Max said true? Do I really seem like a homophobic person? But, the real question is, why is he asking me a question like that?

"Sorry! It was a dumb question.." He muttered, looking away from me.

"Will." I said, placing my hand on his shoulder, "No, I don't have against them. Why?"

"N-No reason really. Just wondering.." He muttered. His face was red and his lips slowly formed a slight smile.

I was going to have my last piece of lunch when I heard someone's stomach grumble and the only one next to me was Will.

"Will. I thought you said you weren't hungry." I whispered

"I'm not, really!" He said. I guess something kind of clicked in my head when he said that.

"Will." I sighed. "C'mon, get up." I grabbed my bag and stood up, followed by Will.

"Wait, where are you guys going?" I heard Dustin ask.

I simply ignored and continued walking. Will was behind me but he was walking too slowly so I took his hand dragged him with me, making sure not to hurt him this time.

TW: SLIGHT MENTION OF BODYSHAMING AND BODY IMAGE

I took him to a bathroom on the other side of the school. The one no one used although well it was a popular makeout spot but luckily, no one was in it.

"Mike?? What's wrong?" Will asked. I let go of him and sighed.

"I noticed it before but I couldn't really do anything about it because we weren't friends at the time but now I can talk to you about it." I said.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Will..do you perhaps..have a problem with eating?" I muttered.

"W-What?" He said.

"I know, it's a really stupid question. I mean, you never had any trouble eating when we were younger so I'm just wondering where all of this came from." I sighed.

"Someone in California.." He muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"Someone in California made a comment about my weight and I've just been trying to watch what I eat since then. It's not a big deal, really.." He said.

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"What..?" I muttered. "Will, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you..why would you believe whatever they said."

He stayed silent, looking at his feet.

"Will." I said firmly. I took his hands in mine and looked him in the eye. "You can't just listen to whatever bullshit people spout, okay?"

"B-But it's true.." He muttered in between sobs.

"It's not true. And even if it was, why is that such a bad thing? What's your weight got to do with them anyway, hm?" I asked.

"But.." He sniffled.

I grabbed him by his legs and lifted him up.

"See? I can carry you perfectly fine so there's definitely nothing wrong with you." I smiled.

"Put me down." He laughed.

I carefully put him down and wiped away his remaining tears. I took my bag off my shoulders and placed it on the small space in between the row of sinks. I reached into my bag and brought out an apple.

"Eat it." I said, handing it to Will.

"No, no. I'm okay!" He said.

"Will, eat it." I insisted.

"Okay, okay." Will laughed, taking the apple.

He was about to bite into it when he stopped and looked at me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You're gonna watch me eat it??" He laughed.

"Yeah, to make sure you actually eat it." I said, laughing.

He finished the apple a few moments later and threw the rest of it in the bin.

"Why does this bathroom look so run down?" He asked.

"It's not really used anymore." I muttered, looking down. "It's a popular makeout spot though.."

"Oh.." Will whispered. His face was red and his hands were twitching.

"Shall we get going to out last class now?" I asked. "I think the bell rang a few minutes ago."

"R-Right." He said.

I grabbed my bag and we left the bathroom and made our to our last class.

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The Byers' House,
Will's Bedroom,
10.55pm,

WILL'S POV:

I was sitting in my room drawing, as usual when I heard faint laughter. I guessed it was El and Max so I continued drawing. That reminded me, Mike was supposed to come to collect his painting afterschool but he still wasn't here. Guess he didn't like it afterall..

Just then, I heard someone rhythmic tapping on my window. I shifted the curtain to see Mike. I opened the window and let him in.

"What're you doing??" I asked.

"Sorry I'm late. Turns out my Dad got a call from the school about me hurting Troy and I'm kinda grounded but I wanted to see you and collect my painting so yeah." He sighed.

He flopped unto my bed and closed his eyes. A few moments later, he unzipped his jacket, took it off and placed it on floor. He used to come here so often, it was technically his house.

"Think I could spent the night?" He asked.

That question caught me off guard. My mind was instantly filled all sorts of things I should not have been thinking. I ignored my inappropriate thoughts and answered his question.

"I don't know. Where would you even sleep?" I asked.

I was always able to spent the night or even a week at Mike's house. I could just stay in the basement. But our house is much smaller.

"Can't I sleep here?" He asked, smiling, gesturing to my bed.

"The both of us..on my bed?" I asked, wide-eyed.

Again, my head was polluted with impure thoughts which I quickly dismissed.

"I-I don't think we can both fit though.." I muttered, trying to find a way out of this situation. My bed was obviously big enough for two people.

"Do you hate the idea of sleeping next to me that much?" He laughed.

"No, no! It's just.." it's just I'm afraid of what I might think or do. How could I say that to do him?

"What if you get in even more trouble with your parents?" I asked.

"Oh well." He shrugged. "Do you have spare PJ's I could borrow?"

"Yeah, but they'll probably be tight or too small." I said. I stood up and walked to my closet. A few moments later, I brought out a pair of trousers with a matching blue shirt.

I handed it to him and waiting for him to leave to change. I just assumed he was going to change in the bathroom. But he didn't leave. In fact, he grabbed his shirt and made a lifting motion. Almost immediately, I took hold of his hands.

"What are you doing!?.." I whisper-yelled.

"Changing my shirt, why?" He asked.

"A-Are you stupid?? Go do t-that in the bathroom, Mike.." I muttered sitting back down.

"Okay, okay." He laughed and left the room.

Some part of me kinda wished I didn't make him leave.

I grabbed my sketchbook and continued drawing. After a few minutes, he came back in and flopped unto my bed, slightly startling me.

"What you drawing?" He asked, resting his head on my lap.

Is he doing this in purpose? Is he trying to give me the wrong idea on purpose??

"Oh, it's me! Seems you like my face." He laughed.

"You have nice features.. " I muttered.

"Well, I'm kinda tired so I'm gonna go to sleep." He said between yawns and stretches. He removed his head from my lap and lay down on the bed properly.

"Guess I'll go to sleep too." I smiled.

"Goodnight." He said pulling me into his arms. Guess he wanted a hug before falling asleep. But he didn't let go? I looked up to find that he had actually already fallen asleep. Don't ask me how someone actually manages to fall asleep that fast because I do not know the answer. His face was so close to mine and he was asleep. He even wouldn't know if I kissed him. I pushed the thought away. I lightly pecked his forehead and lay back down.

"Goodnight, Mike <3 "

[AUTHOR NOTE]:

OMG. This is the longest chapter I have ever written! I really hope you enjoyed it. I might not update for a few days because this chapter was really long but idk for sure.

Have a nice day/afternoon/night! <3

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