"These things taste just like they did when I was ten." Dustin gawked at his chocolate milkshake, holding it out and turning the glass to observe it. "That's crazy. Did you taste these, Lucas?"
Lucas nodded, unable to answer as he rapidly drank his own through a red and white striped straw.
Mike tasted a slight sip of the vanilla shake that sat in front of him. He hadn't tried it yet, distracted by the various conversations at the table, silently catching up on the lives of his friends. When the flavor hit his tongue, he had a similar reaction to Dustin. It tasted like edible deja vu, something he'd definitely eaten many times before. He tried to visualize him and Lucas and Dustin and Will getting milkshakes here after school one night. Dustin and Lucas would have chocolate, Will would have strawberry, and Mike would have vanilla, being teased by his friends for his basic preferences. As he drank more, the memory came back in fuller detail. It made him long for his childhood.
The lunch outing had been going wonderfully. Mike was having a lot of fun, talking to his old friends, and the weight of the world was finally off his shoulders. He felt normal, almost. A young guy who is out to lunch with his buddies. He didn't have to worry about monsters, he had to worry about school. He didn't have other-worldly problems, he had love-life problems. It felt really good in the moment. He envied people who got to have this throughout their entire life. No Upside Down, just life.
Will was sitting next to Mike, at the corner of the booth, at a strange angle to the lights that made him look like a ghost hiding in the shadows. He twirled the straw of his own shake. Mike looked and noticed he hadn't even eaten his food yet.
Mike nudged the boy lightly. "Aren't you hungry?" he asked quietly, studying the untouched plate. "You should eat."
Will shrugged, not looking at Mike. He sighed and smiled, finally turning to face him. "I'm just not really feeling like it. I had a big breakfast. I promise I'll eat it eventually."
Mike nodded, giving up. Will didn't seem like he was in a very good mood. Mike almost regretted making him come along to the lunch, but it wouldn't be the same without him, so what was he supposed to do? He believed strongly that Will needed this more than anyone, and he was determined to help him out.
"I can take you home if you really want," he offered, disappointed in Will's lack of enthusiasm.
Will raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "What? No, no, no. I'm doing fine, Mike. It's fun, don't worry. I like catching up with everyone. Everyone had such interesting stories from college."
"If you say so." Mike studied Will for a moment longer, trying to pick up on any signs that he was lying. He was hard to read, although. His mannerisms were like those of a different person today. Eventually, he turned away, realizing Dustin was trying to get his attention.
"Mike!" He waved his hands across the table. "Did you hear me?" He turned to Lucas, leveling his eyelids. "He's not listening."
Mike shook his head. He hadn't heard Dustin. He wasn't even aware he was part of whatever conversation the rest of the group was having. He didn't have much to talk about anyway. He didn't feel like making anything up right now. "What? Sorry, no. I didn't."
Dustin was unaffected by Mike's lack of paying attention. He just nodded and continued on. "Well, we were talking about, like, crazy people we met at college. I asked you if Harvard kids were all preppy and stuck-up. Or are they all secretly aliens?"
Mike shook his head, laughing. He wasn't faking the laugh, the thought of everyone at Harvard being extraterrestrial seemed plausible. "I don't think they're aliens... but there's always a chance, I guess."
Dustin grinned. "I knew it."
Lucas leaned over the table as well. "But whose the weirdest person you've met? And, like, what are your friends like? Does Harvard have a D&D club?"
Max rolled her eyes. "I doubt it."
Mike kept his mouth open to speak for a moment, his breath caught as he tried to think of a believable lie. Everyone looked at him, expecting satisfactory answers. "There's... There's a D&D club, yeah," he finally said, playing it off as casual. "I joined a while ago. All my friends there are in it too. There's this one girl named... Barb." Did he steal that name from his sister's dead best friend? Yes. "Barbara, actually. She's super cool. She's a... a cleric. She's got this super cool design for her character." He paused, happy that everyone around him seemed to be buying it. "She draws! Yeah, she made us all illustrations of our characters."
"Oooooh..." Lucas teased. "Do you like her?"
Mike laughed nervously. "What? No, she's just one of my friends. There's also... Pat...rick. Patrick. He's big on..." Mike looked at the napkin that Max was mindlessly folding over. "Origami. He makes those little birds or whatever."
Jane raised an eyebrow. "Origami?"
Mike nodded, maybe a little too fast. "Mhm. Like, folding paper into shapes and stuff. I can't do it very well."
Dustin leaned back, satisfied. "Sounds like some pretty cool new friends. I'm a little jealous. You don't like them more than us, do you, Mike?"
Mike smirked. "Oh, yeah. They're way better."
Max shoved him. "Shut up. I could take out Barbara any day." Easily, since Barbara didn't actually exist.
Lucas smiled at Mike. "I'm glad you've got cool people at Harvard. Dustin and I liked to joke about how you were probably bored to death."
"Nope, I'm fitting in really well. I love it there." Mike picked up his milkshake and sipped it, victorious.
Will cleared his throat from beside Mike, sitting up slightly. Everyone turned to face him now. "But that's a lie, right?"
Mike nearly choked. He set his drink down and looked at his friend, giving him a look. What are you doing? "What do you mean? I'm not lying, I actually like Harvard." He tried to put as much confidence into his voice as possible.
Will shook his head. "No, you don't. You're just lying to everyone for some reason. Just say what's actually happening. No one's gonna judge, Mike."
Mike gave a slightly awkward laugh, looking around at his now curious friends. They eyed him, waiting for another explanation. Mike couldn't fib his way out of this one. He looked back at Will, who was smiling at him like he hadn't just exposed one of Mike's biggest secrets. Why was he doing this? Mike tried not to get angry at him, he was sure there was something weird going on.
"Will, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do. You told me so in the woods. Tell them about how you haven't made any friends and you're failing your classes and everyone hates you. Haven't we always been against lying in the party, Mike? It's okay to tell them. Why are you lying?"
Jane frowned. "You don't like Harvard?" she asked.
Mike looked around at everyone else, the same concerned, slightly offended expression reflected onto all his friends.
"Mike," said Lucas. "What's going on?"
Dustin nodded. "You can tell us if something's wrong with Harvard." His eyes widened. "They are aliens?" Leave it to Dustin for untimely humor.
"Just tell them," Will said quietly. "No more lying, Mike. You don't have any friends at Harvard. Nobody there likes you. And you definitely don't have a girlfriend. I know you told me, but did you ever tell them that you're-"
"Okay!" Mike stood up suddenly, cutting off the end of Will's sentence. He tried to smile. "I... uh... have no idea what you're saying, Will. Really. But I think I have to use the restroom, so I'll be right back." He waved, leaving the table of confused friends. He walked swiftly over to the men's room and went inside. Luckily, it was empty. He walked over to the sinks, bracing himself on the edge of one and trying to figure out what was happening.
His own face looked back at him from the mirror, almost as confused as he was. "You're okay," he assured it. "They're just gonna forget about it."
It looked back at him, unsure.
"It's not like you're a bad person for lying," he argued. "It's justified. You... well, you..." He groaned. "God, I'm an idiot." He didn't even have a purpose for lying at this point, he just didn't want anyone to know he'd done it in the first place, so they just kept growing.
What about Will? Why did he do that? Mike had no idea what had gotten into his friend. He had told him that secret with great effort, trusting him not to say anything to anyone else. And now Will just randomly let it slip to everyone? What was he thinking?
Mike was confused. He only realized how upset he was when he felt a tear roll down his cheek and drop into the sink. His face was unnaturally hot.
I am not crying about this. Absolutely not. He turned the sink on and splashed his face with cold water from the faucet, trying to wash away any evidence of emotion. He dried his face with a paper towel and took a few deep breaths, trying to figure out what to do next without causing misunderstandings.
The door opened to the right of him, but he didn't turn to see who it was. He was embarrassed by his current state, his red face, wet eyes, and his shaky hands. He watched as the unknown person's reflection made its way into the mirror, making him tighten his fists around the paper towel.
He whipped around, facing Will. "What the hell was that?" he asked, raising his voice. "Why did you tell everyone about Harvard? That was a secret." He breathed, trying to calm down. He didn't like being angry with Will, but what had he done? Why was he doing this?
Will frowned, stepping forward. "I only thought it was fair since you told everyone about Brad. I really didn't want anyone to know about that and you just... decided to spread the news. You didn't even ask."
"Well, I'm very sorry that I did that. I understand that I shouldn't have. I'll ask in the future. I learned my lesson already. I just didn't want anyone to feel bad for him."
"And I didn't want you to have to lie to anyone anymore. I thought we were done lying." Will's voice became less harsh at that, he reached out to Mike with a soft hand like something evil in disguise.
Mike laughed in shock, stepping backward and away from Will's outstretched hand. "And when did we decide that? I don't remember ever saying anything about not lying." If he remembered correctly, there were still quite a lot of truths not being spoken between him and Will.
"When we said we loved each other. Then we stopped lying. I hate lying, and our friends deserve the truth from you, Mike. I'm just trying to help." Will stepped forward again, grabbing Mike's hand.
Mike felt the tears coming back, although he didn't let them out. "We're done lying, Will? Really?"
"Yes," said Will, stepping forward again and giving Mike a kiss, making the boy lean back again. He did not feel like kissing this guy right now. "I don't care what it is, everyone deserves to know it, don't you think? Just tell everyone the truth. It's gonna be fine."
"Then how about you start telling me the truth!" Mike yelled, letting go of Will's hand. He had finally had it with how inconsistent Will had been with him recently. If Will wanted everyone to tell the truth, then Mike wanted the same from him. "Do you love me or not? That's what I want to know because I've been so confused the past few days about what we even are anymore." Mike wasn't happy with him, and if this was the new Will, then maybe Mike didn't love him either. "One minute you'll say we can't be anything because of Brad or whatever and then you do this– telling everyone about Harvard– and then act like we're dating. Just tell me, Will. Please. I'm so confused by everything you do!"
Will tilted his head. "Hmm?"
"I've been trying so hard!" said Mike, lowering his voice. He was trying not to shout. He didn't like the thought of shouting at Will, even if he was the one being a jerk. Now the tears were too much to hold back, they made their way prominently down his face. If Will was trying to frustrate Mike, it was definitely satisfying to see tears. "I tried to help you get away from Brad, I tried to comfort you after everything, I told you I loved you, I've been trying to show you how much I care about you and it's because I do! You're my favorite person, Will! And I don't even know if you feel the same way anymore, so just tell me." He sighed, looking Will in the eyes. "Do you love me?"
Will looked back at him, barely a hint of expression on his face. "And you want the truth?"
Mike nodded. " Yes. Do you love me? " he repeated.
Will's eyes looked cold, like Jonathan's had that morning. "I don't."