Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The large buildings and cities in California were a drastic change from what the Byers originally knew in Indiana. It didn’t help that their late 70’s Pinto was nothing but a pile of rust compared to the new vehicles seen on the streets of Lenora. Lenora seemed like a busy town. Teens are always outside or at the ‘Lenora Hills Mall.’

Will still can’t believe he moved from the only place he’s ever known. The only reason Will didn’t complain about the move was because he knew his mother needed to get away. Her almost boyfriend and Jane’s father, Hopper, had been tragically killed saving the world. He knew that living in Hawkins after everything that had happened to him and his family was crazy. However, he still couldn’t help but feel bitter about the move. All of his friends were in Hawkins. His house was in Hawkins. Mike was in Hawkins.

Thinking about Mike put a bitter taste in his mouth. Over the past year Mike had been an asshole to Will. So had the rest of their party. Ever since the Upside Down and Possessions nobody had cared about Will. He felt unimportant. Joyce was pining over Hopper while also grieving over Bob. Jonathan was busy with helping Nancy with starting her new job as a journalist for the Hawkins Post. Mike was busy kissing Eleven and being a jerk. Lucas was almost the same way with Ma. Dustin had been off at camp most of the summer and when he did come back he spent his time with Steve Harrington. Will was left alone. Even when school started in the fall they all just kept on ignoring Will. He was almost relieved when Joyce told them they were moving.

Will was stuck in his thoughts until a knock came from his door. He whipped a few tears that were threatening to flow from his eyes. “Come in.”

“Hey, you doing okay buddy?” He recognized the voice as his mother. He looked up at her. Her eyes looked tired, and her hair was unkempt. You could tell she had an itch to light a cigarette but thought against it for the sake of her children. “You have a few more boxes downstairs if you wanna bring them up here to unpack a little more.”

“Yeah, I’ll come get them, have you found a job yet?” Joyce shakes her head no.

“I’ll go window shopping for resumes tomorrow. What do you think of eating pizza tonight for dinner?” Will thought for a few seconds about what he would like for pizza. “Yeah, cheese should be fine, thanks mom.” With that agreement to dinner Joyce left his room and made his way down the hallway to Jonathan's room.

After a few minutes Will gets up and runs downstairs to grab his last few boxes. When he opens them a lump forms in is throat. It's all of his old art. All of the art he had given to Mike. He started going through the papers and tears started forming in his eyes at every paper passes through his hands. Why would Mike get rid of his art. Why did Mike not tell him he gave it back. Did Mike not like his drawings anymore? He couldn't believe what had happened. He couldn't believe how heartbroken he had become over stupid drawings he had make years prior. They weren't even that good. It shouldn't have mattered! But, it did. It did matter. It made Will feel so insignificant. So small.

After going through all of the drawings, he noticed a note at the bottom at the box. When he picked it up he noticed that it was Mike's handwriting. It read;

'Will,
Here are all of the drawings I have collected from you over the years. We are starting high school this year, I thought it was finally time to let go. I hope you and El write to me!

From your Best Friend,

Mike Wheeler'

The tears don't stop flowing at this point. Mike was so stupid. So ignorant. So so very dumb. He was an asshole. Will didn't want to admit it but he was also heartbroken. This isn't the same Mike he had known before. This wasn't the Mike who held his hand while watching scary movies, before the disappearance of Will Byers. Before the bald girl with superpowers showed up. This Mike was an ignorant bastard. This Mike didn't care about anyone but himself and his girlfriend. He shoved the note into the box along with the drawings and shoved the box under the bed. This was so stupid. Him crying was so stupid. Everyone back home was right, he was a sadly sensitive boy. He deserved everything that has happened to him. He ended his parents marriage, killed so many innocent people, and now he was crying because of his former best friend, his former crush.

He tries to collect himself. He whipped the tears from his cheeks. He makes his way over to the second box. He braces himself as he opens the box. In it was all of his D&D stuff. His map, dice, and all of his mini figurines all stuffed in a box. The game of D&D had once brought will great joy, but now all he associated with the game was the fight he had with Mike after a failed campaign that Will had written. The same phrase that was said has been running through his head since the fight.

It's not my fault you don't like girls

He hadn't gone a day without thinking of that one sentence. He had wanted to hate Mike for everything that he had made Will feel, but he just couldn't bring himself too. Even though it made him want to rip his hair out sometimes.

He feels himself reach for the last box. He carefully breaks it open and catches a sob forming in his throat. It was all of the polaroids taken by El. Polaroids kissing Mike, hanging out with Max at the mall, and hanging out with Hopper. This box was marked with his name but none of the valuables belonged to him. They were all El’s favorite memories. He couldn’t help but feel jealous. He couldn’t help but cry out in pain of knowing he could possibly never experience that kind of love. He would never be able to share this horrible secret with anyone. He was alone. He was always alone.

Will realized that he couldn’t hate his sister for enjoying her life but, the day her life began was the day his had ended. Even though he wanted to scream and cry at her for the way Mike had forgotten about him in place of looking at her. Looking as if she was the Sun, bright and beautiful and he was just the dark side of the moon.

He collected himself once again and whipped his tears away for the millionth time as it had seemed. He picks himself off the floor and picks up the box with polaroids. He doesn’t remember walking down the hallway until he’s standing at El’s door. Ever since Hoppers death, she had always kept the door open 3 inches. He stared at her door for a little while before finally raising his hand to knock. He waited about 2 seconds for a response but never got one. He lightly pushed open the door to see El with her walkman listening to some tracks given by Max. her hair is way longer. She had the signature Byers haircut and looked like a young and beautiful teenage girl. She was wearing her usual overalls and plaid button up long sleeve shirt.

Will sat the box down on the ground and turned to walk back out of the room. Right before he shut the door he heard El’s voice from behind him. “What's the box for?” Will didn’t trust his voice at the moment so he cleared his throat and responded moments later. “It must have been placed in the wrong box. It’s a bunch of Polaroids of you and your friends.” She smiles but reminds him “They’re your friends too.” He nodded at that even though the party didn’t act like they were his friends. As El was about to voice another thought we heard our moms voice run through the house.

“The pizza is here! Come get a slice.”

Will and El look at each other and suddenly he hears El say “Race you to the kitchen,” She suddenly runs past him and hee follows. He knows he didn’t have a chance of winning but we would do whatever he could to make El feel at home. When he finally made it to the kitchen he could see El celebrating while Joyce and Jonathan laughed about the competition between the two fifteen year olds. Will and El finally took a seat at the dinner table and dished up slices of cheese pizza. The family ate in silence for the next few minutes. Until Joyce breaks the silence.

“Are you three excited for school to start soon?” She smiled and looked at all her children. “You know it starts next Tuesday right?” Joyce caught El smiling wildly while adding a “Yep! 4 days!” to the end of her sentence.

He didn’t like the way he would need to meet new people and start at a new school in the middle of the year. On the flip side, he was excited to be someone new. Someone exciting and not awkward. He didn’t want to be known as ‘Zombie Boy’ or the 'hometown fairy’. Eleven, now known as Jane, was very excited to start school. She had never attended a school except from when the party snuck her in back in ‘83. Jonathan seemed indifferent to the idea; he didn't dislike or enjoy schooling that much, he just hoped to get through the rest of his senior year.

Joyce noticed the look on Will's face at the mention of how long they have left before starting at Lenora Hills High School. She gives a sympathetic smile and Will looks away.

They finish dinner up and head in all different directions. Before Will can get to the base of the steps Joyce stops him. She asks him to take a seat at the table.

“Did you need anything specific mom?” Joyce smiles lightheartedly. She looks at him with that same sympathetic smile. “Just wanna know how you’re holding up, I know moving can be scary.” He presses his lips together. He thinks on how to respond to the question.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just a little tired from all the unboxing.” He doesn’t lie, but he doesn’t tell her the full truth. She looks skeptical but eventually accepts the answer from her youngest son. They talk for a while more about school, work, and family and how she was proud of Will for growing up to be such a caring young boy. She lets him go back upstairs after a while of them talking.

When he gets back to his room he changes into his pajamas and brushes his teeth. When he’s done with his night routine, he finally lays down on his new bed. He stares at his ceiling. Counting the seconds in his head. Thinking of everything and nothing at all, he feels his train of thought slowing down. He soon succumbed to the droopy feeling on his eyelids and fell asleep.

Chapter Text

A few days had passed and every day seemed like the last. It was currently Monday afternoon and Will was trying hard not to focus on how much he dreaded heading to school the following day. All he could think about was the ‘What Ifs’ of the situation. What if it was just like Hawkins. What if people bullied him and his sister. He knew that wasn’t possible because El was very pretty, nice, and outgoing. If she really wanted to, she could be popular just like that. But that worried Will. If his sister was popular and he was bullied, how would that be perceived? Will didn’t know how El would react to having to sit apart from Will due to popularity status and if she would enjoy the freedom or hate that he was the target.

El had other things to worry about anyway. Mike had started to send her letters in the mail but she was concerned that they all said ‘From, Mike’ while all of hers ended with ‘Love, El’. Will tried to comfort her.
“Maybe he’s just not ready? It might take him a while to say it. Everyone processes their feelings and relationships differently.” El seemed taken back by the words, as if she had never looked at it like that. “That makes sense I guess.”

“Just give him time! I’m sure he’ll say it eventually!”

“I hope so,” she pauses as if thinking about her next words carefully. “Mike is supposed to call tonight, would you like to talk with him too?”

Will thought long and hard about having a conversation with Mike. All of Christmas break he thought about what he would say to him as soon as he heard or talked to him again. Now he had the chance, but he wasn’t brave enough to take it.

Later that night when El was on the phone with Mike, Will couldn’t help but feel sick to his stomach. He didn’t know if it was the anxiety of going to school, Mike being a phone call away from him, or angry that he couldn’t bring himself to say everything he wanted to for the past month.

He could hear them laughing. He thought they were laughing at some dumb inside joke. He couldn’t take it anymore. He got off of his bed, grabbed his walkman, and headed to the hallway. On his way towards the stairs he meets his brother who seemed out of it. He smelled as if he had been sprayed by a skunk and he didn’t even realize. He decided to try to engage in conversation.

“Hey, Jonathan, are you okay?” Will looked at Jonathan's eyes and saw how bloodshot they were. “Yeah, I’m great” Will looked at him skeptically.

“Why do you smell like a skunk and look like you’ve been pepper sprayed?”

“Ohhhhhh, Purple Palm Tree Delight my bro.” Will finally understood. His brother was high as a kite. “Jonathon, what the hell man! If mom finds out you’re high she will kill you!” He looks so calm.

“Wait what? Who was killed?” Will pinched the bridge of the nose.

“You are hopeless.” Will helps Jonathan to his room. He noted how the room smelled more like the stench coming from his brother. "Lay down and stay here until your off your high." He tried to make it clear for his brother. All he got in return is a sly smile and a sloppy nod. "If mom asks what's wrong, say you're nervous for tomorrow, you just miss Nancy, just say something that doesn’t make you sound like an idiot.”

Will walked out of his brother's room and made his way down stairs, trying to avoid the two lovebirds on the phone. He noticed El had a dopey smile on her face, probably still giggling about the same stupid joke. She noticed him peeping around the corner.

"Hey Mike! Will is here, would you like to speak to him for a minute? Yeah? Okay," El smiled at Will and moved the phone in his direction, wanting him to take it. "Here, it's Mike!" Will stalked over to the phone.

A million thoughts ran through his head. What was he going to say? How would Mike respond? Should he bring up the drawings? Should he mention how he feels?

"...Will? You there?" He gulps. "Hey Mike. Yeah, I'm here." It's silent for the next few seconds. Awkward silence. That is what the best friends had wound up as; Awkward silence.

"How's California?" Will pauses for another moment. "It's okay. How's Hawkins?" He hears Mike clear his throat on the other side of the line.

"The same. Hey, Will, um, do you mind putting El back on the phone? I have something else I need to ask her." Will blinked.

"Yeah. Sure." Just like that his conversation with his best friend had ended. They had spoken for less that 5 minutes. He jammed the phone back into El's hands and walked away. He put his headphones over his ears and escaped into the night.

He didn't know how long he had been walking before he came upon a small abandoned playground. He stalked his way around it until he found the swingset. The place he had met Mike. It obviously wasn't the same location.

It brought back so many memories of him and Mike. He was angry. Angry that this place reminded him of Mike. He didn't want to think about Mike right now. He started to swing and then he started to cry. This was stupid. 'Boys Don't Cry' started blasting in his ears. Ironic wasn't it. The only reason he liked this song in the first place was because it reminded him of Mike. Everything reminded him of Mike. He hated it.

When he was high enough on the swing. He jumped. For a moment he felt as if he was flying that he could do anything he wanted to and nothing bad would ever happen again. That feeling didn't last very long. He found himself lying on the dirt floor of the playground. He hurt everywhere, but he loved it. He loved the pain he felt all over his body. The giddy feeling of feeling alive. The way he was feeling on the inside finally felt the same way on the outside.

He doesn't know how long he laid there. After what seems like hours he finally got up. Will dusted himself off and started the journey home. During his walk, he notices how quiet Lenora Hills is at night. When the world is sleeping. He finally returns home to find the front door locked.

"Damnit." Will whispers. He walks around the outside of his house until he sees his window. He realizes that he left it open before he went on his walk. He starts climbing up the trellis that had attached itself to the walls with green vines. Once he gets up to the window and shimmies inside. He finally gets to lay in his bed. All of his bones and muscles relax at the contact of his mattress. Before he falls asleep, he glances at the clock. A radium number of 3:48 A.M. shown brightly on the nightstand. He wonders how his mother didn't question his disappearance. He feels himself drifting into a deep sleep.

About 3 hours later he is awoken by his mother.

"Will, it's time to wake up, it's your first day at Lenora Hills!" Will groans as he tries to rub the sleep from his eyes. He looks over at his clock again as a bright 7:00 A.M looks back at him.

"Ughhhhh, why is it so early." After around 10 minutes Will finally got out of bed and started getting ready for his first day of High School here in California. Will opted for his usual attire. A long sleeve with a short sleeve button up on top. With his thoughts he makes his way down the stairs and into the kitchen finding himself some Cereal. Halfway through his breakfast El walks into the kitchen in an outfit she bought specifically today.
"You look nice today, Eleven."

El smiles and talks about all the things she can't wait to happen. When they both finish their breakfast Jonathan walks into the kitchen.

"I found us a ride to school. His name is Argyle. He's the one who delivered out pizzas. He’s pretty chill; He'll be here any minute so get your bags and shoes on." As we finish up breakfast and head to grab our shoes, Joyce’s voice is heard through the silence.
"Aren't you kids just so cute?" She smiles. "I hope you all have a great day at school. I'm going job hunting so I'll be home around 5:00 tonight, okay?" We all nod at her and she kisses our foreheads.

Just then we hear 4 beeps of the horn from the van sitting outside. Jonathon rushes us outside and we all hop in the back of the van. They sped off in the direction of the school and Will is trying his hardest not to freak out and fall asleep right then and there. He wishes he was excited for what's to come but he can't help but feel dread entering the pit of his stomach. The dread of talking to people he didn't know. The dread of being “the new kid”. The dread of going through the exact same thing that happened in Hawkins.

Chapter Text

I WILL UPDATE SOON A LOT OF SHITTY THINGS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING TO ME SO I WILL UPDATE WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK I PROMISE!!!

Chapter Text

Will and El walk into the school, both completely different in terms of moods. El having the biggest smile on her face and humming happily while Will was freaking out with his palms sweating and the urge to throw up. For the past three minutes they’ve been wandering the halls in search of the office. They needed to find it soon, so they weren’t totally late for class. Will and El needed to find the office so they could get their schedules to even get to class.

“Aren’t you excited Will!” El exclaims like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “I can’t wait to see what classes we have. I hope we’re in a lot together! I bet we’ll make more friends!”

“Aren’t you excited Will!” El exclaims like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “I can’t wait to see what classes we have. I hope we’re in a lot together! I bet we’ll make a bunch of friends!”

“Yeah, I hope it’s not like Hawkins.” He spots the office and starts leading El there.They walk inside and the reception lady looks up at them. “Um, hi, we uh, we’re-”

“We’re new!” Will has never been happier when he hears El interrupt him. The lady looks down at her computer and pauses.

“I need your names.” Her voice was so gravley and rude sounding. El perks up, “Jane Hopper and Will Byers! We just moved here from Indiana!” The lady looks up over her glasses and stares at them like they’re dumb.

“Ya, Okay, Here are your Schedules. Your homeroom is just down the hall to the left. Room 108.” She hands them two pieces of paper and goes back to click clacking on her computer.

El and Will stare at each other for a moment confused before turning around and heading back towards the door.

“That was weird.” Will looked over at El and smiled.

“Yeah, that was quite the experience.” They both quietly make their way to room 103. Just like the lady said, down the hall and to the left. They both glance at each other and take a deep breath. El lightly twist the doorknob and pushes it open and steps inside, Will right behind her. Inside the classroom there are about 26-30 kids, about 15 more then Hawkins had in any class. All the kids look over to the new kids and stare. Will moves uncomfortably from all of the eyes on him.

“Oh, hello! You must be our new transfer students! I’m Ms. Gracey, welcome to homeroom.” Will and El nod their heads. “Would you like to introduce yourselves?”

El waves her hand and steps forward. “Hello! My name is Jane Hopper and I came to California from Indiana with my step mom and brothers. It’s nice to meet you all, I hope we become close friends!”

With that last comment, a girl in the front row snickers. Ms. Gracey snaps her eyes over to a girl with blonde hair and crazy eye shadow. A girl straight from a magazine. “Now, Now, Angela be nice to our new friends,” Angela stops dead in her tracks and nods her head accordingly. “How about you young man?”

Will couldn’t breathe at that moment. What is he supposed to say? What if people laughed at him too. He then realized that he was taking too long to respond. El looked at him, nodding at him to begin his introduction.

“Um, hi. My name is Will Byers. I moved from Indiana with Jane and my brother and mom.” People kept staring at him and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Well, nice to meet you Jane and Will! Jane you can sit behind Angela and Will you can sit behind Boris. Will scans the room to find a boy raising his hand.

Mike was the only thing that crossed his mind. This boy looked exactly like Mike. The boy starts waving his hand and Will realized he was the only person still standing. He awkwardly stalks over to the desk in front of the boy and plops down.

During the class period all Will can think about his the boy behind him. Why does he kook just like Mike? The only difference was their clothing choices and the way they presented themselves. He could already tell how different the two are just from the seconds he spent staring at the boy. While Will was in his thought he felt a kick his his feet. He cautiously turned around to see Mike 2.0 smiling at him. Mike 2.0 stares at a piece of paper on the desk, he motions for Will to take it.

He takes the note and opens it inside was a message.

'Hello William! I am Boris Pavlikovsky I also move here a little while ago. You're very pretty. Hope we can be friends. Brois :D' Will blushed lightly at the mention of him being 'pretty' and looked behind him again Boris staring right at him with a slight grin. He motions for Will to reply. Will turns back to the front of his desk and thinks for a moment. He wonders what to write about. What to say to the person who looks just like his best friend, if he could even call him that, Mike. He figured he should at least say hello.

'Hello Boris! I would like to be friends. :)' He smiled fondly at the idea that he would make a friend the first day of school. He passed the note back to Boris and smiled fondly, maybe they could hang out and watch movies! Maybe they would even play D&D together, or enjoy drawing each other, or reading, or just what friends do. Will didn't remember what it was like to hang out with anyone but his family. He was ready for a change. He tried his hardest to refocus on the class but as soon as he did he felt a light tap on his leg once again. Another note.

'You want to eat lunch together? I know very good place to sit :D' Will smiled again and nodded his head at the boy behind him. He didn't know why but he felt like he could trust Boris.

Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.