Chapter Text
He locked his locker, leaving his books and notebooks there, so he could go and relax. He didn't want to take the things he needed for the next term with him yet, and he walked through the corridors, greeting some people who were members of the basketball team, quickly because he wanted to get to his friends quickly and talk about what awaited them that night, as it was a very important day for him.
With some excitement, he arrived at the cafeteria, took a tray of food, and quickly looked for the table where they usually sat. When he spotted Dustin's familiar cap, he walked confidently over and sat down next to him.
“Hi, guys, what's up?” he greeted them, as he took the juice box and began to drink it. The smile on his face did not go unnoticed by his friends, who, seeing his excitement, matched his gestures of enthusiasm.
“Oh, I don't know, buddy, nothing new, just that tonight we have the most important event in the whole world,” exclaimed Dustin, moving his hands as he usually did when he was really excited about something. At the comment, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, but at the same time proud to have a group that supports each other as much as they did.
“Dustin, you’re overreacting, man.” Small laughs escaped his mouth as he took his sandwich and ate a bit of it. At the comment, Mike and Dustin made exaggeratedly offended gestures that made him laugh, almost choking on his food because it was so funny.
“Hey, what do you mean, overreacting?”
“Yeah, dude, what do you mean?” At that, Dustin started pointing him with a half-eaten cereal bar, and when he waved it a little in the air, pieces of food fell onto the table.
“Don’t wave your food around, dumbass, you’re throwing it all over the table, it’s gross.”
Like every time he says something to his dearest friend, he simply ignored him, continuing on his mission of shaking the damn cereal bar, tossing even more pieces onto the table covered in his disgusting saliva, praying with all the sacred and divine love that none of the pieces would fall on him, because if one did, he would kill him (obviously not, just kidding) (or maybe not).
"It's just that Lucas, my dearest friend, my brother from another mother, you just treated this special night as if it were an ordinary or boring night, when today we have one of the most important events that will mark our adolescence, that will carry us into adulthood," Dustin stood up from his seat, spreading his arms into the air almost like a presenter or something of the sort, thinking that his reaction was already exaggerated, but now it was even more so.
He laughed a little louder at his friend's attitude, always so over the top.
"Dustin, sit down, my god, everyone is watching us"
"Let them see and know, my dearest friend Michael, because today we will have the finale of our great adventure with the Hellfire, and it will be magnificent," he exclaimed, finally sitting down, though the excitement was still palpable on his face.
But something about what was said made the gears in his mind abruptly stop; he slowly lowered the sandwich he was about to bite into and stared at each of his friends, hoping it was a joke, but both were still quarrelling over the game they would have tonight.
Of course, they were capable of setting everything aside for a game, but not HIS game.
"Huh, is it today?" he asked aloud, his face reflecting just how surprised he was by what his friend had said. Both turned to look at him, wearing the same expression of indignation at the question he had just blurted out.
"Of course, Lucas, it's today, the night we've been waiting for days, weeks, months since we started that campaign with Eddie, today is going to be the end." Dustin had him by his side, looking at him in a way that almost made him feel foolish for asking that, and explaining it in that exasperated tone he uses when people dare to ask obvious things.
"Yes, wasn't that what you were so excited about today?" And Mike, being the most oblivious man on earth, asked the million-dollar question. For a second he wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, allowing a minute of silence for his friends so they could tell him it was a joke or something like that.
But the minute of silence that enveloped them was enough to give him an answer.
“Honestly, no, I wasn’t excited about that, because it seems like you guys forgot that I have a basketball game tonight, which is the day I’VE been waiting for days, weeks, months since I joined the team,” he said sarcastically, crossing his arms so his friends could clearly see that he wasn’t very happy with what was happening.
Dustin and Mike fell silent, watching Lucas, and he could notice how the gears in their heads were turning as hard as they could, trying to understand what was going on and how they could fix it.
“But… can’t you reschedule? This game is really important, Lucas, Eddie said we can’t miss it…” Mike blurted out, trying to come up with the first excuse that came to mind, as he always did.
“No, Mike, I can’t reschedule it. It’s a game between two schools. I don’t exactly control the universe, you know.”
It wasn't as if he had missed all the campaigns either; he had always gone to each one of them, so he couldn't understand why they couldn't make this exception for him.
An uncomfortable silence settled at that table, both of his friends trying to excuse themselves, opening their mouths and then closing them instantly, like fish out of water. Not even imagining his friends as fish made him happy enough to calm down about what was happening. And not even the food was helping; he looked at what was on his tray and genuinely felt that his stomach was closed for the day, not wanting to accept anything for now.
"Besides, this game is really important to me too, and I was hoping that you, my best friends for as long as I can remember, would come to see me…"
The comment he made did absolutely nothing to fix what was happening there; it only managed to make the awkward silence drag on even longer.
Maybe it was really naive of him to even think that his friends might want to go out and do something for him, understand why he wanted to play basketball now, understand his position and support him… maybe that was asking too much. Because he is always the one who has to make exceptions in his schedule, missing some practices because they just happened to clash with a campaign, always dividing his time, adapting to the changes his friends came up with, and he always had to understand it, always.
But now that he asks for the same in return, he finds that they simply assumed, and it seems like he wouldn’t get the same treatment from them.
A few good minutes passed before they heard footsteps approaching. The three boys looked up to see the other member of their group joining them, carrying a tray of food in his hands, which he calmly set down on the table, and his backpack on the floor.
"Hi, umm, did something happen that you're so quiet?" He carefully adjusted his tray of food, trying to keep his hands busy, because the atmosphere that had settled among his friends felt a bit... suffocating to him.
None of those present bothered to give him a clear answer, just small murmurs that went nowhere or attempts to form a sentence that were obviously incoherent. All they could do was look at each other, like small children trying to figure out who was responsible for some mischief.
Lucas, already fed up with the situation and expecting the worst from this whole interaction, let out an exasperated sigh, rubbed his forehead with his fingers, and looked at Will, who was conveniently sitting right in front of him.
“First, I need to ask you a question, remember there’s something important tonight, right?”
Will merely nodded, looking at him with doubt, evident from his raised eyebrow.
“And do you remember what it is?”
“Of course I remember, Lucas, today you have your game, don’t you?” He opened his juice box to take a sip, while Dustin and Mike made faces that were a mixture of indignation and surprise, though in Mike’s case it was more indignation than anything else. “Actually, that’s exactly what I was going to ask you, what time does it start?”
After what his friend said, Lucas felt relieved, happy that at least someone in his group cared about what he was doing or at least was interested enough to support him, that at least ONE person saw him; he wasn't asking his friends to be basketball experts, just… to be there with him. Because in reality, and with this feeling, that he can't ignore it for long, it hurt him a lot that his friends completely forgot about him.
He had years of friendship with each of them, some he had known since they were even younger, and it hurt him to be pushed aside just because someone else showed up; and don’t get him wrong, he admires Eddie, he's cool and all that, but… he didn’t think he was enough to leave him, his friend, aside.
"It's… it's at 7, Will," he said, with a slight smile on his face. He still felt bad, really bad, but at least he had someone in his corner, so to speak.
Will just nodded, giving him a smile as he took a bite of his sandwich, still ignoring the looks his other two friends were giving him; he was simply focused on quietly eating his food.
"Byers, are you serious right now? Did you really forget there’s another important event today?" Dustin, who had left his cereal bar alone a long time ago, now picked it up again, waving it in the air for added drama to what he was saying.
In response to the question, Will stopped eating, the sandwich halfway to his mouth. He looked up, surprised, with his mouth full of food, at any moment Lucas would have thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen in his life and would have burst out laughing, but right now he was too serious to do so.
Will swallowed with difficulty, coughing a little since he had barely chewed the food before swallowing, and then he prepared to talk with his friends about the dilemma at hand.
“What? There was something else? I thought it was just Lucas's game, in fact, I was just about to ask you all if you were going or not…” Gradually, as he spoke, his voice lowered, feeling small under the weight of his two friends’ gazes, now that he had finally noticed them.
"But—Will, how could you forget this day when it's literally the end of the campaign with Eddie, the finale we've been waiting for for months," Mike turned in his seat, now facing Will, while gesturing with his hands as he explained. "So you can't miss it, we need our cleric there, you can't miss it for just a game."
After what was said, silence settled between them again, becoming more awkward as time passed, everyone at the table, except for the one who had spoken, uncomfortable with what Mike said and not knowing how to respond.
But Lucas obviously wasn't going to let that comment go unchallenged.
“Seriously, Mike, is that how you talk about my things now? As if they were just simple things, a ‘casual’ event, just anything—” He grabbed the sandwich and the cereal bar and shoved them into his backpack forcefully, unable to calm down because of how angry he was. “But it’s obvious that they’re not important to you, since you can’t see beyond your own head, obviously you won’t be able to understand what’s important to someone if it doesn’t involve you.”
With anger, frustration, and sadness clinging to his body with all their strength, he got up from the table, grabbing his backpack just as forcefully and slinging it over his shoulder, not wanting to stay there. He wasn’t the only one angry there, though; Mike was also upset at the attack his friend had directed at him.
“What? What the hell are you talking about, Lucas?”
“I’m leaving.”
He didn’t give his friend time to defend himself, disappearing from the cafeteria in an instant, because he definitely didn’t want to stay there any longer, already realizing that if he did, the fight could get worse, and he really didn’t want that.
With every step he took, he could feel himself calming down a bit, the anger gradually giving way, but the disappointment and sadness remaining intact within him. Slowly, he noticed his locker and focused on the thought that he would just grab his things and go to his classroom, and maybe there he could finish what was left of his lunch.
"Lucas, wait!" He stopped abruptly and turned around in place, watching as Will came rushing toward him. He waited for him to arrive, noticing how he carried his backpack on one shoulder and how, from the speed he was coming at, his hair was completely messy.
He managed to get close to where he was standing thanks to the hallway not being too crowded, as most people were eating.
"You walk way too... fast, how do you do it?" He half protested when he finally reached him, his breathing was short from the amount of energy he had to exert to catch up, and with all the exhaustion, he had to take at least a moment to recover his breath.
The comment made him chuckle a little, and inside, Will took it as a small victory; he hated seeing his friends angry.
“Oh come on, Will, after everything we've been through, you’d think you’d have better endurance, don’t you think?” The mocking but not disrespectful tone made Will laugh too, a laugh that came out somewhat choked.
“Yeah, you have a good point.” He stepped aside as he felt someone passing by, pressing against the wall. He took a breath, feeling a bit anxious, and Lucas couldn’t understand why. “I… wanted to ask you if you’re really want to go to the campaign.”
Given what had been said, Lucas made a frustrated expression, his anger resurfacing at his friend's words; he wasn't in the right mood to talk about that, really.
“Will, if you're coming to try to convince me to skip tonight's game for the campaign, don’t waste your breath on that stupidity. I've already made up my mind about what to do, and no one is going to change that idea.” The decisive tone he used made it clear to anyone passing by that whatever was being discussed had reached a non-negotiable point.
“No, that's not what I meant. I know you've already decided. What I meant was to see if I could speak with Eddie to be able to move the campaign to another day,” Will said, though it was clear how nervously he was by the fidgeting with his hands. “That's why I wanted to know if you still felt like going…”
A minute of silence settled between them, Will patiently waiting for Lucas' response, while Lucas was somewhat surprised by what his friend was doing, genuinely worrying about him, even though he shouldn't, at least not by himself. He knew clearly that there should be at least two more people, with names and surnames, standing in front of him deciding whether they could move the campaign date.
The soft smile that had faded returned, settling carefully and calmly on his face. He also leaned gently against the wall.
"The truth is, I would like to be able to go."
From his spot, he could see how his friend's face lit up a little, lifting the nervous vibe that had settled in his body, also lighting up his eyes.
"Perfect, I'll see if I can find Eddie and convince him to run the campaign another day," with a smile on his face as he stepped away from the wall, since the bell rang, marking the start of classes. "Ah, and this way I can also see if I can bring the guys, and well, if they don't come, it doesn't matter, I'll come to see you anyway."
"Thanks, brother." He placed a hand on his shoulder, which he just nodded at with a smile. Then they parted ways to go to their respective classes.
The court was full of noise, coming from the various students who were gathered there to support their respective schools.
There was way too much noise…
Lucas wasn’t a very anxious person—well, he was, but obviously not to the same extent as his friends, like Mike or Will, and sometimes Dustin—but that didn’t mean he had nerves of steel. Of course, not; there were plenty of situations where anxiety and fear worked against him, whether it was when they discovered the Upside Down, when he invited Max to the dance, earning, in the process, the irrational “hatred” of his stepbrother (which he knew exactly where it came from).
Well, on this occasion he was extremely anxious; there were many factors contributing to it. Finally, the coach said he could play a few minutes on the court, but he didn’t say when he would put him in. There was also the weight of the fact that if they lost this game, they would be eliminated, and if it was his fault, he would have the entire basketball team on his back. Having them on top of you for losing, and on top of that for being a 'nerd,' wasn’t something he wanted to remember.
“You’ll do fine, Sinclair, relax, man” he managed to hear a teammate trying to calm him down. He just nodded, pretending it helped a lot, but we all know it didn’t. A perfect example of this was the permanent knot he felt in his stomach; he just hoped that his friends would be there, cheering him on from the stands.
By the time the show they were putting on had finished, the teams came out onto the field, the national anthem would be sung, and the game would start; when he got to his assigned spot, he began scanning the stands, hoping to find a brown-haired person with a bowl cut, someone with a cap, and another tall one with curly black hair, but he didn’t find any of them. He looked all around, in every corner, but there was no one.
He wanted to think that, at least for Will, because he knew deep down that his other friends wouldn’t come, too caught up in the campaign to be able to leave it for a friend, something must have happened—maybe he missed the start time, had some problem, or something like that—but that he would come anyway; he had high hopes that at least one of his friends would show up.
But it seemed like it wouldn’t…
He closed his eyes, while the national anthem played in the background; he didn’t want to sing at this moment—that was the last thing he actually wanted to do—so all he did was move his lips. No one paid much attention to whether the other players were singing or not; almost everyone was more focused on Jason than on the rest. In the meantime, he tried to calm himself, to regulate his thoughts, wanting to push away the sensations from the knot that STILL lingered in his stomach.
The anthem was over; it was the first time he thought it was too long, and he opened his eyes. Reluctantly, he began to unbutton his jacket and leave it on the bench, wanting to be ready beforehand in case the coach wanted to put him in right away.
"Excuse me, excuse me, I’m sorry" It must have been a murmur that he really shouldn't have even heard given the amount of noise in the room, but he did anyway, and honestly, he couldn't have cared less, because what he saw was worth more than gold itself.
Because there he was, Will in all his glory, dressed as he had that morning, with some paint stains decorating his yellow checkered shirt, his hands and his face. From his place, he could see that he was holding a white cloth that was folded—maybe it was a project for his art class.
But what surprised him the most was seeing Max there, next to Will, her headphones around her neck, her beautiful red hair tied back in a low ponytail. And maybe she thought she wasn't dressed in her best clothes or anything like that, but if she could see through his eyes, she would understand how he felt, that her mere presence was like seeing an angel or something similar.
He didn't know how long he had been staring at where his friend and his… um, ex-girlfriend were, but after a while they noticed his presence, probably because of the weight of his gaze, who knows, and both had different reactions. Just seeing them was even kind of funny, because Will smiled from ear to ear, while Max just gave a small smile; but what surprised him the most was the sign they were holding, each holding one corner—although he had a feeling it was more Will's idea than Max's, but it didn't matter—that said: 'You can do it, Lucas.'
His chest swelled with pride, relief settled into his body, relaxing him in the process, and it was noticeable because he had stopped squeezing his jacket in his hands, now just holding it, happy to have two of the many important people in his life supporting and cheering him on.
“Sinclair, go sit down, the game is about to start,” the coach said, pulling him out of his daze. He nodded, and with one last smile and a wave toward his friends, he went to sit on the bench, mentally preparing himself for whatever was about to happen.
The stadium erupted in shouts of excitement, you could feel the thrill in the air, and that sensation ran through his whole body; he could feel himself vibrating with this excitement; and obviously his teammates felt the same, which is why they lifted him into the air, all shouting his name with their fists raised, and he did too, of course.
All of this was because they had won the game.
He had scored the winning point, he could feel the leftover adrenaline running through his body, he felt capable of jumping off a building right now or, even better, fighting the Demogorgons hand-to-hand without any problem.
“Nice one, Sinclair.”
“Yeah bro, you did really well.”
“I'm glad you joined the team, man, we needed more serious players.”
That and other things his teammates told him, all happy that they had won the match. And he wasn’t too far off, really; he could barely contain the happiness he felt.
The whole team walked toward the locker rooms. He needed to take a shower, he felt sweaty all over, and then, once he was clean, he could go to his small group of “cheerleaders” and thank them for being there with him.
Already clean and with his bag ready on the benches of the locker rooms, he slung it over his shoulder. He was about to say goodbye when he felt a hand touch his back. He immediately turned to see who it was and almost fell over in surprise when he saw it was Jason — and don’t get it wrong, it’s just that in the time he had been on the team, they had never spoken to each other unless it was strictly necessary.
“Hey, are you leaving right now?” he asked. He could tell he still had wet hair from the shower, as small drops fell from his hair onto the towel around his neck, and he was wearing different clothes from what he had come in with before putting on his basketball uniform.
“Eh yeah, I mean, I think I’ll stay here a few more minutes, it’s just that I have to talk to my friends about something important, do you need me to do anything?” He had no idea what they might ask, and if they did, maybe he’d see if he could do them the favour —with the adrenaline gone, the fatigue was seeping into his bones— besides dying to talk to Max and Will, and obviously to thank them, again, for being there with him.
"No, don't worry Lucas, we don't need anything, I mean, yes, and it's only if you want to, obviously, but our team has a tradition that every time we win a game we go celebrate at a party at one of the players' houses, so we're asking if you want to come celebrate with us." Upon hearing the invitation, all the players still in the locker rooms started raising their voices, saying that he had to go, that he was the star player of the game —he caught a few complaints from someone around, but he obviously ignored them— and well, if they wanted his presence so much, maybe he could go… Although he didn't know what would happen with his friends, obviously referring to his cheerleaders, Will wasn't a very outgoing person so he could already see that he wouldn't have a great time at a party, while Max, after what happened at Starcourt, hadn't been the same, maybe before she would have said yes to going with him, but now he couldn't go around and choose for her.
He stayed thoughtful about the invitation; maybe he could go to chat and then head to the party, and being completely honest with himself, yes, he deserved it. After all, a little party wouldn’t hurt him and would be like a reward for himself for the victory he had brought home.
“Okay, I’ll be there, don’t worry.”
“Perfect, man, it’s going to be at my place, I think you already know where it is, see you.” And just like that, he vanished—not literally, but he disappeared into the crowd of people in the dressing rooms.
He walked away confidently, moving toward the bleachers to look for his friends, chat for a moment, and then calmly head to the party. He couldn’t believe the perfect ending this night was about to have. By the time he had the bleachers in sight, he realized Will wasn’t there, only Max, who, upon seeing him, immediately stood up and approached him. Something about her body told him she was insecure—her head down, her hands stuck in her pockets, and her gaze… God, her eyes. Maybe it was just a one-second moment, but that was enough for him to sense she wasn’t feeling 100% well.
He walked toward her, and she was already near the exit, no longer on the bleachers. Each of his steps was slow, not wanting to scare her off and make her retreat even more than he already felt she had. He would have to remember to thank Will for bringing her; he didn’t know what he had done or how he had done it, but this was more than he could have managed.
“Hey Max…” He felt frozen in place at the look he gave him, almost as if he didn’t want him to speak at that moment.
“Lucas…”
And they remained in silence between them, not knowing how to start a conversation, both nervous enough because of the other’s presence and everything that being alone together implied, that they didn’t know how to begin; Max having many things to talk to him about, that small desire to lean on him as she should have done months earlier, but her pride and fear being completely against it, making her feel like her mouth was completely shut.
While Lucas just wanted to talk to her again, maybe not in a romantic way yet, obviously not, he understood the grief she was going through, which is why he didn’t want to overlook her feelings, but he needed to understand her even more, without rushing her either.
It was quite the mess.
"Uh, w-well, I wanted to thank you for coming to my game, I… I didn’t think you’d come…" He said the last part in a low voice, because he genuinely never thought that she, of all his friends, would come to see him, not when she had been avoiding him since classes started.
“The truth is I didn’t want to come, keep that in mind, but… Will convinced me to do it, and well, El actually did too.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and from her spot, he could see the freckles that decorated her face and a few rebellious strands of hair falling across it. He was dying to brush them away and see her more clearly, but he obviously held back. “You didn’t do badly at all, stalker…”
“Thanks, I guess, it’s been years since you last called me ‘stalker,’ Mad Max.” A half-smile slipped out of him, and he could clearly see how one of those beautiful smiles also appeared on her face. Something inside him felt at ease, since that meant that Max was feeling a little more comfortable with him each time, and who knows, maybe one day she would understand that she can rely on him, that he will never let her go.
“Don’t go getting too full of yourself from a compliment, huh? Watch out, if you get unbearable, I’ll kick you.” Max leaned against the wall, still with his arms crossed.
“Got it, captain.” He made a military salute, which made her burst out laughing, and he joined in with the symphony of laughter. It had been months since he had heard it, and right now it felt like finding water in the desert.
They spent some time laughing, until gradually it started to calm down, leaving them in a comfortable silence where they took the chance to look at each other, wanting to memorize each other’s calm features. Although the whole atmosphere was broken when some basketball boys passed by, shouting things nearby.
“I-I, uh, I have to go… well, goodbye.” Without even waiting for a goodbye in return, Max had already taken a few steps toward the exit, though she paused for a few seconds, somewhat thoughtful, before deciding to say screw it; right there she turned around, approached Lucas, and left a kiss on his cheek, without even noticing his reaction. This time she really left in a hurry, without looking back.
And well, Lucas was left stunned in place, his hand raised, wanting to make a gesture of farewell, but he just stood there, rebooting his system, unable to grasp what had just happened, with his only reaction being to gaze toward the exit.
It was only after some time that he reacted, bringing his raised hand to his cheek, unable to believe what he had just experienced, with that silly, lovestruck smile appearing on his face.
“Earth to Lucas, I repeat, Earth to Lucas” He spun around, startled by the voice, surprised to find it at his side; he swore that minutes ago there had been no one there.
“God, Will, you scared me, warn me before you appear out of nowhere.” His comment only made his friend laugh, and with all the laughter he had gotten out of him today, maybe he should become a clown.
“Sorry, it’s just that since you were staring off into space with that lovesick look, I think you didn’t notice I’d been calling you for like two whole minutes, man” On his face was a mocking smile, as if wanting to remind him of what happened minutes ago; faced with the undeniable evidence, all he could do was… nothing really, because he was right.
“Well, you got me there, I really have nothing to defend myself with.”
“I’m still very happy for you guys, I think those few minutes you had were necessary for you and especially for Max, even though Jane and I had to almost force her to come, actually.” He laughed softly, remembering the furious—though of course muffled, otherwise he wouldn’t be telling his adventures—look she gave him, only to resign herself seconds later. “But in other news, you played really well. If the coach doesn’t take you as an official player now, then I don’t know what will, because you were amazing although I didn’t understand half of what happened, but you were really awesome.”
“Thanks, dude, I hope that he hears you, I’m tired of warming the bench every game.” He looked at his friend, happy that he was talking about him like that, full of pride for something he had done, although he wished it hadn’t just been Will, but also his other friends, which reminded him of their whereabouts. “Oh, hey, what about Dustin and Mike? Weren’t they supposed to come?”
At his question, Will made a gesture like “sorry, I tried” maybe he wasn’t on the same level as Mike in understanding every micro gesture of his friend, but at least he could defend himself.
“That's what I wanted to talk to you about… I tried to find Eddie to change today’s game, but I couldn’t find him. After that, I stayed here making this sign for you, and honestly, I didn’t have time to look for the guys and see if the game was still on for today.” His hands rubbed together again, occasionally pulling at some of his fingers every few seconds or sometimes lingering on one finger for a long time, usually the ring finger. “But as you can see, the guys aren’t here, so it would be safe to assume that it was happening today… I’m really sorry, Lucas, I know you wanted to play that campaign too.”
“Nah Will, don’t worry about that, the ones who should be apologizing are Dustin and Mike, they bailed on us, although they’re missing out because I just won my first match, because the important thing is winning, right?” As a joke, he gently tapped his friend’s shoulder, obviously softly, and his friend touched the spot he had been tapped, but with a smile still on his face.
“Yeah… of course, winning is very important, even if you have to set some things aside.” With those last words, he felt the comment was really weird, it wasn’t very Will-like, but maybe he was referring to the absence of their friends, so he just nodded, not wanting to think about strange things.
Both of them stayed looking at the court, Lucas very proud of his victory, although a quick thought crossed his mind, and it was that he found it strange not to see more people around, in fact, at that time a janitor should be cleaning up the mess left on the court.
“You know, I always wanted to see you play basketball, but I never could…” Again, his friend’s comments pulled him out of his thoughts, and he turned instantly to him, his mind working to understand what his friend meant or if he had really heard him correctly.
“Will, what are you talking about? You’ve already seen me play, you’ve always come to my games…”
And they just looked at each other, the silence felt heavier now; subtly, and wanting to test his theory, he turned toward the clock, noticing almost with fear that the time displayed there in red numbers was wrong. It showed 2:30 in the morning... and it was impossible for it to be that time, since the game had just ended at 9 at night.
His mind immediately went on high alert, now fully aware of the surrounding atmosphere: no one around, everything strangely silent. How he hadn’t noticed before was his own problem, but right now he needed to get out of there. None of this felt right.
Carefully, he took a step back, not wanting to trigger anything or make anyone angry; for now, he had nothing to defend himself with and genuinely didn’t want to upset… Vecna, so, without taking his eyes off his friend, who was still looking toward the court, he took another step back. He could feel how, due to the tension and everything, his body had become more rigid, and his hands, without realizing it, had clenched into fists, as he could feel his nails digging into his palms.
“Will, I’m not getting it, I’m not understanding anything.” He needed to check one small thing; in case he was right, he had to make sure that at least he was the only one trapped here, because if his friend was caught up in it too, he would have to take away the idea that this was their normal-normal and escape.
"But… Lucas, are you okay? I just said that I always wanted to see you play, reading how it went just from the letters you sent made me a bit sad, actually."
Shit, he thought, this is a trance…
His breathing grew heavier, the sweat covering his body felt much colder, and the feeling of terror gripped him; his hands trembled and his jaw clenched even tighter. But he had to be strong—right now it wasn’t just him trapped here, but also his friend.
"Will, I need you to react quickly, this is something created by Vecna, we need to flee now, and for that I need you to wake up." He swallowed his fear and got ready, his hands open in front of him in case Vecna wanted to pull one of those "jokes" of his and ruin his plan completely.
A small laugh was heard, but it wasn't eerie, strange, or terrifying… On the contrary, it was soft, calm, a laugh with a tone that was memorized by him, which he could already unconsciously associate with entire afternoons spent locked in a basement while playing.
“Lucas…” The way he said his name, with the gentleness in his voice, completely unraveled his mind.
This wasn’t what he thought it was.
And that scared him even more.
Data began to clash in his head, like everything was strange, yet he still maintained a calm and composed air, almost as if he didn’t want anyone to overreact and do something stupid, almost as if wanting to hold back and comfort someone.
All of this made sense, because this trance hadn’t been created by Vecna. It would’ve never occurred to him to approach his victims like this—it would’ve been far too tedious. Everything about this screamed Will from every angle.
And so he let his guard down, feeling as if everything about him was soaring low, with a ton of emotions running through every corner of his mind.
“So… all of this, it’s not Vecna, right?” And to his question, no verbal answer came; the only response from the person in front of him was a nod, with the smile still present on their face.
He clenched his fists tightly, not understanding what was happening, but he felt deep inside that this was something very big, too big. That, and also the sense that this whole trance was coming to an end, a premonition along with the smell of the earth near Lovers Lake made him react; he had already remembered what he was doing, the battle, and everything that came afterward.
“Will, please, don’t do anything stupid.” The urgency in his own voice was something he would never be able to forget, but he didn’t want to seem too scared, unwilling to believe whatever it was that his voice was shouting so strongly to his mind. This, combined with the longing he had to get closer to his friend, was intense, but something kept him from moving from that spot; he felt trapped almost as if he were paralyzed, and the only thing he could do was watch.
Gradually, he could feel his consciousness fading from that trance, almost as if he were disconnecting the source of transmission.
“And you, don’t do it either.” The last thing he saw was his friend turning fully toward him, giving him a gentle smile, but with a tear falling from one of his eyes, tracing down his cheek…
And the moment he let go of it, everything went black.