Chapter Text
Knocking on the front door of the dingy looking warehouse, Mike grew very quickly aware of how damn cold it was, the skin on his legs and arms now forming goosebumps from the icy air surrounding them.
What an idea; a party in an abandoned building, with no heat source, and no telephone line in the likely situation that anyone actually died of hypothermia.
But as he and Leiah were finally greeted into the building by a tall girl, who sported a full head of blonde curls and a Kill Bill costume, they stepped inside and were engulfed by a cacophony of music, shouting and distant cheering.
As soon as they were situated, Mike was suddenly surrounded by his group of friends all looking each individually as bewildered or shocked as the other, obviously not believing he would actually make it to the event.
“Damn Wheeler, who would've thought you’d look good in leather?”
Max’s interjection was enough to make everyone snicker, alleviating some of the tension as Dustin gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder.
“Yeah man, I did not expect you here, and even less so dressed like…?”
“It's Frank Furter…from Rocky Horror Picture Show?”
The group all exchanged looks of confusion amongst each other, all except Will who seemed to be giggling to himself behind Jane.
He noted that everyone else had also gone the full length for their dressing up, taking in each one with admiration.
Jane was wearing an all-white ensemble, with her hair slicked back in a low bun, and she even had an off-white belt strapped around her hips with a few prop weapons that had obviously been handmade - using a very painful hot-glue gun from the looks on her and Dustin’s burnt fingers. Dustin, who was standing beside her, looked fierce in his brown and black costume, an impressively accurate light saber held up in his hand proudly, and the whole do was completed with a pair of boots. Padme and Anakin. Classic. Mike concluded it had definitely been Dustin's idea.
Max, however, had opted for a very un-Max-ish outfit, with a pair of light pink pants and a salmon coloured sweater, completed with a bright blue headband in her curly auburn hair and baby blue eyeshadow decorating her eyelids. Lucas, standing beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, was in an unmistakable karate kid costume, including what seemed to be a handmade headband with crusty looking paint on it.
Will, standing off to the side of the group slightly, stood out most magnificently. He had an entirely white face with harsh dark lines covering his eyes and nose bridge and a bold black lipstick to finish it off. His outfit was very different from what he usually wore, with a pair of pants that had all sorts of angled motifs in white paint on them, along with a shirt that bore the words The Cure - though Mike noted he hadn't truly seen Will in such a while that perhaps this wasn't such an unexpected choice from him.
“Whatever the reference is,” Max continued. “This costume needs to be documented.” She then pulled out an old fashioned digital camera from her pocket and began fiddling with the buttons, before turning the lens towards Mike and Leiah and shouting:
“Cheese!!”
The flash was so bright that Mike was blinded for a solid few seconds, but once he was managing to discern people’s costumes once again, and eventually their faces, he realised that someone had stepped away from the group.
Will was nowhere to be seen.
Feeling his stomach knots reforming rapidly, Mike muttered something about needing to get a drink to Leiah before stepping away from the group. Leiah, however, knew better than to let him run away so easily.
“Hey, where you going? We just got here dude, you can't ditch me already!”
“I just– I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back soon.”
“You'd better, otherwise I'll be pissed.”
“Yeah okay.”
“Cya soon, and don't get lost in the toilets!” Leiah shouted distantly, as she went off to join another group of people she knew from one of her various classes.
Fuck, now what.
Well, everyone else usually drinks at these things so, may as well. At least it's something to do.
As he cut through different crowds of people who were all immersed in vastly different conversations and debates, Mike eventually made his way to a table with coloured bottles of various shapes. He recognised a few of them as the same brands as what the older boy had brought for him. He pulled out the clinking bottles he had in his own bag - which Leiah had insisted would be necessary in case people didn't bring enough booze for everyone - and laid them down on the table, before picking one back up and pouring himself a tall glass of the substance.
As he took a sip, he felt an immediate burn in his throat, then a warmth in his stomach, as he took another swig.
Does this shit ever taste better?
He then took his glass - and slightly nauseous self - back to the main room, which seemed to be where the main dark room used to be located as there were red lights from the ceiling illuminating the whole space, along with various colourful flashes emerging from different corners of the room, seemingly produced by a few impressively large light stands, which had more than likely been unknowingly borrowed by the cinema majors at the event. In fairness, the lighting made everything look really beautiful, their colourful aspect transforming people's outfits and makeup into a true ensemble of colours, and sometimes if he was lucky, the music synced with the flashes of colour and everything felt perfect for a few precious seconds.
Everyone looked really beautiful actually, now that Mike was thinking about it. They all had something about them that made their whole being glow, each in their own way.
As he glanced over the crowd, taking in the slightly overwhelming number of people, Mike’s gaze was met by someone else's. Someone whose hazel eyes he recognised immediately.
Will.
The eye contact lasted no longer than a fraction of a second, but it was enough to leave Mike feeling far more queasy than before, as he almost tripped over his own feet while stepping aside for a couple of girls who were giggling and running down the darker corridor.
When he glanced back up, Will was in the midst of what seemed to be a very fascinating conversation with another boy, who was wearing what appeared to be some kind of Greek god costume - this being mostly proven by the crown of golden leaves that sat atop his curly hair, but also due to the white sheet that was draping down the boy’s body, held in place by a very untrustworthy golden clip by his shoulder and an equally golden chain loosely hanging around his waist. He then noticed an oddly pink looking tape in the boy's chest, wondering what kind of injury could cause such a large band-aid.
The opposition in the two boys’ outfits made them look quite poetic side-by-side; the darkness met with the light. An angel and his demon.
Mike’s nausea had subsided slightly, but it was only to be replaced with seething jealousy. He didn't really know why he felt so angered by the sight of Will and that boy, but he knew that it wasn't going to subside naturally. So he made his way back over to the beverages and decided to simply grab the bottle he had opened and walk away with it, taking a few angry gulps as he walked between the many moving bodies of people actually having a good time.
☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★
Unsure of how long he had been sitting, Mike regained some amount of consciousness as he found himself seated on a rickety stool, surrounded by a group of people talking heatedly about ethical issues that he had no idea how he even got roped into.
“..how can you even think that it's fair that women get paid less AND taken less seriously in that environment? They're just as educated as the men there, if not more!”
“I dunno I mean…Women were meant to be mothers right? Like scientifically, they're meant to be the bearers of life or whatever..”
“WHAT?! You piece of–”
Deciding that he wished to have no part in the argument that was forthcoming, Mike stood up from his seat - tripping slightly as he did so - before leaving the gathering of people who were now shouting over each other.
The drink had finally taken effect, and Mike felt himself growing lighter with each stumbling step he took, which had led him back to the hallway, in front of which he had seen two girls run past him previously, though now it seemed to be growing longer and longer. Or perhaps shorter? Maybe both? Who knows.
Before he could keep going in his unplanned route, Mike felt a slight poke in his arm and spun around to find Dustin.
“Hey man, are you good?”
His voice sounded quieter than it should, like as if he were in the next room.
“Yeah I'm hic fine!”
“Well, it doesn't seem like you're fine.”
Beside him was Jane, who had one of her hands wrapped around his bicep and the other gripping his hand, looking just as concerned as Dustin.
“Look I’m soooo fine, okay? Even better, I'm great! This stuff is really gross but it feels amazing, amiright?”
The two of his friends shared a concerned look, as Jane took a step forward.
“Mike, are you sure you are okay? You seem sick. Maybe you should go home? Or stay with Dustin and I? We’re going to be leaving, and we will be getting waffles.”
She seemed genuine in her words, and Dustin was nodding in agreement behind her, but the last thing Mike wanted was to be third wheeling a date between his ex-girlfriend and friend.
“Noooo you guys I'm good! Go on your date and lemme have my fuuuun.”
And before either of the couple could try to convince him any further, he turned away and squeezed between two dancing strangers, merging himself into the bustling crowd.
As he continued to walk away, passing a couple in a corner who were practically eating each other in a matching set of vampire costumes - which Mike deemed fitting to the situation - he saw a streak of low-lit purple lighting escaping from beneath a door a few feet away and, deciding that a quiet place to sit down would be perfect right now, he stumbled over to it and pushed it open.
As he clambered through the entry way, he found a room flooded with varying fairy lights of multiple blue and purple tones, with some of them slowly fading in and out of brightness, while others remained constant, and a small dusty looking sofa took over the majority of the room. As he focused his mind some more, he realised who was sitting one atop another.
Leiah, and the almond-eyed curly-haired girl from her sketchbook. Their faces were so close in proximity, their hands holding one another. There was no other way of reading the situation he had just found them in.
“Fuck– I– I didn't–”
“GET OUT!”
“Leiah I'm sorry, I swea–”
But before he could say another word, the girl, who sported a confusingly basic outfit, ran past him and down the hallway back to the room where the music was loudest.
“Please, just get out! I can't do this right now.”
And so Mike left the room and softly shut the door handle again, beginning to feel as though things weren’t planning out quite how he had expected.
I need another drink, he thought to himself, that’s what people always say in movies in these situations.
He stumbled into a room that was mostly full of people jumping up and down or kissing against walls and chairs like a herd of animals in heat.
As he had misplaced his bottle earlier during his little nap, he started lifting a multitude of the bottles laid out on the counter, giving each one a decent sniff, before finally landing on a bottle that made his nose hairs sizzle a little. He took a steady swing of the yellow tinted liquid before feeling his throat burn and he was suddenly in an uncontrollable coughing fit.
Once he had finally recovered, his head was spinning a little and his hands felt disconnected from his arms.
>>>>
He then realised this heart was beating loudly in his ears - or perhaps it was the music - and there were people laughing and cheering around him and suddenly he felt as though something hot and sour was brewing in his guts, and unexpectedly his legs had taken him to the closest sink and he was bringing up a hot burning liquid, until he finally felt a wave of relief wash over him and he slumped down to the floor, which was now littered with people’s broken costume pieces, cigarettes that had been trodden on and crushed beer cans.
Cigarettes..?
Mike felt his pocket for the packet the Lewis guy had given him.
Perfect.
It took some effort, but he eventually managed to get himself back up and standing, still swaying a little, but no longer with the uncomfortable hot acid of his insides.
He pushed his way through the crowd of swaying people, for what felt like the billionth time, and escaped through to the front door he had previously entered.
Even with the help of the alcohol, he still felt absolutely freezing in the mid-winter air in nothing more than a pair of shorts and half a top.
Fumbling to open the packet, he managed to draw out a singular white and orange cylinder and placed it clumsily between his fingers, before he then realised he had no lighter for the damn thing.
Sheepishly but with a new found sense of courage, he made his way over to a closed group of people surrounded by puffs of smoke and mist, and tapped one of them on the shoulder.
As the person turned around, revealing themselves to be the guy who had been wearing a fairly decent looking greek god costume of sorts and who had been talking to Will earlier, He looked up at Mike with curious eyes as he took a long drag of his own cig.
“Hey, uh, sorry to bother y’all but I was wondering if anyone’s got a lighter? I– I forgot mine.”
“Shit I don't have mine tonight,” the voice that spoke was far higher pitched than what he’d expected, and suddenly it clicked. The bandaid must be what Leiah had told him was called binding tape. “Mine is usually always in my jeans but as you can see, I'm a little underdressed this evening aha...but uh, guys?”
Everyone around him began to riffle through their various pockets and bags, before someone finally re-emerged from their tote bag with a bright orange zippo that had colourful mushrooms decorating the front.
“Here ya go, but please bring it back after - I've grown quite fond of it now.”
The group all chuckled as if this were some kind of hilarious inside joke, but Mike chose to simply concentrate his strength on lighting the cigarette he had propped up between his lips.
The girl who had handed him the fire seemed to be staring at him in fascination – or maybe confusion.
“Hey um..would you like some help, perhaps?”
Looking down at his burnt out cigarette tip, he nodded his head in defeat.
“Yes please…I'm not very good at this yet.”
“No worries, come here and I'll help ya.”
Obediently, he made his way around the circle of people and landed next to the girl.
She was quite pretty, her hair a mixture between vibrant purple and softer tones of blue, and she had a very colourful outfit – almost as though she had just escaped from a cartoon. He tried to think of why the outfit and hair together seemed so familiar, as it was more than likely he had seen the costume from one of the terribly long films Leiah made him watch.
“Okay, put the cig back in your mouth but this time, start sucking in air as i manage the rest, ‘k?”
He nodded and placed the object back between his lips, before taking in a slow and steady breath through the filter, tasting the flavour of tobacco in his tongue already. Then, the astral haired girl flicked the orange lighter and brought the flame right up to Mike’s cigarette as he continued to breathe in, only now the smoke was hitting him, and soon enough he began to cough.
“Haha yeah, that's pretty normal for a first timer.”
“I'm not– I've already–”
“C'mon Frank let's be honest, you've never smoked a day in your life, correct?”
The use of his character’s name had thrown him off guard but he tried to remain as unbothered as possible, feeling as though he were in a court room composed entirely of Hot Topic employees for judges.
“Okay, fine, you win. But I'm trying new things tonight…apparently.”
“Hey, it's cool dude I'm not the authenticity police. Anyways, lemme introduce you quickly to the group as you've still got at least four minutes more with us, by the looks of your cig.”
She took a step back and spread the group with her arms a little, before clearing her throat and standing up straighter.
“Okay, let's go,” She put up her two hands, and got them ready with her fingers spread wide. “This is Priyanshi, model and literal goddess. She’s got that whole mysterious-but-fascinating thing going for her, and she owns records so of course she has good music taste,” she took a second to take a breath, before steaming on. “And now this is Simon. He's fairly new to me but he's got great taste in movies and he’s the epitome of nerdy-but-cute,” she blew a kiss in Simon’s direction, before she then spun around on the spot to point her finger into the boy who Mike had first spoken to. “And this is Miles. A total metal nerd and great at playing guitar, but he's insufferable about his favourite books.”
Miles. That name was familiar, though he couldn't find the energy to figure out why at that moment - he was having too much fun with the spinning trees.
As he glanced around to take in each member of the group, his eyes landed unexpectedly on none other than Will Byers himself, standing directly opposite him, with his full goth makeup on and a weird looking cigarette perched between his own lips, as though it were the most normal thing in the world.
He never used to smoke.
“Oh right! And that's Will over there, the one busy hiding his toke so that he doesn't have to share, right asshole?”
Letting out an exasperated chuckle, he handed over the strange-smelling cigarette over to the girl, who giggled before taking a long drag and blowing it out slowly.
As she did so, Mike spared a glance back to Will, who was busy looking right back at him with an unreadable expression, then moved his eyes back over to the girl as she grabbed his arm dramatically.
“Silly me, I never told you my name! I'm Maya– well Mayabeth in reality but it's simply way too old fashioned and fugly, so please, call me Maya.”
“Um, well thanks for the introductions, Maya. Oh, and I'm Mike. And I actually know Will already but uh, yeah, thanks.”
The whole gathering exchanged a look of surprise and confusion combined, but Maya persevered in an attempt to avoid too much awkwardness, or perhaps simply not catching on to it in her unsober state.
“Oh you must be the childhood cr–”
“HEY okay enough words from you, right Maya?”
Blush creeped up Maya’s neck and face as she gave Will a guilty look before taking another long drag and blowing out another cloud of smoke.
“Hey by the way, really cool costume dude.”
This time the voice came from his other side, the curly haired boy with a sheet costume speaking again.
“Oh , thanks! I'm surprised you even recognised it honestly, hardly anyone got the reference...”
“ ‘Course! That film is so camp, I love it. Actually, it's Will who showed it to me!”
“Well I had to give you some kind of film knowledge. When we first met, you thought the bee movie was the epitome of cinematic success.”
The whole group burst into laughter at this, and even Mike joined in.
“Well I guess I should be thanking you, Will. You've saved my dignity tonight by making more than two people understand my costume. Everyone else must think I'm just a hooker.”
“I mean, how much you chargin’? Because I have to admit…” Maya began, before she was nudged sharply in the side by the boy named Simon.
“Don’t you have a boyfriend already?”
“Two, actually. Can't a girl be greedy?”
Feeling his cheeks warm up, Mike settled on chuckling nervously while taking another inhale of his own cigarette. It tasted foul but the sensation of the smoke filling his lungs was oddly soothing. He was starting to understand why people smoked.
“So..since when do you smoke, Mike?”
Will had made his way around the group and was now side by side with Mike, their elbows bumping softly as he was handed back the joint from Maya.
“Oh uh, a couple months.” He lied, wanting to sound impressive, though his eyes watered as the smoke he’d inhaled escaped through his nose.
“Mhm, I'm sure you have. Well, wanna try this in that case?”
Will gestured to the roll-up between his fingers, motioning for Mike to take it.
“Uh, sure.”
As he went to take hold of the offering, Will took back his hand for a moment, and grinned cheekily.
“Uh-uh! This stuff is expensive, gimme your ciggie in exchange.”
“Fine, but I may have gotten the filter a little wet accidentally..”
“Not a problem.”
Will smirked as they swapped smoking material, and Mike held eye contact when they both took a breath in, but his throat quickly began to burn and he couldn't hold back his coughing any longer.
“Ha! You’re totally a new smoker!”
“Yeah yeah,” Mike coughed out, trying to catch his breath again. “It's not like you've been smoking for decades either. You weren't last year, were you?”
“Okay, you got me. I was successfully peer influenced. But I'm an art student - this stuff is basically like our coffee.”
“Well, I am an English major dude, we’re supposedly the tortured writers and poets of the world.”
“Hmm tortured, maybe. Writer or poet? Remains to be seen.”
Will gave him a wink and took back hold of the joint straight from Mike's mouth as he was taking another drag. They both exhaled at the same time, this time with Mike managing to hold back a cough - though his throat still burned.
“I am a writer, may I remind you. I'm writing something right now.”
“M’kay but I’m a visual learner, so when will I get to read some of your work?”
“When will I get to see some of your art?”
As Mike glanced down at his hand where he was holding the smoking piece, he felt his heart racing faster than it had all evening. He then noticed that the cigarette, which Will had placed back between his index and thumb without even noticing, was tainted with the black outline of someone's lips. Will’s makeup had stained the filter. It was poetic in a way Mike couldn't quite figure out in his murky state of alcohol and weed combined.
“Alright, we have a deal. You show me some of your work, and I'll show you some of mine. An equal exchange of our minds?”
He nodded back and held out a hand, a sense of confidence reaching him from an unknown source.
“An equal exchange of our minds.”
The boy opposite him looked down at the held-out hand with a bemused look, before he then took hold of it and tightened his grip as he shook it. Neither of them let go of each other for a long few seconds until someone interrupted the thick air that stood between them.
“Hey, mind sharing some of that? We did pay fifty-fifty after all, Liam.”
Will broke away from the handshake finally and handed over the rollie to the Simon person, who blew him a kiss in return.
“Liam?” Mike questioned in amused confusion.
“Oh, it's uh- ugh it's embarrassing honestly..”
Will ran his hand over his eyes and he shook his head in embarrassment, reliving a distant memory he had hoped wouldn't be remembered.
“Tell me, and in return I'll show you some of my scraped writing whenever we do that exchange of our souls or whatever. Now THAT'S true embarrassment.”
“Alright, you're on! Okay so basically it was my first day in art class and..”
As Will talked on about his story, Mike simply sat back and observed in absolute admiration, re-memorising each detail of Will that he had missed so dearly in those past months, taking it all in and refreshing each blurry memory he had been holding to for so long now.
He had missed his best friend far more than he had realised, or had dared to admit. He felt his chest growing warmer, as he continued to admire the more grown-up version of the boy he'd always found to be perfect.
His face had gotten more angled in the past months, and his chin was now scattered with the marks of being shaven down, showing darker shadows near the edges of Will’s jaw where it met his neck, which had also thickened out in their time apart.
His shoulders were a hint broader than before, which led to arms that had gained in muscle, showing one slightly more toned arm than the other. From painting and clay sculpting most likely, Mike noted.
How strange to be betrayed by one's physical traits, revealing their being far more than they could imagine.
It's then that Mike noticed there was the faintest sound of a song he recognised coming from the party building. The heavily drowned-out notes of a song by Mazzy Star were escaping from the door at the entrance.
“A stranger′s light comes on slowly
A stranger′s heart without a home
You put your hands into your head
And then smiles cover your heart
Fade into you
Strange you never knew
Fade into you
I think it's strange you never knew”
☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★
As he stumbled around, feeling more hopeful than he had all evening, or even all week, Mike analysed the various faces surrounding him as he tried to find Will again, searching desperately to continue the friendliness they had managed to find between them again.
But as he kept searching, his eyes finally landed on his target, the sight before his eyes making his stomach lurch and his throat close up entirely.
Will was sitting on a counter, his hands wrapped around the back of the boy called Miles, who was standing between Will’s legs and kissing him passionately, his golden crown inches away from falling off his head as Will pushed his fingers through the brown curls.
All feelings of hope were crushed by a sudden feeling of unexplainable disappointment.
Running off back to the stool he had been sitting in a few hours earlier – or perhaps merely half an hour, since time didn't seem to exist - he plopped down on the seat, taking another swig of the bottle that he had made a good dent in now, as he kicked himself for feeling such stupid feelings about Will kissing someone. They were barely just friends again after all, he couldn't expect to know every little detail about the boy’s life in the five minutes they'd spoken.
“Hey..mind if I sit?”
Leiah was looking down at him with an expression mixed between sadness and fear, her lipstick now smudged and her eye makeup running down her cheeks slightly.
“Sure.”
She took another step and slid down the wall beside him, as he lowered himself from the stool to take a seat with her on the littered floor.
There was a moment of tense silence between them, neither daring to broach the subject they were both thinking about.
“So…”
“So..?”
“Um, how much…what did you see in that room before?”
“Well, apart from you and that random girl being close enough to scare a nun, nothing.”
She sighed a breath of embarrassment as she covered her face with her hands.
“Shit. So, everything?”
“Yep.”
She breathed in deeply this time, before finally looking at him in the eyes.
“Please don't tell anyone.”
“What? Why would I–”
“She's in the closet.”
“Oh.”
“Yep,
oh.”
She then chuckled to herself sadly, leaning her head back against the wall and bringing her knees up to her chest.
“Her family is crazy religious, church on Sundays and everything. And they're outwardly homophobic, so, yeah. It's a whole palaver.”
“Shit,” He took a moment to concentrate on comforting his friend, despite feeling as though the world were spinning around him again. “I'm sorry, Lei..”
“S’fine, I don't mind being on the down-low. But it means no one can know about her. You know I couldn't care less but she, well.. she's afraid word’ll get back to her lot. She's still really close to ‘em, in a way, so…”
“Hey, I won't tell anyone I swear.”
“Thanks.”
They shared a moment of comfortable quiet, simply taking in the situation they both found themselves in, before Mike prompted with a question that has been nagging his mind.
“Hey Lei, can I ask you something?
“Sure, anything.”
“How long– Since when– Okay no, just.. why didn't you tell me about this, about her? I mean– like obviously you don’t gotta tell me everything I just..I dunno, I thought we were honest with each other.”
She stared at him, more guilt covering her face this time before she sighed once more and replied.
“Right, since you’ve been sooo honest about your feelings on the subject of Will?”
Taken aback, Mike stayed silent for a moment before meekly retaliating.
“That's not the same thing..”
“Isn't it?”
“Look, we were talking about your love issues, not mine!”
As the final part of his sentence came out, Mike’s heart sped up slightly, the realisation of what he had said suddenly hitting him. What love issues does he even mean?
“Oh oh! The repressed homosexual finally speaks!”
Leiah quipped back, simply giggling at the visible distress that had settled on Mike's face.
“I'm not even gay!”
This came out much louder than he’d anticipated, several people’s heads turning around to look at them in confusion.
“Careful, shouting things like that in a room full of students in the arts is not a good idea. Besides, you do know bisexuality exists, right?”
“UGH,” Mike groaned, as his head had started to thump loudly and he felt the familiar acidity in his throat. “This was not the way I had anticipated this conversation would go..”
“Well, I have to admit, I didn't expect a love confession from you quite yet Wheeler. I'm thinking we should get drunk more often.”
“Yeah, I'm sure many licensed therapists would agree on alcohol consumption being the best way for me to express myself.”
They both grinned at each other before deciding that they should probably sober up a little and get home soon enough.
>>>
But as they slowly managed to get on their feet without tilting over, Leiah suddenly turned a very green shade of white and started running to the bathroom, closely followed by Mike.
As he made his way through the door, he was just in time to grab hold of her hair as she was retching violently into the toilet bowl.
“Oh wow, okay, yep just uh..let it all out.”
Coughing slightly, she crawled away from the bowl and grabbed hold of Mike’s hand, placing her other hand on the wall, as she precariously pushed herself back up, and then leaned over the sink to rinse her mouth.
As she finished cleaning off her face and the front pieces of her hair, she turned back around to Mike, her makeup fully smudged now.
“Hey, do I still look hot?”
He grinned at her in disbelief, taking a piece of toilet paper and beginning to wipe her cheeks and lips with it softly in an attempt to fix her smeared face.
“The hottest you’ve ever looked, I would say.”
She gave him a wink before closing in, fully leaning on him now, and started whispering into his ear.
“Sorryyyyy, you're very cute but I'm gayyyy.”
“I know Lei, now c'mon you idiot, let's get something non-alcoholic to drink and go home.”
But as he started to put his arms around her waist, trying to hoist her up enough to walk semi-independently, the door to the bathroom swung open to reveal a tall dark eyed and broad boy, who was sporting a long dark coat and some kind of graphic shirt, followed closely behind by none other than the girl he had caught Leiah with only a few hours ago, who he now realised was wearing a plaid skirt and a blue blouse. They were dressed as JD and Heather.
“Fuck– my bad– We’ll just find somewhere else to– uhm, c'mon Jazmín.”
The boy grabbed hold of the girl’s hand and pulled her away, as she stared, dumbfounded at the obviously misleading situation she had found Leiah and himself in.
“Great. Now she's gonna think we're dating. Oh god!” Leiah exclaimed, tears filling her eyes.
“Let's just go, you'll figure it out with her tomorrow. And who was that guy, anyways?”
“Oh, that's merely her boyfriend.”
“Her..?”
“Yep. Don't ask.”
He took a mental note to definitely ask about this later, when they were both in much more sober states.
Continuing the task he had started doing before the uninvited interruption, he rewrapped his arms around Leiah as he kicked open the bathroom door and clumsily dragged her out by his side.
As he did so, he felt Leiah’s body slowly regain rigidity and she eventually was managing to stand on her own two feet, though she swayed a little as she did so.
“Okay, let me just find my bag and we can go.”
“Whatever you say, Queerler.”
Feeling hot in the cheeks at the nickname, he chose to not rise to it in that moment and simply grabbed hold of her hand as he pushed through the crowd of people, searching the floor desperately for his backpack, even though he could barely see straight.
As he continued to scan the incessantly moving feet of the people around them, Mike suddenly came to a halt as he walked right into someone and glanced up.
It was the JD guy from before – Leiah’s friend’s boyfriend.
“Wha– Oh hey, sorry man! Didn't wanna cockblock anyone before…”
But before the boy could finish his apology, Mike realised that Will had been standing right beside the blonde boy, and was walking away after having flashed Mike and Leiah an angry look.
“Uh– Yeah, it's fine, no worries,” he then grabbed hold of the girl’s hand – whose name he guessed was Jazmín – before placing the hand he had been gripping of Leiah’s between Jazmín’s fingers. She looked at him in utter confusion but he didn't have time to elaborate. “Gotta go! I'll be right back!”
As quickly as he could, he rushed after Will – who was going impressively fast through the crowd.
“Will! Just– wait! Please, you know I'm not athletic!”
Will finally stopped and spun around on the spot, still seething with anger – though Mike truly had no idea why.
“What's wrong, Will? You seem angry or something..”
“Nothing. I'm fine.”
Mike reached out and took hold of Will's wrist, to make sure he didn't attempt a third escape.
“You don't seem fine. We were finally talking again, so what's wrongggg?” Mike continued, his voice sounding more whiny than he'd been aiming.
“Nothing. We're good. Don't you have a
Janet to get back to anyways?”
“What– I–” Mike stuttered, too confused to find the right words. “Do you think me and Leiah are..? Because we're definitely not.”
Will took a moment to look down at the hand on his wrist, before sighing and glancing back up.
“Look, it's fine. Whatever. I don't even care, kiss whoever you like. Just, please, let me go.”
“I don't get it? You're angry I kissed someone? Is that it? Cause you're a next-level hypocrite if that's the case.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“You're supposed to be gay, right? And yet you were kissing some guy with no dick, so unless I'm forgetting your coming out–”
But before he could even finish his sentence, he cut himself short, shocked by the phrase he had just uttered. He didn't even know why he had said it, but he knew that it was out in the air now, and it was free to do whatever it liked in the words of other people's minds.
He didn't dare think about what would have followed next had he actually gone through to the end of his word vomit.
“What the fuck Mike?” Will’s eyes were now full of water, an actual tear slowly trickling down the side of his pink cheek. “Why would you do this..you always do this! I don't even know you anymore.. why do you care!”
As he had started to actually cry, one of the people who had been smoking earlier came over and grabbed hold of Will.
It was Priyanshi - Mike recognised her enchanting eyes.
“C'mon Will, let's go back to my place. Miles already got us an Uber and Maya’s smoking a last cig while she waits.” As she took Will under her arm like a mother bird, she shot a look of severe anger and disappointment at Mike, before muttering something only loud enough for him to hear.
“Perhaps you should take some time to understand your own feelings, before you start toying with other people's.”
He wanted to ask what she meant by that, but it was too late. She had already made her way through the crowd and was holding open the door as she softly pushed Will through it into the darkness, followed by herself, before the door finally shut again, erasing the pitch black of the night from the room.
Fuck.
He knew he had messed up majorly, and would most certainly feel like shit the next day, but in that moment he simply couldn't get his mind off of what the tall girl had said. Toying with people's feelings. Who's feelings had he toyed with?
But before he could dive further into his mind, he came back to reality when someone was shaking his shoulder and spinning him around.
“Hey uh, you're Leiah's…um, friend, right?”
It was the Jazmín girl. She was still holding Leiah’s hand but now also held most of the girl’s body in her arms, as Leiah was completely out of it and muttering unintelligibly.
“Oh yeah, I am. Here, I'll help you.”
And so they both heaved the drunken girl through the crowd and made their way outside, the chilly air helping Mike's fogginess clear up ever so slightly.
“Hmm mike…mike..Micheal!”
Leiah was still spewing random words, but without the background noise of the party, she was far easier to hear.
“Uh.. yeah, I'm here.”
“Good! Micheal…you need to find Jaz..tell her hic that we're not dating…she's the only apple of my eye..”
As she said all of this, Mike noticed Jasmín’s cheeks growing pinker and by the end of the sentence she was a deep shade of red and her expression was sheepish.
“Hey uhm Lei, you can tell her all that tomorrow okay? Let's just get home for now.”
“Ughhh fineeee…but I get your bed…you can sleep on the floor…you peasant.”
As he and Jazmín exchanged a look and grinned quietly, they heaved her back up and over to the Uber that the other girl had thankfully ordered for them while still at the party.
“Hey, can I get your insta?” the girl asked Mike, before quickly adding. “To keep me posted! I wanna be sure she's okay and stuff. I don't know how much she drank, but I'm guessing it was enough from..this.”
“Oh yeah sure!” He pulled out his phone and passed over to her for her to type in her username. “And don't worry, I didn't take it in that way. I know you and Leiah are, um, close.”
She paused for a moment, her hands mid-typing.
“Oh right you're the one who walked in when we–”
“It's cool. She's my friend. I won't say anything to anyone.”
A look of relief washed over her.
“Cool, thanks.”
“Don't mention it.”
Ten minutes or so later, the Uber finally arrived and, after waking Leiah up enough for her to seem sober, they hauled her in as normally as possible before Mike took a seat beside her. As he did so, he quickly gave his address to the driver before turning back to Jazmín again.
“Hey, sorry for this evening. She's not like this usually, I swear.”
“I know don't worry, we've been friends for a while now.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Hey, what's your name by the way?”
“Oh, Mike! Micheal technically, as Leiah has already revealed, but call me Mike.”
“Okay, thanks. I'm Jazmín Olvera.”
“Nice meeting ya Jazmín, cya soon..under better circumstances hopefully.”
She giggled and waved at him as they pulled away from the party, leaving behind the girl in the cold, as snowflakes had begun to fall.