Chapter Text
Today was such a casually casual day. It was Wednesday, halfway through the week. Mike hated being in the Wheelers home. It seemed so conservative but mainly because of his father, Ted Wheeler’s presence. He changed into whatever he mixed together and went downstairs for breakfast to reunite with his family. Holly was scribbling and scrambling on paper, drawing Mike’s future dnd characters. After what seemed like hours he finally finished his breakfast and left the hellhole he was forced to call “home”
“Mike! Over here”
It was Jane, Mike's girlfriend of several years. Mike liked Jane, there was no questioning that, it’s just been so hard. You see, Mike was getting extremely touchy with other guys, it was so god damn obvious but no one noticed, right? Wrong, they all noticed but Mike couldn’t really see that. The touchiest he last was when ‘jokingly’ reaching one of his friends shoulders and playfully punching his biceps but Mike didn’t think it was that serious.
“El! Hurry, get to class. You know they can’t write us up” Mike greeted as he leaned in for a quick kiss.
After a few classes there and then, it was finally time for clubs.
“DND, finally after dealing with math and English bullshit” he thought to himself as he bolted to the library where DND took place
Today, DND felt once again normal, he didn’t mind it this time. DND is supposed to be normal and so is Mike, it’s basic knowledge. Mike rolled dice and role played until it was over but he didn’t want to leave. He knew what would happen after. Sloppy make outs with El after school. Don’t get him wrong (again) he liked El, she was sweet and sometimes understanding but god damn it did Mike despise their make outs. Before he knew it, DND was over.
“Ugh, here we go again I guess” Mike had thought as he made it out the school door
A few minutes later and BAM, him and El, lips pressed together, are making out again. Whilst Jane was full on it, eyes shut and focused on the moment. Mike was… confused, thinking, but not about El. It was weird, all that filled his mind like a scrapbook were manly shoulders, biceps, the guys at gym and the guys at DND simply reading the script yet Mike saw it as a wonderland.
This is weird, what the hell am I thinking! Oh but thos- Focus Micheal Wheeler
Before he knew it, he pushed El away, again.
“Shit, sorry El I have to go, my mom’s gonna yell at me for not being there at dinner”
“But, you never cared about what they thought, Mike. Are you ok?” El asked as she placed her right hand on his cheek.
“Uhh yea, El you kno-’’
“Mike, friends don’t lie” Jane told him
Mike hated that phrase. He hated it because well it proved him wrong and he hated that feeling but somehow it always worked, not just with El but in general, it would catch him slipping every damn time
“Your right, I am sorry El, it’s just so tiring with school and-”
Before he knew it, El was up at it in his face. They kissed until El well accepted the fact that Mike had to go
“Bye Mike, see you tomorrow” El said as she herself left too
Mike nodded
It was pretty late when he finally made it ‘home’ but he unfortunately got there. After a few preparations here and there, it was finally time to eat. But not so fast, it was also time to pray.
“May god bless and give us grace” Said Mrs Wheeler, holding Mr. Wheeler's hand in her right and Mike in her left
Then, Mr Wheeler decided to start his prayers too
“Dear Lord,
please bless this food
that we are about to eat.
We thank you for the abundance
that you have provided.
Please help us to follow your path,
the one you intended us all to follow.
And Lord...
please help us to obey
the roles in life you set for us.
For all that is natural and...
healthy...
and sacred,
In Your name we pray.
Amen.”
Amen?
Mike weirded his eyes, all confused. It seemed different and he spotted his own mother and father looking at him during this whole prayer. Even Nancy kept getting eyed but she couldn’t care less. When they ate, he couldn’t help but rethink what happened during his makeout session with El. Why was he thinking that? It’s probably nothing, all guys think that, right?
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Today was basically yesterday. It’s always considered a “new day” at the Wheeler house when it’s really not. But that’s not anyone’s decision. The only good thing about today was that it was a Thursday, Friday 2.0 ish?
“Mike! You're gonna be late! Get out of bed!” Yelled Nancy from downstairs as she jiggled her keys
A tired groan came out of him
“In a minute!” He yelled as he turned to the right side of his bed
“I’M COMING UP THERE AND IF YOU'RE STILL THERE, I’M DRAGGING YOUR ASS!” Yelled Nance
Mike finally decided to get ready for his shitty day. But at least it’s better than to stay here with the Wheelers.
The day was normal, again a repeat of the other day. Nothing really new obviously but it was ok, for a normie like him. He had the same classes only with a new topic (it was the same crap to Mike).
“Mike!” Yelled Jane
She kept seeming to find him everywhere and it irritated him a bit but it was probably something to do with hormones? Who knows
“Hey Wheeler” Said Max, Jane’s best friend, sarcastically
“Whatever Maxine” repeated Mike to make her annoyed
She rolled her eyes and grabbed Jane by the hand
“Let’s go El, he’s just being weird as usual. By the way Wheeler, Lucas was looking for you in the study hall. Go before he gets pissed?” Max had responded before pulling el and laughing off with her
“Wait,” Jane stated as she went to give Mike a kiss on the cheek before waving goodbye. Running and smiling along with Max
“YO MIKE!” Yelled a voice from afar
He turned and realized it was his girlfriends friend boyfriend, Lucas also know as one of his best friends
“Hey dude, how’s it going?” He asked as they walked together
“Uhh it’s going pretty good, why?” Mike responded as he opened his blue locker
The locker was filled with pictures of men, their biceps. Hips and big arms. In suites and gym attire
This obviously didn’t alarm Mike as it was usual right? Yeah maybe for his sake, it is normal for a dude to have these pictures of quite nice men and his abs or what not. Lucas probably had photos of men too, yeah
“Anyways, me and the team have a pretty big game tonight so I was just here to-”Lucas has said, before getting cut off
“Yeah yeah man I’ll come for sure duuude when have I ever missed a game” Mike interrupted as he rushed off to class, barely closing his locker
AFTER SCHOOL
A ringing beep came out near Mike, he knew who’s “beep” it was. It was El in Hopper's car that must’ve taken lots of convincing to bring.
“Hey so since when did hopper let you bring this old thing. Can you drive?” Mike asked, cluelessly
“Uh yes that’s why I brought it” Jane responded, in a sort of rush
The car ride was awkward and quiet. There was no make out session which was amazing for Mike, he never even thought it would happen. But it was still strange. El wasn’t talking, the car seemed purposely slowed, and El was avoiding eye contact with Mike.
Meanwhile
Near the Wheeler home, a blue and pink van drove up there. A tall, bald man with a light blue shirt saying “Straight is Great!” and matching colored short and whistle hopped off the van and went straight to the Ted and Karen Wheeler
“Mike, thanks so much for coming all the way back out here again.” Greeted Karen, shaking his hand
“That's what we're here for, now you've watched the video?” Questioned Mike
“Over and over. Come on in” responded, dryly Ted
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
“Now the process may be a bit more longer since there’s two of them. But it’s nice that we’re able to save them both, such loving parents” Mike stated as he sat down on the chair near the tv table
“Oh thanks Mike. They should both be arriving right about now” said Karen, flattered
“They're coming. Here they come!” Lucas noted, looking out the window
__________________________________
Once Mike, El, and Nancy came in, the whole conversation started
“What happened? Is somebody dead?” Asked Mike, tightening his hand onto the doorknob
“Here honey, sit down ok we’ll explain it. Well, Mike will” responded Karen, bringing him down to the couch
“Hello Nancy and Mike, my name is well Mike too”
“Wow what a world” said Mike quietly and sarcastically
“Ok uhh Karen, why don’t you start the conversation?” Said Mike, pointing his hand to Karen
“Listen, Mike and Nancy we all love you. And lately we've become concerned about certain behaviors between the both of you guys. We're afraid you guys are being influenced by...a way of thinking. Unnatural...Do you remember the man on tv, Mike? Or the woman on the hairspray ad Nancy?” Told Karen, step by step letting both Mike and Nancy to figure this out for themselves
“Kids, we think your gay and lesbian” blurted Ted out
“I myself was once a gay. Now I'm an ex-gay . I work for a place called True Directions who help people, like yourself, to learn to understand the reasons behind homosexual tendencies, and how to heal them.” Mike had said, trying to relate to Nancy and Mike
“What tendencies?” Mike asked, on the verge of leaving the room
Nancy laughed it out, leaving the room confused
“Wait, your serious?” Asked Nance as she caught her laughter
“Honey, its a quick simple two month recovery process for the both of you” Karen said, trying to be comforting about the whole situation
“Recovery? What do you mean?” Asked Mike
“Like rehab for your homosexuality” answered Ted, less passionate than Karen
Mike looked betrayed, embarrassed, and not trusted. He’s not gay and if he was he’d probably know. Everyone has these pictures of men in their rooms and lockers too, it’s not just him.
“Why would you think I’m a …” Mike asked, getting cut off quickly by Karen
“Nance, you’ve been trying to make us eat this tofu” Karen points out “Mike, you barely have pictures of women in your locker. Just these” Lucas adds, holding out Mike’s locker pictures of half nude men
“You don’t even like to kiss me!” Snaps El out. The words hit Mike like a bullet
After all the confrontations, Nancy tries to defend herself and Mike a bit. It’s a bit frustrating for the both of them, they’re not gay they probably would’ve known or something. Plus Nancy has had many boyfriends before, there’s no correlation at all
“There is no way I’m going!” Expresses Nancy, bending her eyebrows
“Yeah, same. This is wild” Mike agrees, moving beside her
A few minutes later they’re stuck in Ted’s car, looking out the window, pissed off. While Nancy stares off outside, in disbelief and her arms pressed over her mouth, Mike just sits there looking at Ted and Karen with anger and embarrassment. He’s not gay, he has a literal girlfriend. An hour later passes and they arrive at this big house like place, coated with blue and pink with an illustration of a man and woman in their correlating colours. A white, middle aged woman in a matching pink blouse and longish skirt comes out the door. She seems nice but annoying at the same time.
“I'm Mary, I'm the founder of True Directions.” She greets, shaking both Karen and Ted’s hand “Hello children, you must be Mike and Nancy? Mike had already told me about you guys. How old are you guys? About 16 or 17?” She asked, tilting her head as if they were babies.
“Yeah they are, now does this work?” Answered Ted. He was always tired to be anywhere that seemed like a waste but this time it was different, even Karen noticed it. It was like a sort of hopeful tone or maybe he just wanted to seem nice after spending too much money for this “rehab”
“Well Mr Wheeler, I can assure you we’ve saved many in the past. It all depends on the kids actions and energy on wanting to be cured” She reassured, Mary probably gets that all the time so it’s just engraved in her mind or just some sort of script . “Well the process can start now, so up til now their here for about 2-3 months. We’ll take it from here Mr and Mrs Wheeler” Mary said in a polite tone
The Wheelers started to say their goodbyes to their kids, trying to act all sympathetic. The type of shit most parents would do if they send their kids to a “straight” camp. Mike didn’t care or want their goodbyes, in fact it was like a gift (without the whole gay thing but at least he won’t have to hear all the crap Ted had to say everyday).
”Well come along children, you’ll get into your rooms and uniforms and meet the other soldiers once you come in. Once again, welcome to True Directions” Mary told them, walking into the house thing, her heels clapping and clicking every step
Nance went it too, along with sighs and a look given to Mike that said “I don’t want to be here too but we gotta suck it up”. Mike just stood there looking at the Wheelers car starting and driving away. Boy, these will be the longest two months ever for the both of them.