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Mike Wheeler hadn’t intended to get popular. He was content with his small group of friends, Dustin, Lucas, and Will. In all honesty, Mike never wanted popularity.
But when he and Will were in the music room at their small high school, and Mike played the new song that he had written, ‘Forever Ago,’ after he finished, he looked up and heard two extra sets of clapping.
In the doorway stood Jessica Lurne and Tiffany Pierce, two of the most popular girls in school. When Mike thinks of preppy, popular cheerleaders, he thinks of these two. Blonde, blue-eyed, skinny, and rich.
“That was really good,” Jessica leaned against the frame with a look on her face that Mike couldn’t name.
“Uhm,” Mike shot Will a ‘deer-in-headlights’ look, to which Will sent one back. “Thanks?”
Tiffany’s lips quirked up as she walked into the room, making Jessica follow after her.
“You know, guys who play guitar are really hot,” Tiffany cooed as he stroked one finger up and down Mike’s arm.
Mike froze, unsure of what to do.
“Can you play us another song?”
Mike sent a pleading look toward Will, but Will was lost in thought. His eyes were clouded, and he had furrowed brows in that cute way they always did while he thought hard about something.
Without Will’s backup, Mike folded quickly.
“Alright.”
The girls squealed, and Mike swore he saw Will’s eyes flash, but it was gone in seconds. So Mike went on to play another song. And then another. And another.
By the time Mike had finished playing his sixth song, the sun was almost setting, and the two girls looked enamored. The room had gotten hot, and Mike had taken off his blue overshirt to reveal his white tank top.
“It’s getting late, we should go,” Mike looked down at his watch, wincing as he noticed the time.
“Oh, well, how about you bring your guitar with you tomorrow and sit with us at lunch? We’d love to listen to you some more,” Tiffany batted her lashes as Jessica nodded enthusiastically.
Mike preened as he took in the praise.
“Oh, well if you want some more then I don’t see why not-”
“What? But we usually eat lunch together?” Will peered at Mike with wide eyes, and Mike had to look away as he swallowed thickly.
“It’s fine, Will, I’ll just play a song or two then we’ll sit together,” Mike smiled, but it faltered as Will frowned.
“Alright,” the brunette murmured, quickly grabbing his bag and leaving the room.
“Will, wait-”
But before Mike could go after him, he was surrounded by the girls on each side.
“Come on, don’t worry about him!”
“Yeah,” Jessica hummed, “you’ve got some real talent.”
Mike nodded and smiled at them, but his mind followed the boy who left.
~~~
That next day, Mike painfully ignored his three friends at their regular table and sat where Tiffany and Jessica were waving frantically. Laurie Cowell, Juliet Marley, Jackson Borle, and Chris Tyson were with them. Two more cheerleaders and two football jocks.
“Everyone, this is Mike! He plays guitar and writes his own songs,” Tiffany leaned over to wrap her arms around Mike’s. His face darkened as he chucked awkwardly.
“I mean, I’m not really that good,” he started, only for Jessica to cut him off.
“Don’t listen to him! He’s really good. Here, play something!”
Mike shrugged Tiffany off to take his guitar out, the acoustic his mother bought him when his father refused to get him an electric because it was too ‘satanic.’
It took a second for him to tune it, but Mike spent the rest of lunch winning the table with his music. He got so into playing that he hadn’t even noticed the bell ring for the next period.
Mike whipped his head towards his usual table and winced as he saw it empty. His stomach turned to knots as the people around him gave him friendly smiles and claps on the back.
“You should sit with us more often, Wheeler,” Jackson smiled, his arm around Laurie’s shoulders, “you’re not too bad.”
Mike’s stomach fluttered, and his eyes brightened.
“Alright,” he smiled, “it was cool to be here.”
He walked with Tiffany and Chris to their next class, which he hadn’t cared that they had together until then, math.
When he slid into his seat, he noticed Will drawing in his sketchbook next to him.
“Hey, Will,” Mike leaned closer towards the brunette, who startled and slammed his book shut.
“Oh,” Will breathed a sigh of relief, “hey, Mike.”
“How was lunch?”
“Weird,” Will giggled, causing Mike to feel butterflies, “but you’ll be back tomorrow, right?”
“Uh,” Mike cleared his throat, “actually, they asked me to sit with them again.”
Will deflated. “Oh.”
“But we can still hang out! I just want to try something new. We’ve been together our whole lives, haven’t you wanted to explore a little?”
Except Will wasn’t listening anymore. His eyes strayed to the front of the room and stayed on their teacher, Mr. Whinick.
“Yeah,” Will sighed, “sure, Mike.”
Mike tried to dissect his expression, but the bell rang again, and Mike was forced to let it go.
~~~
“Mike!”
The four boys stopped from where they were rolling their bikes out of the rack.
“Tiffany?”
Her smile widened as Mike acknowledged her.
Lucas and Dustin shared a look before Lucas nodded his head away, and the two rode off. But Will stayed standing, watching the interaction with narrowed eyes.
“Do you want to come with us? Chris is driving us to his house and we’re going to hang out.”
Mike hesitated for a moment, his eyes flickering to Will before his growing sense of self gave in.
“Alright, but do you have anywhere I could put my bike?”
Tiffany cheered before grabbing Mike’s arm.
“Yeah, we can put it on top of Chris’s car since his brother bikes.”
Mike let Tiffany drag him, ignoring the quiet words of Will calling him back.
~~~
The next few months continued similarly. Mike ditched the rest of the party to hang out with the popular kids, and he soon became popular.
His guitar charmed the crowds, and he suddenly found himself always around his new friends. First, Chris would pick him up from his house; then, he’d eat lunch with his new friends. After school, he’d play the songs he wrote. Then, on weekends, he’d go to parties and get welcomed with open arms.
After the first month, Lucas and Dustin gave up trying to invite him to things, and Mike felt guilty until someone praised him for his newest song. After that, he’d become dependent on the compliments everyone gave him and the constant attention he received. He lived for the applause, knowing it was the closest to self-love he’d ever feel.
He hadn’t even seen Will in months at this point, the longest he’d gone without him in his entire life, until their science teacher, Ms. Hersh, assigned them as partners for a project.
~~~
The walk to Mike’s house was awkward in a way it’d never been before between them. Mike struggled for something to say as Will silently steered his bike along, keeping pace with Mike.
He’d sold his bike a month ago to get the money to buy beer and get shit-faced. But now he regretted it as he had to walk alongside Will’s slow pedaling.
“So,” Mike started, staring at the ground, “how’s Jonathan?”
Will remained quiet for a moment before answering. “Good. How’s Nancy?”
“Good.”
The silence returned louder than before.
“And your mom?”
“Also good.”
“Good.”
They’d just made it to Mike’s house, his driveway devoid of any cars, like usual, when Will sighed and turned to Mike with a blank face.
“Look, Mike. I get that you’re trying to be nice, but I don’t want to be in this partnership either. So why don’t we just finish this quickly and you can go back to your much better friends.”
Will stormed into the house as Mike raced after him.
“Will, wait! What do you mean?”
Mike stomped down the basement stairs and stood before Will, blocking him from the couch.
“Exactly what I said, Mike. You don’t want to do this, neither do I,” the brunette sighed dejectedly.
“Who said I didn’t want to work with you?”
Will just raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe it’s the fact that we haven’t talked in six months?”
Mike winced, and suddenly he forgot his way with words.
“I-That doesn’t mean you’re not still my best friend, Will!”
“Doesn’t it?” Will’s voice was small, smaller than when Troy would call him a ‘Fairy’ back in sixth grade, and Will would tell him to leave him alone. Mike’s chest shriveled as he compared himself to that.
“Will, you’ll always be my best friend. I just-I’m just getting to know new people. People who like me! They see my artistic talent.”
“They’re just using you, Mike! As free entertainment!” Will spat before immediately looking regretful, but Mike felt himself burn with too much fury to stop.
“No, they’re not! They treat me like I’m somebody!”
“But would they love you if you were nobody?!”
“ Nobody loved me when I was nobody!”
“ I did! ”
Mike’s breath caught in his throat as he saw Will’s eyes fill with tears.
“Before the songs and before the talent. Before the lie you started living. To me,” Will glared at Mike as the tears fell, “you were somebody, Mike. Now you’re nothing .”
Mike blinked back the stinging in his eyes.
“But a fake. A sham, a con. You’re a joke ,” he growled.
Will shook his head as he sniffled and wiped his face. Then, he turned around and returned to the stairs until Mike surged forward.
“Wait!”
Mike wrapped his arms around Will’s torso, trapping him in a backward hug.
“Mike-”
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Wil. I didn’t mean to leave you, I swear. I never wanted to leave you. It all just happened so fast and it all went to my head and they were all saying things I knew I’d never hear from my dad no matter how hard I tried and I guess I just started using them to fill the void.”
Mike laid his head down to hide his face in Will’s shoulder, feeling the boy beneath him tense and relax periodically.
“But along the way, I found that I lost you, and that hurt way more than my dad’s comments ever did. I just didn’t want to acknowledge how I felt about you, so I pushed you away and surrounded myself with all these people so different from you.”
As he talked, Mike felt Will beneath him start to shake.
“Will,” Mike breathed.
Will turned around, and Mike watched his face crumble.
“Mikey.”
Mike didn’t hesitate to hold Will’s face in his hands.
“Can I?”
Will just nodded as Mike kissed him.
Their kiss was long and sweet, with Mike running his tongue along Will’s lips until he opened his mouth and let Mike in. Neither of them had much experience kissing, Will with none at all, but Mike took the lead and deepened it as much as he could.
He bit Will’s bottom lip, causing him to whine. Mike groaned at the intoxicating sound and led the two to the couch.
The two let go of each other for a second to catch their breaths as Mike almost threw himself onto the couch before dragging Will down with him. The brunette giggled until Mike slit their mouths back together, and their lip fighting continued.
After a while of making out, the two broke apart, panting with red faces.
“Wow,” Will hummed, nuzzling his face into Mike’s neck.
“Wow,” Mike repeated.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since I was twelve.”
“Really?” Mike’s eyes widened as he stared, slack-jawed, at a mischievous Will.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been in love with you since 8th grade. It’s why El and I broke up. We realized that we weren’t exactly each other’s type ,” he said pointedly.
It was Will’s turn to look shocked before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.
“I-I was so jealous of her for so long.”
Mike chuckled as Will jostled in his lap, causing him to grunt.
The two sat cuddling in silence for a while. Except, the silence this time was comfortable and cozy, unlike earlier's cold quiet.
“I’ll hang out with you guys more,” Mike murmured. “I really never met to stop, I swear.”
“I know, Mikey,” Will muttered, “I get how dense you can be sometimes.”
Mike just exhaled sharply from his nose before pressing a kiss to Will’s hair.
“I really love you.”
Will smiled dreamily.
“I love you too.”