Chapter Text
People have a lot of assumptions about California, and oftentimes, they’re pretty accurate. Yes, pretty much everyone Max knew was into surfing. Yes, there were a lot of hippies and the smell of weed was never too absent. And yes, people were pretty laid back, easygoing, and accepting of the many different identities whisking through the state.
However, not everyone fits into these stereotypes. Where California worked to make Max accept people as they were and meet them where they’re at, Billy’s father worked harder to make Billy a narrow-minded, intolerant man.
Moving to Hawkins then as a blended family, Max constantly heard them talk about about many different kinds of “those people”.
Max remembers Billy warning Max of Lucas and a “certain type of people” that she should stay away from. She remembers doing homework at the dining room table while her stepdad listened to the radio. A gay rights protest had been shut down in California, a few activists getting injured and hospitalized. Her stepdad drew from his cigarette and scoffed. He said it served them right. “Those kinds of people” were disgusting. Wrong.
Max never felt this way though, and it never deterred her from meeting new people. Being surrounded by her bigoted family however, did make her keenly aware of when someone might be gay.
It felt weird putting it that way, but it was almost helpful, like a kind of superpower.
She didn’t realize it at first, but when she would see someone on the street who maybe had only one hoop earring or a colorful pin on their bag, she could sense the sneer on her brother’s face before even looking. From there, she inadvertently developed her own sense, a warning tingle when she could feel her brother’s rage from a distance.
Her radar definitely pinged when she first met Will.
His case was a little different at first. There were no clear or physical indicators really, but the more she hung around the party, the more she felt a certain energy about him.
For starters, he was incredibly nice. That doesn’t make someone gay, but pretty much every boy in Hawkins was awful, even Lucas managed to get on Max’s nerves sometimes, but Will had this wonderful respect for all the women around him.
This meant girls started to like him more, but he never returned the flutter of their eyelashes at him during class or read the notes slipped in his locker. He never even talked about the girls that flirted outright with him. This made Max squint, given that the rest of the group struggled so much with girls before.
Then she noticed Will’s colorful wardrobe compared to the rest of the guys. It was the 80s, bold patterns and bright colors were in, and no other guy embraced it as much as Will. Again, Max didn’t mean to stereotype, but Max hardly knew many straight guys in Hawkins or California that really tried to grow their own fashion sense beyond what their mothers picked out for them.
And then there was Will’s obsession with Queen and Freddie Mercury. His admiration for Bowie was basically the final nail in the coffin. That boy was gay.
However, before Max even considered Will, before they even really became friends, Max thought she had clocked Mike.
Mike was obsessed with Will when they first met. All Mike could talk about was how Will was doing, where Will was, when his appointments were, if they should visit him at the hospital. Will, Will, Will. That already was enough for her to believe he was in love with him. When she found out this ‘El’ he also talked about was dating him, she questioned her own radar.
During the summer of 1985 when they were all much younger, Mike was a horrible boyfriend. El would rant about his lack of initiative, lack emotional availability and Max had to stop herself from blurting out, he’s gay!
Sure, he was a bad boyfriend, but maybe that’s because he had a girlfriend, not another boyfriend.
It was sickening how much she caught Mike staring at Will, wiggling his fingers closer to Will’s when they were leaned over a table or sitting on the floor of his basement, palms laid flat on a surface. There was no straight explanation for this behavior.
Once she put these two findings together, she had two more terrible revelations:
- Will was in love with Mike and
- Mike did not know he himself was gay
It was so frustrating to watch these two idiots interact every day. The shared glances, the bumping shoulders, the shoving and laughing at each other. It was painful, really.
Max brought up her findings to Lucas one day.
“I think Will might like Mike,” she said simply, popping a cashew into her mouth.
Lucas looked at her incredulously.
“Really? What makes you say that?” Lucas was asking, but his tone was not that surprised. The whole world must have known at least subconsciously.
“Have you seen them? It’s like they’re always in their own little world. And Will? His sudden love for Bowie? Elton John? Doesn’t he have a poster of Johnny Depp in his room or something?”
Max let Lucas contemplate this for a moment. He poured a handful of nuts into his mouth and he chewed thoughtfully.
“Oh my god, is Will gay?” It looked like everything was coming together in Lucas’ mind right then. He leaned back against the wall and scratched his chest.
“Man, if Will was gonna like one of us, I would’ve thought it’d be me.”
Max didn’t even want to unpack what that meant, but Lucas had a point. See, it would make sense for Will to like Lucas. Lucas was great, and as Max and him grew up together, as Lucas proved himself to be the most reliable, self sacrificing boyfriend out there, Max would have understood Will liking him. In fact, she would have been less offended if Will liked Lucas instead of Mike.
Why on Earth did Will have to like Mike?
After Max saw the frustration El went through with Mike, and all the attitude he gave Max in 8th grade, and on the day to day, she grieved the fact that Will was so hopelessly into Mike, and Mike was oblivious to the fact he was feeding right back into Will’s love.
Max couldn’t talk about this without freaking either of them out, and it was killing her. She’d never played matchmaker before, but in this situation it wouldn’t be hard to do! All she’d have to do is peel their stupid, heavy eyelids open.
Then Will came out to them in their senior year.
Everyone was super receptive and happy for him, it concluded in the biggest group hug and some gentle teasing.
Max struggled with what expression to wear, she worried her surprise was too fake and maybe came across weird, but she made sure to let Will know that she was totally there for him privately and Will smiled that perfect smile that Mike Wheeler was so undeserving of.
“You called it,” Lucas whispered to Max later. She smacked him in the arm and took secret pride that her radar was always spot on.
Will and Max actually became much closer in their senior year. Max wanted to take an easy class, so Will told her to take art with him and El. They spent every 6th period talking in their little group of three, flicking watercolors at each other and marking each other’s hands with pens.
Max, Will, and El began hanging out after school some days, the rest of the guys would groan and whine when they’d see Will come out to the bike racks with El and Max at his sides, knowing he was about to be stolen from them.
“Come on, Will! We need to finish the campaign! It’s gonna mess up the flow if we miss a day,” Mike gripped the handlebar of his bike with one hand.
Will looked guilty, he had a hard time saying no to Mike. Max stepped ahead of Will.
“We made plans last week to go get ice cream on Friday,” Max smirked, “Should’ve planned ahead better.”
“Sorry, guys,” Will conceded. He shook his bike from the rack beside Mike. Mike grabbed between Will’s handles to stop him.
Mike turned helplessly to Lucas, “Lucas, tell her something.”
Lucas looked at Max with wide, leery eyes. She cast him a fierce glare. Don’t even think about it.
“Sorry, Mike, no can do,” Lucas backed down. Mike scoffed. He looked at Will and Will looked at him. Max could see something working in Mike’s head, but whatever it was, he didn’t act on it. Mike curled his fingers around his own handle bars again and turned his head to Max.
“Max, you–”
“Calm down, you’ll get him back tomorrow.”
Max grabbed Will’s arm and walked him back over to El who was giggling at the defeated looks on their faces. Mike watched Will all the while, his eyes dropping down to where Max had her hand gripped around his bicep. They started walking the opposite direction as the party watched on.
The three of them sat at their usual window seat in the ice cream parlor with their usual orders; El had cotton candy, Max had cookie dough, and Will with his mint chocolate chip. They talked about how their school days went and then what the campaign Mike was so desperate to finish was about.
For the past however many hangouts, Max has been trying to coax Will’s crush on Mike out of him. Will still seemed somewhat hesitant to talk about boys and his love life, but the light blush and dopey smile on his face trying to deny that he liked someone hinted to her that he did like finally being able to join in on boy/girl talk.
“So Will,” Max stirred her spoon. “Prom is coming up.”
Will poked at his own ice cream, a small smile crawling onto his lips, knowing where this was going. “It is.”
Max and El looked at each other, mischief twinkling in their eyes.
“So who are you asking?”
Will huffed a laugh out through his nose. “For the hundredth time, no one.”
Max tilted her head back and looked at Will down her nose. Will shrugged and raised his eyebrows.
“What? I told you before, I’m just gonna go with the group, you and Lucas can go off and be all coupley and cute, and we’ll have just as much fun, right El?” Will lipped ice cream off his spoon.
“No, I won’t be going with you guys, I have a date,” El responded starkly.
Both Max and Will froze.
“You have a date?” Max asked.
“Since when?” Will gasped.
“My project partner from history class asked me a week ago. He’s sweet, so I said yes.”
Max and Will stared at El with their mouths hanging open.
“El, why didn’t you tell us?” Max grabbed her hand.
“That’s awesome, El!” Will echoed.
“I didn’t realize it was a big deal,” El said innocently. Max and Will leaned back in their seats at the same time, processing this new information.
“Wow,” Will said just to himself, so happy El could have a fun prom with a new, hopefully good guy. Max straightened up.
“Will, that’s one less person in your group, you better find a date soon! What if Suzie surprises Dustin at prom, then you’ll be down another.” Max poked. Will leaned over the table, putting a hand to his cheek.
“I don’t exactly have a lot of options, Max,” Will looked to the floor, “Besides, Mike and I could still have fun if we just end up going as friends.”
You would like that, wouldn’t you, Max thought.
“You can’t go to prom with my ex,” El licked her spoon casually. Will’s cheeks went red. It had been so long since they broke up, sometimes Will forgot they ever even dated.
“That’s not… I…” Will stammered. Max silently applauded El’s move, even though she didn’t know what she was really doing. She was just as clueless as Mike with most things. She guessed that’s what made them such a match at the time.
“I’m joking,” El smiled.
Max held up a finger, “But El has a point, you should have an actual date, and not just Mike.”
Will sighed and bit the end of his blue plastic spoon. Max laid both her hands on the sticky table in front of Will.
“Will, you haven’t had a normal childhood, or normal high school experience if we’re being honest. You deserve to have one night of teenage cliches. You should get a prom date and take horrific pictures and sweat the gel out of your hair together. I think it’ll do you a lot of good. And you’re a catch.”
El nodded. “You are.”
Will couldn’t help but smile. He bit his lip and then looked out to the street. Will was right that he didn’t have many options to begin with, but she knew that wasn’t what was stopping him.
Spending prom in any sort of way he could with Mike would probably be Will’s ideal, even if that meant standing off to the side with him as he performatively commented on every girl. Even if it meant awkwardly dancing with a girl he hardly knew just because that’s what everyone else was doing. Will deserved more than that for one of their last high school memories.
And Will didn’t know, but she had a special tool to help him get a date. Herself.
Will’s eyebrow twitched once and then his eyes seemed to focus as he looked back at Max. He swiped a hand through his hair and let out a throaty sigh.
“Okay, okay, fine! I will try– try to find a date for prom, but there is no guarantee I’ll actually find someone to go with.”
Max could already see the self sabotage brewing inside Will.
“Perfect, and since I put you up to this, I will help you secure your date.” Max clasped her hands happily. Will looked slightly taken aback.
“How are you gonna help me come up with a date?” Will seemed curious, maybe there was excitement hidden in his tone.
“Trust me, I have a good sense on this kind of thing,” Max threw her arm over the back of El’s chair, her chin raised confidently. Will leaned forward, licking his front teeth.
“I don’t know if I believe you,” Will mused, “I mean I have been trying to figure out the guys around here for years and I still don’t know.”
“That’s just because you’re not me,” Max quickly scanned the patrons of the parlor in front of her. She looked at everyone sitting in booths, the employees, even people walking outside the parlor. Then, her radar pinged. She signaled for Will and El to lean in.
“Those guys ordering right now,” she bounced her eyes between two older men at the register. “They’re totally dating.”
Will scrunched his face. “No way,” he denied it.
Max watched one of the men hand the cashier a few dollars in cash and then turn to leave with the other. As they got closer to their table, they sneakily joined hands, looking fondly at each other and exited the shop.
Will slowly turned to look at Max in complete disbelief. “How did you..?”
He might have been a wizard in their D&D campaigns, but maybe Max was the real magical one.
Max shrugged. “It’s a gift.”
She was doing a nice thing trying to help Will, but she also had something else up her sleeve.
With their impending graduation approaching at the end of the semester, a lot of the party members have started hanging out one on one. Of course, that’s how Max and Will started to get close, but everyone seemed to be scheduling little things with each other now.
It was like everyone was trying to cement their individual relationships as the reality that they’d all be moving around the country to go to college weighed in. It was nice to have smaller hangouts every once in a while, getting to know what was going on with each person without having to yell over another voice or getting sidetracked by a group discussion. But nothing could beat when the party was all together, of course.
Even though Max pretended she hated him, she still met up with Mike every few weeks. Mike always pretended it was such a burden having to make time to see her, just her, but he was always early to wherever they were meeting.
The Sunday after she had ice cream with Will and El she was meant to meet up with Mike outside his place to go for a little walk, just to talk and make fun of each other for an hour before they had to study for a test on Tuesday.
Mike was already standing outside his house when Max turned the corner on her skateboard. She waited until the last second to stop her board just in front of his feet to make him flinch. He shoved her and they began their walk down the road.
The sun was golden and beginning to set, it made everything on the block glow and glitter. It was a beautiful evening.
“How was ice cream with Will and El?” Mike swung his arms back.
Asking about Will before asking about her. Very interesting, Mike Wheeler.
“Yeah, it was good. Interesting, actually.”
“Interesting?” Mike repeated with a lighter tone.
“Did you know someone asked El to prom?” Max bobbed her shoulders as the reached the end of the first block. Mike’s eyebrows raised in genuine surprise.
“I didn’t know,” he said, “Who is it?”
Max shrugged, “Some guy from her history class, I don’t know. She seems happy about it.”
“No, yeah, that’s cool. I’m glad someone asked her.”
For as shitty as Mike was as a boyfriend, Mike was a really great friend. He really sucked for a year or two, but he seemed better somehow lately. He was always genuinely happy for his friends, uplifting their success and encouraging them in whatever they did. He was always the one to organize things for the group and led them through new games to play. He became the glue of the party in a way.
Max knew Mike and Will had an awkward phase in their friendship awhile ago and coincidentally, that was when Mike was at his bitchiest. Now, Mike and Will were back to being best friends and it was endearing the way they looked after each other. It was so sweet, yet so frustrating for Max to catch the moments they’d each gaze at each other when the other wasn’t looking.
Max hummed in agreement. She linked her fingers behind her back as they walked on. She was ready to initiate her plan.
“That’s not all though,” she said. Mike cocked a brow.
“There’s more?” He humored her.
“Will is trying to find a prom date now.”
This caught Mike way off guard.
“What? Will? What do you mean? Does he have someone in mind?”
Max rolled her eyes internally. He hardly had one follow up about who his ex-girlfriend was going to prom with, but suddenly Will might ask someone and now Mike can’t stop squawking in her ear.
“Well, you know, it’s senior prom, you have to find a date, it’s just what you do, right? Will just wants to have that high school experience.”
Mike almost tripped over an uneven square of the sidewalk, he was looking intently at Max as she just casually kicked her feet out, one after the other, practically gliding along their walk. How could Mike be this clueless to his own emotions?
“But we were supposed to go as a group, why would Will suddenly want to look for a date?” The tip of Mike’s nose twitched like a rabbit as he thought hard about this. He was starting to look upset, but then he seemed to remember Max was there. He tightened his mouth and pursed his lips, attempting to smooth his creased brow.
“Maybe you should start looking for a date, too, then,” Max tested. She continued, “I’m helping Will find a date since his dating pool is a bit more… obscured, but let me know if you need any help.”
Mike’s shoulders raised with a breath. Mike looked like he was about to say something, but decided against it. Max waited for him to say something more, reveal that maybe he thinks Max shouldn’t help him look, or that maybe he was curious what kind of guys Max was looking at for Will. She watched Mike from the corner of her eye.
“I don’t know,” Mike started, “This doesn’t seem like something Will would normally be into. He doesn’t care about school dances. Maybe I should talk to him about it to see what he’s really feeling.”
Mike was probably right that Will didn’t actually care, he did know him better than anyone, and Max did strong arm Will into this prom date nonsense herself. There was a hint of unease in Mike’s voice, it was almost evidence enough to bring up, to put in his face about why he was being protective of Will, but she couldn’t go into it yet.
She could see Mike getting home from their walk and calling Will, talking him out of looking for a prom date in a way that somehow didn’t sound gay. Then Will would bashfully tell Max that he decided all on his own that he didn’t really want a date, and then blush when he sees Mike at lunch. Max wouldn’t let that happen. So she acted in slightly bad taste.
“Why don’t you want Will to find a date? It’s just like El getting a date, it’s just to experience prom like it is in the movies! Is it just because you’re uncomfortable with Will bringing a guy?” Max felt bad as soon as she saw Mike’s face flush pale. She looked towards the road. “I just know Will doesn’t get to talk about his love life as much as the rest of us, so wouldn’t it be nice to see him find someone to experience this night with?”
Max dared to look back at Mike after a long silence. She felt bad for maybe slightly manipulating the situation, but it was more a call to action. She needed Mike to come to his own realization, to think deeply about why he was actually uncomfortable at the idea of Will dancing with another guy, wearing corny matching boutonnieres.
Mike ended up slowly nodding. “You’re right,” his voice didn’t sound certain. He quickly looked at Max and then away at a mailbox across the street. He cleared his throat. “No, you’re right. It’ll be… nice. It’ll be cool.”
Max listened to him attentively. Bullshit.
They carried on with their walk, talking about whatever came to mind, Will Byers making a few more guest appearances in their conversation. Oh, Mike Wheeler, you disaster of a man.
Monday afternoon the party was gathered at their normal table near the back of the cafeteria. Will, Dustin, and Lucas were the first to arrive.
Lucas had his notepad out, working on the assignment that was due next period and Dustin was there over his shoulder, pointing out whenever he’d make a mistake. Will watched them fondly, Lucas fighting the urge to slap Dustin when he got a little too adamant in his corrections.
El and Max came next carrying their trays of food. They sat on both sides of Will, greeting the two other boys with short hellos.
“The hunt begins,” Max told Will. Will paused his chewing and looked almost fearful.
“Right now?”
Mike hurried over to the table and sat across from Max. He said hello to everyone, but Will was the one to respond back.
Max scoped out the cafeteria, her eyes zooming in on each table, working at supersonic speeds. She snapped her fingers right in Will’s face.
“Him, over there. What do you think of him?”
The entire party looked to where Max was pointing and Will shriveled with embarrassment.
A guy with dirty blond hair and a mole over his lip looked up from a book he was reading. Everyone else pretended they were looking at something behind him, or perhaps the lighting fixture above him. Will banged his forehead against the table.
“What was that all about? Who are we looking at?” Dustin asked.
Will blew out a stream of air and rested his chin on the table behind his lunch tray. Max patted his fluffy hair encouragingly.
“We’re scoping out guys for Will to ask to prom.”
“Ohh,” Dustin wriggled his eyebrows and chuckled gleefully. “Will Byers is taking a swing!”
Will straightened up, ignoring the giddy looks of his friends. Except Mike, which Max took note of.
“Max, how can you be sure he even likes guys?” Will glimpsed at the guy she pointed out. He seemed reserved, his nose in “The Two Noble Kinsmen”. He was tall and skinny and his hair laid flat over his forehead.
“Trust me, I just know. He has the vibe,” Max insisted.
“The vibe?” Lucas blinked at her.
“Okay, even if he does, he’s not my type,” Will mumbled.
Mike’s eyes flashed over Will in an instant. Will was still hanging his head shyly, refusing to look at his friends as all their attention fell on him. Mike’s throat bobbed with a swallow and his eyes would not leave Will. He had this adoring look about him and it made Max lose her appetite.
“What’s your type then?” Max prompted. Everyone seemed to lean in a little. Will started to wonder when everyone got so involved with his love life.
“Well, I don’t know… I want someone who’s nice and… has good manners, I guess? Like he won’t abandon me as soon as we get to the dance?” Will shrugged.
“Boring,” Lucas droned. Max threw a chip his way.
“Yeah, you want someone nice, don’t we all? What about lookswise?” Dustin prodded.
Will unclenched his shoulderblades, letting his posture relax a little. He was finally overcoming the initial feeling of cringe that came with talking about crushes.
“I think I prefer dark hair, and maybe someone taller than me?” Will glanced at Max and she tried to slyly shift her gaze to Mike, someone who happened to have dark hair and be taller than Will.
Will put his hands up quickly, as if he’d said too much, as if he was being too selfish. “But I’m really not that picky! I don’t think I can afford to be.”
Max tapped a finger to her chin. “No, that’s good, now I can narrow my search.”
Mike had been playing with the apple left on his tray, spinning it around in his hands and poking crescent moons into the skin with his finger nail. He looked up and adjusted his seat.
“Will, if you don’t want a date, we can always just go together,” Mike shifted his gaze between both of Will’s eyes, “As friends.”
As friends. There were those dreaded words. Max could almost see the way Will deflated. It was getting kind of sad now.
Will really was such a great guy, just waiting for this dummy to see how awesome he really was. Will deserved someone great. Screw this, he deserved someone better than Mike if Mike couldn’t figure himself out before prom.
Max flicked Mike’s forehead and he jerked back, rubbing the spot she nailed with an open mouth.
“No way, we are finding you a date, Will,” Max insisted. “If not, then I’m not going with Lucas either.”
“What?” Lucas shrieked. He hit his fists down on the table. “Alright guys, all hands on deck. Will needs a date.” The stakes have been raised. But Max didn’t really mean it.
Mike looked at her like she was crazy and she held his stare a moment longer, challenging him.
over the course of their lunch period, Max would point out a few more guys to ask Will what he thought of them. Will would often say something noncommittal or neutral like, “Oh, maybe,” or “I don’t know,”. Max felt hopeless.
Once when she pointed out a guy who wrote for the school paper– a boy named Liam with curly brown hair and a tooth gap, Will said, “Oh, he’s cute. Yeah.” A small victory for Max.
Mike looked at Liam across the lunch room.
“He’s not taller than you,” he remarked.
Max scrunched her face. “He’s sitting down, how can you even tell?”
“I just can,” Mike looked at her annoyed and then mocked her voice, “He has the vibe.”
Max scoffed and then picked up her empty tray.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, standing up from her spot next to Will.
She walked with her head down to one of the trash cans, wondering how her plan would work. The original plan was to tease the idea of Will going on a date enough to force Mike into realizing his feelings, but what if that didn’t work?
Max reassured herself that if Mike didn’t act, if Will got a date and went with him, it would still be fun to watch Mike squirm. She was ready to double down on getting this date for Will.
A body rammed into her hard and sent her crashing onto the ground. Her tray clattered beside her as a boy landed on his knees by her legs. His backpack swung over her shoulder and landed between him and Max.
She realized it was Chance from the basketball team.
“Sorry, man,” one of his teammates laughed, having shoved him into Max.
“Sorry,” Chance said to Max.
“The hell is wrong with you?” She hissed, gathering herself enough to get to her feet. She watched Chance scramble up off the ground and for some reason, that sixth sense of her’s began to tingle.
Oh my god?
Then Max noticed the pins on his backpack. There were two Bowie pins on the side pocket, one that matched a pin Will had on his. There was also a threaded keychain hanging from one of the zippers— it was a faded twist of rainbow colors.
Max looked Chance in the eye, the slight arrogance in his brow and the quiet curl in his lip at what Max said.
Oh my god.
Chance looked her over and readjusted his backpack. He looked over his shoulder as he started to walk away.
“Nice button up, Annie Lennox,” he said just loud enough over the noise of the cafeteria for Max to hear.
Annie Lennox? Why was that his first comparison?
Oh my god.
The table had gone pretty quiet without Max piping up to suggest another boy to Will. Mike was in a silent staring contest with Will that he was unaware of. He wanted to say something, but nothing was forming in his mind.
Max came running back to the table.
“He’s gay! I know he’s gay,” Max struggled to keep her voice down. The whole table stood at attention. The bell rang and they gathered their things.
“Who?” Will asked.
“Chance!”
“Chance?” Will was baffled.
“Like the basketball player that I hung out with for a year?” Lucas leaned in.
“Like the asshole?” Mike added on.
“He’s hot! You should at least try talking to him! Test my theory,” Max bumped shoulders with Will.
He looked towards the exit of the lunch room where Chance was leaving with his group of basketball buddies. He was cute, and he did meet Will’s only two physical requirements. Jury was still out on just how nice he was, but a flower of something akin to hope bloomed in Will.
The finality of this semester was really settling in. Will would never see these people again, if he could help it, if he got into one of those art schools out in California or New York. Why shouldn’t he indulge in some last high school hijinx, take a chance and talk to someone new?
“Okay, I’ll try,” Will concluded. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
Max and El grabbed each other's hands smiling widely at each other.
“See you in art,” El said as she ran off with Max.
Mike joined Will’s side as they threw away their trash.
“So, you’re really going through with this prom date thing?” He asked.
“I don’t think Max is giving me much of a choice,” Will discarded his lunch tray into the towering stack on the counter. “And for the sake of Lucas’ prom.”
Lucas and Dustin were chatting a few steps behind them. Mike wrung his fingers.
“Seriously, if Max gives you trouble about it, I’ll talk to her and tell her to back off,” Mike’s arm brushed against Will’s. Will held onto the straps of his backpack.
“Thanks Mike, but I do want to actually see. I think it could be fun, right? And wouldn’t it be crazy if Max was actually right?” Will tried to pull a smile out of Mike. It kind of worked.
Mike nodded. “Yeah.” Chance had long left the cafeteria, but Mike looked ahead to where he used to stand by the door. “Just be careful, Will, you remember what an ass he and his friends were to Dustin. To us.”
Will could see the actual concern rest in between Mike’s eyebrows, the quiet memories of all the bullying Will has experienced, especially for being gay, since he was 12.
Will let his fingers brush the back of Mike’s hand and the contact made Mike’s skin jump like he’d been electrocuted.
“I’ll be okay, and if things don’t go right, you’ll be the first one I tell,” Will understood Mike’s silent unease.
“Promise?”
“Promise.” Will nudged Mike. “And then we can have a good prom together. As friends.”
Mike and Will split ways to their different classes at the first intersection of the hallway.
“Sounds perfect.”