Chapter Text
S3 Will!pov
1. |
It’s been a tough year. Now, with school over and the summer sun beating down on our small town of Hawkins, life is making it clear to me that the summer will probably make my life worse than being in school would. The ending of workdays and signs of freedom close enough to taste on your tongue psyched everyone up to the oblivion. Everyone but me. No jumping for joy about paperwork being out of the question, no excited rants about not having to attend another dumb assembly for a few months.
Usually summer’s my favorite. I like everything about it. I get out of school and can spend my days doing whatever I please. Usually the sunny days include biking around town with the party, eating ice cream and spending equal- albeit not much- money on tokens to share at the arcade, but there’s a weird tension between us this summer. And it’s ruining everything. Everything I care about, really.
It isn’t even really anything to get angry over. Not at all. But everyone in the party has their.. person, to say, this summer. Dustin met that girl Suzie at summer camp, and ever since she returned one of his seemingly endless begs for conversation, he hasn’t spent a second away from his walkie to talk with her. Or, that’s what it feels like, at least. And when he isn’t talking to her, he just drops everything to talk to Steve. And Steve is cool. I guess. But it’s a hard pill to swallow when he picks the guy over us. Lucas and Max have each other, and even in their disputes, they still have that stupid glimmer in their eyes when they see the other. Especially Lucas. He’s head over heels for Max, even if he can be a little weird about it. And Max? She definitely feels the same, there isn’t a doubt in my mind that she doesn’t, but she expresses her love a lot differently than Lucas does. It's harsher, almost mean sometimes. Maybe it’s a girl thing. The two of them go to the arcade together a lot. I was invited once- never again. Third-wheeling is worse than dying. Slowly.
And then there’s Mike. And El. They’re dating too. But.. It's different to me. It isn’t like with Lucas and Max. Sure, I hate being a third wheel with them, but it’s not like I think it’s gross that they’re dating. But with Mike and El? It’s as if something like milk is curdling in my stomach everytime I watch as they run off to go practically eat each other's faces off (which is too often, by the way). Or when it feels like I'm constantly getting poked in the side with a needle whenever they whisper and giggle with each other when the group’s all together. I care for them both a lot. Honest. So I don’t know why it feels wrong to see them holding hands and laughing with each other all the time. It just doesn’t feel right to me.
The worst thing about all of this already pretty bad crap is that out of everyone in the whole party, I am the only one who doesn't have their person. Not anymore, at least.
Maybe that’s why I think it’s gross. Mike used to be my person. But now Eleven is Mike’s person. And Mike is Eleven’s person. They have each other. They can confide in each other like I used to be able to do with Mike. Maybe I still want Mike to be my person. But that choice just isn’t mine to make anymore. It’s his.
It’s hers.
And god, does everyone know that.
The forecast calls for a warm sunshower today. We’re all hanging out in Mike’s basement. I like days like these. We all have to be together for it to be fun nowadays. A few board games spread out across the floor; but I didn’t have fun playing any of them. I itch to rip out my binder and start up a D&D campaign right now. But everyone thinks that’s lame now. Psh. What do they know? They’re lame.
“ Oh Mike! Can you come upstai- “ the voice of Karen Wheeler blooms down the stairs, quickly being shut down by her son yelling back “ WHAT IS IT?! “
“ Come upstairs, “ she tries again.
“ WHY? “
“ Michael, quit yelling up the stairs and just come here! “ She finishes the argument calmly, sternness clear on her tongue. Dustin ‘ Ooh’s ‘ a little bit, and Mike just rolls his eyes with a scoff.
Mike groans, standing up from his spot on the floor next to El. “ I’ll be right back. Don’t bore yourselves to death. “ He mumbles with all the enthusiasm as a dead mushroom.
“ Oh we already were.. “ Lucas murmured from the sofa, earning another scoff from Mike who was already trudging himself up the basement stairs like the longer he took, the better the news he would be told was.
I can see Max leaning forward a little bit, and she waits for the door to click shut to get all giddy. “ Why’d you think she called him up there? “
“ Well, she kinda sounded excited? “ Dustin starts, shrugging as he picks apart a game piece he stole from one of the board games.
“ But she sounded embarrassed when he yelled up, “ Lucas adds.
Dustin nods. “ True, maybe someone’s here, and she’s embarrassed that he yelled? “
“ Ha! Stupid Wheeler. I hope he gets it for embarrassing his mom, “ Max giggles, kicking her feet in the air.
El then takes her turn speaking up. “ Why would she be embarrassed? “
“ ‘cause it makes it seem like she raised Mike to just yell yell yell, “ Dustin answers calmly, not making eye contact with anyone as he pops off a part of the game piece.
“ I mean, she did, “ Lucas mumbles. “ Have you ever heard him talk? “ That makes the two guys laugh, and eventually Max, El, and I join in on the fit too.
Then, Mike comes downstairs, looking like a kicked puppy. Or maybe an offended one? He looks more miserable than usual, if I'm being honest.
“ Umm.. did you get like.. kicked out of your house or something? “ Max asks after a while of quiet, trying to lighten Mike’s now soured mood. But his mood is one not to be lightened.
He mumbles something, digging his heel into the floor.
“ What was that? “ Lucas asks, cupping his ear with a hand, squinting at Mike. “ Didn’t catch it. “
“ Stupid.. cousins. They rented that stupid house near Will’s for the summer. They wanted to be closer. Or something. Something stupid. “
Dustin chuckles under his breath. “ Someone has a new favorite word- “
Max jumps up, making Mike, Lucas, and El all flinch a little bit. “ I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT, YOU LOSER! “ She hoots for a bit longer, before turning her volume down, questioning the suddenly elusive boy. “ Wait. Why are you talking about your cousins being closer for the summer like someone died? “
“ ‘cause my cousins suck ass, Max! “ Mike snaps back.
“ Watch that tone, Mike, or you might embarrass yourself again… “ Max trails off, and it makes me have to cover my laugh a bit. But Max catches my grin and giggles herself.
“ Shut up.. “ Mike groans, plopping back down onto his spot next to El.
“ Are your cousins bad? “ El asks, sounding genuinely a bit worried.
“ No, no.. it’s just.. one of them- he.. people say we look identical, and then he makes fun of me for being embarrassed about it. And of course I would! He’s the worst! “ Mike rants, hiding his face in his hands.
Dustin smirks to himself, picking apart more random game pieces. “ Okay, so we’ve established that he looks like Mike- “
“ -DOES NOT! HE DOES NOT LOOK LIKE ME! “ Mike yelps back, cutting Dustin’s words off clean.
“ …Does not look like Mike. And he’s annoying? “ Dustin tries again, prodding at Mike with his words, this time looking at him. Mike just nods.
“ He can’t be that bad.. “ I say quietly, shrugging in honesty.
“ But he is, Will! He’s.. he’s.. ugh.. Okay. No. He’s just annoying. “
We sat in a charged silence after that, not wanting to talk too much. Or at all. Mike was like a live wire, face all scrunched up and upset, posture hunched and ready to light up and shock someone with his electricity. I smile to myself, thinking up a new creature, one who does just that. I sigh and decide to break the silence.
“ Mike.. you said he lives near me.. what.. What house did they rent out? “ I say softly, testing the waters.
He licks his chapped lips, a thinking habit he picked up from me, even though I tell him it’s not good for either of us. “ The one kinda across from yours. The one that the weird.. old flower lady used to live in. “
“ Ohh.. Yeah. “ I reply, not knowing how to continue.
A while of more quiet conversation goes by, and then we hear it- the basement door opening, and the sound of footsteps down the stairs.
Mike stands up, speed walking to the staircase, a worried look on his face. “ Oh, I forgot to say. He’s- “
“ Heeeeeey Michael. “ A new voice says, and a hand comes out, poking Mike in the side. Mike flinches and grunts.
He steps out of the way to reveal… another Mike, basically. This guy’s clearly a bit taller than his cousin, but his posture is so bad you’d think he’s much shorter. Or has.. scoliosis, or something. And.. honestly, looking at him..
“ Why were you just straight up lying, Mike, “ Max bluntly starts “ He looks just like you! Twins! Just.. He has big ass glasses.. “ Her voice trails off.
“ The hell’s this chick’s issue? “ The new kid retorts, looking Max up and down.
Max puts her hands up in surrender “ Oh- no, no. Just saying. The glasses are huge. So are your eyes.. “
“ I fucking know that, “ He retorts. “ Did you need your own pair? “
The new kid smirks, and Max grins back, as if she immediately knew that he was kidding. I wish I had Max’s perception. It helps her read situations easily. Maybe that’s why she’s so good with talking to people.
Mike clears his throat, before patting his cousin’s back. “ So. I think we should do introductions. He’ll probably see a lot of you guys. “
“ More like he’ll see a lot of you and El making out! “ Lucas blurts, earning a laugh from everyone but Mike. Even Eleven herself starts laughing at the comment.
“ All this poor kid’s gonna hear is kissing from Mike’s room! “ Dustin adds, making everyone else laugh even more. Mike is just flushed red, Hands curled into fists at his sides.
“ Mike’s just gonna be all ‘ oh el! i love you sooo much! mwamwamwamwaa!! ‘ “ Lucas finishes, making a gross kissing noise that makes us giggle a bit more. Soon the group laughing fit calms down, and we all go back to normal.
“ Okay. Again. Introductions. “ Mike starts, his hand still awkwardly on Richie’s back. “ This is my cousin, Richie. He’s from Maine. Like.. Derry or something stupid like that. “ He explains.
Richie rolls his eyes. “ Hey, you remember, dipshit. “
“ You all know who I am. “ Mike grunts, taking his hand off Richie’s back, and the boy finally stands at his full height, landing a little bit taller than Mike, like I hypothesized. A little bit taller than me, too.
Max goes next. “ I’m Max. Nice to.. meet you, Richie, “ She says, smiling.
Lucas keeps his introduction clipped, but he nods and smiles at Richie. “ ‘m Lucas. Another one of Mike’s friends. “
“ El. “ Is all Eleven says. She doesn’t mean it in a rude way, it just.. comes out like that. And Richie takes it the wrong way.
“ El? That’s all I get from the renowned girlfriend I hear so much about? God, having a girlfriend sounds so lame- I don’t know how you put up with it. “
Eleven recoils a bit from that, but she quickly picks herself back up and replies. “ Yes. That is all. Nice to meet you, Richie. “
“ Uh, I’m Dustin, an avid member of this pretty awesome party, I gotta say.. “ He says, smirking a little bit at Richie.
I almost miss my own introduction, because I’m staring at Richie’s face. I’m trying to spot differences between Mike and him, but I can barely find any. Mike catches me staring, and waves his hand in front of my face to catch my attention. And it works, suddenly I’m in front of this guy, and I’ve found one difference.
“ Sorry. I’m Will. You rented a house across the street from mine. “ I say, pulling at a lost string on my shorts. “ And sorry if that looked weird. You two just look so.. so similar. “
“ Did I? Do we live near each other for the summer, Will? “ Richie smiles at me, and it’s hard to tell if he’s making fun of me or just talks in a weird voice. “ Were you trying to spot the differences between me and Mike? You were, weren’t you! “
Yeah. He definitely just talks kinda weird.. his voice has an odd lilt to it, and it weirds me out a little. But he seems nice, so I can push the weird voice aside. “ I-I was. You two just look so similar. You could practically be twins! “
Mike grumbles. “ We do not look alike in the slightest, Will! Quit lying to him! “
Richie laughs, hitting Mike on the back. “ I dunno why you’re the angry one, dweeb. The little guy’s saying I look like you! “
“ Uh- looking like me isn’t a curse! “
“ I dunno. Maybe it is, “ Richie shrugs, making Mike grumble. “ And, uh, Will. You live at that house with the weird tree in front, right? “
“ Oh. Yeah. I do. “
“ Well. Awesome, we’re really close then. “
I think for a moment, deciding in my head if he’s joking or not. The smug grin on his face doesn’t help either. So I just laugh it off.
Richie hung out with us the rest of the afternoon, and the guy’s actually pretty funny. And sure, most of his jokes come from making fun of Mike, but he makes them enjoyable. I don’t think I've covered my mouth from laughing so much in one sitting before. Weird thing though, sometimes Richie looks at me before making a joke. It’s a little weird, but I just shoot him a smile and laugh and he ends up looking away again. Maybe kids in Derry have staring problems. What do I know..
It’s a shame when I have to leave. As usual, like it seems these days, Im the one to go first. Everyone says bye, and I wave as I walk up the stairs. It’s quiet upstairs, some top radio song drifting down from upstairs. My shoes tie easily, and I go out to find my bike, sitting on it. I don’t leave immediately though. I’m paused, like I'm waiting for something. Or someone. But after a few minutes, it never comes. So with a shaky sigh, I pedal off into the damp streets.
Richie pov
It’s dark when I look out my window that night. This place, Hawkins, just feels weird. Weirder than Derry, and we have that shitty recurring clown curse. So it’s hard to top.
I’m kinda staring at nothing, before my attention snaps to the house across the street, as a light has turned on in one of the rooms. I shove my glasses on, trying to see who it is. Definitely not that Will kid. This guy’s taller, older looking, and doesn’t have the bowlcut that Mike’s friend has.
I huff and put my glasses back onto the windowsill, and flop back onto my bed.
Why did I immediately seek out that Will kid?
His presence felt different to me than the other members of my cousin’s group. It was a bit softer, but he still had his edges to him.
What the fuck am I talking about. This is so lame.
I toss my arm over my face and groan, and even as I try to think about anything else, that stupid kid’s face pops up more than anyone else’s. He doesn’t look out of the ordinary, except for his outdated haircut.. stupid haircut.
My face is warm. Undeniably warm, and it has nothing to do with the summer heat. This is different from how I usually feel around my friends. I don’t feel like this about any of my other friends. I’m sure of it. I don’t feel like this about anyone. I never have before. Except now. With Will. The guy who’s close now enough where I could just stare into his window. If I wanted to. Which I don’t.
Not at all.
I tell myself that, even as my eyes close. The dark of my head is empty, until it reflects his face again. And again. And again. Until my is a mirror maze of the guy I know so little about.
My parents are still downstairs, I notice. They’re talking to each other for the first time in hours. But they’re probably just being loud this time. It stalls my brain of Will for now. And honestly that might be the best thing they’ve done for me in a while. Pretty bare minimum if you ask me.. but who am I to complain?
I turn onto my side, feeling the firmness of my bed, the warmth of my own body heat from where I laid before. I guess being here is better than being in Derry- I hate everyone there anyway. At least in Hawkins no one here is a dick and a half. Kinda. I haven’t met many people yet. But it’s better than everyone being an asshat.
Maybe what Mike said was right- that Will kid’s a sorcerer, and he made me feel like this with his dumb powers. Casted a spell when I wasn’t looking, and made himself the target.
Ugh. Gross, Richie.