Chapter Text
William Byers , well better known as Will Byers , one of the only guys who have enough courage to approach the cheerleaders.
wonder why?
“ Lucky bastard “ , some random jock hissed as he passed Will chatting it up with Chrissy and some other cheerleaders , Will heard , he didn't care .
See , Will wasn't talking to the girls because he wanted to take them out , get their number , or hook up — he was on the cheerleading team .. well now he was . He just started , since he moved back from California he noticed the cheerleading team , the bright colors on the uniforms , their makeup , how happy they seemed. shockingly they let him try out , and still made it .. even though he was a guy , and well .. Many people in Hawkins didn't take kindly to that.
Will didn't care though , He never did . Not when the kids at the sandbox called him a fag for playing with dolls , not when his father slapped him for calling his only friend his boyfriend on accident , not when he got called a fairy to his face , he didn't care , Will liked what he liked , and if he wanted to play in makeup instead of the dirt , who cares ? Because Will certainly didn't.
Will’s closest friends , Dustin Henderson , Lucas Sinclair , and Mike Wheeler all somewhat knew about him trying out for cheerleading .. none of them really expected him to make it they kinda just wished him half luck and told him “ don't be upset if you don't make it.
“Girls can be jerks“ Dustin said when Will told him about trying out.
Will still hasn't told them that he actually made the team yet , not yet , he planned to tell them at hellfire tonight , so he could tell Eddie too , even though Eddie might not like the idea of Will being a cheerleader. Not because he didn't want Will to be happy , just because Eddie is a freak , and well cheerleaders don't like freaks .. but I guess Will being the first guy cheerleader has to be the start of something changing , right ?
“ Guys , I have something to say ! “
Will said nearing the end of the group’s D&D time . “ What , mini Byers ? “ Eddie said , as Mike looked over at him , and Dustin and Lucas just simply stopped what they were doing to listen.
“ I made the team — the cheerleading team !! “ Dustin looked up , coming over to hug him already , smiling , genuinely happy for his best friend. “ That's awesome, man !! I'm glad you made it ! “ Lucas’s congratulations followed soon after Dustin’s , but it seemed a bit tighter , almost ? Weird.. it didn't seem like Lucas was upset over the fact that Will made it , he seemed really happy .. just his voice was a bit off ? Probably nothing though..
Mike just looked at him , for a good 30 seconds before looking away suddenly. “ That's cool , dude. Real cool . “
Short , barely sweet.
Mike got up quickly starting to clean up the trash from their very totally intense D&D game. Will was a bit hurt by that , Mike Wheeler , Will’s best friend since .. like forever , just said that's “cool” to something Will was super hyped about??
I guess he has been doing that recently.. nothing too shocking I guess . He’s been so distant , he couldn't even hug Will at the airport. Will tried to pretend seeing his best friend slowly hate him didn't bother him , but it somewhat did , but whatever , you know maybe Mike is just tired .
I'll just talk to Lucas about it later , thought Will , smiling at the idea. He's been talking to Lucas a lot lately , over the walkie , all night for hours on end .
“ Anyways , we should get going , happy for you though Will ! “ Eddie said , starting to up from his chair at the start of the their “D&D table” since Eddie Munson was the Dungeon Master he always say at the end of the table , even though when Will , Mike , Dustin and Lucas just got in to hellfire Mike fought on being the Game Master — Eddie shut down that idea pretty quickly.
As the theater room started to clear of the hellfire club Will looked over at Mike , who was still trying to clean something that he’s already clean . Will looked irritated, I guess Will just didn't understand why Mike couldn't just be happy for Will , or at least ACT like he was happy for Will.
“ Bye , Mike , see you tomorrow at school. “
Mike looked up for the first time since he decided that the theater room was dirty. “ Bye , Will. Have fun , I'm really glad you're happy about getting in .” Will glanced over at him , as Will caught Mike’s gaze , their eyes locked , for a good few seconds before Mike turned away. “Uhm .. anyways , you should get going , I'm sure Jonathan is waiting for you outside.“ Will nodded, getting up and walking out.
“ How was Hellfire ? “ Jonathan asked as Will sat in the passenger side , shutting the car door . “ It was good,” Will replied simply.
“ Oh I got into cheerleading as well “ Will added to his sentence. Jonathan looked over at him , a smile appearing on Jonathan's lips quickly. “ That's great Will — I'm so happy for you !! You're going to rock it !! “ Will smiled.
Jonathan has always been the best brother Will could have asked for , they almost never had an argument. Jonathan has always been there for Will , no matter what happened. He was the first one who subtly made sure Will knew he would be supported no matter what. Even when Jonathan was high and Will was so closed in they always made sure that they knew they had each other.
The ride home was just filled with music , they didn't talk much but it's okay because it wasn't uncomfortable silence. It was often filled with Jonathan humming along with the tunes on the radio , or occasionally asking Will if he wanted the aux.
As they pull back up to Hopper's cabin , that now Joyce , Jonathan , Will , El and Hopper share . Will never minded how crowded it got from time to time — he in fact liked how he was never alone. It made him feel safer from the mind flayer or venca .. for whatever reason.
“ Mom , Hopper , El , we're home ! “ Jonathan yelled , not too loud , just loud enough where everyone in the house could hear him .. with a small cabin it didn't take much for everyone to hear someone speaking a bit too loudly. Joyce came out of the kitchen quickly pulling them into a hug “ hey boys !! Y'all made it back just in time for dinner .. I just got done , how was Hellfire , Will ? “ Will nodded , heading to the dinner table with Jonathan, adding a quick “ it was nice , mom . Thanks for making dinner “ just so he doesn't leave her hanging.
While they're eating the food Joyce cooked , the chatter rambles on .. will doesn't speak on the cheerleading thing , not because he doesn't want to because he knows hopper will say something about how “he shouldn't” because “you need to lay low because of the crawls — that would make you stand out” Will knew it would. He wasn't stupid — but Will did want to have fun for the first time in like forever.
Will can't remember the last time he had real fun, that probably stopped after he got taken into the upside down. Will tried to not to think about that often though.
“How's school going , Will? Is it staying quiet? You're still laying low right?“ Hopper asked , cutting through the somewhat comfortable silence. Will glanced up at him on the other side of the table. “Oh, uhm, yes sir. Just the normal” hopper nodded “normal is good.” Will nodded again, small, hesitant.
Normal was good, but unfortunately Will has never been normal. Either that was because of him being a “fag”, him being to sensitive, or him being into arts and crafts instead of soccer and basketball.
As Will finished his dinner, he didn't eat much, he's been doing that lately. He gets so caught up in his own thoughts that tend to spiral quickly. As he gets up to go rake his plate off in the trash El looks up at him.
“Are you not hungry, Will?” Her kind and soft voice spoke up. A voice Will has loved and envied for a while now. Will knew he shouldn't let stupid Mike Wheeler let him be envious of his sister. “No, Jane, not really, I ate lunch at school today” that was also a lie, but who was going to know? Jonathan wasn't in school anymore, and El got taken out of school to work her powers.
It wasn't that Will was starving himself — well technically he was, but not because of the way you see in those angsty movies. He was fine with how he looked; he just didn't have time? Well no.. he did, I guess it's just he got to caught up in his own thoughts.
As Will sat down on his bed in his shared room with El. Jonathan mostly slept on the couch when he actually stayed over — but half the time he was over at the wheelers with Nancy.. doing whatever those two did.
Will got out his walkie talkie, bringing out the antenna. Speaking into it “Lucas, do you copy? Over” it was quite for a second to long before
“Will? Yeah I'm here — what's up?” The walkie talkie spat out. Lucas's voice! “Nothing is really up, just bored, what are you doing? Are you busy?”
“im just at the arcade with Max, she just wonder off though”
“Why do you have your walkie talkie out at an arcade — I bet you look like a dork” Will jokily teased, fighting a chuckle off.”
“Well.. you're somewhat right.. I guess I should get off then, huh? I'll talk to you tomorrow at school, Will .. after school — oh nevermind you have cheer practice right?”
“Oh, crap yeah I do, gosh I think I should probably go shower then hit the hay, then? Goodnight, Lucas!! Talk to you tomorrow at school!”
As he puts the antenna down and sets the walkie talkie down on his bed before grabbing a black T shirt, some PJ pants and a pair of boxers before going to the bathroom to shower.
As he shuts the door to the bathroom and turns on the shower to blast heat. The stream fills the room already as he steps into the shower. Already mentally preparing himself for tomorrow.