Chapter Text
“Max, give it back! God, you’re so fucking annoying.”
Max was holding Mike’s binder high above her head, refusing to return it to their dungeon master. This campaign had been going on far, far too long. She had become so bored in that dusty basement she considered screaming for help to the Wheeler family upstairs. Clearly, she was the only one that felt this way, though. Dustin and Lucas both had their arms up, reaching for the binder, which had fallen open in her hostage and started to spill papers all over the rug.
El sat quiet in concentration, trying her best to catch the papers mid-air with her mind and keep them as organized as possible. She knew how long Mike had spent working on this particular campaign. Every time she had seen him in the last week, he had not shut up about it. She knew she would never hear the end of it if all his hard work was ruined.
“Look what you did you - you mouthbreather!”
Max dropped the binder, hands flying to her heart in mock offense. “Mike Monica Wheeler, you wound me! How dare you! Mouthbreather? After all we’ve been through?”
Mike shot her a glare while going to pick up the binder from where it had fallen onto the floor during her little pantomime. He thanked El with his eyes, who was smirking slightly as she handed him everything that had come out of his precious guide.
The rest of the party giggled at Mike’s usage of what was an outdated insult. It was one of his favorites growing up until his tongue turned explicit. Now, it had become more of an inside joke between them all. A reminder of the foolishness they had gotten into as kids. The boys quietly shuffled around, trying to get everything back to how it was before Max went on her rampage.
“I hate when you call me Monica, Maxine. If you’re so bored of playing, you know you don’t have to. In fact, you can go home if you’re ever so inclined. I certainly wouldn't mind.”
Max rolled her eyes. “And leave my Ellie Bean with you neanderthals? I don’t think so.”
El shot her a warm smile. “Max, it is okay if you don’t want to stay. The campaign cannot go on much longer than this, right?”
Dustin, Lucas, and Mike all turned to look at her at the same time. It was almost comical how in sync they were. Their faces said: This campaign will last at least another several hours. Maybe even days. You should get comfortable.
The girls grimaced. Max pulled El up by her hand with a sigh. “Got it, losers. In that case, we’re going to go upstairs with Nancy for a bit. I want to see if she’ll lend me something cute for the first day of school tomorrow.”
The boys waved them off and turned their attention back to the glorious campaign spread out in front of them. They settled into it with ease, Max’s interruption not doing much to quell their excitement to uncover the Staff of Magi. After all, tomorrow they would be back at school after a truly DND filled summer; they weren’t sure when they would all be able to to spend time on a long campaign again.
Without looking up from the board, Dustin spoke to Mike. “You ready for tomorrow, dude? Your first school year as a single man, how does it feel?”
Mike and El had broken up in June, just a few days after they had been released for summer break. It was something that just came naturally. Neither one of them really discussed their growing romantic distance - it had just happened. They spent less and less time together just the two of them, opting to instead use their time to be with the Party. Nobody questioned it either. Eventually, they just stopped being together. They preferred to be friends.
El was happier on her own, not being tied down to Mike or any expectations of a relationship. Mike found himself better able to open up and be around El without having to keep up appearances of “being her boyfriend.” That was the best summer they had all had in a long time, just being together casually and playing DND. Lots of DND. With some sleepovers and camping trips sprinkled in there. The occasional mall outing for the girls.
Mike reached across the table and smacked Dustin on the elbow. He didn’t even flinch.
“I’m not even focused on that. I just want to get through the year without failing another class. The ladies would just distract me from academic greatness. Although, I may not be able to keep them off me.” Mike paired this statement with a douchey smirk and a wiggle of his eyebrows.
Dustin and Lucas groaned simultaneously, just about ready to join Max and El upstairs with Nancy. Anything was better than being stuck down here with this asshole.
Mike snickered to himself and rolled the dice. He didn’t even know what number he was hoping for.
He just wanted to move forward.
–
Mike was second guessing this sweater. He tugged uncomfortably at the collar, smoothing it down, doing anything he could to make it look presentable. It was slightly itchy on the arms, extremely itchy on his chest. He would never let Nancy pick something out for him again. After their campaign ended much earlier than originally thought, the boys had decided to join Max and El upstairs in Nancy’s room.
The girls were huddled on the bed when they had barged in, watching Nancy in her closet compare two blouses hung on hangers. They looked exactly the same to Mike. Nancy had groaned at the sight of them, begrudgingly offering them the floor to sit on.
“If any one of you farts, I swear to God, you’ll never be allowed in here again”
Mike flipped Nancy off from his crouch on her floor, trying with all his might to muster up a fart just to annoy his sister.
“Jeez, Nance, what happened to hello? We just wanted to see what you guys are up to! We finished our campaign early.” Dustin tried his best to extend an olive branch.
Nancy rolled her eyes, turning back to her closet and rifling through her bottoms. “We’re looking for stuff for your first day tomorrow. Did you guys need fashion advice too?”
Although not being spoken to, Max nodded. “Definitely. Please help them, Nance. I’d rather die than walk into school with them and their horribly put together outfits.”
And that’s how Mike ended up here. In a horribly itchy sweater. Pulled from the depths of his closet that he didn’t even know existed. He cursed under his breath, once again trying to adjust the sweater to a fit he was happy with. Lucas walked over while he was in the middle of his battle.
“Dude, you look ridiculous in that sweater. You want to go join Chance and his goons? You’d fit right in.”
Mike didn’t respond. He knew very well how ridiculous he looked in his sweater. He knew very well Lucas was going to call him out on it. The day hadn’t even started yet and he was already considering bailing early and going home. They were standing in front of the school, just outside of the student parking lot. The Party met here every single day last year so they could all walk in together.
They would only be walking separately for a few more weeks though, as Dustin swore he would be getting a car for his birthday, and they would all be able to carpool together instead of being dropped off by their mothers.
Eventually, Mike surrendered the war with his sweater. There was no way in hell he would ever get it to look any better than it did right now. He tried his best to stay rigid as the rest of his friends walked up so as to not disturb the decently acceptable way he had gotten the sleeves to sit.
El and Max were both wearing one of Nancy’s tops, and just as confident as El looked, Max looked utterly out of place. Mike would’ve said something if he didn’t understand the exact plight she was experiencing.
He had no clue why, but it was really important for him to look good today. He wanted to make a good impression. He didn’t know if it was because it was his first school year without El on his arm or what, but the way his sweater draped over his slim build was suddenly the most life or death thought that had ever entered his mind.
Apparently, his friends all felt the same. The Party looked almost unrecognizable, each donning clothing that was either brand new or didn’t belong to them.
Mike sighed, adjusting his bag on his shoulder and leaving his sweater up to God at this point. At least he was having a good hair day. “You guys ready?”
Four unenthusiastic nods later, the Party entered Hawkins Senior High with their heads held high. They pulled out their schedules to compare who had classes together in the midst of all the first day hustle and bustle. Max and Mike shared a homeroom, and everyone had the same lunch together except for Dustin. He took this in stride though.
“No worries guys, I think I’ll probably hang out with the other guys from AV Club then. It’ll give me a chance to mess with my Cebero some more.”
Max and Lucas headed off to the guidance counselor to get a class changed to be together. Dustin wandered off complaining about his locker location. Mike decided to help El find her classroom, as he really didn’t want her to get lost as she had several times in the past. El had proven to be absolutely brilliant in the time the Party had spent in school with her, but Mike noticed her short term memory was not as sharp as it should be. He had no problem helping her.
“Okay, here you go. 303. If you ever forget, just remember it’s right across from the bathrooms. I think I’m in 305 at this time, so you can always come find me.”
El nodded and smiled. “Thank you, Mike. You look very nice in your sweater.”
The cursed sweater. He forced a smile back. “Thanks. I feel like one of those fucking cardboard cutouts from Family Video in it.”
He threw his hands up and pretended to be a stiff cutout. El laughed and shook her head. He liked making her laugh. Even now that they weren’t together, he found himself very fond of her. Mike wanted to make sure she felt like she belonged with them; never left out or cast aside.
They said their goodbyes and Mike was off to his homeroom. He was engrossed in his schedule, mentally grumbling over his math period. Of course, he had math with Mrs. Forlen again. That woman had it out for him. None of his friends believed him, but he swore she did.
Mike was wondering if he had enough time before the bell to slip into the guidance counselor’s office and get his teacher changed when he smacked face first into something. A person. He bit into his bottom lip way too hard as he stumbled to the ground, dropping his schedule and his pride.
“Fuck…” He mumbled. Does anyone watch where they’re going anymore?
Mike looked up to see who had run into him. His lip throbbed painfully. It was a boy he had never seen before, holding his forehead with his eyes squeezed shut. He opened them slowly, and he and Mike made eye contact.
The boy looked awfully nice. He had hazel eyes, soft cheeks, and light brown hair that curled around his ears. There was a bright red welt on his face, presumably where Mike had bumped into him. Suddenly, all the irritation washed away and Mike just felt bad for bumping into this kid. It was rare that Hawkins High got any new students, especially in their last year like this. He probably was nervous about his first day, and here comes Mike ramming into him like a klutz.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I think that was my fault.” Mike grabbed his schedule and shuffled to his feet.
He said nothing. He looked Mike up and down curiously and placed a hand on his chest as if to apologize in return. Mike tilted his head, puzzled at the boy’s lack of words. He found himself rather fascinated by the fact that his eyes were so expressive, communicating everything without even opening his mouth.
The exchange was awkward - it lasted way too long. Mike couldn’t tear his eyes away from the boy, his heart pounding in his chest as he let his eyes drift down to his body. He was wearing a striped white shirt, with purple bands around the arms and neckline. His hands were nervously shoved into the pockets of frayed black jeans. His shoes were drawn over, scuffed and dirty all over. Mike had no idea why he was looking at this random kid’s shoes. His eyes flitted back up to meet those hazel ones. His eyebrows were set in a frown, obviously very confused.
Mike opened his mouth to speak when the bell rang. Students flooded the halls shuffling around them. The bubble had popped; the boy scurried away without saying anything and Mike was left standing there, his crumpled schedule in hand watching after him.
Who was that?
–
Max watched Mike walk into their homeroom looking like he had seen a ghost. She snickered as he plopped down next to her, obviously lost in thought.
“Monica, you alright there? Someone give you a wedgie for wearing that ridiculous sweater?”
Here we go with the sweater again.
Mike flicked a piece of paper off his desk in her direction. It hit her in the arm. “Stop calling me that. Nobody gave me a wedgie. Just… thinking.”
There he was, floating elsewhere in his mind again. Max was a little put off by this. She and Lucas were only in the guidance counselor’s office for a good fifteen minutes. What could’ve happened?
“What are you thinking about?” She asked genuinely, turning towards him in her chair.
“Nothing. Why are you so nosy?”
“You can be such a mouthbreather sometimes, Wheeler.”
Max didn’t speak to him for the rest of the homeroom. It was just the two of them, so when the bell rang again, Max packed her stuff up and sped out without a word, leaving Mike to walk on his own to his next class. Okay, he had been a little snippy with her. He’ll apologize at lunch later.
Mike sat through his next few classes deep in thought about the boy from the hall. He couldn’t get those eyes out of his head for some reason. He had seen green eyes before; hell, Dustin loved to insist his were when the sunlight hit them a certain way. But these eyes were just. Different. Filled with emotion and history and… something else Mike couldn’t quite place. He looked for him in the halls after that, trying to catch a glimpse of him to quell his captivation.
The more the day went on, the more Mike was desperate to see him. The more Mike didn’t see him, the more insane he felt. He surveyed the halls with the efficiency of a lifeguard, eyes narrowed as he searched the sea of students for that striped shirt. Nothing
The next time Mike saw him was during lunch. He had all but given up at that point. Pushing the thought of him from his mind, he sat down at a table where El and Lucas were already sitting. El was leaning back against the seat, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Lucas was poking at a plate of peas and mystery meat.
“Man, you’d think for the first day they’d go all out. Steak and mashed potatoes or something.”
El cut in with her mouth full. “Or pizza! I would buy lunch if there was pizza.”
Lucas nodded, turning to Mike and expecting him to say something. Mike sensed the eyes on him and knew he had to say something.
“Yeah. Or like, oranges or something. Or a banana.” He was not listening to their conversation.
Max plopped down next to Lucas just then, staring daggers at Mike. She was still mad from earlier.
“You haven’t snapped out of your funk yet, Wheeler? Not tired of this mopey little charade yet?”
Lucas was suddenly very interested in his peas. He knew better than to interject when Max was unhappy. Happy wife, happy life. Or whatever that saying was.
“Sorry, Max. I didn’t mean to snap at you earlier. I just,” Mike leaned closer to her across the table, “I met this kid in the hallway before homeroom. And he was so… odd? It’s just been bugging me all day.”
Max opened her paper bag lunch and started pulling out her food. “Odd how?”
Mike continued, “We bumped into each other and I apologized and he just didn’t say anything. Like nothing at all. He put his hand on his chest and just gave me this look. It was so weird. He had this look in his eyes… these nice green eyes. I’ve been looking for him in the halls. I didn’t get his name.”
Max and Lucas shared a look. El continued eating her sandwich, listening to Mike’s story intently.
“Maybe you rendered him speechless after smacking him with that big ass head of yours. It’s not that weird, Mike. I’m sure he was just in a rush or something.” Max started crunching on a bag of Lays.
Mike shook his head.
They wouldn’t understand. It was the way he looked at me.
El, sensing that this bothered Mike a lot more than he let on, decided to throw him a line. A line of a different topic of conversation.
“Lucas, how was your English class with Mr. Thorne? I have him later - does he seem strict?”
Lucas and El’s voices faded out into mere background noise when Mike saw him. He had just walked in the cafeteria, his backpack slinging on one shoulder. Holding a book Mike could not make out. He looked around nervously, like trying to decide if he should stay or leave. Apparently, he decided on the latter, because a few seconds after he had walked in, he had turned on his heel and walked out again.
Mike shot straight up, startling Max and sending a few stray chips flying.
“What the hell, Wheeler!?” She called after him, but he was already darting out the door of the cafeteria. Straight to him.
“Hey! Hey?”
The boy jumped and turned around, looking surprised to see Mike. Once again, he said nothing.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m Mike. I just wanted to apologize again for bumping into you earlier. I should really watch where I’m going,” He punctuated with a laugh.
The boy gave him a small smile. Silence.
Mike stared at him. “Right, well, um - what’s your name?”
Nothing. Mike was starting to get seriously concerned that there was something in his teeth. Or maybe he smelled bad. Or maybe he was a loser for chasing this kid down and he should stop stalking him.
Then, the boy started to move his hands. He was signing. He did four distinct movements, mouthing letters that Mike couldn’t understand.
“I’m sorry, I don’t - can you write? Can you write it?”
Mike dug around his pocket for his schedule, which of course was the only piece of paper he had on him. No pen though.
The boy sighed and took Mike’s schedule from him. He held it in one hand and took Mike’s wrist in his other. Mike swallowed heavily, his skin turning hot where the boy was touching him.
He grabbed Mike’s pointer finger and used it to trace letters slowly on the paper, making sure Mike’s eyes were on him and could see his movements. Mike followed along and spoke aloud:
“W… I… L… L… Will?”
The boy - Will - nodded and gave a small smile. He touched his hand to his chest again, his eyes doing that thing where they swelled with emotion and light. Mike was mesmerized.
“Hi, Will.”
Will gave a small little wave, lifting his hand like he was going to start signing again, but then stopped himself. Back to the paper, back to Mike’s finger in his grasp. Back to the flooding heat that tinged Mike’s skin all the way down to his toes. It felt really hot in the hall all of a sudden. Mike wondered if Will could hear his heart pounding - booming really - in his chest.
Hi was traced out onto the paper. Mike decided to go along with this way of communicating. Overwhelmed with questions for this strange boy, he held Will’s wrist tightly and continued tracing.
Senior? Yes
18? In March
Deaf?
Will looked up suddenly and shook his head. He held a hand over his mouth and opened his palm to the side. He pointed back to the paper.
Nothing to say
Mike raised an eyebrow in question, but before Will could respond, the doors of the cafeteria opened and the hall was flooded with students once more. He held onto Will’s wrist, trying to keep track of him in the chaos, but Will pulled his hand back and disappeared with a smile. Again.
Somehow, his friends found him standing outside the doors. They all sprinted over to him with a million questions. Mike waved them all off, insisting he spotted a teacher he needed to talk to about his seating arrangement in class. That seemed to shut Lucas and Max up, although Max was still grumbling about her spilled chips. El, not so much. She squinted at Mike. She did not believe him.
They all walked together back to the classrooms. El fell back to walk side by side with Mike.
“Was it that boy again?”
He nodded. “Will.”
“What did he say?”
Mike pondered for a minute on how to say his next sentence. If anyone could understand, it was El. She had to learn how to speak and was selectively mute for a long time. He was assuming that’s what Will meant by nothing to say.
“I think he’s mute. He was - my hand - using my hand to spell out words on a paper,” Mike flushed, wishing he didn’t disclose that part. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. But El didn’t even seem phased.
“I bet he needs a friend. You should talk to him more, Mike.”
“He was signing. Like ASL?” He did some hand gestures to show this. “Sign language. I wish I could understand it to make it easier for him.”
El shrugged. “Learn then.” She skipped ahead to link arms with Max, leaving Mike behind with his thoughts.
Easy for her to say.
Mike took El’s words and rolled them around in his brain for a bit. It couldn’t be that hard to learn. Even if it was just letters. He had to try. He wanted to learn more about Will. He wanted to understand him and be able to communicate with him. Something about him pulled Mike in, stringing him along on an invisible rope, tugging at his heart and lungs and everything in between. He felt a drive to learn he hadn’t for a long time and he was determined to satiate it.
–
Mike, Max, and El went to the library after the final bell had rung and they were let out of school for the day. Much to Mike’s disappointment, he did not see Will again. No matter. Tomorrow he would make a point to find him and showcase all the new sign language he had learned.
The three of them walked together the few blocks to the library. He had told Nancy that he didn’t need a ride anymore, and she had all but peeled out of the parking lot and left him to his own devices. They had outgrown their bikes and hadn’t saved enough money to pool for new ones yet. So, they were left to walk. It wasn’t too far though. A fall breeze fell over Hawkins like a blanket, whistling through the trees and ruffling their hair. Mike walked silently beside Max and El, who were skipping along singing a song he didn’t recognize.
“So Monica, what is it that you need at the library again? I don’t think you’ve stepped foot in a library since - ever?” Max taunted.
“Getting a head start on a project for my history class. I want to actually try this year, maybe it’ll be better for me than -”
“Failing all your classes again?”
Mike stuck his tongue out at her. “I didn’t fail all my classes. Just one. That teacher wanted my head.”
“Maybe you’re just a bad student.”
Mike decided to let her nagging slide. He was just grateful for the company.
Max turned back to look at him.
“Nothing to say, Wheeler? You go soft on me? You gonna cry?”
Okay, never mind.
“I’m telling Lucas you were the one that dropped his X-Men #145 in the toilet.”
A beat. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Call me Monica again and I will.”El spent the rest of the trek to the library trying to keep Max and Mike from killing each other which - unsurprisingly - was very common for her. Mike and Max were her very best friends in the world; the two people on the planet who understood and cared for her most. Unfortunately, that also meant they butt heads a lot considering they were so alike.
By the time they reached the sliding glass doors of the Hawkins Public Library, she had had enough of their foolishness. She threw her hands out to the side, stopping both of them in their tracks.
“Behave, please. Mike needs to work on his… project.”
They went their separate ways once inside; Mike darting off to the language section and the girls wandering over to a colorful display of Wonder Woman comics that caught their eye. Grateful to be out of Max’s watchful eye, Mike began to sift through all the books in the language section, hoping to find a small and easy introduction to sign language.
He did not find that. In fact, the first book he found about sign language didn’t teach him about sign language at all, but rather the first people to use it and the history behind it. He piled up a few books on the topic, along with an actual teaching book, and sat down at one of the tables in the reference section. Isolated and alone to learn. That’s how he liked it.
One of the reasons Mike had such a hard time with school was a simple matter of disinterest. Mike Wheeler was smart and he loved to learn, but only about topics he deemed important or necessary. If you had a question about DND or the intricacies of the modern Walkman, Mike was your man. Anything else? Not so much. Mike only paid attention to the stuff he cared about and right now the most important thing in the world to him was learning sign language.
For Will.