Chapter Text
Whoever thought that it was a good idea to put hundreds of angsty teenagers in one building for eight hours a day should be in an insane asylum.
At least, that's what Mike Wheeler thinks as he walks through the halls of Hawkins high school.
He's about to pass his little sister's locker, when he hears muffled screams. He stops and turns towards the locker, noticing all of the scribbles that say horrible things about her.
Horrible things like:
'HOLLY WHEELER – HAWKINS RESIDENT SCHIZO!'
'Psycho's locker!'
'QUEERLER'S LITTLE SISTER!'
Along with these horrible things, there are also a few drawings on the locker, including a stick figure of Holly with her eyes crossed out.
Mike quickly unlocks his sister's locker, and finds her tied up inside with an apple in her mouth. He pulls the apple out carefully, and unties the ropes so she can step out.
"Who did this?" He demands.
Holly's on the verge of crying as she says, "I- I don't know! It all happened so fast!! I–" She cuts herself off– not by her own will. Her head tilts back, her eyes close, and she almost falls to the floor before Mike catches her.
Seconds later, she opens her eyes again.
"Holly! What–"
"It was Troy and James." She tells him.
"Troy and James did this?" Mike asks, clarifying. Holly nods, and Mike lets her up, feeling his anger flowing through his veins– or maybe that's just electricity. "I'll make sure they never mess with you again." He assures her.
After a bit of planning, and a few phone calls– using the school's payphone because he refuses to be a slave to technology– Mike's standing in the natatorium, holding two bags of piranhas. How he got them? Well, that's classified information.
In the pool, Troy, James, and a few other guys are swimming in their lanes, practicing their 'form' or whatever. Out of them all, Troy is the first one to spot Mike.
"This is a private practice, Queerler." He says.
"Well, then why don't you consider closing the goddamn door? Or maybe even locking it?" Mike counters. "Anyone could come in here, Troy." He says, innocently stepping closer to the pool with the piranhas hidden behind his back.
"Just get out!" Troy demands.
Mike holds out the two bags of piranhas and drops them into the pool. He watches the bullies and other swimmers scream as they try to swim away from the fish, but he's not finished. Electricity is flowing through his nervous system, just waiting to get out. So he takes control of the electricity, and shoots a few sparks into the pool, from his hands.
The pool lights up for a split second, then sparks start appearing in the ripples. You'd probably be dead if you were to jump in the pool at that moment.
Unfortunately for Mike, most of the swimmers climb out of the pool with only a few bites, and barely get shocked. Though, a smile grows on his face as he watches Troy and James scream, their blood flowing into the electric water. It relaxes him, knowing that his sister will probably never be messed with again.
A downside is, this gets Mike expelled. (But is that really a downside?)
Mike's starting to think it is a downside as he's trapped in the car with his parents, heading to Nevermore academy– the place where they 'fell in love'.
"Michael, stop moping." His mother demands.
Mike turns to the front of the car, where his older sister is driving. "Nancy, please remind our parents that I'm no longer speaking to them." He tells her.
"Michael, we had to transfer you. That boy's parents were going to press attempted murder charges." His father reminds him. "How would that look on your permanent record?"
"Horrible." He responds, "Everyone would know I failed to get the job done." His parents nod, approving this answer.
Others might find it...weird, but this is normal for the Wheeler family. They all have powers– men get electricity, the women get visions– and they use them to cause chaos. But they're smart enough to not get caught unless they want to.
For some reason though, this ability skipped his father.
"Nevermore will be the perfect place for you." His mother tries to convince him.
"Oh? Because it was the perfect school for you?" He blurts, "Well, spoiler alert, I have zero interest in following in your footsteps."
His mother ignores him. "Nevermore is unlike any ordinary school, it's a school for outcasts. There are people like you, with powers like yours." She tells him. "You might even find your special someone."
"That's not going to happen." He assures her.
Mike's never found someone that he'd be interested in dating. Sure, he's found people hot– enough to know that he likes boys– but he couldn't see himself in a relationship with anyone that he'd ever met.
"You never know." His father says as they pull up to the school.
While his sisters brings his bags to his room, Mike and his parents have to have a meeting with Principal Sinclair.
"You said your name is Michael?" She asks. Mike nods, and she turns to his mother. "Well, Karen, I suppose you were never the...creative type."
His mother tuts at that remark.
Principal Sinclair continues, turning back to Mike. "Your mother and I used to share a dorm during our days at Nevermore."
"And you didn't go insane? Impressive." He jokes.
He can tell that Principal Sinclair is trying not to laugh. "Anyway, I'm a tad bit concerned about the fact that you've been to eight schools in five years." She says.
"I haven't found one strong enough to hold me yet."
"Well, I hope Nevermore can change that." She looks down at her papers, "Looks like you get to stay in the dorm that your mother and I used to share–"
"Ophelia hall?" Mrs. Wheeler finishes with a grin. Principal Sinclair nods.
Mike turns to his mother, "Ophelia's the one who kills herself after being driven mad by her family, correct?"
His mother nods with a smile.
"Sounds about right." He mutters to himself, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.
"You should go meet your new roommate; William Byers." Principal Sinclair suggests.
"Wait," Mr. Wheeler interrupts. "Sue, what about Michael's... therapy sessions? The court ordered them."
"The school has a connection with a therapist in Jericho. Many of our students visit her. Michael will be in good hands, I assure you."
The dorm is bigger than Mike was expecting. It's about four times bigger than a normal bedroom. One side is covered in his roommate's things– many paintings and music records– while the other has the things that Nancy and Holly brought in from the car. On the far wall, there is a large, circle stained glass window, letting in light of multiple colors.
But, God, that's not even the most beautiful thing in the room. His roommate is a very pretty boy. He's only a few inches shorter than Mike, he has fluffy brown hair that's trimmed at his ears like he used to have bowl cut, his eyes are this amazing mix of honey brown and light green, and his smile– oh, his smile.
Mike could actually die. His breath catches when he sees the boy– he is literally breathless. What a shame that he probably won't be here for long.
Fuck, he's so gay.
"Uh, hi. I'm Will." The boy greets, offering a hand for Mike to shake.
"I'm Mike." He takes Will's hand, but he's so panicked that he accidentally shocks him.
Will pulls his hand away, trying to shake the sting out. "Electricity...cool."
Mike doesn't have time to apologize or ask what the other boy's outcast ability is before the principal says, "Will, could you take Michael to pick up his uniform, along with a copy of his schedule, and give him a tour along the way?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I can do that." Will tells her. He cautiously takes Mike's hand in his– probably afraid of being shocked again– and they walk out into the hallway. As they walk down the stairs to the main hall of Nevermore, he begins to tell Mike about the school. "Okay, so, Nevermore was founded in 1971 by Nathaniel Faulkner–"
"You can save the sales pitch." Mike interrupts, "It's not like I'll be here for long."
"What?" Will asks.
"I have yet to find a school that can...deal with me. I doubt this one will be any different." He explains, "My parents sent me here because it was the perfect school for them, and they think it'll be the perfect school for me." Once they've reached the bottom of the stairs, he points to a picture on the shelf. It's of the fencing team from many years ago. "Oh look, there's my mother's judgemental face staring at me already."
"Well, if you don't plan on staying, then I'll just go..." He lets go of Mike's hand and starts walking away without him.
"Wait!" Mike stops him, grabbing his arm and turning to face him. He looks down into the other boy's eyes as he says, "I could be... persuaded to stay."
Will laughs, then takes Mike's hand again and guides him outside. "This is the quad." He tells him. "There are many kinds of outcasts here, but the four main cliques are Fangs, Furs, Stoners, and Scales. Fangs are vampires, Furs are werewolves, Stoners are gorgons, and–"
"I'm guessing Scales are sirens?" Mike finishes, looking over at a red-headed girl that has her hand in the fountain, light scales appearing on her fingers.
"Yup." Will tells him, "That's Max Mayfield. She's the closest thing Nevermore has to royalty."
"So...which one are you?" Mike asks Will.
"I'm an art psychic."
"And that means...?"
"Well, I sometimes have these... visions. And when I draw, I can make it come to life." Will explains. "Some people call me Nevermore's resident tortured artist."
"That's actually really cool." Mike says, giving him a small smile.
"Yeah, I guess." Will says. He sounds a bit nervous, and looks away from Mike. "Um... Some rumors have been spreading that you... killed a kid at your old school. I'm sorry to ask, but...is that true?"
"Well, it was two kids." Mike tells him, "But who's counting?"
A boy's voice behind Will startles them both. "Yo, Will! You're not gonna believe the dirt I heard about your new roommate." The new boy pauses for suspense, "He eats human flesh. Totally chowed down on that kid he murdered. You better watch your back."
Mike steps to where the other guy can see him. "Quite the contrary," He says. "I actually fillet the bodies of my victims, then feed them to my various vicious pets." It's not true, but neither is the thing that the new boy said.
Will laughs nervously, "Argyle, this is my new roommate, Mike." Argyle nods, then walks away, definitely a bit wary of him. "Ignore him," Will says to Mike, "Argyle and my brother spend way to much time getting stoned...in both senses."
"You have a brother?"
"Yeah, and a sister. My brother's a Gorgon, and my sister's a normie."
Mike gives him a confused look, "In my family, the men are all sparks and the women are all psychics. How are you and your siblings all different?" He asks.
"Genetics I guess? Plus, my sister's really my step-sister, so I'm only related to her legally." Will explains.
Mike nods, and they continue the tour of the school. Eventually, they get to the registrar's office, where they pick up his uniform and schedule.
Back in the dorm, Mike changes into the purple and black striped Nevermore uniform. He feels awkward in the way that the uniform hangs on his long limbs, and the way that the shorts go past his knees– can they even be considered shorts then?
He makes his way back downstairs to the entrance of the building, where he meets with his parents and sisters before they go back home.
"Look at you, our little sparkplug." His mother says in awe of him. "Seeing you in this uniform brings back so many horrible memories. Doesn't it, Ted?"
His father actually smiles, "Oh yes. I didn't realize how much I missed Nevermore." He pauses for a moment, then says, "Why don't you ladies wait in the car? Michael and I need a moment." His mother nods, while his sisters walk over to him.
Holly hugs him, and pulls Nancy into the hug as well. "I'm going to miss you so much, Mike." Holly says.
"Me too, surprisingly." Nancy admits.
Mike hugs his sisters back. "I'll miss you guys as well." He tells them, then steps away from the hug and kneels down, his bones crackling. "Holly, annoy our parents for me, would you?" He looks up at their older sister, "And Nance, make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble."
"Don't worry, I will." Both girls say at the same time, before turning to get in the car. Mike stands up, bracing himself to talk to his father.
Mr. Wheeler steps up to him. "Any plans you have of running away end right now, Michael. I've alerted all family members to contact me the minute you darken their doorstep." As if he'd be dumb enough to run away to a family member's house. "Now, we can't contact you for the first week while you're settling in, but your mother has assured me that we'll call you next Sunday. Nancy has already put the crystal ball in your room."
"You underestimate me." Mike tells his father. He turns back to the school, but before he begins to walk away, he says, "Goodbye, father. I'm sure that you will never hear from me again."