Chapter Text
MARCH 1986, LENORA, CALIFORNIA, MONDAY
“ANGELA, let’s keep our questions to when Jane finishes her presentation.”
“Yeah, sorry, I’m just like, confused? I thought this was a presentation on a historical hero.” Angela’s whiny and prissy voice fills the room.
“My dad was in the newspaper.”
“Your local paper?” Angela chuckles and retorts, the classes booming laughter filling the classroom like Angela is some kind of holy princess, like they’re playing follow the leader and Angela is the leader. “I just don’t think that’s what Miss Gracie meant by historical. This is supposed to be about famous people?”
Angelas tone is laced with mockery, it’s aim to pick at El’s skin and make her feel like the class clown, the worlds biggest idiot. Will looks to El, who’s eyes look hurt and ready to bawl, then to Angela’s petty face, manipulating Miss Gracie into justifying her actions.
”My dad is famous. He saved lots of lives.” El tightly clenches her project, securing the diorama in her palms. “In a mall fire. He was a hero for people. And he was my hero too.” El looks to Will, her eyes brimming with tears and her bottom lip quivering. Will wants nothing more to hug her and comfort her and tell her that it’ll be okay and that Angela can’t torment her forever.
”That’s not what I’m saying at all. But it’s okay. I am so sorry Miss Gracie, I didn’t meant to interrupt, I just wanted clarity on the rules of the assignment.”
”Twat,” A boy scoffs a few seats by Will. Will looks back at him, he has scruffy black her, blacker than a thousand Hawkins night skies, darker than a million upside downs. He looks to Will also and shrugs, a sort of side-smirk finding it’s way across his face. Will straightens his back and looks back to El. He’s not familiar with that kind of wording despite being surrounded by curse words back in Hawkins.
“Well, technically, you are correct, but Jane has decided to do her father, so please, continue your presentation, Jane.”
Els lips quiver as she awkwardly looks around the room. El doesn’t deserve this kind of embarrassment, she doesn't deserve this torment. Tears overflow in her eyes and stream down her face like an everlasting river of salty waves.
“El, it wasn’t that bad,” Will comments as people rush out of the classroom.
“Friends don’t lie.” Her voice is shaky and Will just wishes, prays that Angela would disappear, vanish. Not like he did back in Hawkins all those years ago, god no, but vanish in a way that she just moved out of no where. It was the end of the day and everyone was getting ready to go home so the hallway felt stuffy and difficult to breathe in.
“I’m not lying,” Will retorts, “El, come on,”
“I just want to go home, Will. I don’t want to talk about it.” El quickly rubs her face ridden in tears while she speeds up her pace in a way Will can’t keep up with.
”El, wait!” thump.
As if the day couldn’t get any worse, not only did Will have to sit through an entire lesson of torment targeted to his beloved sister and he couldn’t do anything, he bumped into a stranger in the middle of a hallway.
The strangers back felt slim and bony, Will knew that due to how much it hurt his head.
The stranger turns around, only for Will to see that familiar face that he also saw in the classroom.
”Twat,” A boy scoffs a few seats by Will.
Will can observe his face better now that he’s right in front of him. He has deep, dark brown eyes that pierce into Wills forehead. Freckles dusted over his nose and cheeks like a constellation of stars in a night sky and an angular and a sharp jawline. His grin is deeper than his eyes and dimples awaken at the sides of his cheeks, and Will, scarily enough, finds him strangely attractive.
Maybe because he looks like Mike. Weirdly like Mike.
”Ha! William!” The boy supplies to Wills staring. “Are you okay?” Though features scarily similar to the boy Will remembers so well back home, his accent and way of speaking is nothing like him. The complete opposite.
His voice is thick and heavy with an accent he cannot depict very well and it’s energetic and excited despite how tired he looks.
”Um, yeah. I’m okay.” Will rubs his head, about to set off in the other direction to get away from this awkward chat until he says something else.
“Is that girl okay? Jane? You look at her with much worry.”
“Um…” Will looked around the hallway, desperate for an exit. Will isn’t sure if El would be okay with sharing her feelings with a complete stranger, especially when she doesn’t even want to talk about them herself. “She’s my sister. She’s… Um… I don’t know if she’d be okay with me sharing.”
The stranger nods, holding out his hand. Will is clueless for a hot second, unaware of what to do until it hits him like a rock. It’s a greeting.
”I am Boris. You are William, yes?”
“Only my mom calls me William, mostly when she’s upset with me. It reminds me of her when you call me it.” Boris laughs at that, his laugh booming and loud, and despite that Will finds it nice. Nice to finally feel heard, seen.
“Is nice to meet you, William.” Boris roughly shakes Wills hand up and down. Will looks around the hallway, it’s almost empty except for them, of course, and a few other people still at their locker. In front of Boris’ tall figure there’s a girl running towards them, it’s El.
In a rush she grabs Will’s hand and drags him away. “We have to go. Jonathan and Argyle are here.” El helpfully supplies for context.
While being dragged across the hall, Will looks back at Boris and he waves.
“I will see you tomorrow, William!”