Chapter Text
First Part: The Best Spring Break Ever!
Chapter 1: Lenora Hills, 1986
California, Lenora 1986.
'This is my year...'
Will Byers was sitting alone in his room, as the last glimpse of the sun reflected on the colored canva he had in front of him. The yellow walls and the only light he had turned on were enough to lighten the place, since it wasn't as dark as it was during winter.
The boy's hands sullied from all the paint he used; he was drawing himself, and Mike, holding hands right after they met at the swings, in kindergarten. They were both really small, in contrast with the rest of the canva.
It was a school night, a few days before spring break. Will had already finished his schoolwork; he also completed his assignment on his historical hero, Alan Turing, even though they would represent that to Mrs Grayson at the last day of school.
The boy had been painting for hours, he almost skipped dinner.
"Will! It's gonna get cold, aren't you coming?" Joyce yelled from downstairs.
"On my way!"
"Where's Johnathan?" Will asked his mom.
"With his friend...what was his name again?"
"Argyle." El responded. She was already sitting on the table, waiting to spend a family moment with Will and Joyce.
"Yeah he was with Argyle, he'll be back soon..."
El seemed to like Argyle; she thought he was funny, even though the weed him and Johnathan smoked hit them harder than a rock sometimes.
Dinner actually went well, in comparison to the previous days. At least Will hoped so....
Ring!
"Oh, I'm really sorry honey, I need to answer that..."
"Mum! Please leave it for later!" He complained. He too wanted to spend the time with his family, like El.
"I'm sorry.... I can't leave it sweetheart, I have to pick it up!" She got up and headed for the phone. Lately, multiple customers called at the most inappropriate times; it seems like more and more single Karen's took over Lenora.
At the same time, Johnathan arrived. "I'm so sorry, we got stuck in traffic!" He excused himself. Surprisingly enough for will, he didn't smell like weed at all, so his suspicions increased.
"Where were you?" He did once John sat down on the table.
"It's complicated"
"Jonathan-"
"Is Mike coming on Saturday?"
"I don't know... probably?"
"He is." El interrupted the two boys. "he sent me a letter"
And he still didn't call. Wills stomach clenched
"Do you know if Nancy's coming too?"John's eyes sparkled.
"How come?" Will did, but the teen pushed him with his elbow.
"He...didn't mention anything.." the girl continued, seeing Jonathan's gesture. "Why?"
"Just wait till mom comes back"
"Jonathan -"
"Just wait, Will, ok? I promise it's good news."
"That's why you're late?"
"That's another story ...but I'll say yes"
"Sorry guys, once again. I fell onto a Karen I talked to earlier." Joyce glanced at Johnathan, who had just arrived. "Is everything ok?"
"What? Yeah! Everything's fine..." He acted clueless.
"Jonathan...."
"I...I have some good news, that's all..."
"Like?" Joyce narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"I GOT ACCEPTED INTO COLLEGE, MUM!" He screamed as he airwaved the letter in front of everyone. Finally, after a long week, something good happened to the Byers'. El wore a smile will hadn't seen before; it was the same smile she had when she was with Max at the mall. Will, on the other hand, hugged his brother, congratulating him endlessly for his achievement. Finally, he would get to live a life with Nancy.
At last, the Byers got to experience a genuine moment after all this time. I mean of course, they had fun at Christmas, thanksgiving and Halloween, but now it was the time they were actually celebrating something.
Speaking of Halloween, Will didn't stay in, like he expected, he spent the night with Eliot and his friend group instead.
Elliot was a nice guy, pretty talkative. Will found him interesting when he first talked to him; he was wearing small gloves, a french hat and a white t-shirt that wrote "hell" on it. He seemed to wear this tshirt pretty often, so will thought it was his favorite.
Will was shy, he didn't talk to any student of Lenora when he first got there. But once, after a class, he had accidentally thrown his doodles on the floor, and Elliott was the one to help him pick his stuff up.
The tall teen - taller than Will - found his drawings interesting. After Will did his best to hide them (doodles of him and Mike, mainly as cleric and paladin) he introduced himself to him.
"You must be the new boy, Will, right? I'm Elliot'' Will goggled his eyes. A boy - a good looking one- just showed interest in getting to know him.
"Uhh yeah, nice meeting you" will shaked his hand reflectively.
And with that, Elliot kept talking to Will. He invited him to hangouts -to which Will often said no- and to their Halloween night. Will was relieved he spent the best night of the year out, with people.
Elliot's friend group wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be. There were two other boys, and the rest three were girls. Two goth girls and one hippie. That left a scary first impression to Will, but their vibe made him feel welcome at school, lightening his days.
El also found someone to talk to from the same group; she was more introverted than Will. The hippie girl seemed glad to speak to El everytime she was near, she thought she was different, like her. Unlike El, the girl - Stephanie - was more outgoing than others, something that gave El more courage to adapt.
Once, when the two shared a room to study, sitting on El's bed, the girl was getting distracted by her thoughts. Will, opposite to El, was paying all his attention to an essay, laying on his tummy at the bottom of the bed.
"Will?" El did. Will, as he was reading, hummed in response.
"Would you ever ...kiss Max?" The girl wondered. Will flinched at that question; he was asked if he would kiss a girl....by a girl.
"Uh....no...I don't think....she's not actually....my type" He replied, sweating in anxiety.
El narrowed her eyes in confusion, as she placed her book on her knees in a better position. "But...if she was your type .. would you?"
Will gulped. It was actually the first time El was asking that type of question; over the time they stayed together, they mostly argued about school, or even the remote. "Uh ...I guess...." He stopped. "Why, would you?"
"I think so...."
"Don't you like Mike?"
"Yeah, but...I think I would.." El answered. Will was now astonished; his own sister might also be queer? "But I never saw a girl kiss another girl before...."
Will knew well what El meant by that. But still, he was shocked, trying to make out what he'd say next. "oh, um...it's because people aren't used to....seeing two girls or two boys kiss..."
"Why?"
"Because...they grew up learning that boys always have to date girls..."
"But .... Are there any girls that ....date other girls?"
"Yeah, there are, it's just...they don't want to be seen by people."
"Why?"
"Because they're.... different."
"Would you also like to kiss a boy?"
Oh um, that was hard to answer. 'Yeah, I actually have a crush on mike, please don't get mad', 'nooo I would never...but I support, anyways'.
"Uh..." What would he answer? El didn't know the actual truth behind why queer couples needed to hide. But she was thinking of kissing max? She'd be fine if her own brother was gay... right?
"Yeah...I guess..."
Silence.
"Are people scared of girls who date girls and boys who date boys?"
Well, what would anyone reply to that?
"S..sort of..."
"I would love to see two girls kissing though....I think it's beautiful"
And those words came from his own sister. She liked Mike, according to him at least, but now she was having a sapphic image in her head with max. Just like he had an Achilles picture with Mike.
He never expected that, to be honest. He always thought he was the only one, Lenora's and Hawkins' black sheep. But now his head relaxed, considering how El found queerness beautiful, even if she never witnessed it. He now felt safer, learning that if she wasn't queer, she would at least support.
"I guess...yeah.."
Will also didn't quite understand how El became a girl. But he always saw her as one, even when she had short hair, at the ball. Besides, she was introduced as a girl to him, the girl that saved him from the upside down. He went back to the day they met, now understanding that that was the first time he saw her.
She started transitioning early, since once she left the lab, she discovered that she wasn't a boy anymore. And, thankfully enough, her voice was never affected by the testosterone she had in her body; it was as if her powers were controlling it, shaping it in a way she wanted it to.
How was it even possible that the party met her a year and a half before him? Once he went missing, she was found. And then she was gone, to bring will back. Will thought how they first basically replaced each other at the group. He was a cleric, she was a mage. It was as if the party only needed one person with magical abilities right? And how luck brought them together, now living as siblings under the same roof.
It was fate. They were meant to be friends. Soulmates. They understood each other, and went through similar trauma. And now, they felt closer to each other, both being queer.
The next days at school went by quickly. Everyone was preparing for the holidays, distracted in every lesson and always finding the smallest chance to talk about their spring destinations. Some kids would leave California, visit other places while others would stay in Lenora, having fun at rink o mania. In spite of all, Will felt the butterflies everytime he thought that Mike would be there in .....a day?
"Hey, who's that?" Elliot did as will got distracted with his doodles during class.
"Uh, that's my friend, Mike."
"From Hawkins?"
"Yeah..."
"Do you guys play DND there? That looks like a paladin!"
"Yeah! There's four of us in the group, I'm a cleric, Mike's a paladin-" and will kept on talking about DND. Thankfully, since it was the last day, most teachers left the kids free to chat.
For will, the last day of school went somewhat well. But for El, well....not so much.