Mike Wheeler was at his locker, casually getting his notes that he needed for English. It's only the third day of Junior year in high school, and he's already fallen asleep in class twice. He's not in the best mood this week, considering the fact that his parents got divorced due to a little drunk mistake his father generated. Now, the the Wheeler's aren't your perfect family. Ted Wheeler had been kicked out of the house, only three residents there; Mike, his sister Nancy, and his mother. He wishes things would go back to normal, but he's aware that it won't be the same.
"Hey Mike"
He looked towards his right, only to be approached by Dustin and Will, since Lucas was on vacation at Havana. Boy, Mike wishes he could get out of Hawkins and travel the world, but his life was too busy for anymore troubles. Dustin still had his frizzy hair, and always wore that hat of his. He's punched a little growth spurt over the summer, and his body seemed to be more slimmer than last year. Will, however, hasn't grown, not even an inch yet. He's always been the shortest boy in any of his classes, rising to only 5'2. He watched his friends as they approached his locker.
"Hey Dustin, hey Will" Mike scrambled to get all his materials needed for English. "What's up?"
"Not much, Dustin here tried to ask out Nikki" Will exclaimed.
Mike's eyes grew wider. "Really? Guessing it did not go so well?"
"What makes you say that?! Of course she said yes" Dustin confessed, attempting to wear an attractive smile. Will and Mike looked at each other, unimpressed. "What? Alright she said no"
"Thought so" Mike joked.
"You're saying I'm not dateable?!" Dustin gasped.
Mike shook his head. "It's not that you're not dateable, but a girl like Nikki wouldn't go out with you"
"He's right. How much girlfriend's have you had, Dustin?" Will asked.
"Well, there was Brittany in second grade. She said yes, but ran away crying after she got a scent of my breath, and Stacy in fifth grade considered it until Liam jerk came and swooped her off her feet to the dance. Oh and-"
"Alright, Dustin. We get it. But hey, don't worry buddy. You'll get a girl soon. It's not about how many girlfriend's you've had, but about which one lasted the longest" Mike marveled.
"Thanks man. Hope you get one too" Dustin went in to give Mike a bro hug. "You too, Will"
"Hate to break it to you, but Mike's never even had a crush on a girl before" Will mentioned.
"Whatever" Said Mike. The bell rang, ushering the students to go to their first period class. "I guess I'll see you guys later"
"Alright, bye Mike" Dustin responded.
"See you at lunch Mike. Oh, and make sure to bring your stuff with you 'cause we're not staying there long" Will mentioned.
Mike made his way to English, room 203, when he felt a sudden force pushed against the side of his left arm. He looked towards his right to see a girl on the floor with books scattered along. She looked towards him and instantly rose on her feet.
"I-, am, so, so-sorry. I didn't mean-, I just-" The girl stuttered over her words.
"Hey" Mike placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, thinking it was a wrong move. With embarrassment, he immediately removed his hand off her shoulder. "It's alright"
She knelled to the ground to pick up her books. Mike mirrored her move to help her. They got up and he handed her the books in his hands.
"You really didn't have to-" The girl chatted.
"No, don't worry. It's alright" Mike gazed into the girl's eyes. She had beautiful brown eyes that sparkled. She was wearing skinny, baby blue jeans, and an oversize sweater that worded out the words "Fake" in bold and "Love" in cursive. She was also wearing black All-Star converse. They gazed into each other's eyes for what seemed to be longer than normal for a stranger. Mike snapped out of the gaze, realizing how long he'd been staring into her eyes. "I'm Mike by the way. Mike Wheeler" Mike let out an awkward hand for the girl to shake.
With a little struggle considering the amount of books she was holding, She took his hand and shook it. Her lotion was scented. It smelt like rosemary and lemons. Her skin was pretty soft. "Jane. Jane Hopper"
'The chief's daughter' Mike thought.
He nervously let go of her hand, and slipped his hand into his pocket, fidgeting. He looked down at the floor to avoid any more eye contact.
"Where are you heading?" Jane asked.
"Oh, um-, to English class" Mike murmured. He looked up to find her still staring at him. Their eyes locked. Jane looked around the hall to break eye contact. She noticed that there aren't any students around the hall anymore but her and Mike.
"Oh, same here. Walk with me?" She asked gracefully.
Mike's stomach turned. "Oh, um, of c-, I mean, sure" He gave her a quick smile and looked down, hopping that she didn't see him blush. The duo walked to their class, just in time for the bell ring. All the spots were taken, except for two empty ones, one behind the other. Jane sat in the desk closest to the front, the one in the second row, Mike followed and sat behind her.
"Hey, class. How's everyone feeling?" Mr. Brown chuckled.
"Good" the class groaned.
"Now, turn your textbooks to page 394"
The class takes out their English textbooks from their bags and start flipping through the pages. Brendon, a British boy in Mike's English class, rose his hand.
"Yes Brendon?" Mr Brown called out.
"Are we learning about werewolves today?"
"Aha! Ten points to Gryffindor" Mr Brown joked. "Alright class, today, we're going to be reviewing a proper essay format"
As the class moved on, Mike caught himself staring at Jane a lot. Her beautiful brown locks perfectly placed among her shoulders. He wasn't familiar to the feeling she's giving him. It felt nice, but strange. It wasn't like the feeling his friends gave him. Sure, he enjoyed being around them, but what she made him feel, was beyond and different.
"Alright class. I will be assigning you all homework" Mr Brown announced. The whole class sighed in stress. "You will be assigned to write an essay about your idol. Your idol can be anything but fictional"
Half of the class "awwd" in disappointment, not wanting homework, considering it's only the first week of school.
The bell rang dismissing everyone for next class.
Mike got up and put his books in his bag. He looked up to get a quick glance of Jane before he left, but she was already gone. Mike sighed in disappointment. He knew he'll see her again soon. Hopefully.
"Michael!" Mrs. Keiry yelled.
Mike quickly rose his head up. He hadn't realized he fell asleep during math class, again. He hates it when he's called by his first name.
"That's the third time you've fell asleep in my class, Michael, unacceptable!"
"At least you don't have daddy issues" Mike murmured in annoyance.
"I beg your New York pardon?" Mrs. Keiry uttered.
"Nothing! Sorry, I was talking to myself. Carry on with the lesson"
Mrs. Keiry gave Mike a death glance. She pushed her glasses up higher and turned to the black board.
The bell rang just in time dismissing everyone for lunch.
Mike got up from his seat and put away his notebook into his bag. Will said that they won't be staying in the cafeteria for long, which kind of made Mike suspicious. He made his way down to the cafeteria, and spotted Jane sitting with the rest of her friends. She caught sight of him too, and they both locked eyes until she smiled at him. Mike's cheeks flustered red and he smiled back, breaking eye contact and looking around for his friends. Mike put his gaze at the table Will and Dustin were at. Will's eyes searched around the cafeteria for Mike, and wore a smile as he waved Mike into his direction. Mike made his way to his friends.
"Yay Mike, you're here!" Dustin beamed.
"So, are we going anywhere today?" Mike asked.
"Well kind of" Will spoke. "We're sneaking out of school for a bit"
"Oooo Will is bitchin"Dustin teased. Will rolled his eyes.
"Anyways, I was wondering around in the forest for a bit, and I kind of got lost, so I took out my compass to find my way back. However, I kind of realized that it wasn't leading me back home, but to a building. The building was holding a lot of Magnetic force, powerful enough to turn the compass arrow towards the West"
"And you want to go see what that building has that caused the compass to turn the arrow to West?" Mike asked.
Will nodded his head.
"Oooo sounds fun" Dustin exclaimed. "Only one questio-"
"-Hey, Mike"
Dustin's sentenced was interrupted by a soft voice.
Mike turned his head towards the voice. He saw Jane by his table. His eyes widened at her presence. Dustin gave Mike a little "unnoticeable" smirk.
"Hey, Jane" Mike fidgeted with his hands. "What's the-uh-up? What's up?"
"So, some kids around here say that you're good at math, and um-" Jane played with the string of her bag, not making eye contact with Mike. "I was wondering, if you'd like to help me with my math homework? I mean, if it's too much to ask-"
"-No I would love to help you" Mike mused.
Jane's eyes moved swifty from her bag to Mike. "Great!" she beamed with a smile. "Do you mind if we go to your house? Mine, is well-" Jane's smile turned into a frown. She broke eye contact and stared at her shoe.
Mike doesn't want to see Jane upset. He can tell she's not very comfortable talking about her home. "Yeah, don't worry, it's fine. Can you come after school? We can walk to my house-uh, well, together, if that's alright with, you know, with you?" Mike stuttered over his words.
Jane's smile bloomed with emotion. "Thanks Mike, see you around" she left with a little wave. Mike watched her as she ran off back to her table, still wearing his smile.
"Damn Mike, I've never seen you get so tongue tied over a girl" Dustin smirked. Mike rolled his eyes at his friend. "It's nothing. I'm just helping her with homework"
"BUT it's the first girl to look at you without thinking you're gross!" Will exclaimed. "This could be your chance to get a girlfriend"
"Either way" Mike said. He looked over to the table, where Jane was giggling along with her friends. She was really pretty. "I wouldn't have much of a chance"