Hey everyone! It's Bomin (博敏) here. Feel free to skip the intro message. It is pretty long. I just was explaining a bit of the structure and my choices regarding the plot of this tale. The title is based off of a poem by Raymond Carver that I'll put at the end of chapter. I don't own copyrights to Stranger Things, The X-Men, or any of the late Mr. Carver's works.
I really hope that you enjoy this story. I played around with the plot of Stranger Things a tad. I thought it would be interesting to see what would have happened if Mike had only met Eleven once and then then were stranded from each other for years. I also wanted to see how age would influence their romance. Not to mention, I just wanted to age them a little, since I plan to continue this series for a bit and it is easier for me to sustain writing these characters realistically if they are a tad older. This also is a bit of a crossover. I decided that since Eleven has super powers, and I needed some way for her to receive enough education and have a stable enough financial base to even consider attending university, that she would be a mutant who had been rescued from the government lab back in Hawkins and who has since studied at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The first two to three chapters will mainly establish how each of these characters came to decide to attend the same university and what brought them together. Due to that, there will be a lot of reflection and less character interaction at first, so I beg you to stay with me. I am not sure about how often I will update. I have already written the first few chapters, so those ought to be released quickly. However, I am slammed with work and I have a lot going on at the moment, so I am not sure how exactly I will add this to the mix. Still, I ought to update at least biweekly at the latest. I am new here and this is my second time actually publishing, so please be kind! I love constructive criticism and tips on how to improve.
Introduction:
Will's POV
At the end of Junior year, nagging worry started to pluck at Will's heart. He'd pretty much grown-up with Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, but he wasn't sure what would happen to them in the future. Sure, it was great to claim that they would always be friends, but college changed you. He'd seen it happen to Jonathan. For Jonathan, college had been healing and encouraging. When Will had seen Jonathan during Thanksgiving break, he noticed how Jonathan laughed. Jonathan seemed happy, truly happy. He no longer seemed to be carrying a weight on his shoulders and he no longer slouched in the shadows.
Will never had an easy time in school. Okay, classes were fine, but socializing was tough. He just found it hard to open up and speak sometimes. When he was about to chime in a remark, he'd find self-doubt spreading through his chest like icy water and the words would get lodged in his throat. Mike and his friends had always been understanding, and their warmth had melted his fear, but Will wasn't sure if he would be able to make friends if he were forced to do so without the help of Dustin, Lucas, and Mike.
Still, what was he to do? He wants to go to university with them, but everyone has different career aspirations. Dustin wants to be a science teacher. He says that Mr. Clark inspired him. Lucas wants to be a cop. He claims he wants to help the underdogs. Will thinks Lucas was inspired by Chief Hopper, but that he doesn't want to admit it. Mike wants to be a psychiatrist. Mike points out that after Will' s stint in the Upside-Down and his poor treatment by the doctors, Max's abusive brother and toxic home, and his parents divorce, he realized the importance of mental health and having someone willing to listen. He isn't sure what Max wants to become. She hasn't really talked about it a lot. While Will, he wants to become an artist. Well, he'd like to become one. It seems like a daunting task and Will isn't sure if he'll be able to earn a living, but he just wants to be able to share his artwork and he hopes that some of the themes he covers might help out people in his predicament. All of them have different goals, and now Will worries that after Senior year they will all separate and grow distant.
Mike's POV
Mike noticed how Will began to come up with excuses to avoid hanging out with everyone and he was starting to worry. It had begun in Junior year and so far it had just worsened. Will didn't seem to have any new friends and he certainly wasn't dating anyone. Heck, Mike had never seen Will express interest in any girl. Sure, he danced with girls if they asked him to at the school dances, but Will never seemed to want anything more than that.
It makes Mike wonder if all the jokes about Will being a fairy are true. He doesn't care if Will likes guys though. Will is one of his best friends; Mike loves him like a brother. Plus, Will understands Mike, and he tries to understand whatever problem Mike has when he comes to Will asking for advice. When they were younger, Mike had been closer to Lucas. They lived next door to each other and both of them had similar interests and kind of absent parents. But as they had grown up, Lucas and Mike had just started to separate. They were still friends, but Mike didn't feel like he could talk to Lucas about everything. For instance, when Will had gone missing and they were looking for him, Mike had seen a girl with a shaved head in the pouring rain. Mike had tried to point her out to Lucas and Dustin, but Lucas had adamantly refused to look and had claimed Mike was just imagining things.
Mike had never told Lucas or Dustin this, but he had snuck out and gone back to that spot later in order to find her. He had brought a blanket and some eggo waffles. With three kids, his house was stock full of them, and he knew his mom wouldn't notice missing waffles. Plus, he could just lie and pretend he had given them to Will. Since Will's mom had been a relatively new divorcee at that point, she had still been frantically trying to figure things out and Mike's mom was often trying to force food on skinny Will. In hindsight, Mike wonders if his mom had identified with Will's mom and was hoping that if she divorced his dad, then someone would help her out too.
He had wandered through the forest for what felt like hours until he found the girl huddled in Castle Byers. He'd knocked and murmured hello in order to not freak her out, but when he crawled in her eyes were full of fear, like a feral animal. He'd then plopped the waffles down between them and had tried to ask her questions. When that barely seemed to work, he had just begun to talk. Her eyes had glimmered then and she seemed interested, so he told her stories about Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, his toys, his friends, and his family. Her attention had wandered, but she seemed to like listening. She interrupted with a lot of questions about the meanings of various words, and only kids who liked school ever did that in class, so Mike had assumed that meant she was interested. After a while she had relaxed enough that Mike could hand her the blanket without her wincing away. He still wonders what sort of abuse she must have experienced in order to feel that terrified of a boy as gawky as himself.
At first, he had tried to encourage her to come home with him. It was raining heavily and she looked drenched. Each time he had asked she had shaken her head "no" though, so Mike just scotched closer to her and shared the blanket's warmth instead. Eventually they both fell asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. That next day he skipped school. He wasn't sure why, but he just felt drawn to this girl. She didn't say much, but she had this magnetic charisma and he couldn't stop trying desperately to impress her.
After giving her his watch as a promise that he'd return, Mike had slunk back home to grab some food and a few more blankets, but when he had gotten back to Castle Byers, she was gone. At first he wondered if she had just left, but then he had noticed the blood. He'd followed the crimson splotches. His heart had punched against his ribs and his lungs had clenched: breathing became a battle. He forced his feet forwards and was greeted by the collapsed bodies of people in uniform. Frantically, he had looked around, but the strange, magnetic girl had disappeared.
Mike had searched for her for weeks. Sometimes he wondered if he had just imagined her. However, then he would look down at his empty wrist, it would confirm that she was real. He hoped she was alive. He never found her body though, so he likes to think that means that his magnet girl is out there somewhere wearing his watch and hopefully thinking about him too.
Somehow remembering the time he shared with her became a source of strength for Mike. He thinks it is thanks to her that he decided to apply to New York University. Alright, one of the reasons he was applying there was because he knows that Will wants to go to NYU as well, but he just wants to be a good friend. He worried about Will living practically on his own. Mike also wants to leave Hawkins.
After his parents had divorced, it felt like everyone in town besides his friends, Will's mom, Chief Hopper, and Max's parents had sided with his father. No one seemed to care that Mike's dad had never really been a great father and had certainly been a terrible husband. When he was younger, Mike had not noticed. He had assumed all dads napped constantly when they were home, muttered generic one word replies, and seemed to avoid their family as much as possible. However, after his parents' divorce, while Mike was also angry at his mom for deciding to tear apart their family, Nancy had pointed out how tough it had been on their mom. At first, he hadn't wanted to consider how tough it must have been for his mom, and he started sleeping over at either Will's house, Dustin's place, or with Lucas in order to avoid accepting that his family was falling apart. But Nancy forced him to confront the problem and grow up. She might have changed once she had started high school, but Nancy is still a good older sister.
But right now, Mike is working on an application to NYU and hoping that surprising Will with the news that he also plans to apply for NYU and maybe a few other schools in New York City will make his friend happier.
Dustin's POV
Over breakfast, Dustin's mom had handed him the heavy eggshell colored envelope with a content grin. During the college application process, she had seemed so excited and so sure that he'd get into his top choice university: NYU. Dustin wished he had her confidence. Instead, his stomach did flips while he tried to fight down the nausea by chewing on some plain toast. Maybe he'd ask Steve if he wanted to meet up, and they could open it together? Dustin wasn't sure he was prepared to open the envelope alone, but he doesn't want the other boys to realize how scared he feels.
Lucas and Max had it easy. Neither of them needed to apply for colleges. Ok, so Lucas technically needed to apply for the police academy, but it was obvious that Lucas would get accepted, so he didn't need to worry. Max had a waitress gig lined up in Los Angeles thanks to her childhood friends back in Cali and she planned to try and find a job being a stuntwoman driving cars in action movies. Dustin figures that most people cannot drive nearly as well as the daredevil MadMax herself. Besides, most people don't want to constantly put their lives for an adrenaline rush that pays their bills. Dustin certainly did not. No thank you. He prefers living, even if he doesn't have impressive stories of amazing exploits. So, MadMax would be hired pretty quickly.
Mike and Will were both applying for colleges too, but Mike aced all his classes and Will's drawings could make people cry. Dustin knew they had applied for NYU, so he had decided to apply too, but he doubted NYU would accept him. Who would want a small-town boy whose application essay had rambled on about curiosity voyages, discovery doors, and his middle school science teacher? He sounded geeky and lame. Gosh, Mike and Will would be accepted and he'd be left behind and forgotten. At least he had Steve. Oddly enough, they had become friends over the years and now Dustin thinks of Steve as his older brother.
…
At school Dustin bumps into Mike and Will before first period. Both of them are clutching envelopes with huge grins on their faces. He shifts his weight from his right foot to his left one and thinks of the envelope jammed into the front pocket of his backpack. His bag feels like he stuffed it full of bricks. Forcing a smile, Dustin walks up to them.
"Hey guys, you got your letters?" The words drop from his lips.
"Yeah, it's fantastic! Did yours arrive? Did you get in too?" Mike races through the questions and doesn't pause to breathe.
"Uh… Not yet. I sent mine in a tad later though, so maybe they just haven't gotten to it yet."
"Oh, ok. Well, I'm sure they'll accept you. Maybe we can try to be roommates? Nancy said she preferred renting her own apartment. I mean, that might be because she goes to an all-girls school and just needs a break from being surrounded by females sometimes, or because now she can live with Jonathan… But, I still think living off campus could be fun and I don't really want to live with Nancy and Jonathan and walk in on them anymore. That happened enough while they were in high school and at least pretending they didn't hook up all the time. Plus, I would rather have you guys as roommates than some stranger and the more of us living together the cheaper the rent, yeah?"
Mike was already caught up planning for the future. He has that same frantic energy from when he organizes D&D games. Usually Dustin likes how excited Mike could get about the things he cared about, but right now Dustin really just needs to call Steve and see if he even got accepted. He doesn't want to be the one to pop Mike's bubble just yet. Plus, he sees how enthusiastically Will has been nodding throughout Mike's proposal, and the blush when Mike mentioned walking in on Jonathan and Nancy. Seems like both of them have witnessed that unfortunate sight. Dustin likes Nancy. She's always been sweet to him and even danced with him once when he was turned down by another girl. Still, he wouldn't want to be roommates. The probability of walking in on her at an importune time seems pretty high. Plus, inviting Steve to come up and visit would be awkward. He'd been there when Steve and Nancy's relationship had begun to fall apart and he saw how much that had hurt Steve. Dustin couldn't reopen those wounds. Why was he thinking of this though? He obviously wouldn't get accepted. He better start preparing to break the news to Mike and Will.
….
After school Dustin races home and calls Steve's home phone. When that fails, he bites his lip and begins dialing Steve's work number instead. At first, Steve seems confused to hear from him, but when Dustin spits out the words NYU and letter, Steve seems to grasp the situation. Steve ought to be getting out of work in an hour or so, but he promises that he'll talk to his Dad, explain the situation, and probably be at Dustin's house in thirty minutes or so. In the meantime, Dustin stomps back and forth across his living room while his mom watches television and smiles at him.
"I'm telling you, the letter only holds good news. They accepted you, dear" she starts to explain.
"How can you know that? How can you be so sure?" Dustin yells.
"Honey, you are a treasure. I have not seen many children with a heart as warm as yours and the dream you wrote about in your college admissions essays is genuine and touching. You are also a lot smarter and more extraordinary than you seem to realize. I don't need to read that letter to know they accepted you."
After hearing his mom say that, Dustin slumps onto the sofa next to her love chair with a sheepish grin and watches TV with her while he waits for Steve to arrive.
A few minutes later, there's a quick knock on the door and Dustin rushes up to open it. Steve walks in with a grin and looks around.
"So, I brought cake to celebrate the good news" he gestures back to his car, "May I see the letter of acceptance?"
"I don't know if I got it in; I doubt it" Dustin murmurs.
"Kid, you're a genius. In middle school, you were explaining things scientific mumbo jumbo that I had never heard of and I was a senior at that point."
"You weren't exactly an ideal student" Dustin quips.
"Dustin, don't speak to Steve like that! Apologize..." his mom begins to lecture.
"No, it's alright. That's how we joke around. Besides, he isn't exactly lying" Steve laughs.
Dustin's mom hesitates for a few seconds, but then just smiles and offers to go fetch the cake while they open the letter.
Steve and Dustin crouch over the coffee table in front of the muted television. Dustin practically throws the letter at Steve, who then begins to carefully open the letter with a letter opener he smuggled from the office for the occasion. Dustin covers his eyes and demands Steve read the letter and tell him the news, so Steve scans through the letter while Dustin watches him through the slits between his fingers. Steve pauses, he takes a deep inhale, and pats Dustin on the shoulder. Dustin starts to shake and his desperate smile begins to dissipate.
"Well, Dustin, I got to tell you…" Steve seems to be trying to think of a nice way to tell Dustin that he better start preparing to be left behind by all his friends as they go out and explore the world. Dustin braces for the news.
"That you got in, little man! I am so proud of you! You know that your mom and I will have to go up there and visit you now, yeah? Plus, I can be sort of clingy, so you better out your social life on pause and call me occasionally, ok?"
Dustin just sits there for a minute or two. He sees his mom quietly comes inside with the cake and set it on kitchen table. Steve pats him on the shoulder and then walks up to her and seems to be telling Dustin's mom the news. She shrieks and starts jumping up and down. N Mews the second hisses and runs to hide under the couch beneath Dustin's feet. He slowly begins to blink and then a toothy grin explodes across his face. He's going to NYU! He's got to tell the boys!
This is the poem that this series is named after. I find it beautiful and touching.
The Best Time Of The Day By Raymond Carver Cool summer nights. Windows open. Lamps burning. Fruit in the bowl. And your head on my shoulder. These the happiest moments in the day. Next to the early morning hours, of course. And the time just before lunch. And the afternoon, and early evening hours. But I do love these summer nights. Even more, I think, than those other times. The work finished for the day. And no one who can reach us now. Or ever.