Jan. 4, 1985

Chris nervously checked his backpack one more time. He couldn't help himself, even though nothing would change since he last checked it five minutes earlier. Once he was finally convinced he had everything he needed for the day, he stood up, picked up the backpack and walked out of his and Will's room.

He walked into the kitchen, setting his backpack next to Will's on the counter before he joined Will at the dining table. As soon as Chris sat down, Jonathan hurried over and loaded the plate sitting in front of Chris with eggs and bacon.

"Thanks," Chris said quietly, giving Jonathan a smile.

"Of course, buddy," replied Jonathan as he carried the pot back over to the stove to cook his own food. "You gotta have a full stomach for your first day of school!"

"Yes, you do!" said Joyce as she walked into the kitchen, straightening her outfit. She grabbed an apple from the counter and took a bite out of it before she walked over to the table. She swallowed quickly so she could talk to Chris and Will.

"How are you feeling, honey?" she asked Chris, the concern evident in her voice.

"A little nervous, but I'll be all right," Chris replied.

"Well the good news is you have most of your classes with Will, so you won't be alone all day," Joyce said kindly as she patted Chris on the head. She turned to Will. "You make sure Chris has everything he needs today, OK?"

"I will, Mom," said Will, surprisingly not sounding annoyed that he was being told to do this for probably the hundredth time. "We're gonna stick together in our classes and we'll hang out with everybody else at lunch."

"Good. Being a new student at school isn't easy, so I want to make sure you're comfortable all day, Chris."

"I'll be fine, Aunt Joyce, promise," Chris said, giving Joyce a smile, which seemed to act as a calming agent for her.

"OK, but you let me know if anyone bothers you at school, you hear?"

"I will, Aunt Joyce, but you don't have to worry about me. I'll be OK, I promise."

"All right then, I'll shut up about it," Joyce said, giving both the boys a kiss on the head. "I'd better get going," she added, walking over to Jonathan and kissing him on the cheek. "You boys have a good day at school. I'll see you all tonight for dinner."

Once Joyce had walked out of the house and Jonathan continued cooking his own breakfast, Chris and Will continued eating quietly until Chris perked up, looking amused.

"What?" Will asked.

"Does your Mom forget that aside from my way with words that gets me out of any given situation, I'm also a black belt?"

Will grinned at him.

"Probably," he said. "But even if she did remember, do you think she'd stop worrying about you all day?"

"Fair point," said Chris, chuckling.


By the end of the day, Chris felt as if he would settle in nicely to Hawkins Middle School. During the two classes he didn't have with Will — photography and creative writing — he had already made some new friends who shared his interests. After their last class of the day — algebra — Chris and Will walked toward their lockers together.

"Well, how was it?" Will asked expectantly.

"It was fine, Aunt Joyce," Chris replied sarcastically, causing Will to giggle. "No, but seriously, it's been a good day, I think I'll fit in here just fine."

"That's great!" Will exclaimed as they reached their lockers and opened them. "How are you feeling about that quiz we're gonna take in algebra on Friday, though?"

"Well, we didn't have quizzes like that back at my old school, but hopefully I can quickly learn everything and get it stored in my brain before Friday, otherwise I'll be screwed!"

The boys laughed as Mike, Dustin and Lucas walked up to them, their backpacks on their backs.

"You guys ready?" Mike asked when he reached them.

"Yeah, we're coming," Will said, shutting his locker. "That is, if Chris doesn't forget his English notebook."

"Funny," Chris said sarcastically. "It's been in my backpack all day, it'd be next to impossible to forget."

"Yeah, but you're special," Will laughed.

"Oh, shove off," Chris replied, smiling in spite of his comment as he closed his locker.

"So, anyway," said Mike, grinning at the both of them. "Let's get on out of here."

"Yeah, we're gonna meet Max over by the door by our bikes," Lucas said excitedly. "We don't want to keep her waiting."

Dustin mimed vomiting when Lucas said that. Lucas punched him on the arm, but Chris caught Dustin's eye and gave him a smile. The boys all started to walk down the hallway, heading toward the east exit.

"How you like Hawkins Middle so far, Chris?" Dustin asked.

"So far so good," said Chris. "Met a couple of people in photography and creative writing who seem pretty cool. And the classes don't seem too hard, yet."

"Well at least you didn't see have to see Troy or James," said Lucas. "Those assholes didn't seem to want to show themselves at all today."

"What did you say, Sinclair?" demanded a voice from behind them.

The boys came to a halt in the hallway. They turned around slowly to face the source of the voice and came face-to-face with Troy and James, both of whom looked rather angry.

"Shit, you spoke too soon, Lucas," Dustin muttered.

"Shut up!" Troy demanded. Dustin closed his mouth, looking worried.

"Stay calm," Chris whispered, barely moving his lips.

"Who the fuck are you? Another faggot?" Troy asked, looking at Chris with an angry face.

Chris simply stared back at Troy with a blank expression on his face. He took a couple of breaths to make sure he was centered, but would not give Troy the satisfaction of an answer.

"What, too stupid to answer?"

"You know, he kinda looks like Byers," James observed. "Maybe they're related. What happened, Byers, did you find your long-lost brother or something?"

"He's my cousin," Will whispered, grabbing onto Chris' arm because of his nerves. Chris patted Will's hand to reassure him, but didn't take his eyes off of Troy and James.

"So you're Chris Byers!" Troy said triumphantly. "I knew there was some connection to Byers! So, you're an orphan now, huh, Chris Byers?"

Chris glared back at Troy, but didn't answer him. Troy looked amused.

"What, too afraid to talk about your dead parents, Chris Byers? Come on, tell me about Mommy and Daddy!"

The rest of the party looked at Chris nervously, but his expression hadn't changed. Even James looked uncomfortable with Troy's taunting. Finally, Chris spoke in a calm, collected tone.

"Ah, trying the old 'pick on the new kid' routine, eh Troy?" he said. "Too bad you come unprepared for such a conversation. I could outwit you in a second, kiddo, so why don't you give up now and just let us leave?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Troy demanded.

"And you've just proved my point," Chris replied, smiling. "If you couldn't even keep up in that conversation, you certainly couldn't keep up with me in an actual conversation, so if there's nothing else we can help you with, we'll be on our way."

Chris turned with the rest of the boys, who were all beaming at him. They walked a few steps before Mike lurched backward as Troy grabbed him from behind, pulling him away from the boys.

"Mike!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Stay the hell back!" Troy ordered as he wrapped an arm around Mike's throat. Mike struggled to breathe against Troy.

"Chris, do something!" Lucas shouted.

"You can't do anything, Chris Byers!" Troy retorted.

Chris calmly shrugged his backpack off his shoulder and dropped it on the ground. He took a step forward before Will grabbed onto his arm, stopping him.

"No, don't!" Will whispered. "I don't want you to get hurt!"

"I'll be fine, Will," Chris said, patting Will gently on the arm. He looked directly in Will's eyes and Will finally nodded, letting go of Chris.

Chris turned to Troy and started to approach him.

"Let him go," he said simply.

"Yeah, maybe he's right, Troy, you should just let him go," James said nervously. Troy turned to him, scowling, and used a hand to smack him across the face. James fell to the ground with a grunt.

"I said let him go," Chris said with a snarl.

Troy's facial expression didn't change as he heard Chris' tone become angry.

"Beat it, Fag Lover, or you're next," he taunted.

Chris' eyes narrowed before he lunged forward and grabbed Troy's shoulder and back. Troy stumbled and released Mike as Chris pushed him. Mike scrambled to his feet and ran back over to Will, Dustin and Lucas. Will pulled Mike into a hug as they watched what happened next.

Once he had regained his balance, Troy raised his fists. Chris stood in front of him calmly, waiting. Suddenly, Troy leaned forward to punch him and Chris stepped aside. Troy's punch landed on the lockers behind Chris. Troy screamed out in pain and looked at his fist, which had turned purple; he had broken his hand. The two lockers he hit had dented slightly.

Meanwhile, Chris had calmly walked around Troy to stand in front of another set of lockers. Troy shook off the pain and faced Chris again, ready to hit him with his undamaged hand. He let out a scream as he lunged to punch Chris, but Chris stepped aside again and Troy punched two more lockers, hurting his second hand.

Troy's eyes widened as he stared at his second hand, which had already started swelling. Before he could do anything else, Chris grabbed his right shoulder and forced Troy to the ground on his knees. With his left hand holding Troy's hair roughly, Chris raised his right hand, which curled into a fist. Troy stared at him with a frightened expression on his face.

"Mercy is for the weak," Chris said in a tone barely louder than a whisper. "I do not train to be merciful. A man who faces me is an enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy."

With that, Chris let out a scream that sounded like a battle cry. Troy shut his eyes tightly when he saw Chris' hand move toward his face. Just before his fist reached Troy's face, Chris stopped his scream and his hand, which he opened as if he were gonna karate chop Troy's face. Troy opened his eyes and stared at Chris' hand, waiting.

Chris grinned and turned his hand, giving Troy a hard squeeze on the nose.

"Honk," he said in a childish tone.

Troy's eyes rolled into his head as Chris let him go and he collapsed onto the ground. Chris turned around and looked at Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas. They were all staring at him, looking shocked and somewhat amused. Chris smiled at them and gave them a wink before he hurried to them and picked up his backpack again.

"You all right?" Chris asked, looking at Mike with concern in his eyes.

Mike nodded at him.

"Yeah," he said looking at Chris with a bemused expression. "Thanks, Chris."

"Don't mention it," Chris said as he turned to Will and pulled him into a hug. Will held him tightly before they broke apart.

"Jesus, Chris, don't ever scare me like that again," Will demanded, giving Chris a smile despite still feeling terrified.

"Oh, that was nothing, Will," Chris replied with a chuckle. "Troy simply underestimated me. He won't try that again."

"How do you know?" asked Lucas.

"Look around," Chris said. "A good chunk of the student body saw me humiliate Troy. You seriously think he's gonna try and mess with us again after that?"

The boys all shook their heads as they kept walking down the hallway, the east exit just a few feet away.

"God damn, Chris, you kick some ass!" Dustin exclaimed as they reached the exit. "You're crazy enough to be on El's level!"