Mike Wheeler was sitting down at a desk. He looked down at his test that had been given to him thirty minutes ago. Finished, he thought. Mike was just waiting for the final bell to ring. He had ten more minutes until school would be over for the day. He had survived his first week of high school, last week. This was his second. He couldn't wait to call El and hear her voice. It had been three weeks since they moved away, and Mike missed all of them, El a bit more though. As Mike waited, he looked around until he found a window. But he couldn't concentrate on the fascinating features of the outdoors.
Mike had his mind on a certain girl. Mike turned his attention to his watch, Eight minutes left, he thought. Finally the time got the best of Mike and he started tapping his foot and doodling on his quiz paper. When Mike looked back at his watch once more there was two minutes of class left, and everyone was packing up. Mike was already packed up, so he was ready to go. Finally the bell rang, and Mike bolted up out of his seat, put his quiz into the Quiz Tray, and left the classroom.
Mike finally made it to his locker and he quickly searched his locker for that paper. "Are you looking for that paper again?" A voice said. Mike was startled by the voice, until he looked at his red-headed best friend. "I know I have it, I know I brought it." Mike said, more to himself than Max. Mike moved his hands all through his locker. Nothing!, he thought. "Shit!" Mike said. "Are you sure you didn't leave it at home again?" Max asked. "No, I was sure I brought it. But, damn, I must have left it, again." he responded. Mike put his head in his hands. "Well, lucky you have me." Max said. Mike looked up and saw the redhead holding up a slip of paper. "But how?" Mike asked. "I saw it slip out of your pocket last period." Max said. "Max Mayfield, you are a life saver!" Mike said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Well, thats a bit of an overstatement, but yeah. Here you go." Max said, handing Mike the slip of paper. "Thanks."he said. They started walking towards the exit. "So what did you write her this time?" Max asked. Mike knew she was talking about the slip of paper, and who it was for. "You didn't read it?" Mike asked. "No. It's mine." Max stated. For once Mike was surprised by Max's actions.
She always read the little papers he brought to school or had forgotten to bring. Mike opened the paper to reveal a poem written by himself for El. He handed the paper to Max. While Max read, Mike had memorized the whole poem, so he read it to her. "'One day it sprouted, it blossomed, into something beautiful. That beautiful things was a simple, plain, rose. That rose sat there for months. Until one day a boy came to the field, and he looked around for a flower, and spotted the rose. He thought the rose was beautiful, just like his love. That boy was me and in that moment you were that beautiful rose, you still are.'" Mike ended.
Max was surprised by this, Mike could never remember what he wrote. When Max didn't say anything, he took the paper and started thinking, What if she doesn't like it?. He was a good writer, he was the best in his class. So why was Max not talking? "Maybe I should put more, you know, to make it more romantic." Mike said, shakily. Did Max not like this one? Mike didn't know. "No, Mike. It's fine. Well it's not only okay, it's very well written." Max said. Mike let out a breath as they walked toward the others and their bikes. "So you like it?" he asked. "It's one of my favorites, out of the twelve you've written." Max said. Mike was happy that at least one of his friends' liked his writing. Lucas said it was okay, Will said it wasn't is cup of tea, and Dustin, well, was being Dustin and said nothing.
"Finally, I thought you two would never make it out." Dustin said. "Yeah, I agree. One week in that hellhole, and it is like being swallowed up." Lucas agreed. Dustin, Lucas, and Max got on their bikes. "Aren't you coming Mike?" Dustin asked. "Oh no, not today." Mike replied. "Why not?" Dustin asked, obviously oblivious of the day. "I know why." Lucas said, finally realizing what day it was. "What is it." Dustin asked Lucas. "It's Wednesday, Dustin. Think about it. What has Mike been doing for the past two weeks, on a Wednesday?" Lucas explained. Dustin finally caught what Lucas was saying. A smile crept on Dustin's face. "You're going to send your weekly letter to El." Dustin said dreamily. Mike just stood there and rolled his eyes. "I guess that means we're not going to the arcade today." Max asked. "No, it doesn't mean that. I'll make it on time. I'll radio you if I can't." Mike said. "Well, we'll see you later man." Lucas said. "Bye, Lucas." Mike responded. Mike waved at his friends. When Mike saw nothing more of his friends' bikes, he ran into the school again to get an envelope.
" , what are you doing at school after hours?" asked the office secretary lady. "I need an envelope, please." Mike asked. He didn't know the secretary lady's name yet. "Again, it is the second time this week." she said. "I know. But I send a letter to my girlfriend every week, and I don't have an envelope." Mike explained. "All right, all right. Just give me a minute." the lady said, and she got up and left. As Mike waited he looked out of the office window and saw a boy walking. This boy was about Mike's height, but looked older. Mike scrunched his face in confusion, but that only lasted a second because the secretary lady came back with the envelope. "Will this satisfy you, ?" asked the secretary lady. "Yes, thank you." Mike said.
Mike rushed out the doors of the school so fast that he didn't see that two boys were spray painting his bike. Mike noticed this as he turned his attention to his bike. He walked up to the boys and said, "Hey, what are you doing?" The boys turned around and looked at Mike. Both boys were about his height, and both had black hair. But one had brown eyes, wore glasses, and had flattened black hair, and the other had grey eyes and spiked hair. The one with the spiked hair was the first to talk. "What does it look like to you, Wheeler?". "Um, it looks like vandalizing. That's what it looks like." Mike said, matter-of-factly. "Yeah so." said the one with glasses. "That's illegal." Mike stated. "Who says?" challenged the spiky haired boy. "The law, that's who says." Mike said, shoving the spiky haired boy away from his bike. But Mike heard one of the boys talk. "Oh! What is this?" one exclaimed. Mike turned around and saw that one of the boys had his poem to El. "Hey! Give that back! Now!" Mike demanded, almost yelling. "Into something beautiful….look at this guy, Zack." said the one with glasses. Mike felt a burning in his chest. He knows what this is, he felt it before. Mike felt it when El was gone, and he didn't know if she was alive. It was anger, no it was rage.
Before Mike knew what he was doing, he pushed the one that 'Glasses' had called Zack. But Mike was not thinking of fighting. "Oh, you're dead Wheeler." 'Glasses' said. Mike felt a sharp sting on his cheek. Mike stumbled over to his bike, but he felt a tug on the back of his shirt. He was being pulled back by one of the boys. Mike tried throwing a punch, but he missed and instead got a kick to the stomach. This time, Mike fell down. He may have been taller, but not that much stronger. The one that was called Zack got on top of Mike, and started throwing punches in the direction of Mike's face. Mike felt something warm and liquid in his mouth. Then Mike felt a sharp pain in his ribs. Is this what Steve felt when he got beat up? Mike was sure 'Glasses' was kicking him in the ribs.
"Hey, he's had enough, Zack." Mike heard someone say. He wasn't sure who it was, but they had just saved him. Mike felt a sharp pain in his ribs once more. He could barely get up. But the person that saved him, took Zack's place on top of him. Mike finally saw who it was. He could remember the blue eyes and the curly brown hair anywhere. Troy Hurst was standing over Mike. Mike remembered what Troy had done to him and Dustin. Troy had made Mike jump off a cliff to save Dustin. Troy tried to make Mike angry while El was gone. But Mike had gave him a big punch to the nose. Troy had not messed with Mike since then.
"You're looking taller, Wheeler." Troy said. "Where's your little girlfriend." Troy said with a laugh. Mike tried to get up, but Troy pushed him down once more. "I wouldn't try that. But I do have a proposal for you." Troy said. "I don't want to hear your proposal." Mike spat at Troy. "Well, you see, you're going to have to hear my proposal or, you see my boys over there. Zack and Alex will beat the shit out of you, until you accept." Troy said. "You join my gang and we won't hurt you again. I'll give you a day to think on it." Troy proposed. He got off of Mike and said, "You might want to get that checked out."
Mike finally made it home and ran to the bathroom. He spit the blood out of his mouth for the fifth time. There was a big bruise on the side of his face, along with a small gash, that was bleeding. "Goddamnit!" Mike yelled in frustration. And he hit the sink a few times with his fists. Mike then felt a pain in his knuckles. He looked down to see that his knuckles were bruised and bleeding. This made Mike even angrier. But he cleaned himself up and went to his room.
As Mike lay down, he thought of Troy's proposal. "Screw his goddamn proposal." Mike muttered to himself. He wasn't going to join whatever the hell Troy was in. The bully who bullied him and his friends, and made fun of Will while Will was missing. No the hell not. "I'm not joining." Mike said to himself. Then Mike remembered that the others were awaiting his call. Mike shot up very quickly, which ended with a sharp pain from his ribs. Which he ignored, and picked up his SuperComm. "Hello, anyone there, over?" Mike asked.
When no one picked up, he set his SuperComm down. After about three minutes passed, someone picked up. "Hello, Mike are you there, over?" Lucas's voice came through Mike's SuperComm. Mike reached over and grabbed the walkie and said, "Yeah, I'm here. I don't think I'll be able to go to the arcade today, over." "What do you mean, 'I come to the arcade today', over?" Lucas asked. "I fell off my bike on the way home and landed on the ground, that's why Lucas, over." Mike said through the walkie. "Okay, I guess. I'll tell the others. Bye Mike. Over and out." Lucas said through the SuperComm. After that Mike was alone, in complete silence. Mike didn't know how long he had been lying in bed, but he soon drifted to sleep.
Mike was waken up with the sharp pound on his bedroom door. "Mike, open up." said a familiar voice. Mike sat up and looked at his watch, he been asleep for about 30 minutes. "Mike, if you don't open this damn door. I swear. Mike!" Max's voice sounded behind his bedroom door. How the hell did she get into my house?, Mike wondered. But instead of sitting in bed wondering, Mike got up and opened his bedroom door. "Hey Max. What's up?" Mike said. But stupid him, he forgot to cover up his bruised face. "What the hell?" Max questioned. She reached put to pull Mike's face closer to her. When Max got a good look she let go of Mike. "Who did this to you?" Max questioned.
But Mike just pulled her into his room and asked his own question, "How did you get into my house?" "Your mom let me in." Max said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What! My mom, she's home?" Mike asked. When Max shook her head, Mike just about had a heart attack. "Holy shit! She can't know about this. Damn it, she's going to never let me out of her sight again!" Mike exclaimed, in sheer terror. "Mike! Calm down, just tell me what happened." Max said. "What do you mean, I thought Lucas told you." Mike responded. "He did, but I thought there was more." Max replied. Mike hung his head in defeat. "Okay, but you can not tell my mom. Promise?" Mike said. "Okay, I promise." Max replied. "What I told Lucas was a lie." Mike explained. "I knew it! You are usually up to going to the arcade." Max said. Mike nodded his head in agreement. "I didn't want to worry you guys, so I lied." Mike said, feeling ashamed.
Mike looked to the ground, did he want to tell Max the actual truth? He didn't know what to do. But in an instant, Mike knew what he had to do. "What really happened was, as I was riding home to drop my bag off, I crossed the street. And I swear, there were no cars. But it came out of nowhere. A car was speeding towards me, and it hit me. But the driver must have seen me, because he slowed down. But the impact hurt." Mike explained the lie. He felt awful for lying to his best friend, but he didn't need her to worry...as much. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Max asked. "I'm fine, but I landed on my face. That's how I got this." Mike explained, pointing to the side of his face. "Where is the driver?" Max asked, angrily. "I didn't get a good look, but he did carry me over to the sidewalk." Mike said. Max relaxed a bit, but there was still a lit fire there. "Do you need help patching that up?" Max asked. "Yeah, I guess." Mike mumbled. The next thing Mike knew was he was getting even more cleaned up by Max.
"Ow!" Mike whined again, for the second time. "Oh, stop your whining you little girl." Max said. "I'm not- Ow- whining." Mike said, through his pain. "Yes you are. I'm not even halfway done, and you're crying like a wuss." Max said, putting a hydrogen peroxide-filled cloth on the side of his face. Mike jumped once the cloth touched his face. "Goddamnit! That hurts." Mike shrieked. "Shut the hell up Mike," Max said, "You don't want your mom to come up here. Do you?" "No." Mike said. "Then shut up so we can be done." Max said. Mike just sat there and let Max clean his face up.
He had a usual 'Ow' in between the hydrogen peroxide-filled cloth touching his face. And he would get a look from Max, the look telling him to shut up. But after a half hour of cleaning up, Max was finally finished. "Alright. I'm done." Max said, the tiredness in her voice. Mike would have told her about the searing pain in his ribs, but he could see that she was tired. Also she had already done enough for him. "Thanks Max." Mike replied. "You really are a lifesaver." he said. Max just gave a tired smile. To be honest, Mike did try to help within that 30 minutes. But Max told him to hold still and shut up.
A few minutes later, Mike and Max were explaining to what happened to Mike. "Where is the driver. I would like to get him arrested." exclaimed. "Mom it's okay. He carried me to the sidewalk and he brought my bike over as well." Mike said. "That does not excuse his actions. He ran over you, and was going over the speed limit." said angrily. "Mom, really. I'm fine. I'll be more careful. I'll even wear a helmet." Mike said. "Are you sure?" asked. "Yes mom, I'm fine." Mike replied, with a smile. "Well, fine. Thank you, Max. For cleaning him up." said to Max. "Oh, no problem. I should get going." Max said. "Are you sure? Can't you stay for dinner?" asked. "Oh no, sorry. I have to get home soon." Max explained. "I'll walk her home, mom. If that's fine with you?" Mike asked, looking at Max. "Yeah, that's fine." Max said, shaking her head.
Mike stopped in front of Max's house. "Well, I guess this it." Max said dramatically. Mike rolled his eyes at her. "Thank you. For everything Max." Mike said. "No problem." Max replied. Mike gave her an awkward hug. They were still awkward towards each other, but being best friends for the past eight months, Mike thought she deserved a hug. When she hugged him though, it was a tight awkward hug, and she was crushing his ribs. The ribs that might be broken. Mike kept in the wince that almost escaped him. He sometimes forgot how strong she really was. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" Max asked. "Oh, yeah. Definitely." Mike replied. Max walked up to her door, but turned around to still see Mike standing there. He waved to her, and she waved back. She finally turned around and entered Hell.
As Mike saw Max enter her home, he turned around and headed home. Another hour and half walk would be fun. Mike didn't like running but if he was going to be on time for dinner, he might as well. With a whinny sigh, Mike picked up his pace and started moving his arms.
When he got home his mom was setting everything on the table. Mike bent over to catch his breath. He had to do this eight times on the way home. His ribs were on fire, air wasn't getting to them quickly. "Michael, did you run all the way home?" his mom asked. "Did- didn't wa- want to be l- late." Mike said with big breaths.
Dinner went well, Mike who always listened and ate silently, was lucky he was a fast eater. He made way to his room, happy the rest of his family (dad,Nancy, and Holly) didn't notice his still forming bruise.
When he lied down, Mike instantly fell asleep. His dreams wandered to a girl, a very specific girl. A soft amber-eyed, curly-golden-haired brunette.