Across from his therapist, Will sits slumped in a large green chair, his mind clouded with memories of the past few months. His therapist, a middle-aged brunette woman wearing a pair of purple glasses, watches him without saying a word. This is his fourth session here, and although he doesn't want to admit it, talking to someone whom he isn't afraid will judge him has brought a bit of relief to his life. Not that he's delved into too much, but at least he knows if he does say something depressing, he's not going to receive those pitiful looks he gets from everyone else.
The ticking of the clock jars him from his thoughts. He turns his attention to its antique design. His therapist follows his gaze. "What interests you about my clock?"
Cheeks red, Will looks to her. "Oh, I don't know."
"I've noticed you looking at it in our previous sessions as well."
"I have?"
Her eyes focus on his. "Are you worried about the amount of time we have to speak?"
"I don't know. Not really." He glances back at the clock. "I don't really think much of it when I look at it."
"What are you thinking of?"
He shrugs. "Just everything. School, my friends, my family."
"Last week, you mentioned a fight you had with your mother. Did you want to talk more about that?"
"Oh, that was just a misunderstanding." When he realizes she's waiting for him to elaborate, his shoulders slump. Mentioning those assholes who keep going after him and El makes his blood boil. Even just thinking about them. "It's just... these people at school. They keep messing with me and my sister. We got in a fight at school last week, but they put all the blame on us. My mom was just angry since she thought I started the fight even though I didn't, and she's already annoyed that my grades aren't good."
"Did you tell your mother how you felt?"
He furrows his eyebrows. "About the fight? Yeah, El and I explained everything to her. But then she called the principal."
"How did that make you feel?"
"I don't know. Bad. Those jerks won't leave us alone now since they got in trouble, and they know that we told on them."
"Did you think your mother was trying to protect you by calling the principal?"
"Of course. I mean... I'm not mad at her. I know she thinks she's doing what's best for us, but... I don't know." A warmth burns in his chest. Thinking about those assholes makes him want to burn the whole place down. Shifting his gaze to the carpet, he shakes his head. "I want to talk about something else."
She watches him for a moment, hands clasped together, resting back in her chair. "Okay." She gives a slight nod. "What do you want to talk about?"
Settling down, Will picks at the fabric on the arm of the chair. The heaviness of the past few months weighs on his mind, but he pushes the burden away. "I don't know."
"Have you been having nightmares?"
"I have them every night still. It's hard to sleep."
"And is it the same general ideas? Your friends and family being hurt. Someone chasing after you."
He nods.
"How has keeping a journal been working for you?"
"Fine, I guess. I write in it every night before I go to bed."
"That's good. Do you think it's been helping you?"
He shrugs. "Maybe. It's nice to be able to write my thoughts down, I guess."
"I know your birthday is coming up this weekend."
"Saturday, yeah." The thought of that day brings that awful feeling in the pit of his stomach back, the one which was all-too-familiar these past few months.
"Are you looking forward to it?"
Sighing, he shifts in the chair. "I guess so. My best friend's coming over to celebrate."
"That's good, right?" When Will doesn't answer, she goes on, "How are you feeling about it?"
God awful, that's how. And that's how he's been feeling for weeks. He lets out a breath. "I'm not feeling so great about it."
"Why is that?"
"Well... my friend – Mike – he had a bad accident happen to him a couple months ago, and I haven't seen or spoken to him since. I mean, I asked his sister to talk to him for me, but I haven't actually talked to him. I'm just a little nervous for this weekend because I... I feel pretty awful about not talking to him."
"What do you think is the reason you didn't speak to him since his accident?"
"I don't know." His stomach aches like he ate rotten meat. If his throat wasn't clamped shut right now, he would probably puke all over the carpet. Taking in a shaky breath, he clasps his hands on his lap. "Our last conversation wasn't exactly good... I guess I – I sort of feel like if I hadn't spoken to him, what happened to him never would have happened."
"Do you feel as if speaking to him again will bring about another accident?"
"I don't know what I feel anymore," he mumbles.
"That's okay. Figuring out your feelings can be tough." She waits a couple seconds before leaning forward. "Do you have plans for what you're doing this weekend?"
Will lifts a shoulder. "We're gonna go to the arcade probably. Maybe get food."
"That's good."
"Should I apologize to Mike?" he asks in a small voice. "For what I did?"
She looks to him with a sympathetic smile. "It's up to you. I think it may be a good idea, so both of you understand what's going on."
Looking down, Will nods. "Okay."
When their session is done and Will exits the office, his whole body is numb. Joyce gets to her feet from where she was sitting in a chair in the hallway and walks over to him, rubbing his arm. "How was it?"
"Same as usual." He follows her down the hall, trying not to think about the coming weekend.
"Did she tell you to keep journaling?"
"Yeah, she thinks it's good for me to write down whatever I don't want to tell people." They reach the stairwell and head down the steps.
"Has it been helping?"
Will shrugs. "I don't mind it." Pushing open the exit, they step out onto the sidewalk and into the lights of the city.
Joyce squeezes his shoulder. "I hope you know you can always come to me if you need to talk about anything."
"I know, Mom."
They smile to each other and head home. On the car ride back, Will finds himself thinking about the upcoming weekend, although he wishes he wouldn't. Butterflies fill his stomach each time he thinks about it. Thinks about Mike. Ever since he moved, nothing's been the same. Everything feels like a struggle, like he has to put ten times the amount of energy into everything he does now. The move started out fine; he actually enjoyed it for a while. The freshness of it. Being able to recreate himself. Not having to worry about his reputation from Hawkins. He could start new. Be a different person. But the way things are going, he wishes he never agreed to move.
When they get home, Will heads straight to his room, hoping to rest for a moment and listen to music. He goes to open the door and spots El sitting on her bed. She stares out the window, completely still. Motionless. He watches her for a minute to figure out what she's doing. All she does is stare out the window. Figuring she's just taking a moment to think, Will slips into the room, hopping onto his bed and tossing his pillow at her. Flinching, she averts her attention away from the window, eyes wide, before relaxing when her eyes meet Will's. With a chuckle, Will grabs the pillow back from her. "What are you doing?"
"Just thinking." Setting the pillow down and taking a seat on the edge of his bed, Will watches her get to her feet. "Do you want to go see a movie?"
"Right now?"
She nods. "Then maybe we can go to the roller rink and make a plan to fight back, too."
Getting up from his bed, Will waves his finger. "Good idea." He and El grab their cash from their dresser before leaving the room and getting their jackets.
From the kitchen, Joyce glances up as Will and El put their shoes on. "Are you two going out?"
"We're going to see a movie and go to the Rollerlux," Will says, adjusting his foot in his shoe. "We'll be back around seven."
"Okay, have fun," Joyce calls as they head out the door.
The movie theater is fairly desolate when they arrive. Glancing at the list of movies showing, Will turns to El. "Which one do you wanna see?"
El studies the movies before gesturing to one with Molly Ringwald in the poster. "That one?"
"Okay." They walk up to the counter. "Two for Pretty In Pink, please."
Once they buy their tickets, with a large popcorn and a couple boxes of candy, the two of them head inside the theater, sliding into a set of seats near the back. As they watch the trailers playing, memories of last summer come to Will's mind. Sitting in the dark theater, Mike by his side. Stealing glances at each other, although they never admitted it at the time. Max and Lucas giggling to each other in the row in front of them. What he would give to go back in time.
He's pulled out of his thoughts by the laughter of a couple trotting past them and to a row ahead. The couple, a black-haired boy and platinum-haired girl, swagger down the aisle, confidence radiating off them. The boy is dressed in a band t-shirt, the sleeves ripped off, and distressed black jeans. The girl, the entirety of her ears baring glittering diamond studs, has a denim vest over a leather dress and ripped black stockings. Both are wearing heavy eyeliner and nose rings.
Staring at this breath-taking pair, an idea pops into Will's head. An idea that had been brewing in the back of his mind since Jonathan showed him Suburbia a few weeks earlier. A complete change in appearance.
He spins around to face El. "I have an idea," he whispers, a smile growing on his face. "A momentary one, but one that can help us figure out who we want to be."
El's eyebrows draw together. "What?"
"A makeover!" He squeezes her shoulder, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth and gesturing to the couple a few rows ahead. "Just look at those two. Their confidence. Like they don't give a shit what anyone thinks of them. It's perfect."
Leaning forward to get a better look at the couple, El frowns. "How will that help us figure out who we want to be?"
"Just think about it." He nudges her. "How are we supposed to figure out who we are if we don't try to change things up a bit? Experiment a little." Holding onto the seat in front of him, Will rocks forward. "Imagine it for a second. Walking into school like total badasses. No one will want to mess with us. Especially not those assholes."
A smile plays at El's mouth. "Total badasses."
They exchange grins before the movie starts, and they settle down. Excitement stays with Will throughout the entire movie and once they're out of the theater and on their way to the roller rink, he rattles off ideas to El. "We can get some of Jonathan's old shirts and rip the sleeves off," he says as they walk across the street. "I think there are some boxes in the closet of old clothes my mom wants to donate, too."
El crosses her arms. "How do we know those mouthbreathers won't mess with us more?"
"By changing up our look?" When El nods, Will goes on, "We don't really. But isn't it worth the try? I mean, of course we'll figure out a plan to get back at them, too, but since we've been wanting to find our style more anyways, changing things up can't hurt."
They reach Rollerlux Arcade and pull open the doors. The place is bustling with people, arcade games dinging and music playing over the speakers. Dodging out of the way of a group of older teenagers, Will and El duck over to the counter to get skates. "What about our hair?" El asks. "Should we do something with it?"
Before Will can answer, someone calls, "Well, if it isn't the dynamic duo themselves." A boy with a massive mohawk walks around them, a pair of skates in his hand, and ducks around the counter. After sticking the skates in a slot, he spins around, leans against the counter, and flashes Will and El a grin. He's a classmate of theirs, and one of the first people they met when they moved here. "What can I do for you today? Food, drinks? Couple pairs of skates?"
"Can we get skates?" El asks.
The boy, Daniel, smiles, and gives her a bow. "Of course, Miss Eleanor. Seven and nine?"
Will and El nod. Daniel grabs two pairs of skates and hands them each a pair. "Have fun."
They thank him, giving him the money for the skates before going to a bench to put them on. As Will ties his skates, El worries her lip. "Do you have any ideas to fight back?" She gets to her feet, balancing on the skates.
"I'm not sure." Once Will's skates are tied, he gets up and follows El out onto the rink. "We have to do it carefully. We don't want them to know it was us or else they'll have ten times more of a reason to beat us up... but then again, if they don't know it's us, then they'll think they can keep messing with us..."
"Why don't we just beat them up, too?"
"Did you forget what happened the last time we tried that?" He sighs, skating a little ahead of her. "Plus, do you know how to actually fight someone? 'Cause I sure don't. If you haven't noticed, I can't exactly throw a punch. And even if I did, it wouldn't make much of an impact against those jerks. They're, like, a foot taller than us and fifty pounds heavier."
She rolls her eyes. "Okay, so what are we supposed to do?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
They skate a couple laps around the rink until Will grabs onto the railing and turns to face El. "Are you thinking we should make a plan for tomorrow or should we wait until we come back from spring break?"
El puts her hands on her hips. "I'd like to send them a message as soon as we can."
"Yeah... me, too."
"You could figure out a way to use your powers against them."
Will frowns. "I can't-"
"You can do it without anyone realizing it's you. That's the point. You can still get back at them without risking someone finding out."
"But it is still a risk. That's why we should get back at them some other way. And besides, it won't change the fact that they'll still keep coming after us. We need to figure out a way to stop them from coming after us altogether."
"How?"
That's the problem. He has no clue. Over and over in his mind for months, he wondered how the hell they were supposed to stop these assholes from coming after them, and he couldn't figure it out. They tried physically fighting back, which lasted about half a second. They tried running away from them, but the bullies always caught up. The farthest they got from making a difference was getting the principal to reprimand them. That of course, only made things worse. El kept telling him to use his powers against them, but he can't bring himself to do it, especially knowing how disappointed Jonathan would be in him if he did. Some days, he worries Jonathan is scared of what Will's capable of, and if he's being honest, he's scared of what he could be capable of, too.
"It's six forty," El says, looking at the clock on the wall. "We should go home."
The two of them head back to the bench and change out of the skates. As they walk up to the counter, El says, "Do you think we could go to a store to find clothes or makeup?"
Will hums. "I'm not sure if we have enough money."
"Oh. Yeah."
From the back room, Daniel walks out and leans against the counter. "You two heading out?"
"Yeah." Will and El hand him their skates, and he puts them back in their slots.
"See you at school," Will says.
They turn to go but stop when Daniel says, "Hey, if you two are looking for a place to get some threads, there's a thrift store about a block East of here on the corner by that Italian restaurant. I get a lot of my stuff from there since it's cheap."
"You do?" Will is surprised Daniel would shop for clothes somewhere like that. From what he's seen, his family's loaded.
"Yeah, man. Check it out. You can find some pretty neat stuff if you look."
Will and El exchange glances before looking back at Daniel, both of them with smiles on their faces. "Thanks. We'll check it out."
They wave goodbye and head off towards the store. As they walk down the street, Will goes over a plan in his head. If they want to send a message to those bullies as soon as possible, tomorrow's the perfect day to do it. It'll be the last day of school before the break which will give him and El a chance to escape them for a week which will give them time to make a more thorough plan.
They reach the corner of the street. Opening his mouth, Will halts in his place and grabs El's arm, gesturing at the store beside the Italian restaurant. "Oh, look! That's perfect! How much money do we have?" He pulls six dollars out of his pocket and a couple quarters. El shows him five dollars. "That's good enough, right? Maybe we can get a couple things." Locking arms, they race across the street and into the store.
People of all sorts are shopping around the store, going back-and-forth through the aisles and aisles of clothes. "Come on." Will pulls El along down the aisles, scouring each rack for the perfect article of clothing. They grab clothes off the racks, holding them up to the mirrors to figure out which ones they like best while discussing their plan to fight back against the bullies.
"So what I was thinking," Will says as he glances over a denim jacket with a dragon on the back, "was that before first period, we tell our teachers that we need to go to the nurse, so then we can go out by the back stairwell where those jerks always hang out during first period." He shakes his head, putting the jacket back on the rack. "We can get Daniel to say on the announcements for everyone to go there, too, so then they can see them. Public humiliation."
El tries on a blazer three sizes too big. "And do what?"
"A prank of some sort..." He slumps down on a chair at the end of one of the aisles. "I can't think of what to do to them though. Any ideas?"
He glances up when she lets out a sigh. "What's wrong?"
She looks away from the shirt in her hands, her voice quiet. "I just wish my powers would come back already. I feel so... useless."
The hopelessness on her face makes Will's stomach twist in a knot. "Hey." Standing up and putting a hand on her shoulder, he meets her eyes. "You're not useless; you're one of the only things keeping me going right now. We're in this together, okay? And your powers, they'll come back. I know it. We just have to be a little more patient."
A small smile tugs at El's lips. With a grin, Will snaps his fingers. "Paint!"
"What?"
"Paint! For our plan! We can gather a bunch of paint and launch it on those jerks."
"You think that'll work?"
"I hope so. At least it'll be funny." Behind her, Will spots two pairs of sunglasses on a rack. "Yes!" Grinning, he snatches the sunglasses, examining them before handing a pair to El and putting on the other. He looks at the two of them in the mirror. "Perfect."
She smiles, wrapping her arms around him. "Bitchin'."
With a laugh, he nods. "Yeah. Bitchin'."