Chapter 1
"Mike," The teacher, Scott Clarke, called out. "Where is your sister?" he asked out of irritation, rubbing his temples with a low sigh.
Mike winced to Eleven at the hiss of his name for the fifth time this week. It almost seemed like a routine, maybe it was. Lucas and Dustin snickered loudly at their friend getting into trouble once again, as if it was his fault. But it only made it all the more amusing.
Eleven gave him a small smile.
"Yes?" Mike carefully asked, eyes avoiding his teacher's.
"Where is your sister?" he asked through gritted teeth.
Mike growled like he'd had enough. "I don't know, Mr. Clarke! I really don't!" he said, throwing his hands up in the air.
"She's been late to all of her classes, Mike. Was she with you this morning?" he accused.
"No," he denied. "she was with her friends."
Mr. Clarke gave him a sharp look. "Well then make it your duty to get her on time. The rest of the class is suff-"
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw a pair of Doc Martens strutting over to the seat beside Maxine Mayfield from the corner of his eye. He furrowed his eyebrows at the plain disrespect. Krystal Wheeler high-fived Max as though they were friends, when they, in fact, weren't. She dressed rather inappropriately for middle school, but it didn't exactly violate the dress code. Just a white tank top, an oversized black denim jacket and a pair of really tight denim shorts with a black belt wrapped around her small 26-inch waist.
Her caramel blonde hair was permed, though not as bushy as the others, it was wild but still tamed down enough to frame her face well. Her matte lipstick brought colour to her pale face and lightened up her mystique blue eyes. She stood taller than a lot of her classmates, causing her to be the envy of many girls who'd wished to be tall and skinny enough to make it as a model.
Mr. Clarke shook his head unbelievably. "Krystal Wheeler!" he summoned, but she instead cracked up some joke with Max, making Mike scowl his face at her.
Meanwhile, Dustin was just subtly sneaking glances at the beauty, taking in all of her he could get to allow him to glide through the entire class time. Her appearance could be comparable to that of Shakira's, with the amazing legs of Joan Severance. It was no secret that Dustin was harbouring a crush on her, but that was it, just a small crush.
But it wasn't that in the case of Will Byers, the quiet and reserved one of the group who, in Krystal's opinion, dresses like a homeless hobo. And it wasn't a secret either that he's been in love with her ever since they had their first play date together when Mike was sick and absent. But that was about 9 years ago. And he still hadn't gotten over her. But she sure has.
"Yes?" Krystal asked, innocently.
"Why are you late? Again?" he queried.
"My mom got stuck in traffic," she reasoned, using her puppy doe eyes to sway the teacher into caving.
Even the teacher couldn't resist her charm. Mr. Clarke only rolled his eyes and nodded. "Alright. Just... Make sure it doesn't happen again next week."
Mr. Clarke then resumed back to teacher about the human brain and its functions.
"Psst," Krystal called for Max. "I'll give you five bucks for your games if you cover for me at break."
She held out a five dollar bill under her chair's desk as Max took a tempting glance at it. Krystal knew she was contemplating about it, but it wasn't that hard to decide. Max was obsessed with these games like her brother, it messes them all up in the head. Like drugs.
"Fine," Max responded. Yes, Krystal thought. "I'll say that you had pneumonia and your mom texted you to come home and rest."
"Perfect," Krystal said.
The rest of the class time was only boring for Max, everyone else was intrigued by topic - some of them more than others, namely: Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Eleven and Will. Krystal was making some attempts to pay attention, too, surprisingly.
And then break time came, signalling the students to get up and out the door for an approximate fifteen minutes of playground fun. Actually, smoking fun.
"Max!" Krystal called as Max turned around to face her. Krystal obnoxiously stuck the dollar bill at her chest on the way out without anything to say, making Max catch it before it fell down.
Mike gave Max a look of pure disgust as the group encircled. "Why do you even talk to her?" he asked.
"Because she's like my bank to play at the arcade," she answered, like it was the most obvious thing ever.
"I can give you money!" Lucas shouted, earning himself a mild punch from Dustin for being so loud. He glared at him. "You don't really have to talk to Krystal! She's like a monster."
"No she's not," Will spoke up and immediately regretted it. Everyone's head snapped toward him, like he was some maniac who'd just done some freaky dance in the middle of a highway.
Mike blinked multiple times and scrunched his face at him. "Will, we're talking about my sister here. She's the devil in.. boots."
Will opened his mouth before only closing them again. He didn't want to defend her, but he didn't believe them either. He'd just have to pine after her from afar. Far, far, far away. How do you tell your best friend that you like his little sister?