y = mx+b.

As Mr. Smythe stood before them explaining linear functions, his monotonous, droning voice suddenly became a blur to Kai. All he could think about was the boy with the bowl haircut. The odd feeling he had felt aside, Kai just felt a bit insecure.

After all, no one could be that friendly, right? It must be some sort of prank. He would show up outside the gym only to have the school bully pelt him with rotten eggs while the whole school looked on. Yeah, that's it, that just seems more realistic.

Wow, am I really that cynical? He thought to himself. Two months with no friends will do that to you, I guess. Maybe this kid actually is a nice guy. Something Will mentioned about trauma had really stuck with Kai. And that Mike kid doesn't seem too bad either…

"Mr. Daniels." Kai's train of thought was interrupted by a far more pressing matter.

"Mr. Daniels, I don't know what planet you were on just now, but somehow it took me calling your name eight times to get you back to Earth." The class laughed. Kai managed a mumbled apology, blushing to the point where his face looked like a beet.

"Now please, tell the class what it means if a line has an undefined slope."

Kai sat frozen in silence. He had absolutely no idea. Math just wasn't his thing…

It's vertical, someone whispered.

Kai turned to his left to find a curly haired boy with a joyful smile on his face. A joyful, nearly toothless smile, it seemed. He was wearing a bright yellow hat from Camp Know Where. "It's vertical," he whispered again in Kai's direction.

"It's vertical, sir," Kai said with a bit of hesitation. "Good work," said the teacher, as Kai mumbled a brief "thanks" to Dustin Henderson, who winked as a sign of appreciation.

Maybe today's the day I actually start making friends, Kai thought.

Will Byers sat in social studies, eagerly learning about the French and Indian War and George Washington's role in it. As much as he tried to pay attention, that proved difficult at the moment.

Today was an anniversary that Will would never forget. It had been five years since he had been attacked by the Demogorgon, his whole world turned upside down - literally.

It was ironic he was thinking of it during history class; after all, none of it would ever make the history books, following the government coverup. He knew he'd never forget the painful memories. Barb and Bob were dead, and sometimes Will couldn't help but think it was his fault.

He had become very good at shutting out that notion; rather than dwell on those horrid occurrences, he instead chose to use the anniversary to celebrate what he had – his friends, his family, and most importantly his life. This weekend he would throw what he called "The Party Party," a time where his friends came over and crashed the whole weekend. He couldn't wait. They'd watch Star Wars, play Smash Bros., maybe even sneak in a drink or two of alcohol.

They'd all be there, including Eleven, who he was most thankful for. Sure, since Hopper had married Joyce, Will and El lived in the same house as siblings, so it was kind of necessary for her to be there. But Will made it a point to thank her every day. She had risked her life for him – multiple times. He loved her so much – but not in the way that Mike loves her, of course, he thought, his mind suddenly reminding him of the yelps he could sometimes hear coming from El's bedroom, which had formerly been Jonathan's.

Only when Hopper and mom aren't home. He shuddered at the thought, and quickly tried to put his mind to something else. That time Dustin sprayed Lucas in the face with hairspray, he thought, nearly chuckling out loud in history class.

Maybe it was the anniversary of that horrible day that caused him to reach out to that new kid who had no friends in the gym earlier that day. Will had seen him around – in fact, they shared a couple of classes – but he felt bad that he had never said anything. Kai seems really cool, he thought. I shouldn't get ahead of myself though, I hardly know the guy! He could be a wacko.

Will thought back to that time he had tried to befriend the cello player with the spiky hair, only to have the kid spit in his face. He seemed cool, but I guess we're just not meant to be friends. Ever since the upside-down, I'm always trying to see the good in people. And what do I get? A wet face! Go figure.

Bob's death, Aaron's boorishness, and El's yelps aside, Will smiled to himself, knowing he had plenty of greatfriends to be thankful for. If nothing else, maybe he could teach this new kid to play D&D. I'll at least feel accomplished, even if he doesn't stick around, thought Will. But deep down – and he didn't know why – Will felt something special about Kai.

"Whoa."

The high school's rec room was one story underground, but it was full of all sorts of entertaining gadgets and gizmos. An entire half of the room was tables of Lego villages, plus crates and crates of extra blocks.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Will turned to face his new friend.

In the farthest corner from the pair stood an enormous flat-screen television with several game systems hooked up. The TV was turned on, showing a program Kai was unfamiliar with. An African American boy with short hair was sitting in front of the screen, arguing with the curly-haired boy from earlier. Mike Wheeler sat across from them, on the phone with someone.

"Make sure you're plotting them in the same plane. – No, not a vroom vroom plane. A mathematical plane, where you plot points…Ok, baby, I love you so much and I'll call you tonight."

That must be Mike's girlfriend, Kai inferred.

"But I'm telling you, Heatblast is the best!"

"Are you kidding? Cannonbolt can knock down a whole bunch of bad guys at once, that's frickin awesome dude!"

"You don't need to knock down a bunch of guys if they're on fire-"

The two arguing boys suddenly noticed the two party members that had walked in.

"Hey guys," Will started. "This is Kai, he's cool."

The two boys, mouths wide open, grabbed Will and suddenly formed a huddle.

"What do you mean by inviting someone new into our group?" asked Lucas.

"Oh you're one to talk," said Dustin. "After you told Max everything?"

"Hey! She helped us, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but you only told her because you were in love."

"Shut up!"

"sHuT uP"

"Stop that!"

"Lucas and Max, sittin in a –"

"stop it!"

"K-I-S-S-"

" H" Will's voice suddenly became thunderous and stopped the argument immediately.

Aware that the whole room had suddenly become quiet and that other people were staring in their direction, including a mortified Kai, Will whispered, "Look. We don't have to tell him everything. Just let him hang out with us." Maybe we can actually act like normal kids for once, he thought to himself.

The huddle broke up, and the three turned to face Kai like nothing happened, their wide smiles masking any uncertainty they still held. They extended their hands. Mike was still on the phone, saying "I love you" for the nineteenth time.

"I'm Dustin." "And I'm Lucas."

"Hi." Kai shook their hands, and smiled when he recognized Dustin. Lucas's was all sweaty. Dustin's smelled like Doritos.

"Thanks for helping me in math today," he mumbled.

Will called over to his friend, then realizing he was still talking to El. "Mike! Wait, you're still on the ph-"

"For the love of God Wheeler, even stalker and I don't talk that much," came the sassy voice of Maxine Mayfield, who had entered the room.

"Oh, El! Kiss me El! I love you soooooo much!" imitated Dustin, as the rest of the group laughed, even Kai who had no idea what was going on.

"Shut it Henderson! You're the one who used to go on and on about Suuuuzie," snapped Mike as he hung up. Dustin turned a shade of bright pink.

"El?" asked Kai, as Max noticed him for the first time and began inspecting him like he was an apple in the supermarket. He wore a red polo shirt with tan khaki pants.

"Mike's girlfriend, short for Eleanor," said Will, who went on to introduce Kai to Max.

Kai hadn't regularly watched TV in a long time, and was entranced by the show the boys had on. A young boy dressed in a white shirt was using some sort of magic watch to turn into creatures, helping to exterminate a giant swarm of what looked like killer bees, and some homeless guy controlling them.

"Let's play some D&D!" yelled Will triumphantly. Kai watched in shock as Will opened his backpack to reveal a game board and pieces, multiple books, and a sorcerer's costume (with hat!) that he promptly slipped on. God, he must be hot in that thing, Kai thought to himself. "Will the Wise has entered the building!" he announced.

"Aw c'mon, after this episode!" Dustin groaned.

"Oh get over it, I know you've seen this a thousand times," said Max, who then mouthed "Nerd" to Lucas, who begrudgingly got up off the couch and walked towards the table.

Mike, Lucas, Max, Dustin, Will, and Kai all gathered around a small square table that was set up in the middle of the room. At this point, a couple of girls in the room rejoiced and then changed the channel, much to Dustin's dismay. Will began setting up the pieces and explaining about his new campaign to anyone who would listen.

"Come on now, don't be shy man, we don't bite," said Lucas, noticing how quiet Kai was.

"Yeah man, what do you like to do?" asked Mike.

"I like…film." Kai said after a pause.

"DUDE you should talk to Will's brother Jonathan, he's got all the latest stuff!" said Mike. "I sometimes play around with it myself. Let's shoot a movie sometime!" he joked.

There were more questions to be asked, but Will was done setting up the board, and he began to explain the characters and gameplay rules to the newcomer. "It's all about imagination," he stressed.

They began the campaign, and when it came Kai's turn to roll, he picked up the dice hesitantly. Will noticed, and placed his hand on top of Kai's.

"Hey don't worry dude, go for it! We'll walk you through everything."

Kai tried to hide the fact that he was blushing as chills ran up his back, but he was sure Will could see his bright red cheeks. He smiled as he saw Will do the same, making the other four at the table exchange looks. He suddenly felt a confidence boost.

And so, for the next two hours, the party plus one played on and on before their game was interrupted by Joyce's arrival. As Will got up to leave, Kai felt tears start to develop in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked most of the group at once.

"It's just—" Kai started. "It's just- I've had so much fun. I really can't thank you enough. All of you. I know it's one time, but I feel so at home with you. Thank you so so much."

Will suddenly bolted at Kai, placing his arms around the boy and pulling him close into a hug. The others soon joined while saying "Nice to meet you Kai," but all sound became blurred as Kai felt a deep craving heat….