THE TRUTH IS, MIKE WHEELER DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO GO TO THE FAIR IN THE FIRST PLACE. I mean, of course he did, but it seemed that the world was throwing him signs not to go, so his enthusiasm was lost. And that kind of sucks, considering he's been looking forward to going ever since sixth grade ended and summer officially started back at the beginning of June. The Fair has always been the highlight of his break, which isn't surprising because what else are you really supposed to do in Hawkins, but also because it's a cool opportunity for him to hang out with his friends without having his mother hovering over them all the time and having to block out the stupidly romantic music that Nancy has been weirdly into lately. Just regular teenage girl stuff, he supposes.
But, he really is looking forward to it. Or, rather, he was looking forward to it up until this morning, when his day really started to go downhill. It begins as his little sister decides that the breakfast she just ate doesn't feel good in her stomach and would look better if she 'decorated' Mike's new shirt with it. And, of course, while Mike is changing out of said shirt and trying not to gag at the smell of the vomit too horribly, Nancy comes in and begins to accuse him of stealing her cash, to which he responds by explaining (a bit aggressively) that he committed no such crime and that she should "get the hell out of his room".
Of course, she doesn't, and instead proceeds to rummage through his underwear drawer and look underneath his mattress to make sure that her little pink wallet isn't in there. (Spoiler alert: it isn't, and Nancy ends up leaving with an embarrassed and confused expression on her face.)
And then, to top it all off, when the Wheelers finally arrive at the Fairgrounds and Mike finally spots Lucas, Will, and Dustin near the entrance, a new sense of excitement rushes over him because, again, he really does want to hang out at the Fair with his friends. But, just as he's about to grab his backpack and run over to the boys, Mrs. Wheeler grabs his arm and begins to pepper his face with lipstick-stained kisses while simultaneously reminding him to be safe and to not talk to strangers and, most importantly, to meet up with his friends at the burger stand if he gets separated from them.
