Summer Savings [Byler]

Chapter 2

Will watched as Mike's eyes travelled up and down, taking him in.

Will felt the back of his neck prickle from the stare, it was unbelievably uncomfortable, it felt like he was being harshly examined.

"Uh, thank you for the offer, but it's okay, I can take my stuff myself," Will mumbled, not sure if he was talking to Karen or to Mike.

"Nonsense!" Karen exclaimed "Mike, take this, see you both at six!" She shoved Will's suitcase at Mike, and he fumbled trying to grab it's handles. She patted Will's back again, and used her hand to steer him to the front door after Mike, who was lugging the suitcase suprisingly without complaint, though his face still remained bored and unimpressed.

When they got outside and Mike had shut the front door, Will immediately looked for El. He saw her, busy chatting to a red haired girl. Will slowed to try and talk to her, but Mike continued on, not waiting for him. He decided it was probably better to run after Mike seeing as he was carrying his stuff, so sighed and walked away from El.

The walk with Mike was silent, the atmosphere icy cold. Will had no idea what to say to the boy, yet he couldn't go on walking in that silence. But there was something intimidating about Mike. Maybe it was just what El had said, about him being a moron, but Will didn't know.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts he didnt notice that Mike had stopped and walked right into him.

"Hey! I said, what hotel are you staying at?" Mike looked around at Will.
Seeing Will's shocked face, Mike rephrased.

"There's a couple of different hotels, do you have an address or a name or anything?" This time Mike's voice was softer, calmer. Will relaxed again.

"Uh, yeah, I think it's called Cedar B n B," Will had barely finished his scentence before Mike had set off again.

"Yep, I know that one."

Mike's tone had lightened, and Will found himself smiling at the back of Mike's head as he walked infront.

"Alright, here we are," Mike gestured for Will to go first as they stopped in front of a red wooden door. The building itself was painted a soft yellow, with winding vines snaking through the bricks, lace curtains hanging in each window.

"Woah," Will breathed, but was pulled out of his trance by a snort from Mike.

"Cedar B n B is not 'woah'," He snorted again, shaking his head and putting an arm on Will's shoulder to guide him inside.

Mike was right, Cedar wasn't all that nice on the inside. They entered into a reception, with a faded oak desk backed by a wall of hangers each holding a key. A bored looking girl leant on the desk, head slumped on her hand propped up by her elbow, as she flipped through a magazine, not seeming to take in any of it.
As Will approached her, he saw her name tag read "Robin", though that too was faded.

"Hello, I'm Will Byers, I have a room here," Will again tried to sound as confident as he could, but it was difficult while feeling Mike's eyes on the back of his head.
Robin looked up, then flipped through a leather book she had next to the magazine on the desk.

"Byers.. Byers... Byers! Room 5," she smiled and handed him the key.
"Have a nice stay!"

"Thanks, I will," Will grinned, took the key and headed upstairs, Mike following along.

Once they reached his room, Will was suprised that Mike was still present.
"Hey, you can go now. You brought the case all the way upstairs for me, you're good to go," Will felt very awkward and stiff around Mike, and couldn't wait for him to leave so he could relax for a while.

"Fine, I'll just take it inside for you," Mike replied, opening the door and stepping inside. The room was dingy and not much light filtered through the lacy curtains, the wooden floor was slightly stained (probably from years of cleaning and wear and tear) and the furniture in the room was cramped together.

Mike stopped in his tracks to look around.
"Eesh, it's not much, is it?" Mike said what Will had been too afraid to.
"You aren't really gonna stay here, right?"

Will was suddenly embarrassed, and his face flushed.
"Of course I am! I like this room, it's nice. Just because it's not what you're used to, doesn't take anything away from it," Will crossed his arms to prove a point, and Mike raised an eyebrow.

"Well, okay then."

For a moment, the two were frozen, just watching eachother, and Will finally had a chance to look at Mike, properly. He had curly black hair, almost shoulder length, and wore a red button down shirt tucked loosely into his jeans, with red converse, not nearly as battered as Will's own trainers. He suddenly became self conscious of how windswept and messy he must look next to Mike, with his untucked shirt and jeans that were faded slightly. He smoothed his hair down and stared again at Mike.
His face had sharp, noticeable features: high cheekbones, dark eyes, slanted eyebrows, a scattering of freckles.

Will had to tilt his head up a little to look at Mike.

Then the moment was broken, Mike pushed past him, waved a half-hearted wave, and disappeared down the corridor. Will ran to his window, and watched as Mike appeared a minute or so later and strode off down the street, with a purpose and confidence Will could do nothing but admire.

Will sighed to himself, thinking about Mike and how El was right. He didn't seem like a dickhead but he was certainly cold and he certainly wasn't very nice or polite.

Will rifled quickly through his suitcase, remembering Karen's invitation to dinner, determined to wear something nice and make a good impression.

As he carefully folded things away into drawers, or hung them neatly in the wardrobe, it dawned on Will just how awkward the dinner might be. He'd see Mike again, and he wasn't too sure he actually wanted to just yet. He debated skipping the dinner, but he'd promised Karen, and he wanted the Wheeler's to like him.

He changed into a brown sweatshirt with a white button down underneath and changed his jeans. Will didn't know if the Wheeler's would also dress up, but he wasn't invited around to family dinners often so wanted to look nice either way, and his previous clothes were dusty and screwed up from travelling all day so wouldn't be suitable to wear much longer anyway.

When Will checked the time, he saw it still wasn't six, but Karen had said he could come earlier, and it would probably beat moping around the room without anything to do. Plus, on his way there maybe he would run into El and he could talk to her for a bit before going to the Wheeler's house. Better yet, maybe El could come to the dinner too!

And with that hopeful thought in mind, Will locked his room door, ran down the corridor, down the staircase, waved to Robin, and then out the door into the sunfilled street.