Through The Years (Mike Wheeler x reader)

Thirty-six

~ A Year Later ~

~ Mike's P.O.V. ~

The door opened and closed, cutting off Mr. Clarke in the middle of his lesson. Mr. Clarke looked to the door to see who had entered. 

"Ah, this must be our new student." A girl with long red hair stood at the front of the class for a moment, then tried to walk to a desk as the principal talked to Mr. Clarke. The girl looked annoyed and her bag swung out every time she took her rushed steps forward. "All right. Hold up. You don't get away that easy. Come on up. Don't be shy." The girl turned, rolling her eyes as she did so, then walked back to the front of the classroom.

"Dustin, drum roll." Dustin did as Mr. Clarke told him, quickly tapping on his science textbook. I felt something clench in my stomach, thinking on how that was (y/n)'s classroom job the year before this.  

"Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, Maxine." The girl's eyes flickered up at the name. 

"It's Max." Her voice came out as a mumble, but I heard it loud and clear, as did Will, Lucas, and Dustin. 

"Sorry?" Mr. Clarke questioned. 

"Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max." Dustin looked at the rest of us, smile completely dropped off of his face. 

"Mad Max." Lucas whispered, part in awe, part in disbelief. We all watched as she went and sat down at the desk farthest in the back, by a window. 

~

"There's no way that's Mad Max." I muttered, watching as Max jumped again on her skateboard. 

"Yeah. Girls don't play video games." Will said quickly, holding onto the fence. 

"(y/n) did." I whispered quickly and quietly, unsure if the group even heard me. I turned away from them. Why were we watching Max skateboard anyway? It isn't like it's going it get her to talk to us, she'll just think we're creeps. I don't even understand why Dustin and Lucas want to talk to her so badly. I- My arm was yanked on and I turned to face Dustin, stumbling as I did so. 

"Are you even listening? She dropped something in the trashcan! We gotta check it out. It looked like a note or some shit." I huffed a breath. 

"I don't know why you're so infatuated with her. You haven't even spoken to her." I stayed by his side as we walked to the trashcan. Lucas and Will were waiting. 

"Hey, hey! I am not infatuated. She's just awesome! I don't have to talk to her to know that, I mean just look at her." I rolled my eyes as we stopped at the trashcan. Quickly, Dustin went leaning into it and digging through it for the so called note. Lucas, Will, and I tried to stay subtle and waved as some girls who passed by, trying to cover up and ignore the fact Dustin was digging through a trashcan. "Got it. There we go." Dustin pulled himself out of the trashcan and unfolded the note with quick fingers. In big letters the note read, "Stop spying on me CREEPS!" I felt a smile come onto my face, finding it funny that my unsaid conclusion from earlier was correct, then my smile dropped when I remembered how I even got to thinking about that in the first place. (y/n). I looked at the rest of the group with a frown. Dustin looked up from the note to us. 

"Well, shit." He muttered. 

"William Byers." The principal's voice came loudly from behind us. Will was the first to turn. We all followed in suit, Dustin shoving the note behind his back with a guilty face. "Your mother's here." 

~

"You guys think he's okay?" Dustin asked quietly. We were all peeking around the corner of the school, watching as the principal shut the car door after Will got in.

"He's always weird when he has to go in." Lucas' feet shuffled as he whispered. I could hear the worry in his voice. I felt it too.

"I don't know. He's quiet today." I said, shrugging, wanting to look back at Dustin and Lucas, yet I couldn't find it in me to take my eyes of off Will's car as it began to drive away. Mad Max was temporarily forgotten.

"He's always quiet, especially since these doctor visits started and he found out (y/n) wasn't coming back. I mean, come on, you and (y/n) were his first friends, and now one of them could be..." Lucas didn't finish. I turned away from where we had been looking, but I didn't meet the eyes of Dustin or Lucas either. "Sorry." Lucas said and I shook my head, signalling it was fine. After a few more moments we walked away, trying to act like everything else was normal.

~ ???'s P.O.V. ~ 

"Again." I demanded. The girl below me sighed. I could see her push forward with her fingers, concentrating. The wall in front of us began to crack. The girl grunted, then flicked her wrist up. A vine slithered out with the motion. She raised her other hand and held it there while the other hand moved in a motion that mimicked sewing. More vines shot out of the wall, moving with her hand, shooting in and out of the wall in a whipstitch pattern. Near the end, she moved both hands as if she was pulling a rope from her left side. The vines tightened against the wall, cracking it only slightly more. When it was done, she turned her face to look up at me from the platform I was on. 

"How was that?" I scanned the rest of the wall around the room, all of it was filled with something similar to what the girl had just finished, all spanning through these last few weeks. I looked back down at her. Her (e/c) eyes shone at me, and I smiled, glancing at her wrist. I didn't have to see the number to know who she is.

"It was perfect, Twelve. Now, again!"

~ Mike's P.O.V. ~

"It's me. Mike. It's Day 352, 7:40 p.m. I'm still here. If you're out there, say something. Or give me a sign." I paused. "El hasn't come back home. No one has seen her since the night you disappeared, so I can't see where you are or if you're okay...  I wanna make sure you're okay. I won't give up trying to find you. The lab was searched. They said you weren't there, but I don't believe it. I know you don't have telepathic powers but... I was hoping you would just get a feeling when I talk to you, like you always used to, or that somehow you did hear me rambling." I felt a soft laugh bubble up my chest. "You know how I ramble..." I looked to the side, out of the tent I had rebuilt over the year (y/n) and El has been missing. "I miss you, lots, and I love you. I will find you, and I won't give up. Ever. I promise." I let go of the button on my Supercomm, sighing at the static that came out. 

"I'm so stupid." I closed the antennae and got out of the tent, my heart aching. Hopper and the rest of the station were forced to stop looking three months ago. The case ran cold with no leads and the lab was being difficult. I know Hopper continues looking in his free time, but he never has gotten far. I started climbing up the stairs, only looking back when I shut the lights off. I missed the vine that grew across the basement window, budding a flower on the tip of the vine once it finished growing on the other side.

      Author's Note: Hello! I mentioned this on my message board, but I was unsure of how many of you would actually see it, but was wondering how many of you would like to see me create a group chat thing, such as one on Discord, or something like an Instagram fro this account? You can let me know your opinion and if you have a preference. Also thank you all for being patient with me with my books! School is almost out (my last week!) so I hope that means more updates! I hope you all have an amazing day/night and I hope you enjoyed this chapter (though it feels more like a filler one)! :)

Original Publish Date: May 28, 2019