Through The Years (Mike Wheeler x reader)

Thirty-eight

~ Third Person P.O.V. ~

"I still don't get why they call him Zombie Boy. I mean, I get it. He got lost in the woods for like a week or something, but why is he a zombie? Because everyone thought he was dead?" Max questioned as they walked down the hall towards Mr. Clarke's class. Her skateboard hit her hip every few steps, but she took no notice as she looked towards Lucas. 

"Yeah. I mean, we had a funeral for him and everything." Lucas gripped his bag straps tightly and adjusted them. 

"After a week?" Max rolled her eyes in disbelief. 

"Well, see, some other kid drowned at the quarry. We thought it was Will because his body was super decomposed." Max turned to Lucas, stopping in the middle of the hall.

"What? Okay, that's not funny."

"It's not a joke, all right? It's public knowledge. You can ask anybody. Except Will, because he is really sensitive about it. All right?" Max stared at Lucas for a moment, then started walking forward again. 

"Okay. Okay. But that doesn't explain who (y/n) is and what happened to her." Lucas sighed, holding onto his backpack straps again. 

"(y/n) is someone we... we really can't talk about. What happened to Will made him sensitive and... (y/n) is Mike's sensitive spot. I mean, right now he can seem like a real jerk sometimes, but... if you just saw them together, you'd understand." Lucas tried to drop his voice as they got closer to the classroom. At the door Mike was waiting. 

"Where is she now?" Max questioned, but Lucas shook his head. 

"We don't talk about it." Lucas then smiled as he approached Mike with Max. 

"Hey Mike." Lucas started talking to him about D&D campaigns and how Dustin was late again. As they talked, Max studied the two, taking in how Mike seemed more relaxed as he leaned against the wall. She knew he was purposely avoiding looking at her, but this time it wasn't in an angry way, not yet anyway. This time Mike just seemed despondent and sad.

~ Mike's P.O.V. ~

"The case of Phineas Gage is one of the greatest medical curiosities of all time. Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron rod was driven completely through his head." Mr. Clarke demonstrated the situation by drawing a line through a skull on his projector. "Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine. And, physically, yes, he was. But his injury resulted in complete change to his personality. So much so that friends that knew him started referring to his as 'No longer Gage.' At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Although it wasn't a-" The door to the classroom slammed open. I jumped, wide-eyed as Dustin rushed in through the door. 

"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke. Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class." Dustin panted out as he headed to his desk in front of Will. "Don't mind me. Really, continue, please. Thanks." Dustin settled down in his seat and Mr. Clarke started again. 

"Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said." 

Dustin turned to us and whispered, "We have to meet. All of us. At lunch, AV Club."

"Why?" I frowned in confusion. 

"I have something you won't believe." We all nodded and leaned back into our seats. I saw Dustin turn the other way and I looked to see he was talking to Max, which made me roll my eyes, but I said nothing. 

~ Time Skip ~

"His name is D'Artagnan," Dustin told us, reaching down and picking up the creature. He looked to Max. "Cute, right?" I looked down at the creature, then back at Dustin.