hurt, ( byler )

2.1

july 13, 1986
mike had been very sad recently. he had dark circles beneath his eyes and was very moody and angry. he always seemed very down about something.

"guys!" dustin suddenly announced. "have you heard?"

"heard what?" max asked, leaning her head on lucas' shoulder.

"apparently connor rayes is gay," he said quietly.

"what?" mike asked. will glanced at him. mike, who had previously been slouching in his seat, was now sitting up straight, staring intently at dustin. his skin looked more pale than usual.

"yeah, apparently somebody heard two guys talking in the bathroom, heard kissing sounds, and then connor walked out." dustin furrowed his eyebrows at mike's weird behaviour.

"d-do they know who the other guy was?" mike questioned. he was trying to compose himself.

"no. not yet, anyway." dustin paused. "are you okay, mike?"

"i-yeah, i'm fine." mike picked his bag from off the ground. "i have to go—uh, i need to go grab some stuff from my locker." he stood up and walked out of the cafeteria, running his hands through his hair.

"he's acting weird," lucas mused.

"guys," el said. "mike is obviously the other boy."

"how?" max asked.

"are you serious? did you see how freaked out mike was just then?" el looked like she couldn't believe max.

"maybe there's a good explanation for it," lucas reasoned.

"mike's locker isn't in that direction," will put in, watching his black-haired friend disappear into the hallway.

"well, shit." dustin leaned back in his seat.

july 14, 1986
mike wasn't at school, yet everybody was still talking about him. someone claimed that mike was the boy that had been in the bathroom with connor and now that was the only thing that people were talking about.

will saw connor in the hallway. connor saw will at the same time. connor marched over towards will, stopping in front of him. "where the fuck is wheeler?"

"i-i don't know," will said, not liking the attention he was receiving from the people walking past. "i haven't talked to him since yesterday."

"fuck, fuck, fuck!" connor ran his hands through his hair, stressing out. "i need to talk to him, like, right fucking now!"

"is it—" will started, but connor interrupted him.

"shut the fuck up! it is not fucking true, so shut the fuck up!" connor was about to hyperventilate. "i-i have to talk to him and we have to sort out this fucking mess." will could hear the desperation in connor's voice.

"okay—sorry." will chewed his lip. "he lives on maple street." a small look of relief came onto connor's face. will continued, "his family's mailbox has their family name painted on it."

"thanks." connor rushed past will to the entrance of the school, shouting insults at people who tried to say anything to him.

will felt his heart sink. so it was true. mike really was seeing another boy—connor rayes, for that fact. will could see through connor's lies. will couldn't believe mike. he said insensitive things about will's sexuality, then led will on and then started seeing someone else—a boy. the whole situation made will want to scream.

author's note
hi sorry for this short filler chapter, i've had almost no inspiration for many of my fics recently. also sorry for my slight absence on this app! school really takes up so much time
thank u for reading!

2:40pm — 17 march 2020