𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐌𝐞 ; 𝘉𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘳 ✓

𝟓.

Hawkins High | Tue 4:20 PM
Will Byers

Will sat outside and watched football tryouts while working on a drawing for art club. So far, he was the only member, which didn't bother him one bit.

The sun shined brightly and it's rays warmed up the already humid air. Will relaxed in the nice cool shade of the bleachers, feeling somewhat bad for the football players who had to deal with this weather.

Every minute or so, he's glance up from his art work to pay attention to the tryouts, and then go back to drawing so it didn't look like he was staring.

The next time he looked back up from his art, he made eye contact Mike Wheeler. He shot his eyes back down and tried to pretend he didn't see him.

Will had just previously written about Mike in his man journal, and it was very rare that Will wrote about individual people. He would usually write about the attractive athletes, who he feared but still appreciated their appearances.

Will knew in his heart he wasn't into girls, but he'd never admit it willingly. He didn't want to give all the bullies and his father the satisfaction of being right. Plus, they told him what he was before he could even figure it out for himself.

Now, he's fully come to terms with it and even told his best friend, but he could never think about himself actually acting on his attraction. He'd stay in the closet forever if he had to.

Soon enough, Will was done with his drawing. He checked the time on his watch and it read 6:12 PM. He gathered his things into a brown, leather satchel and walked to the parking lot to retrieve his bike. He got on it and began the short ride home.

***

When Will opened the door and walked in, he was instantly slapped by the hands of his father. The slap caused Will to loose balance and fall down to the floor.

"Why are you late!" Lonnie said with a slight slur and a hint of beer on his breath.

Lonnie was definitely a belligerent drunk, and when something ticked him off, he would wait for Will to come home so he could take out his anger.

Will looked up to his father with tears in his eyes, causing him to get angrier.

"Stop all that crying, fag!"

Will got up quickly, wiping his tear-stained cheeks and running to his bedroom. Lonnie followed behind, stumbling over his feet slightly.

As soon as Will stepped in his room, he locked the door behind him and retreated to his bed. Lonnie began to beat on the door with force, creating a dent in it.

"Don't lock the door on me! You disrespectful little queer!" Lonnie yelled from behind the door.

Will laid on his stomach and cried into his pillow, trying to tune out his fathers yells. After a couple of minutes, Lonnie got tired and gave up trying to get Will.

He walked to the fridge and grabbed another beer. He sipped on it while walking over to the couch and focusing back on the television.

Joyce told Lonnie to get a job that would allow him to be home when Will got there, but Will knows he would've been much safer alone.

The boy continued to cry until he fell asleep, being too scared to go back out there and try to eat something, even though he knew Lonnie would drink himself into a coma.

A couple hours later, Will was awoken by his mother, yelling at Lonnie for all the drinking he'd been doing. Will usually cleaned the bottles up before Joyce got there, so Lonnie started to really regret slapping him.

Not because he was hurting his kid, but because Will was convenient for him of course.

Will finally felt the courage to leave his room for the first time since he got home. He left slowly and turned around to observe the door, which Lonnie would've punched through if he hadn't gotten tired.

Will tip toed over to the bathroom while Joyce and Lonnie continued to argue. He looked at his face in the mirror and observed himself.

There was redness on the cheek he was slapped, his father's hand being embedded into his skin. Also, there were small cuts that stung when Will washed his face, making him more red from irritation.

Will left the bathroom and tip toed back to his room. He would go to greet his mom, but Lonnie threatened Will not to tell her about anything that happened when she wasn't home. So instead, he went to his bed and laid back down, getting some more rest for school in the morning.

To be continued...
[6/11/20 | 803 words]