Chapter Seventeen: Accidents Happen

1K 37 9
                                    

"Will Byers' and (Y/N) (L/N)'s deaths are unimaginable tragedies," Principal Coleman stands in front of a gymnasium packed with students. He has written a eulogy and wants to commemorate the young ones who have 'passed'. "Will was an exceptional student and (Y/N) was one of the kindest children I've ever met. Both were wonderful friends to all of us. It's important to express the hole their losses will leave in our community," The students stare at the principal, some holding apathetic expressions and some holding expressions of discomfort because this might be their first reminder that death is the reality and it can fall  tragically upon anyone. "I'd like to introduce you to Sandy Sloane. She's a local grief counselor from the church over in Jonesboro."
The Party sits in the bleachers, tuning out Mr. Coleman's speech because they know it's entirely untrue. Eleven is next to them, intrigued by everyone around her, she wears a light blonde wig and Nancy's old pink dress. She's under the alias of Mike's cousin, or was that second cousin? Eleanor from Sweden.
The boys planned to sneak into the Hawkins AV Club room whilst the other students were at the assembly, but instead their plans were foiled by a lingering Mr. Clarke who dragged them to this impractical assembly, seeing that their friends are actually alive. They could be using this time to prove that (Y/N) and Will are trapped somewhere, but instead they're stuck listening to a gushy speech made by their principal.
The boys peer around at the mourners. "Look at these fakers," Mike whispers to Lucas.
"They probably didn't even know their names 'til today," Lucas responds, sharing Mike's cynicism. The Party's attention travels over to snickering heard nearby. They aren't the slightest bit surprised to see who the giggles belong to.
"Who is interested in this? This is so stupid," Troy whispers to James, who wears a large, stupid grin. Troy makes a dumb face and in an even dumber voice mocks the principal, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," This earns more laughter from his cackling sidekick, "Oh, he was such a great student. She was so nice. Oh, they're going to leave a hole in the community," The two continue to snicker. Mike glares at them. He feels his blood boil and his jaw becomes tight. Eleven leans over and looks at the boys, "Mouth-breather," Mike is confused for a second but then turns to look at Eleven, proud that she remembers the phrase he'd taught her. However, the the anger rising in him isn't interupted and he turns his bitter gaze back towards the bullies. This time they've gone too far.

♥︎

The bell rings and all the students unload off of the bleachers and head for the door. Mike is focused on his target as he makes his way through the crowd. "Hey! Hey!" He yells trying to get the attention of the two bullies ahead of him, "Hey, Troy!" Mike persists, "Hey, Troy!" Finally, the boys seem to hear Mike and they stop walking. They slowly turn to face the angry Party. Students move around the two groups and continue on their way out the door to class.
"You...you think this is funny?" Mike asks, clearly irritated.
"What'd you say, Wheeler?" Troy is not used to his victims speaking back to him.
"I saw you guys laughing over there," Mike points out, trying to get the two to realize what they did was sick and insensitive, "And I think that's a real messed up thing to do," Obviously, these mouth-breathers are never going to own up to their wrongdoings.
"Didn't you listen to the counselor, Wheeler?" James shoots back at the irate boy, "Grief shows itself in funny ways," Remaining students become interested in the shouting and begin to gather around the kids.
Troy decides to add his cruel twist onto the conversation, "Besides, what's there to be sad about, anyway?" Dustin and Lucas become even more provoked as Troy starts insulting their "dead" friends. "Will's in fairyland now, right? Flying around with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay!" Troy dances around and sings like a fairy. Mike clenches his jaw and balls his hands into fists. His heart rate rises and he feels heat burn into his cheeks. He's clearly outraged by the blatant disrespect. "And let's not forget about the ghost. I guess now, she really is where she belongs," James imitates a ghost while Dustin shakes his head and Lucas crosses his arms, getting even more agitated. The bullies take a second to laugh at their own joke before turning around and walking away from the group.
Eleven watches a furious Mike as Troy and James make it a little further away from them. She fully expects Mike to do something rash. The anger can be seen boiling over inside of him before he strides forward and uses all of his force to shove Troy to the ground, grunting as he does so. The ground squeaks as Troy makes impact. The large crowd that had formed around the kids gasp. A fuming Troy turns his head to look back at who had pushed him only to meet the eyes of a proud Mike Wheeler.
Troy begins to collect himself off of the floor. "You're dead, Wheeler!" Troy fully regains his footing, "Dead!" He sprints at Mike but is brought to a lurching halt, his body still in the position of an active sprint. Troy's eyes shift confusedly, everyone around him shares the same expression. They aren't sure why Troy hasn't ripped Mike to shreds by now. Mike, who is wondering the same thing, stares at the boy in front of him with furrowed eyebrows.
A wet spot makes its way from Troy's crotch all the way down his leg, staining his tan khakis. "Dude, Troy peed himself!" A blonde kid from the crowd calls out. The gymnasium begins to erupt with laughter. Mike's bewildered expression morphs into a smile as he looks at the trail of urine running down the boy's pants. Dustin and Lucas are just as pleased. Troy's shoulders heave as he breathes heavily, he's furious at his loss of control. Mike whips his head around and looks at Eleven, who seems strangely focused. A drop of blood drips from her nose. She looks from Troy to Mike and smirks as she casually wipes the blood away. She coolly walks off and Mike turns back to Troy, his smile grows in amazement for the girl's ability.
"Hey! What's going on here?" The principal breaks away from the counselor and Mr. Clarke to shout at the crowd of students. The laughing halts and the crowd begins to rush out of the gymnasium, students murmur about the wondrous thing they had just experienced. The Party wants to leave much quicker since they were the ones really involved. Lucas yells, "Let's go!" And The Party blends with the crowd and rushes out with the rest of the students.
Troy is left standing in a puddle of his own urine as James brushes him off and steps past him, not wanting to be associated with the boy, who had definitely gotten what he'd deserved.

Worlds Turned Upside Down: Will Byers x ReaderWhere stories live. Discover now