Will hurried to the front door as soon as he heard knocking. It was his birthday and he was going to spend the evening with his brother and mother, and Mike was coming over to spend the night. Although the rest of The Party had wanted to come, they were out of town on vacation for spring break. Mike was the only one whose family didn't go anywhere for the week. Privately, this made Will extra happy; while he would love for the rest of The Party to attend, something about spending his birthday alone with Mike made it seem all the more special to him.
As soon as Will opened the door, Mike was beaming at him.
"Happy Birthday, Will!" Mike shouted as he lunged forward and plowed into Will and gave him a large bear hug.
"Oof," Will said as Mike crashed into him. He was smiling as he wrapped his arms around Mike. "Hi, Mike!"
"Hi!" Mike said back, pulling apart the hug and smiling at Will. He bent down and picked up his duffel bag and followed Will inside before Will shut the door behind them.
"Is dinner almost ready? I'm starving!"
"I see you have your priorities sorted, as always," Will said slyly, grinning at Mike.
"Hey! I had an early lunch!"
Will giggled.
"Yeah, yeah, Mom is almost done. She's making lasagna!"
"Oooh, our favorite! Well, I'd better get to your room and grab your present so we can eat!"
Will grinned as Mike walked down the hallway and into Will's room. He walked into the kitchen, where Joyce was standing near the stove and Jonathan was filming next to the table with Bob's old camcorder.
"Do you have to be filming?" Will asked as he sat down at the table.
"Yes, I do!" Jonathan replied, turning the camera to face Will.
" Jonathan !" Will said in mock annoyance, but he was smiling.
" Will !" Jonathan replied in a similar tone. "You know this is gonna happen even if you don't want it too. Besides, you make the best faces whenever we sing 'Happy Birthday' to you."
"He's right, you know," Joyce said as he opened the oven door and pulled out the lasagna and sat it on top of the stove.
"Right about what?" asked Mike as he walked into the kitchen carrying a rectangular-shaped gift and set it on the counter with the rest of Will's presents. "Hi, Jonathan, Mrs. Byers."
"Hi there, Mike, I'm glad you could join us," Joyce said, giving Mike one of her warm smiles. "I'm a little disappointed that everyone else couldn't make it..."
"Mom, what'd I tell you? They're all on vacation for spring break and their parents made them go!" Will said. "It's not like Dustin, Lucas and Max wanted to go. They told me they wanted to stay behind to celebrate.
"Well, anyway, I’m just glad you could join us, Mike."
"Me too. I don't like waiting to give Will his presents, but I'll wait until after we've eaten."
"Mike!"
Mike giggled as he sat down next to Will. Jonathan focused the video camera on the two of them.
