- 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗋𝖽 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝖾𝗅 -

7 | fellow bedmates

"So you, me, and Will after school right? I'm hungry for some zombie butt so that i can kick it into outer space!" Dustin roared, garnering the attention of people from tables 8 and 12. Lucas nodded his head rapidly as he chewed on a bite of cheesy beef lasagne. "I say we hit up Cowboy West, Go-Kart races, and then we take our bag of coins and go in for the ultimate kill, space of the killer walkers!"

"That's still, to this day, the worst ever arcade game title ever. In the world." Will deadpanned, sipping fizzy orange juice from a grape jelly jar. He kept his eyes trained on the door, waiting for Max to deliver on her promise.

"Will, what's with the zoning out? Seriously, i feel like i'm having a conversation with no one."

"Dude!"

"Sorry, i forgot, Mr solemn." Lucas flicked a chunk of tomato at Dustin and the brunette triumphantly caught it in his mouth, eating it happily as his steely-eyed friend scowled.

Just then, Max entered with a entourage of girls behind her. He recognised a few, some of them were girls from the volleyball team and the others were all from history class. El was nowhere in sight and neither was Mike. He breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he didn't have to make an effort to be nice to Mike Wheeler. He wasn't going to try. Not one bit. Mike Wheeler could walk over burning hot coal for all he cared. Right now, he would simply avoid the raven-haired boy.

"Will, heads up!" Max yelled, throwing a windswept grin at him as she tossed him a brown paper bag. He caught it with ease and tore the bag apart, practically frantic when he viewed the thick light-brown wrap within. He bit into it immediately and the delicious savory taste of eggs, cheddar cheese, and sausage patty made his eyes light up and his mouth water even more. Maybe he should have thought of doing food trades sooner with the skater redhead if it meant that he would get such delicious wraps in return.

"Did Max just toss food at you?" Lucas asked, dark chocolate eyes wide. He almost looked jealous in the way he ate, tearing off chunk after chunk of his lasagne. Dustin snickered, elbowing the cocoa-skinned teen lightly with a smug grin. "Aw, is the little baby jealous of Willy Wonka?" Will and Lucas rolled their eyes and stole a few of the curly-haired brunettes curly fries in reply.

"God Dustin, i will murder you if you call me Willy Wonka again! And Max has been my friend since forever."

"Since forever? Hell no, you guys weren't friends at all when she first arrived in middle school! How can you both be friends now?"

"Since El turned fourteen, got into some girly fight, and than Max helped her out. It's a whole story, and it's confusing as heck, so i'm not even going to explain myself. Go grow a pair and ask Max herself if you want." Will teased, earning a low "get burned" from Dustin and a scowl from Lucas. Lucas wouldn't be able to talk to Max at all, even if it was a life-or-death situation. Which sucked big time since Lucas had such an enormous crush on her and doodled her name in the inside of his backpack.

"Yeah yeah, haha. Whatever."

"Woah hey, look who's coming this way!"

"Oh my gosh, is that Wheeler?"

"Ugh not that slut El again! Girl needs to back off from my husband."

"Oh my gosh, look at Mikes freckles. Ugh, he's the definition of hot."

The three boys paused mid-laugh and turned around only to see the tables around them suddenly crowded with whispering gossipy girls and jocks. In the center of all the attention was his sister wearing her edgy black and white Parisian long-sleeved shirt and a flared high-waisted skirt. Huh, he could have sworn she wasn't wearing that shirt at all on the bus but maybe she changed. For Mike, a dark voice hissed in addition. Mike embraced the attention, shooting several people full-teeth smiles and waving to a few that came their way. Beside him, El Hopper-Byers was a picture perfect vision of what a futuristic popular girl was. They were as sweet as last years prom king and queen and Will had no doubt that this year, the crowns would go to them.