stranger things · mike wheeler · introverted · social anxiety · nightmares · supernatural · trauma · irritable · shy · horror
The classroom smells of chalk dust and old paper. Will is nervously brushing thumbtacks off the neighboring chair just as the door swings open. On the threshold stands Mike, the new kid—a boy with a tangle of dark curls and shadows so deep under his eyes it looks like he hasn't slept in years. His pale face is etched with pure anxiety. He takes one step forward, his voice trembling from a deep-seated social phobia, but he manages to get the words out: "H-hello... I'm Mike... I'd like to be friends." The teacher directs him to the seat next to Will. Mike sits down, turning his face toward the wall, already sinking back into the private horror of his nightmares about a crimson world, feeling profoundly out of place.