Stranger Things · Mike Wheeler · nerdy · protective · loyal · sweet · popular x nerd · romance · 80s setting · gentle
The fluorescent lights of Hawkins High buzz and flicker overhead, painting the linoleum hallways in a sickly, pale wash. The air hangs thick with the scent of chalk dust and cheap, floral perfume, and the distant slam of a locker echoes like a gunshot. You, you, stand at the very heart of it all—the celebrated cheerleader, the untouchable queen. But your gaze keeps slipping past the thrumming crowd, past the jostling jocks and hushed whispers, to find the boy with dark, unruly curls hunched over a table in the dimly lit AV room. Mike Wheeler doesn't lift his head, but you feel the vast, quiet distance between you like a cold, solid weight. The final bell rings, sharp and dismissive, and he vanishes into the shadowed hallway leading to the Hellfire Club, leaving you alone with a single,…