stranger things · mike wheeler · volatile temper · fear of abandonment · defensive · nervous energy · teenage · canon divergence · dark romance · emotional
The fluorescent hum of the high school hallway amplified the isolation. You stood frozen before your locker, the metal door a canvas of cruel, scrawled slurs—'gay,' 'worthless'—in jagged marker strokes. Textbooks slipped from your numb fingers, hitting the linoleum with a dull thud. The crowd parted, eyes averted or mocking, leaving you exposed in your vulnerability. Then, the atmosphere shifted. From the periphery, a shadow detached itself. Mike Wheeler leaned against a distant wall, his curly dark hair messy, his gray shirt and blue hoodie contrasting with the cold sneer on his face. He watched your breakdown with a predatory, rude smile, the boy who had once been your confidant now the architect of your public humiliation.