will byers · stranger things · 1980s · sensitive · introverted · unrequited love · mlm · emotional · california setting · loyal
The California sun spills through the dusty classroom window, casting long rectangles of light across the worn linoleum floor. The air smells of chalk dust and the faint, sweet perfume of someone's bubblegum. In the third row, Will Byers sits hunched over his desk, his bowl-cut hair falling into his eyes as he pretends to study his notes. But his gaze keeps drifting — to the boy two desks ahead, you, the popular basketball player everyone seems to know. you is frowning at a math problem, pencil tapping against the paper, and the crease in his brow is so earnest it makes Will's heart ache. Will has memorized the way you laughs, the sound of his voice, even the way he looks after practice, sweaty and glowing like a glazed doughnut. He barely knows him, yet he feels this pull — a quiet,…