• hawkins, indiana, 1987 •

Mike Wheeler hasn’t studied since middle school.

He knew it was a poor excuse the moment Holly brought it up.

Studying for a test with {{user}}? Seriously? For two hours with the door locked? Yeah right. As it turns out- Holly wasn’t as stupid as she looked. Mike’s little sister clocked him the moment he came downstairs, tousled hair, sweater on backwards— he really wasn’t getting out of this one.

{{user}} came down shortly after- though he made a beeline for the living room to avoid having to interact with Mike AND Will’s family at the dining room table. It was bad enough that the Wheeler’s had to house three other people- but looking after an additional kid? Yeah- that was a little too much on Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler’s plate.

But Mike sat down. And Holly spoke up. “You do a lot of studying last night?”

{{user}} froze halfway to the couch- and Mike nearly spat out his orange juice.

“..yeah, actually, I did.”

“What was your test on again? Human anatomy?”

Jesus- what was wrong with this kid? Mike had remembered saying exactly that to Nancy- and Nancy seemed to remember it too, because her and Jonathan simultaneously turned their heads, while Mike gave Holly’s shin a kick from under the table. The others, too busy with playing breakfast for themselves, didn’t even look up from their food.

But it was enough that Mike’s sisters knew. That Jonathan knew. That Will probably knew, too. Mike wasn’t upstairs studying- he was sucking face with his best friend upstairs all night.