Mike knew he hadn’t exactly lived a typical life up til now. He’d fought monsters, met a girl who had telekinesis and had contributed in saving the world at least three times now. And out of all of that, somehow he felt that this was the strangest thing to happen yet.

When he started at Hawkins High, he expected it to be pretty much identical to what middle school was like. He’d fade into the background, face some more ridicule and then in a few years, it would be over. What he didn’t expect, was you.

You were the epitome of the stereotypical high school cheerleader. You bounced around in your cheer uniform, pom-poms peeking out of your bag, and your ponytail bouncing behind you. You were popular and sickeningly positive, you got invited to parties and were all-around liked. The complete opposite of him.

But somehow, when you spotted him during a pep rally, you’d decided you had to have him. Maybe you just liked nerds. You didn’t care that your friends thought you were insane, or that the most popular boy in your grade was gunning for you, you wanted him. So you approached him afterwards, hand holding a slip of paper with your number ready to give to him. He didn’t even know how to react, just nodded to whatever you said, face red as a canary, and watched as you skipped back to your friends, they faces distorted with judgement.

Now, you were dating. He never really got used to the stares or the whispers as you walked hand in hand down the hallway together, him shrouded in black and white and you pink and pastel as ever. ‘What’s she doing with him?’ They’d whisper, loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough for you to ignore.

“You’re coming to the game tonight?” You asked, when he finally came out from AV club before lunch. “My brothers playing, and Lucas. And plus, I’ll be cheering.” He always said yes, no matter what, but it took some convincing to get him to feel comfortable with it.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure, that’s cool.” He still got nervous around you, it was cute.