WILL POV-

---- Tuesday 3:22 PM ----

"WOOO!!" Cheers roared around the camp; the teachers decided to have a scavenger hunt through the woods. This would never fly in real life; what type of high school allows students to travel by themselves through a foreign forest? This was in no way legal right? It was lucky this was a comic where there's no legal repercussion for their actions.

The brunette scanned the grounds; the students seemed extremely excited and they ought to be; in the comics this was nicknamed the 'trail of love'. Lucas secretly told them earlier in the train that they had this little activity, but Will already knew; it was in chapter 32 in the comic. It wasn't clear to him how the night would pan out considering the changing of chapters and the messed-up, conflicting plotlines.

Students rejoiced jumping up and down standing outside of the cabins; they all lined up as Mr Clark got their attention.

"CHILDREN!" He clapped his hands together to get the students attention, "Pick out a number from the bowl" He pointed at the large bowl he placed on top of the table; they weren't allowed to choose groups as Mr Clark was worried that this would lead to some less popular students being isolated for the activity and although he commended the actions; Will HATED IT. As a loner kid in high school, he would rather work alone in the woods then have to be with some popular snooty kid who treated him like a carry-on luggage; or even worse, what if he got pared up with his bullies? that would be pandemonium.

He looked up at Mr Clark but zoned him out as he already knew the groupings that would go together from the comic; Mike and El, Max and Lucas, Dustin with some random girl and finally Will with Richie. He paid no mind to it deciding that he would be so unbearable that he could finish the scavenger hunt early and go back to his cabin to spend the rest of the night alone.

The night would probably be the same as yesterday; extremely uneventful. The previous night consisted of miscellaneous chitchat and occasional death stares from both Troy and James during dinner. It was nothing eventful, of course Will was happy he had his friends over to spend his time with so that Troy and James wouldn't dare to lay a hand on him in front of the school's most popular students.

One by one the students picked out an envelope from the bowl waiting in a line all hoping they would have their crush so they could have a romantic walk... through the woods. Yeah, Will wasn't so sure how 'romantic' this was considering the woods was the main place for many horror movies, but he shrugged scooting beside that point as it was his turn to pick out a card. Scanning it neatly placed within a small red envelope.

The brunette stood to one side searching for his friends, shrugging as he assumed they were just looking for their own partners. Sighing, Will unwrapped the envelope pulling it out it's coloured sleeve about to open it.

"Hey Will!" A voice called running over, it was Lucas a bright smile on his face "What number do you have?"

"I haven't opened it yet" The brunette tilted his head

"Oh... want to open them together?" Lucas questioned nervous, hoping luck was on his side putting them together for the activity. Bashfully smiling seeing the smaller boy nod; unwrapping the cards as Lucas counted down

"3

2

1"

The pair open the cards looking at the numbers present on them; they were close; so very close. Will had number 7 while Lucas had number 8. The athletic boy's face dropped; he wasn't angry or annoyed, just a bit disappointed they were only a mere number off.

"Oh..." Will awkwardly smiled "I guess we aren't together"

"Umm yeah" Lucas stuttered; closing his card. The brunette scanned the area seeing Richie in the corner of his eyes. The boy's eyes widened as he took a step forward "Let's go look for our scavenger hunt partners" Waving as he stepped away from the athletic boy and to Richie who now sat on a foldout chair under a small canopy; the boy scrolled through his phone not noticing Will ahead of him.

"Ahem" Will cleared his throat as the taller boy lifted his head

"Hello" The glasses boy smirked

"Listen I'm not here to have a conversation or anything but I hope by doing this, the scavenger hunt could end quicker. But knowing my luck it probably won't... So, are you number 7?" Will explained tripping over his tongue as the words flew out his mouth

"I'm a 10 out of 10" Richie exclaimed throwing his hands into the air

"What are you talking about?" Will deadpanned

"Is this your way of flirting Willy?" Richie lifted his eyebrows

"Never call me that!" The small boy shook his head

"So, what are you here for?" Richie scrunched his face

Will sighed, talking to him was no use, he just opened his card shoving it into the face of the taller boy repeating "Are you number 7?"

"No..." The taller boy raised an eyebrow pulling the envelope out the card and showing it to the brunette

"15?" Will said aloud "Who are you with?"

"I'm with that boy over there" Richie stood up pointing to a random boy in the crowd. A boy Will had never seen before. The brunette stood stiff, who was he with then? He pondered the thoughts placing a finger to his lips.

"Don't get jealous babe" The tall boy winked

"Babe?" Will scrunched his face disgusted, not wanting to be spoken like that in any way. He sighed turning away from Richie and scampering away "Just walk away Will! Just walk away!" He muttered under his breath to stop himself from saying something he would regret. Troy and James were already out to get him, he didn't need another.

The brunette wandered the perimeter walking from group to group looking for anyone who seemed as though they didn't have a partner yet. All his friends had found theirs; El had Max, Dustin with Lucas while Mike was nowhere to be seen. The smaller boy wasn't even sure if the ravenette would even turn up to this event, earlier in the day he called the hunt a waste of time and a stupid way to get lost and with El being with Max he had no purpose to be here.

It struck Will as weird; sure, the comic did change a few times but only due to his own actions, like him falling down the stairs instead of El because he essentially used himself as a human crash landing for her but this was luck based and nothing he could do would influence these groupings.

The boy pouted unable to find his partner anywhere and at this point he considered throwing his card away and going to sleep in his cabin even though it was the middle of the day slumping over to his friends sulking.

"I don't know where my partner is!!" He whined throwing his hands in the air

"Stop being so dramatic..." Max jokingly rolled her eyes

"I'm sure they are here somewhere" El chirped trying to lift Will's spirit

"Well, wherever they are they better come here now or else-" The small boy raised a fist into the air

"Or else what?" A voice cut off snatching the card from the small boy; it was Mike. Where was he this whole time? It was as though he was waiting for the right moment to start the conversation. The pop in for dramatic effect mirrored the comic except in the story he acted this way toward El. "I guess we are on the same team!" The tall boy shrugged, showing the group the matching numbers.

"I thought you weren't coming?" Lucas scoffed as he wanted to be on the same team as Will

"I changed my mind last minute..." Mike shrugged giving no explanation

"So, are we just gonna wait here or what?" Max complained excited to win the prize for the scavenger hunt, being an extremely competitive soul.

"We have to go over the safety precautions" The athletic boy, being the responsible one came prepared handing a whistle to each of them. "If you get lost, sit where you are and blow the whistle so we, or a rescue team can find you" explaining and waving his hands around to illustrate his point

"Rodger that captain" Will chuckled "But I already know what to do in the case of getting lost"

"Really..." Lucas seemed surprised "I'd love to hear"

"Yeah, this should be fun" Mike scoffed

"I'm gonna light a lighter and just wave it around for the rescue team"

"And where are you getting this magical lighter from?" Mike scrunched his face

"Umm..." Will pondered

"You can use mine!!" El grinned fumbling through her bag to pull out a silver lighter flipping it open and switching it on. The flame burnt bright as the girl excitedly waved it around singing an indie song; only saying a few words. Will joined in but stopped as Lucas reprimanded them

"I don't think the whole concert is going to work!" The athletic boy mocked as the two quietened.

"That's a dumb plan" Mike scoffed

"Well, it's better than Dustin's stupid idea" Will retorted crossing his arms

"HEY!" Dustin pouted offended of his idea being diminished "I spent time on that plan"

"You thought about it on the toilet" The smaller boy sarcastically remarked

"Well, that's where all the best ideas come from" The curly haired boy announced

"That is true" El grinned bright, agreeing.

"Now this I have to hear" The redhead smirked crossing her arms over her chest turning to face Dustin

"Okay so, if I ever get lost and hear the rescue team coming Imma just scream!" The curly haired boy waved his arms around speaking

"Okay... That's not a bad idea though" Lucas furrowed his brows

"You haven't heard what he's gonna shout" Will deadpanned

"FREE BEER! I'M NAKED OVER HERE IDIOTS" Dustin shouted at a louder than normal volume causing some groups of people to turn their heads but laughed as Dustin was the one who said it. If it was any other student, they would have surely been mocked and made fun of.

"Was the naked part really necessary?" The redhead scrunched her face

"Very much!" The curly haired boy ecstatically grinned raising a finger to the air

"How?" Max spat

"It will entice the rescue team!" Dustin smiled

"If you were naked in the woods... I would leave you there" Mike furrowed his brows

"Thats what I said... This isn't Naked and Afraid!" Will supported

"You guys don't see the vision" Dustin sighed dramatically

"Please don't remove your clothes during the scavenger hunt" The athletic boy facepalmed

"STUDENTS!" A teacher cut the conversation short, alerting everyone's attention as he stood near the start of the trail, gesturing for the students to get close, handing them each a clue; one by one. What was the point of this scavenger hunt? No clue; just a narrative to pull the plot forward but considering Mike was no longer paired up with El, then what the hell is the narrative continuing for? Will scratched his head; the whole situation confused him.

None-the-less the small boy skipped along with his friends, each beside their partners; he was excited to be on this trip and be able to have a good time. Lucas and Dustin led the group taking pictures as El and Max followed closely. Mike lagged behind so Will grabbed his wrist dragging him toward the entrance trying to keep up. The ravenette rolled his eyes trudging over as he roughly pulled his hand away.

Will pouted slowing his pace to match Mike's; if he was going to act like this the whole time then this was going to be a long night....

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2037 Words

IDK if this chapter is boring or not, but it's a necessary filler to the next chapter

Stay Safe <3