WILL POV-

"Hehe, I still can't believe that El complimented my acting" Max gushed, shimmying her shoulders side to side. Will rolled his eyes turning his attention towards Lucas. Earlier when El came to see Mike act she saw Max, El complimented and remembered her name, this led to the redhead being overjoyed. She punched Will's arm when she saw his eyeroll

"The day went so fast, its already time to go" She giggles. The chestnut-haired boy walked in the middle surrounded by his two friends who trotted either side of him.

"By the way Will don't think I've forgotten, we are still going to Starcourt" Max joked flicking Will's arm, Lucas's ears perk up

"Can I come?" He questioned with puppy dog eyes.

"What would you do if we said no?" Will amused raising an eyebrow at Lucas, The athletic boy smiled squinting his eyes. The boys talk noticing Max was distracted. She sees two familiar faces from across the studio.

"Hey guys... do u know who we should invite" She blurts. The two boys remained quiet; they look in the direction she was staring in. Will shook his head profusely, he already knew who she was thinking of inviting.

Mike and El

Even though he really wanted to talk to Mike again, the chestnut-haired boy didn't know how to start the conversation considering the way Mike literally ran off last time. He looked at Lucas who was still trying to identify who Max wanted to bring along with them in the sea of people. Will looked back at the redhead; she was no longer by his side, looking forward he sees the girl sprinting full speed towards Mike and El, shouting.

"HEY GUYS" She jumps over as if greeting old friends

Will stands by Lucas. He facepalmed, this is literally embarrassing, of course two mega-famous celebrities aren't going to hang out with a couple of normies. Will looks toward them again, through a crack in his hand he sees Mike look over, Will panics; hiding behind Lucas. The athletic boy looks at Mike, awkwardly throwing on a smile and a wave.

"Do you want to come to the mall with us?" Max asks nonchalantly, she stood with her hands on her hip, not even daring to look back at Will who was still behind Lucas. Max looked hopeful; her eyes gleamed, this way she would spend more time with El and Will would get to spend time with Mike, it was a fool proof plan. She looked at the pair's faces, they stare blankly. Mike opens his mouth; Max expects rejection but El blurts.

"Yay! We would love to!" The brunette practically vomits the words out her mouth interlocking arms with both Max and Mike. The redhead looks at Mike's face now, he had a small grin. Max directs El who rushes them to Will and Lucas.

"What!" Lucas stood shocked as he never met Mike before, he looked at both Mike and El, his eyes widened. He was starstruck.

"Umm where's Will?" Mike asks, tilting his head

"He's behind me" Lucas snickered putting his hand behind his back and pulling Will out by the arm. Will flushed, this was not the way he planned on speaking to Mike again, he awkwardly waves.

Will Byers is definitely a weird person; he doesn't really fit into the textbook definition of a twenty-first century male. His attraction towards guys; his colourful clothes and bowlcut always made him the victim of bullying. He was awkward around most people even if they are close. If an unpleasant interaction happens, he assumes the worst and the next time they meet Will acts very stiff. This confused a lot of people; including Mike who thought that the chestnut-haired boy was his new friend.

"Hi Will..." Mike sighed. Lucas looked between the two, this is embarrassing; facepalming he thinks of an idea

"Umm anyway... My name is Lucas" Lucas takes Mike's attention from Will, putting out a hand to shake Mikes.

"I'm so excited, I can't wait to go to the mall" El jumps up and down, boy is she eager Will thought. Has she never been to the mall before? Lucas and Will collectively judge Max who was bright red; trying to cover it up by fanning herself. Will panned his attention towards Mike; noticing El had her arms interlocked around his, a small frown painted his face, he looked down.

"The mall!!! And I wasn't invited?" a voice calls from behind, all turn their attention towards Dustin his hand covering his mouth out of shock, he scowled like the group betrayed him by cutting off his oxygen supply

"Of course... Dusty-bun" Mike giggled

"Dusty-bun?" Will and Lucas asked in unison. Simultaneously furrowing their brows in confusion.

"That name is reserved for Suzie and Suzie only" Dustin lisps wafting his hands around and standing beside Mike, he softly punches the raven-haired boy in the arm. Will giggles, he found it easy to talk to Dustin then it was to talk to Mike, he assumed the nerves of being around his crush made him feel not so confident. Upon hearing laughter, the curly haired boy turned his attention towards Will

"You two Byers?" Dustin jokingly crossed his arms

"How could you not invite me?" he pouts looking at Will. The chestnut haired boy flicks Dustin's baseball hat; mocking him. The curly haired boy held up a middle finger to Will, who proceeded to do the same while rolling his eyes playfully. Dustin gasped.

"Byers, you swear?" looking at Will as if he wasn't a fully grown adult. The chestnut-haired boy nodded throwing up a peace sign as Lucas hyped him up.

Mike looked at the pair interact; he felt a weird feeling inside of him, a feeling he couldn't explain. Deciding to just ignore it he tried to turn his attention away but failed miserably when Will started speaking.

"Anyway... would you like to come with us Dusty-Bun?" Will asked, sarcasm laced the last part. Will looks at Dustin, admiring the curly haired boy's ability to speak confidently, he wished he could be like that

"I guess I'm free" Dustin fakes a sigh, laughing and pushing the group towards the exit. They walk pass the front desk, El was far Infront with Max, leading the pack; behind them were Mike and Dustin and behind them Lucas and Will. Out of the corner of his eyes Will saw the lady at the front desk jump up.

"Have a nice day Mr Wheeler, Mr Henderson and Miss Hopper" She eyed them up and down. With a wide smile spread on her face. The celebrities returned the smile. Dustin and El gave a big wave while Mike just uttered 'You two' with a small smile

"Apparently we are invisible" Lucas mumbles to Will, letting out a chuckle, prompting Mike to turn his head around, Will notices the raven-haired boy accidentally making eye contact. Mike, being caught looks forward once again

The raven-haired boy blushes feeling his lips turn upwards.

"Hey dude is everything alright?" Dustin pokes Mike's side; he nods unsure of his own answer. The curly haired boy raises an eyebrow but decides not to question further.

The gang continues to walk. Mike takes secret glances at the chestnut haired boy, after all he just wanted to be friends with Will, right?

They reached the parking lot; cars came into view, Will and Mike were the only two people who had cars in the group. Mike's car was at front due to his VIP parking. However, Will had to park near the back which prompted everyone to decide to evenly divide the group into two

"I want to be with Max" El blurted to Mike's surprise. Will looked at them, then the boys

"Umm I can bring the girls, Mike why don't you bring Dustin and Lucas?" Will spoke. Mike nods unlocking the car with the two boys who were currently discussing who would be the better superhero out of them.

"I wish you luck with those two" Will laughed pointing at the pair of Lucas and Dustin, He looked at Mike who maintained eye contact. Will spoke

"Anyways let's get going, before the good shops close." Will blushed, clapping his hands together awkwardly, he fidgets with his fingers turning around. Walking away looking back to see Mike sitting in the car, he had all the windows rolled down. Dustin and Lucas were arguing like little kids, trying to poke one another in the eye, Will shifted his eye line to Mike who looked like he was already done with their bullshit.

Will and the pair of girls walked towards the car. He got in the front while the two girls sat in the back.

"Thank you Mr. Uber driver" Max chuckled, the chestnut-haired boy looks at her with a dead expression on his face, she giggles hitting the back of his head.

"You know my jokes are funny... aren't I funny El?" Max placed a hand on her chest as she spoke. The brunette nodded looking at Max with an expression that Will couldn't exactly pinpoint.

Will rolled his eyes but had a small frown, to be honest he wanted to talk to Mike without feeling insecure or shy just like how Max does around El. The redhead looks through the rear-view mirror; seeing his frown she knew exactly why Will was sad, he didn't even need to say anything. Max leans over the front seat and whispered close to Will's ear

"Don't worry... you'll spend tons of time with Mike at the Mall!" Max Winked and sat back in her seat 

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1615 Words

Another chapter and starcourt Mall is in the next chapter

I truley loved the starcourt mall era