Chapter Text
February 1986
Hawkins, Indiana
It's a beautiful day outside.The sun is shining bright, not a single cloud in the sky. Will is sitting under the bleachers. He's sketching in his notebook. He's drawing a sketch of his mom...Joyce Byers or the crazy woman as the town likes to call her. She hasn't really been in the right mind since Hopper died . She thinks that Will doesn't see it but he does. Every night she comes home from her gruelling work hours and takes out the bottles from the cupboard that Will still can't quite reach. Speaking of which Will hasn't really gotten that growth spurt that Jonathan promised him when he was 12 years old. He has grown taller but he's still pretty short compared to his....... friends.
Mike his best friend from kindergarten has had a growth spurt. Ever since his first rut last year he's shot up in height. He's not hanging out with will right now because he's too busy with lucas and the basketball team. Back when they were still friends,no best friends he had asked mike why he was trying out for sports so suddenly. Mike had told him that his body feels restless all the time and how he all of a sudden has all this pent up energy that he needs to vent. And that's how their board games in the basement had come to an abrupt end. Which is sort of ridiculous how the upside down hadn't managed to take away their favourite hobby but presenting as an alpha did.
Now Will sits under the bleachers by himself during lunch break while Mike and Lucas practice basketball until it's dark out. Will would never admit it but he knew somewhere deep inside that he would present as an omega. Sure his mom and brother are betas but he just knew. Just like how everyone who has ever looked at him before including his dad. Will knows that he's a disappointment. His mom would never agree but will isn't stupid. He knows that as a male omega his life will be much harder compared to female omegas like Max. She's normal, she's perfect. Will wouldn't be surprised if she got that cheerleading position that she's been eyeing ever since Lucas got into the basketball team.
Dustin is a beta but he's found this new DND party called hellfire. He couldn't join because they already had enough members. So will now goes to school and comes home to an empty house. He heats up last nights dinner watches shitty TV and goes to sleep. He doesn't want to admit it but he's lonely. He feels exhausted and the added trauma of going missing in an alternative dimension at 12 is not a good mix.
Although there's a teeny tiny detail that he's reluctant to reflect on. Will has this sneaking suspicion that Mike is not as straightforward as he claims to be. Sure he's like an apex predator at school now and he's got girls and omegas hanging from his arm. And sure will hasn't spoken to him in months but he's also not being bullied or anything. It's just that Mike has a staring problem. Ever since it got out that Will is an omega, Mike has been staring at him , all the time. Which is weird because they're not really talking. Will can feel it every time he's opening his locker or he's in class he can feel that pricking sensation in his neck. And a lot of the times he swears that the basketball team is talking about him. Which makes no sense because he's nobody, he's a ghost, a zombie. Why would they be talking about him?