WILL POV-

---- Friday 8:02 AM ----

After a relaxing evening Will now found himself back in school; nothing as dramatic as yesterday has happen yet and he planned to keep it that way. This was a comic, but even the greatest comics need their filler chapters, right? He hoped today would be one of them. During the previous days he could somewhat predict what would happen if he cross-referenced his reading of the comic, but recently the story was changing; nothing major, but little inconsistencies like the sequence of events being jumbled.

He sat on El's desk listening to her yap about camp, that was another aspect of the comic that confused him; the camp scene was his favourite in the original comic, but took place much later after Mike and El had a major fight. Right now, no major fight had occurred between them and El was infiltrated with Max.

"I'm going to wear the red dress on Wednesday! I checked and that's the warmest day" El placed a finger to her lip, speaking quickly yet quietly. She planned to keep it a surprise for the redhead, to make a large impression that day

"Why do you even need dresses for a camping trip?" This still perplexed Will, wouldn't it be uncomfortable to wear a dress while hiking? It's not very practical and somehow, he knew she already knew that.

"It's for the aesthetics!" The doe-eyed girl jested, doing jazz hands

"Aesthetics?" Will retorted

"Yes! I'm making a statement with my outfit" She explained

"And what is that statement exactly, 'I don't know how to dress for hiking'?" Will mocked with the same amount of sass

"Umm excuse me?" She rolled her eyes

"I meant what I said" The boy jested

Suddenly, the door to the classroom swung open revealing a panicked Dustin clinging to the doorframe as he charged to Max and Lucas visibly out of breath "I SAW A UFO OUTSIDE!" He screamed like a madman waving his arms around.

"A UFO?" Lucas crossed his arms in front of his chest, not believing a word Dustin was saying.

"Unlikely" Max muttered, not lifting her eyes from her book completing the homework she had been putting off for the whole week. It was due in thirty minutes and she was barely a quarter way through; she rushed her work wanting to spend time with El before classes began

"Why does no one believe me?" Dustin pouted frustrated like a toddler telling a story "I definitely saw a UFO"

"Sure, you did" Max rolled her eyes, scrawling down an answer to another question from her work.

Dustin huffed stomping around the class to the front to break El and Will's conversation. El was busy talking about her plans for the next week, detailing all the things she would do at camp while the brunette just listened inputting whenever he could.

"Will, El! you believe me, right?" Dustin looked hopeful, running over to their desk slamming both hands on the table.

"What about?" El tilted her head

"About the UFO..." Dustin repeated

"Umm..." El stuttered personally not believing in UFOs, but she couldn't say anything to dissolve the curly haired boy's confidence. She looked toward Will wanting him to answer for both of them but the brunette honestly believed it. Well not in Dustin actually seeing a UFO, but if he could be sent to a comic book for absolutely no reason, it wouldn't be far out of the possibility of something flying around out there: Alien or otherwise.

"I believe you Dustin" Will shrugged watching Dustin's face change to a bright smile.

"I knew you'd believe me Will!" Dustin smiled "See he's the only one who supports me" He scowled toward Lucas an Max who maintained an unchanging expression.

"So what did this UFO look like?" El questioned curious if this was fact or fiction.

"It was like a big hole and it was purple! Purple particles came out if it!" The curly haired boy explained using hand actions; glad someone believed him. He almost felt as though he was insane for thinking such a thing

"Big hole? Purple particles?" Will muttered under his breath. Was he talking about...? No, he couldn't. It wouldn't make sense, since after all Dustin was just a comic character just like the rest of them.

"This UFO, did it look a bit like a portal?" Will cut off the boy explaining what he witnessed this morning

"YEAH! It was like a gateway, but it was moving across the sky!" The curly haired boy continued

"What?" Will whispered

"I said it was like a portal!" Dustin repeated furrowing his brows before jumping, rushing to the window "LOOK! There it is again!" pointing out of it, waving his finger around. Gazing in that direction Will knew what he was thinking was true, Dustin was seeing the portal.

Everyone else looked outside but saw nothing labelling him as crazy or overexaggerating. Will didn't know what to say just grabbing the curly haired boys arm dragging him out the room "Wait where are we going? Will?" Dustin shouted

The curly haired boy was dragged across the school, passing Mike on the way who remained confused seeing the pair charge around the halls; he raised an arm to greet them but before they could reply they already passed him. The ravenette scoffed rolling his eyes slugging to the classroom.

Dustin was taken to the school rooftop that was secluded from the rest of the students. Will tightened his grip on the curly haired boy's arm "Will! Stop! Are you crazy?" Dustin struggled to get out of his grasp as Will let go harshly.

"Why did you bring me all the way here?" The curly haired boy pouted, rubbing the area on his arm that was now red "And why are you so strong?"

"Dustin!" Will spoke stern catching his attention "Nowadays I've been acting different right?"

Dustin awkwardly nodded, it was something fully established in his mind; almost the whole school knew that Will was acting better and nicer this week.

"Why do you think that is?" Will questioned

"I-I don't know" Dustin answered confused

"We are in a comic book" Will sternly stated; he didn't want to tell any of the characters they were in a comic but it was better to tell the truth then have Dustin as confused as he was when he first arrived here. They were far from the same situation but if Dustin found out himself who knows what could happen.

"What?" The curly haired boy stepped back "N-no, that's crazy"

"Oh yes it can be" Will explained

"Okay then..." Dustin spoke confident "prove it to me!" He waged a finger in the air demanding an answer from the smaller boy

"Wasn't the massive portal proof enough" Will deadpanned

"I know but... A comic?" Dustin sighed defeated "Why are we? How are we?"

"I-I don't know" Will didn't know how to explain everything considering his own knowledge was limited "And I-I'm not from here!"

"What do you mean?" The curly haired boy questioned

"I-I think somehow I passed through that portal- and-and came here" Will stammered his words; it sounded crazy, something he understood. If someone had told him that a mere week ago, he probably would have avoided them thereafter.

"So, you're saying if you go in there, you would go back to wherever you came from?" Dustin slowly pieced the logic together; it was a plausible idea.

"Umm.... I don't know" Will muttered leaning against the wall, hesitant about the answer. "To be honest I don't even know if I came through a portal"

"What do you mean you 'don't know'?" Dustin crossed his arms

"I don't know Dustin! One moment I was in my high school in California and then next I was here" Will was agitated, there was no rhyme or reason he was thrown into this comic... he just was.

"You live in California?" The curly haired boy tilted his head.

"Well, I was before I got here!" Will felt guilty for lying and he couldn't even explain himself; it felt as though he was unable to help anymore after dropping this truth bomb.

"I'm sorry" He whispered, his voice wavering not knowing what else to say in this situation. His eyes pricked with tears, the frustration he had been feeling the pass few days poured out of him.

"Hey, hey" Dustin eyes softened grasping both of his shoulders "It's okay! We'll figure this out together, Okay?"

The curly haired boy enveloped the small boy into a hug, it wasn't logical to him; If they were indeed in a comic why would everything seem so real? But it made the weird oddities he noticed recently clear. For about a week he had this weird chilling feeling over him as if he wasn't in control of himself like a puppet on a string, not to mention the random uncoloured everyday objects and the fact that his hair never gets wet when splashed by water. If he was being honest, it weirdly made sense.

The curly haired boy heard sniffling from the brunette until his wailing calmed to a mere murmur, this type of reaction was expected from someone who was in an unfamiliar place but commended the small boy for powering through it

"You okay?" Dustin questioned feeling the smaller boy's grip on him loosen, Will nodded against his shoulder

"Listen! I promise we'll find a way to get you outta here" Dustin reaffirmed; he didn't know if he was ever going to be able to fulfil that promise but he would keep true to his words helping Will any way he could.

Will pulled away wiping a few tears away from his face; his eyes puffy. He smiled "Thank you! I haven't told anyone so I guess I just overreacted"

"It's fine Will!" Dustin softly smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder

"L-let's get back to lesson before people ask questions" Will stammered

"I think you should wash your face first!" The curly haired boy joked pointing to the puffy glow of the brunette's face.

"Huh?" Will took a moment to realise "Yeah we should" He chuckled making their way to the bathroom. Will ran straight to the sinks washing the tear streaks off his face as Dustin just stood on the side absorbing all the knowledge he just attained. "So what type of comic are we in?"

"What?" Will couldn't hear from the sounds of the faucet

"The comic? What type is it? Am I a main character?" Dustin excitedly asked the questions the moment they popped into his head.

"Oh! It's a romance one! And sadly, you're not the main character BUT you are essential to the story" Will explained hoping it wouldn't hurt the curly haired boy's confidence hearing he wasn't the main character.

"Oh that's sad!" Dustin pouted "I think I would be an amazing main character" He confidently said changing his position to rest a leg on the wall.

"I second that thought!" Will supported walking over to the hand dryers jumping by the noise that emitted from it. Dustin chuckled processing this information well; in a weird way it gave him peace of mind knowing they were in a romance comic rather than horror or thriller.

"So, who are the main characters? Are you one?" The curly haired boy furrowed his brows

"No, I'm the 'villain'" Will rolled his eyes, air quoting the words.

"So that's why you so drastically changed!" Dustin made the revelation on the spot which honestly explained everything "So who is?"

"Mike and El" The small boy plainly stated, opening the door so the pair could walk through the hallways

"But isn't El with Max?" Dustin furrowed his brows, to which Will nodded "I've decided to support their relationship! El is happier than she ever was with Mike in the comic"

"Ohh burn" The curly haired boy chuckled

"I don't know how the story will turn out... But there's a lot less angst this way" Will giggled seeing their classroom in the distance, he froze slightly; knowing his new friends would ask questions, ones he wouldn't know what answer to give.

"You good?" Dustin noticed tilting his head

"Yeah! Let's go" Will excitedly chirped, he decided to face his fears patting himself on the back as the classroom door was in front of him, he grasped the handle slowly turning the knob and gently opening the door. 

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2084 Words

Dusty-Bun <3

Stay Safe <3