WILL POV-

---- Monday 7:52 AM ----

The brunette arrived at school early today as per usual. His weekend uneventful; filled only with unpacking and occasional chitchat with friends. Will sighed laying his head down on the desk using a felt-tip to doodle on the table, ordinarily he wouldn't dare to, but decided to break the rules a bit. After all, the pen he was using would wash off with a mere dab of a paper towel.

The small boy sketched his Dungeon and Dragon character 'Will the Wise', complete with little accents to his clerics' robe. The boy wished he could add colour but had no time; his eyes averting to his wrist that had a charm bracelet; gifted from his stepsister- El.

The bracelet was pretty simple; just some chains linked with a singular large charm: a compass. The small boy smiled just observing it, deeming it as a thoughtful gesture that the doe-eyed girl had thought of.

"I wonder were we'll go for camp next!" El skipped over leaning on top of Will's desk

"We literally just came back from this one" The brunette chuckled raising his head "Don't you think we should rest for a bit?"

"Can't a girl dream?" The doe eyed girl pouted obviously giggling

"Not when she's prancing around the room" Will rolled his eyes playfully

"Hmph!" She pouted "I'm gonna go to the snack bar with Max... Want anything?" quickly changing the subject, standing up straight.

"Um... Nothing I can think of!" The brunette smiled

"Okay! But if you want anything, text me!" She waved, running off toward her girlfriend hand-in-hand out the room. The brunette watched with a soft smile on his face; the doe-eyed girl having an excitable and preppy aura than the one presented in the comic. Laying his head back on the table, Will looked out the window "Ohh a portal!" excitedly jumping out his seat parking himself near the open window observing the sky.

"Will what are you doing?" Dustin slithered over crossing his arms, a bright smile on his face with his voice calm. The brunette said no words just pointing at the sky.

"Another portal?" The curly haired boy nodded "It's oddly pretty, isn't it?"

"I guess it is!" The small boy mumbled, never actually thinking about it. Now that it faced him head on, the small boy really observed the portal, detailing all its curves and edges; the purple particles radiating a mystical aura. It was inexplicitly beautiful, almost captivating the eyes of the only two boys who could see it.

Suddenly a drink appeared in front of the brunette; realising Dustin being the one who slid it across the window banister. But why? Will tilted his head confused, turning to face the curly haired boy whose expression suddenly changed, morphing to one more sombre.

"What's wrong?" Will furrowed his brows "And what's this?" picking up the drink that already had its straw poked through the hole; freshly popped, as if done especially for him.

"It's for you!" Dustin exclaimed

"Okay... but why?" The brunette scrunched his face

"I just wanted you to have a nice drink!" The curly haired boy pouted acting suspicious "You deserve it"

"This comic has made you lost the plot definitely" Will judged quietly

"I've not" Dustin whined "It's just because you brought ice-cream during the camp so I thought I'd repay the favour... you know?"

"Okay... thanks" Will unconvincingly scrunched his eyebrows, lifting the drink to his lips taking a small sip.

"And how about we sit down... far from the open window" The curly haired boy suggested whispering the last part.

"Okay, I know what this is about-" The brunette sighed lowering his drink to the banister "Did you buy me a drink because you're worried I might fall out the window?" Placing his hands on his hips

"No! W-why would I?" The curly haired boy lied, attempting to sound convincing but failing miserably. In all actuality he was terrified, ever since he finished reading the last chapter of the comic he was worried for Will's safety; he didn't want anything unfortunate to happen to the brunette who was nothing but kind to everyone.

"Don't worry!" The small boy playfully rolled his eyes "It was just something stupid the author wrote because they got bored... I'm nothing like my character, am I? I'll be fine" giggling under his breath

The curly haired boy remained unconvinced. No matter what Will said to him, he had a bad feeling about it; like a terrible, gnawing feeling that the ending might come true "Don't call the author stupid, you- you might die!" wailing loudly while grabbing the brunette's shoulders grasping them firmly.

"You're definitely the most emotional of the group" Will sighed "Listen Dustin! As much as I appreciate this... you don't need to worry about me. Me and my comic self are two completely different entities, and plus the comic is not continuing as it's supposed to, so I think I have a fair chance of not being thrown off a building!" chuckling as he finished each word

"If you say so... but still let's stand away from the ledge" Dustin muttered seeing the small boy take another sip of his chocolate milk, both taking a step back but continuing to watch the pulsating portal, admiring it.

A few minutes passed as Will felt a little tap on his head; turning around to see the athletic boy stand behind him, a bright smile on his face. "What are we looking at?"

"Nothing!" Both boys answered in unison knowing that Lucas couldn't see the portal even if they pointed it out to him, deciding there was no use explaining anything "Were just saying how nice it was outside!" Will answered.

"Why do you have those poster boards?" Dustin furrowed his brows stretching an arm to lean against the wall behind Will, so the brunette would be unable to topple over and fall out the window.

"Um... these?" The athletic boy mumbled "It's for the class... it's the pictures I took! I'm selling them!" grinning ear to ear

"You're making them pay?" Dustin playfully remarked

"You're lucky I don't make you pay!" Lucas joked but finally, gathered the courage to take out an envelope from his bag placing it ahead of Will, "These are actually for you!" his voice a mixture of excitement and apprehension nervous of the reaction.

Will's eyes lit with curiosity. "Oh, what is it?" he asked, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

The athletic boy handed him the envelope, his hands slightly trembling. "It's a collection of photos from our camping trip. These are all the one's with you in it because it seemed as though I took a lot."

"Oh Thanks! How much do I need to pay you?" The small boy asked

"Nothing!" Lucas chirped "It's free of charge; only for family and friends"

The brunette clutched the envelope closer to his chest resuming his rambling, stuttering as the words flew out his mouth "No! I'll pay! I know polaroids can be expensive! My brother says so all the time, with the roll and the film and getting them developed which no one really does nowadays so you only get them done at specific shops which have a massive margin of error, not to mention-!"

"Will?" Lucas spoke soft, cutting the boy out his thoughts while placing a caring hand on his shoulder "It's fine! You're my model and I liked taking pictures of you... it would be my pleasure to give you something special to show how much you mean to me!"

"I know but-" The brunette whined

"No buts-" the athletic boy mocked, removing the hand, urging the small boy to open the package. His face filled with anticipation and worry for Will's reaction.

Opening it slowly, revealing a series of beautiful snapshots of their adventure. Each photo showcased his smile, laughter, and the new sense of confidence he had attained since he stepped foot into this comic.

"Do you like them?" Lucas nervously questioned biting the inside of his mouth

"I LOVE THEM!" Will smiled bright taking a seat at his desk to observe the photos.

"I'm- I'm glad you like them!" The athletic boy mumbled attempting to hide the blush prominent on his face; turning around to the front of the room displaying his poster cards as students rolled in, furrowing their brows seeing Lucas at the front. Some grumbled worrying this would be a lecture or a boring assembly of the core values of the camping trip and what they learnt. The athletic boy counted the students entering the room, and when most had arrived including Max and El with a bag full of food from the snack bar, he spoke.

"Ahem!" The athletic boy cleared his throat "Class! Here you see before you are the memories of the camping trip! Taken by yours truly Lucas Sinclair! One photo is $10 each" exuding confidence with every word; clear to any onlooker that the athletic boy had a flair for public speaking; eloquently carrying himself.

Will raised his eyebrows, $10 for a picture? Perhaps if it were one or two, but buying multiple could rack up over $100. His eyes widened as the students rushed to the front of the room pushing past one another to get their Polaroids. Considering this was one of the most prestige schools with only the upper echelon of students, it wasn't all too surprising they flocked over grabbing this as a 'great deal' paying for 15 or 20 pictures

The small boy shook his head sitting beside Dustin filtering through the photos; separating them into ones solely of him, and others that contained the group. But out of nowhere the curly haired boy cackled, raising a photo to the air slowly revealing it to the brunette. Will's eyes widened... it was the photo of him and Mike asleep on the train; his neck in the picture twisted into an awkward position to accommodate the taller boy's head; he was not a graceful sleeper!

"AHH! I look so bad" The brunette whined, scrunching his face and snatching the photo from his grasp before it circulated. He held it up to his side; feeling his vulnerability and discomfort captured in a single instant, attempting to hide it away until he lost touch of it. Feeling a hand rip the photo from his fingers to see it taken by the boy he wished didn't witness the Polaroid.

Mike gently leaned over analysing the photo, a clumsy smile spreading across his face growing wider every second. "What have we got here?" The ravenette slightly giggled, unable to hide his delight.

"It's a silly photo of us asleep on the train" Will sulked in his seat passing a death glare to Dustin: of all people he didn't want to see that photo, Mike was at the top of that list; it was embarrassing for both of them. Although the ravenette appeared like a supermodel in the photo with no pore or blemish in sight.

"This is actually adorable" Mike chirped, his eyes sparkling

"I don't know why it was even taken" The brunette gritted through his teeth "I look so bad in it!"

"You look cute" The ravenette giggled

"What?" Will whispered

"Do you mind if I keep it?" Mike spoke aloud continuing to stare at the photo.

"Why would you wanna keep it? I look like I'm dead in there!" The brunette rolled his eyes.

"It's one of the only times you were quiet! We need to savour this!" The ravenette giggled at his own joke, walking away with the photo in hand; he sat in his seat at the back of the classroom, captivated by the polaroid. It was perfectly candid as his gaze lingered on Will, his heart swelling feeling more entrapped by the boy scanning his features knowing he was pretty inside and out.

But Mike couldn't help but feel a spec of sadness pull on his heartstrings. Looking up at Will's desk seeing him laughing away with Dustin with not a care in the world; the longing and admiration he felt for the boy only increasing.

With a sigh, the ravenette reluctantly tore his gaze away, realising his feelings were nothing more than a daydream. He understood he couldn't force a connection with the brunette; it would be difficult, but he was willing to do it. After all, he had all the time in the world, right? Deciding to merely play the act of a secret admirer for the time being, watching from a distance was content.

"CLASS!" The teacher interrupted his longing, flinching in his seat; Mike never paid attention in roll-call resorting to staring out the window to pass the time. But this time, instead of seeing the same blue landscape decorated with fluffy clouds, his eyes widened; seeing a purple aura emitting from the skies... 

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2133 Words

Stay Safe <3