bryce gheisar as...
Jude Mackenzie

When was it you were suppose to know the difference between a close friendship and if you liked them?

Jude asked himself that question the evening of the snow ball. After an entire year of being inseparable after the lose of El, a girl Mike had a huge crush on, and one of Jude's closest friends, the pair rarely were separated. Jude tried not to think about the fact that Mike probably only got closer to him because he resembled El in a few ways, not to mention they'd been so close and Jude had plenty of things to talk about, with El being the subject.

He'd never actually know if that was the case or if Mike just enjoyed his company as a person.

Now, with Will being back, and things starting to get weird again, Jude starts to questioning not only who he was as a person, but also his friendship with Mike. He had plenty of crushes on girls before, three to be exact. He never thought he actually felt similar to guys, sure, he was comfortable enough to accept when another boy was attractive and would occasionally blush when Jonathan Byers, Wills older brother, would smile at him if they passed each other.

But was that just who Jude was, or was it so much more then that? Did he like boys? Did he like girls? Did he like both? Was that allowed? Was that a thing? Was that normal? Did anyone else feel that way? Did Mike?

All those questions hit Jude between the months of october and november, december only hitting him like an entire truck of bricks. But how could he think of it long enough when one of his best friends was having more and more episodes, a certain mind flayer haunting the town of Hawkins, a new girl joining the party, missing his lost friend, AND finally getting visits with his mom again.

Jude didn't, to say the least. He just pushed it away any time he would think about it, about who he was and who all he'd been attracted to. And the worst part was that he'd use the excuse that he had no time to think about it. But, the truth was, he was just scared to accept it all in the end.

Mike becoming closer and closer definitely didn't help him either.

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kylie speaks

hummm, hummm,
yes, i think i'll take him,
thank you.