Chapter Text
Jason puts the car in park, “Alright, you guys ready?” He asks, glancing between his cousins,
Will takes a deep breath, “Yep,” he says unconvincingly, he looks towards his sister in the backseat, “El?” She nods silently, visibly nervous,
“If anyone gives you trouble just tell me, got it?” Jason says, looking equally as nervous for the two of them, Will unbuckles and opens the passenger door,
“Yeah, we got it,” he mumbles, getting out and opening the door for his sister, “We’ll be fine Jay,” he reassures,
“Yeah I know you will,” Jason sighs, “Liam, don’t forget you’re sitting with us for lunch,” Will nods, “and Ellie, Chrissy will walk with you to the library so just wait for her at your locker, okay?”
“Okay.” El responds softly, getting out of the car,
“See you two later, be careful!” Jason says, Will offers a reassuring smile, waving before shutting the door and turning to El,
“You ready?” He asks softly, she nods, grabbing his hand and holding it tightly as they make their way across the student parking lot. She lets go once they get closer to the school, not wanting to be immediately perceived as “too dependent” or something.
She was considered weird right off the bat at their middle school in California, Will too by association, they didn’t want a repeat of that. They didn’t really want any reputation, which is why they didn’t want to be known right away as Jason’s little cousins, Jason had told them that associating with him would likely grant immunity to most bullying, but might scare away any “potential nerd friends” as he so lovingly put it, and it was a tough decision but both El and Will ultimately decided to not mention their relation to Jason but not really keep it a secret either, still hanging out with him and his girlfriend Chrissy—a suggestion from Jason that he’d very heavily insisted on—at least until they find their own group. They didn’t even want to walk in with their cousin, knowing that it might attract attention from his friends, Jason thought it was overkill but didn’t argue.
Will helps El find her locker, they came fairly early so they wouldn’t have to rush, and so it’d be less crowded. Once El had unpacked her bag and grabbed what she needed for her first two classes, she and Will went to find his locker, conveniently it was nearby so it didn’t take long for him to get situated. As he’s shutting his locker, he hears a commotion, looking over, he sees his cousin greeting some kids in letterman jackets. He chuckles softly at how loud they are so early in the morning and turns to his sister who’s also watching the display fondly,
Placing a hand on her shoulder lightly, “Do you want to head to your class early or do you want to explore a bit?” He asks, she thinks for a moment,
“Well, you probably want to see the art room, right?” She asks with a smile, which Will returns,
“Maybe,” he says, dragging out the ‘a’,
El giggles, “Let’s explore then.” She turns and starts heading down the hall, Will falls into step with her, letting her lead the way even if she obviously doesn’t know where she’s going, blind leading the blind.
They wander for a little while, mostly navigating by vibes alone, “Jane! Will!” A voice behind them rings out, they turn and are met with a cheerful smile,
“Hi Chrissy,” Will says with an equally wide grin, Chrissy engulfs the twins in a hug,
“I’m so excited, I feel like I barely see you two, but now I get an excuse to see you just about everyday!”
“We’ve missed hanging out with you too,” Will says once Chrissy pulls away, El nods,
“I can’t believe you spent so long hiding away from me in California,” Chrissy jokes, “Oh! By the way, were you looking for a class? You looked a bit lost,”
“Oh, yeah actually,” Will starts, “Is there an art room?” He asks, feeling shy all of a sudden,
“Of course there is, you’ll love it,” she says excitedly, “follow me,” she turns and heads the opposite direction from where they were headed, whoops.
The twins follow Chrissy until they end up at a door, she pushes it open,
“Here we are!” She exclaims, Will steps in and is immediately calmed, most school art rooms smell the same and this one is no different, art rooms have always been his “safe space” over the years so now even the smell alone relaxes him almost completely. This one is about the same size as the one in Lenora, but it has some more advanced equipment since it’s a high school as opposed to a middle school.
Before Will can get too mesmerized, his thoughts are interrupted by Chrissy, “Oh I need to go meet up with Jason before classes start, do you guys want help finding any of your classes first?” Will looks to El who shakes her head,
“No we should be alright, thank you for your help, Chrissy,” Will says,
“Alright if you’re sure, I’ll see you two later,” Chrissy turns to El, “Your locker is right by the entrance, right? I’ll see you there for lunch,” She gives them both a quick hug before turning and practically skipping down the hall, her ponytail bouncing with each step.
El turns to Will, “Let’s find our classes,” she says, pulling her schedule out of her pocket, Will nods and follows El down the hall, apparently not having learned his lesson, and matches her confident stride in what may or may not be the wrong direction.
By the time they found El’s first period the hallways had started filling up, they decided to just hang out in their respective classes until school starts. After saying their short goodbyes, Will sets off to find his own first period, he takes out his schedule and starts walking far too confidently in one direction in hopes he finds his class, or far more likely, someone who can help him find his class. He turns the corner and suddenly collides with something, he stumbles back briefly before a hand shoots out and grabs his arm, attempting to steady him even though he’d already caught himself, but it’s the thought that counts,
“Shit! I’m sorry,” A voice says, Will looks up to find a boy. He realizes he hadn’t run into a wall or something, it was just a guy who’s extremely built for some reason, probably an athlete. Will notices he hadn’t said anything yet,
“Oh, no I should’ve been paying attention to where I was going,” He says sheepishly, bringing his hand up to the back of his neck, a nervous habit. He briefly observes the boy in front of him, noting his dark brown skin and impressively cylindrical hair, his eyes glide over to the person beside him that Will hadn’t noticed before, they make eye contact and the other looks away, his eyes now glued to the floor. ‘O-kay...’ Will thinks, “Uh, anyway, sorry for running into you, see you around!” He says as cheerfully as he could, mimicking Chrissy’s usual tone to come off as friendly, he’s unsure if it worked but he tried if nothing else.
“See you,” The boy responds as Will steps to the side to move around the two, offering a small smile to the other one when he looks up from the floor, receiving a strange wide-eyed stare that Will chooses to ignore, instead focusing back on trying to find his class before the bell rings.
He’s successful in his endeavor—with a bit of assistance from a teacher—and takes a seat near the back a few minutes before the bell. He stares out the window, watching as students file into the school when the bell rings, he looks around and notices how full the classroom is, there's only a few empty seats, one of them being next to him. He’s not sure if he’s happy about it or bothered by it, but he doesn’t get the chance to dwell on it because the seat is then occupied by someone. He glances over and sees a girl with red hair and a mildly scary demeanor, they make brief eye contact and he gives a small smile, she returns a very quick courtesy smile and turns her attention to the front of the room, Will decides it’s best he does the same.
After class the girl, who’s name is apparently Maxine according to the teacher, leaves quickly after the bell rings, Will leaves shortly after to get to El and walk to their next class, which they thankfully have together. He gets to her class and peeks his head through the doorway, seeing his sister talking to someone else. He kind of stands there in the open door, unsure what to do. Should he interrupt? He doesn’t want to hinder a potential friendship, but he doesn’t want to leave her to walk alone, he hasn’t seen her talk to someone like this in a long time and he doesn’t want to ruin it. After a few seconds of standing there awkwardly and definitely overthinking it, El finally notices him and waves him over excitedly, he steps into the classroom and approaches the two, smiling at the new face,
“Dustin, this is my brother Will! Will, this is Dustin,” El says grinning, Dustin smiles,
“Hey, it’s nice to meet you,” he says,
“Nice to meet you, too,” Will responds as El gets up,
“We should get to class, see you tomorrow Dustin!” She says, waving before turning and walking to the door, Will waves and follows his sister out of the classroom,
“So,” Will starts, “did you make a new friend?” He asks, trying to mask his excitement,
“I hope so, he’s really nice,” El says, the smile on her face never leaving even as they get to their second period and sit down.
They talk for most of the class, El seems much less nervous which Will is insanely grateful for. She’d always had a difficult time communicating with others, he’d taken it upon himself to get out of his own shell so he could talk enough for the both of them in public settings. He was afraid she’d be too anxious to make friends by herself but he’s happy to have been proven wrong.
Their next two classes came and went, they didn’t share either of them, unfortunately, but Will noticed Dustin in his fourth period, they smiled and waved at each other from across the room but he seemed to be in the middle of talking with his friend so Will didn’t want to bother him, instead opting to take a seat at a different table near the back. He’d hoped to get to know El’s potential new friend one day, but maybe not today. He was admittedly too nervous about lunch next period, he’s happy to talk to Jay of course, but he’d be sitting with jocks of all people. Will didn’t necessarily have an issue with them in general, it’s just not his preferred crowd is all.
After class ends Will packs up, he closes his binder and looks up to see Dustin leaving with his friend who Will now notices is the same person he’d seen in the hall that morning when he ran into that other person… he should probably start learning names.
He leaves the classroom and heads to his locker to put his stuff away. He closes the door and looks down the hall to find his sister waiting at her locker. She notices him approaching and grins at him,
“Hey, how was class?” He asks,
“It was boring,” she says simply, Will chuckles lightly,
“Yeah that tends to be the case,” he jokes, he notices Chrissy coming down the hall, waving when they lock eyes,
“Hey you two, sorry I’m late,” she says once she gets closer,
“It’s okay,” El says, Chrissy smiles,
“Cool, are you ready, Jane?” She asks, El nods and Chrissy turns to Will, “Will you walk with us or do you want to get to the cafeteria before Jason thinks you ditched him?” She jokes,
Will giggles, “Yeah I should go, I’ll see you both later,” he says, turning and heading to the cafeteria, or at least where he thinks it is, he’d forgotten to ask. After taking only one wrong turn he makes it to his destination, he takes a deep breath and steps into the loud, frankly overwhelming cafeteria and immediately wishes he’d joined El and Chrissy in the library.