#wthdrawn

[storytcllr]

"every apology you give sounds rehearsed" from jonathan (omg)

fist clenches at his side. caught. leave it to jonathan to see right through him. sometimes mike wonders if it’s some sort of byers superpower. a psychic link that lets them all plug into the back of his head and intercept his every thought before it’s even fully formed.

of course they’re rehearsed. every apology, every declaration, every speech. every one, written and shredded up and rewritten. over and over, tumbling around in his head like sea glass; sharp edges wearing down until he could choke out the words without coughing up blood. the only way it was ever bearable, to be so vulnerable. even if it never quite plays out the way he envisions, derailed when people deviate from the script they don’t know exists.

“oh my god,” he groans. expression pinches into a scowl, but it’s lacking heat. “quit eavesdropping!”

[heartwheeler]

“you think i don’t care?” from will<3

"no," mike shrugged his shoulders, not sure how to describe what he was thinking or feeling. "i don't know..." it was like everything was so confusing since el had dumped him and the byers moved into his basement. he thought he said what she wanted to hear, but she didn't believe him. he felt like he meant what he said to her.

he said what will told him to say and she dumped him.

and now all he could do was mope around his house, knowing he should be miserable about el breaking up with him but he's not. he felt weirdly relieved?

so he couldn't figure what he felt so wrong about. what would trigger the mopey mood swings. and for whatever reason, that was manifesting into annoyance that will hadn't asked him what was wrong.

his hands went to his forehead to press the bottom of his palms into his brow bone like he was trying to physically will his brain from overthinking. after a moment of that, his hands were thrown back down to his sides. "i guess it just felt like you hadn't noticed i was upset."

[sacrilegi0us]

Is this seriously what college is? Listening to his roommate ramble on about how he's never been with a girl? Jesus, Mike's going to actually lose his mind before the end of the semester. At least it's not a jock. That's a plus side, right? He could be stuck listening to someone trying to talk to him about like, football or some other sport he couldn't care less about. Not that he cares about the girl conversation either. It's a topic he's kind of avoided like the plague. He tiptoed around it with Dustin and Lucas. He doesn't hate girls, obviously, but he doesn't.... feel whatever these guys do about them either. That's a can of worms Mike isn't opening right now.... Or like, ever.

“Yeah, that's all very cool or — not cool, I guess. Look, I need to finish revising this and I can't focus." Mike sighs, eyes lifting from his notebook opened in front of him. His finger taps against the page and he attempts to offer @wthdrawn some sort of apologetic expression, but he knows he looks more irritated than anything else. Of course he feels a little bad about it, so he backtracks just enough to seem like less of an asshole. "Why don't you, I don't know... Do you not like anyone in your classes?"

[hawkinsown]

"do you ever sleep! jesus harrington!" from jonathan<3

↯ .ᐟ fingers drum. the morning air is cold, a contrast to the coffee he'd just poured himself. ❛ c'mon byers, you should know by now i don't quit, ❜ he mutters. the clock ticks behind them, feeling the other's sharp eyes on him. 〚 he hasn't been able to stop since everything came to a halt 〛the day starts to invite itself in around them, sunlight peaking through the drawn shades. he taps the doorway, jingling his keys. ❛ you ready? ❜ he barks impatiently, knocking his fingers on the doorframe.