Clouds Form

"Do you guys hear that?" Will smiles, trying to keep the mood light despite the lump in his throat, "It sounds like...thunder" 

Will turns on the boombox, and it releases a low and ominous hum that Will calls "The Sound of Destiny". This sets the mood for the game Will has planned out.

"But no!" Will adds, "Wait...that's not thunder...it's..."

"A hoard of JUJU ZOMBIES!" Will's eyes light up, as he pulls out little plastic figurines of zombies, setting them down on the table in front of Mike.

"Sir Mike, your action!" Will gestures towards Mike.

"Hmm what should I do?" Mike asks, glancing over at Lucas.

"Attack..?" Lucas shrugs, showing his disinterest.

"Okay...I attack with my flail" Mike sighs and picks up his flail, voice dry.

"Whoosh! You miss" Will continues, undeterred by the lack of enthusiasm from his friends.

"Your flail clanks the stone, the zombie hoard lumbers towards you and..."

Will rolls the dice with enthusiasm, staying in character 

"The juju bites your arm..." Will announces, "The flesh TEARS AUGHHH...7 points of damage!"

Just as the tension hits a peak, a loud ring pierced the air. The phone.

Lucas and Mike's heads snap towards the sound, and Will follows.

"No! It's a distraction!" Will stomps his broom against the hardwood floor, "A trap! Do not answer it!"

Mike looked from the phone to Will, then to Lucas, before shrugging and standing up with Lucas to answer.

"Wha-....no!" Will protests

Mike quickly grabs the phone eagerly, "El?" his voice holding so much hope.

Will's gaze drops, disappointment settling heavy in his chest.

Mike's expression shifts, "No. Sorry...not interested" 

Mike slammed the phone back down and turned back to face Lucas and Will, "Telemarketers..." he says with a sigh.

Will flung his broom to the floor, ripping off the wizard's hat he'd been wearing. 

"Fine." His voice cracked, heavy with defeat.

"You guys win." Will says in defeat, switching off the boombox, the sudden silence deafening.

Mike winced at the sight of Will's frustration, something he wasn't used to seeing so raw.

"Congratulations." Will says sourly, not meeting the two boy's eyes.

Mike stepped forward, voice soft but urgent, "Will...I was just messing around" 

Will pulled off the rest of his costume, shoulders shaking. Mike reached out, desperate to fix this. "Hey, let's finish this...for real"

Mike was cut off before he could finish. 

"Just forget it Mike" Will's voice was sharp, almost bitter, "I'm going home."

"No! You wanna keep playing...right?" Mike turns to Lucas, hoping he'll play along.

"It-...uh yeah, totally!" Lucas sputters, not sounding at all convincing.

"We'll just call the girls afterwards-" Mike tries to backtrack, but Will interrupts him.

"I SAID FORGET IT, Mike. Okay?? I'm going home.." Will finally snaps, grabbing his backpack and shoving past the two boys, heading toward the garage door, hands trembling with all the bottled-up anger and hurt.

Mike hurried after him, voice rising over the rain pounding outside, "Will come on!" 

"You can't leave, it's raining" Mike explains, hoping Will might change his mind.

Will doesn't care about the rain, he just needs to get the hell out of here.

"You're ruining our party" Will snaps without looking back.

Mike's voice grew defensive, "That's not true"

Will whirled around, eyes blazing with hurt, "You're destroying everything!! And for what?? So you can swap sit with some stupid girl!?"

Mike's jaw clenched, "El's not stupid" he says defensively.

"It's not my fault you don't like girls!" Mike blurted out without thinking, the words cruel and filled with internalized feelings.

Will stands frozen, his face crumbling into that look, eyes wide, bottom lip trembling. 

A look that Mike would never be able to erase from his memory.

Will searched Mike's face, desperate for some sign of regret or softness. But all he saw was anger.

Mike's tone softened, slipping back into the way he usually talked to Will, but with a bitter edge. "I mean...what did you think...really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends...? That we were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?"

Will's breath hitched, voice barely above a whisper, "Yeah...I guess I did...I really did..." 

Mike's heart broke seeing Will's lip quiver, his eyes glossy with tears threatening to spill. And how close they were, too close.