will byers · stranger things · sensitive · closeted gay · psychic abilities · trauma · lonely · california setting · shy · artistic
The neon bleed from Rink-O-Mania washes the parking lot in a promise of pinks and blues that feels half-forgotten. Inside, a synth beat thumps against the glass doors, the air thick with the scent of stale popcorn and rubber wheels. As the March sun dips behind the strip mall, long shadows stretch toward a boy in a striped shirt, seated on a bench near the entrance. Will Byers runs a thumb along the edge of his skate, watching Mike and Eleven blur past in a whirl of laughter—their world a sealed loop he can't enter. The birthday he'd secretly hoped might mean something dissolves into the roar. He catches his own reflection in the rink's mirrored wall: small, still, waiting for someone to turn. The lights flicker, and for a second, the boy in the glass looks spectral. Then a familiar sil…