Chapter 14

Both boys turned around in their seats quickly as Joyce smirked at them. She cleared her throat again as she looked around the room, checking to make sure none of the teachers or people in the cafeteria saw them. Once she was satisfied that nobody had noticed them, Joyce cleared her throat once more and said: "There will be no kissing in this restaurant. You are both old enough now and should respect yourselves, especially when others are around."

Mike and Will exchanged looks of embarrassment. Joyce watched them both for a little more, clearly amused, before turning on her heel to walk off to her next table.

Once Joyce left, Will let out a heavy sigh. "She's getting more strict by the day..."

"Yeah, you're probably right", Mike chuckled softly.

Once they had gotten rid of the lunch boxes and bags under their desks, Mike and Will headed down to the basement to start practicing for their game against Lucas, Dustin, Lucas's mom and Lucas's dad later that evening. After taking turns tossing their baseballs, the three young men returned upstairs to join the rest of their friends in the living room for a movie. Before sitting down on the couch with Dustin and his mom, Jonathan informed the three teens that Mrs. Byers was sick with strep throat and needed him to stay home and care for her, which meant that Will and Mike would be spending the night at Jonathan's house again.

As the two younger boys prepared to leave, Jonathan said goodbye to Joyce and promised her that he would try to take good care of her.

"Thank you, Jonathan. Don't forget that I expect you to call every day and bring me soup while we're here. Don't forget to tell me if Mike has any fever yet."

Joyce waited patiently, waiting for the answer. As long as there weren't any other problems, she had nothing else to worry about.

"…Well... Mike does have a cold. There's still some of yesterday's medicine left that I gave him, though."

"Don't keep me waiting much longer Jonathan, now! I need that medicine."

"Alright, alright... I'll make sure he gives it to you soon. Just hang tight, Mrs. Wheeler. Everything is gonna work out fine."

"Dude, how do you do that?", Dustin asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

After Mike had shown Lucas how to swing a bat using just one hand, and Will demonstrated how to swing his bat using only one arm, they all agreed to practice together for a few hours until they ran out of strength. Since it was nearing the afternoon, Mike and Lucas decided to take a shower together. The two of them were standing near where Dustin stood as they took off their shirts, leaving only shorts. Dustin's eyes widened upon seeing Lucas's torso covered in numerous cuts and bruises.

"Did he seriously break up with you like that?"

Lucas nodded. "Apparently, I'm a piece of shit", he grumbled angrily as he started washing his hair. Dustin sighed. He couldn't begin to imagine how difficult the situation must've been for Lucas. It wasn't everyday you get dumped by someone, he thought to himself. After rinsing off his shampoo, he washed his hands and dried them off with the towel hanging over the edge of the sink. With a sudden rush of excitement, he pulled a bottle of painkillers out of the cupboard under the sink.

"Guys... Guess who I found in the hospital?" Dustin announced excitedly.

"Who?" Mike replied, not paying attention to the smaller boy, busy with wiping away the steam from the shower drain.

"Jonathan!", Dustin squealed.

That caused Mike and Lucas to pause their task for a moment and turn around to face the curly haired boy. Their expressions ranged from curious to incredulous.

"Is that true?", Lucas asked.

Dustin nodded enthusiastically.

Mike frowned. "Why would you find Jonathan in the hospital? Didn't you already see him?"

"Yes, but I had to talk with him first," Dustin explained. "Remember when Jonathan went to go visit Mom for the last month? Well, I had to go visit my dad, who works for Hopper's company, since he was there for the weekend. That means that he was also there for his checkup. So, Jonathan came here the day that Dad got his checkup. He didn't want to, though."

"And what did your father say?", Mike questioned.

"Not much actually. We talked about you guys for a bit. It was kind of awkward though because Jonathan was always kinda embarrassed around my parents. Then, he just told me he couldn't wait to see you guys tonight."

Dustin smiled at his friends and began packing his things. After grabbing a handful of toilet paper to dry off the rest of the water that managed to drip off his body, he made his way up the stairs to go put on some fresh clothes.

Just then, Dustin heard footsteps echoing through the hallways. He assumed it was Lucas walking back downstairs, so he kept putting on his shirt. However, a few moments later, he heard a quiet sniffle. Glancing at the clock, he realized that it was nearing four o'clock. Lucas was most likely crying.

Deciding that the two boys might need privacy, Dustin quietly crept out of his bedroom and quietly exited through the door into his father's study. When he closed the door silently behind him, his heart began racing, knowing full well that his parents wouldn't know he was gone.

A few minutes later, he heard a knock on the front door of the Byers residence, followed by his mother calling out for him.

"Come on Dustin!", he heard her yell, her voice sounding rather stern this time.

Feeling nervous, the young boy hurried back to his bedroom and shut the door. Just as he was about to enter his own room, he saw a shadow suddenly appear behind the wall next to him. Confused as to why someone would be hiding there, he turned around hesitantly and saw Jonathan peeking out at him.

"Hello", he greeted, nodding shyly.

Dustin couldn't help but blush lightly at the sight of his best friend standing behind the wall.

"Hi", he replied softly, nervously adjusting his glasses.