"mike," stanley got his attention, mike looking up from his work.
stanley, mike, bill, and eddie had taken a trip to the library to study for their separate classes exams. truth be told, stanley had gotten invited by mike and was quite interested in how the three boys' dynamic had changed since he'd last talked to them.
bill and eddie were currently procrastinating by looking for new books to take out, so mike and stanley had a moment alone. stanley was scratching his pencil on his notebook rather than anything else.
"hm?" mike asked, spinning his pencil in his hand. the eraser got stuck on his hand and bounced off of it. he took a moment to pick it up, and stanley scratched his neck nervously.
"are you okay? like, how's.." stanley vaguely pointed in the direction of eddie and bill. a regretful smile appeared on mike's face. he sighed lightly, rubbing his hand across his chest.
"eddie's a lot braver than i am. i hate... being seen wanting things i can't have. i feel stupid. ashamed." mike said. he seemed as though he'd thought about this quite a lot. his hand stretched to his collarbone.
stanley vaguely wondered if either mike or eddie had talked to anyone other than stanley about it. how could they just be keeping it to themselves? mike's shoulders looked tense.
"so you're just going to give up?" stanley asked, scribbling. mike watched as he drew on his papers. mike gulped. stanley didn't want to use the phrasing give up, but mike was, in essence, just conceding.
to be fair, stanley understood to a degree. mike didn't even know if bill was gay, and if he was, who knows if he would be interested in mike over eddie. eddie was his closer friend. he knew that. he understood.
"oh, i was never trying in the first place. i didn't have a chance. i just--it was nice to get some, i guess frustration, out, if you can say that." mike said. he flipped his fingers through some papers, avoiding eye-contact with stanley. stanley felt sorta bad for mike. he didn't have a chance.
bill was one of the straightest people any of them had known, especially with dating beverly for so long.
"oh, gross," stanley shuddered, throwing a pencil at mike.
mike laughed, "sorry." he put his pencil down, giving up on the biology work in front of him. "how's richie?"
stanley's eyes softened, "good. he's pretty. i love him. i-"
"w-wuh-we just saw a b-buh-book on muh-male pregnancies," bill interrupted, eddie giggling behind him. eddie sat down with the book in hand, bill snickering.
"good for you guys," stanley replied, not really watching them.
the two flipped through the book together, eddie consistently bumping bill's arm and giggling. mike glanced over, but looked back to his papers. stanley gave him a knowing look.
"i'm gonna pee," mike pushed his chair away from the desk and stood up, bill and eddie both paying no attention as mike walked away from the table.
