a/n: inspired by the song 'Out Of My League' by Fitz and The Tantrums. enjoy :)

There was something about you that always had Will Byers drawn into you, always wanting to be near you, and know what you were doing most of the day.

You stood now at your locker, talking to one of your friends when Will noticed you.

He stood with his best friends Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas SinClaire. His eyes just wouldn't move off of you.

Your smile was bright, probably brighter than the lights on the Christmas sweater you wore. Your eyes looked illuminated with excitement and your hair was in two braids, flowing down your chest.

He couldn't help it.

"Hey, Will." Lucas said, approaching the three of them after going to his locker and putting some books away.

He didn't answer until Mike light smacked him on the arm, getting his attention as he turned away from you.

"Yeah?" He asked, slightly embarrassed.

Lucas' eyes shifted over to you still standing at your locker, having a conversation with someone, before looking back at Will.

"Are you staring at ___ again?" He asked, Mike smiling and Dustin laughing, giving him a slight nudge.

"Will, you have to ask her out if your going to keep staring at her!" Mike exclaimed, Lucas nodding in agreement.

"It will only make it less creepy."

Will nodded, listening as the bell rang overhead. He quickly turned to face your direction and saw you shutting your locker, briefly pulling down your large ugly Christmas sweater over your leggings before walking off towards your class.

"I'll do it, eventually."

—
Second period passed, meaning third period was soon and lunch would also be getting closer by the second.

Your pencil tapped impatiently on your desk as you listened to your teacher drone on and on about math equations and how to solve them before the bell rang and you eagerly sprang up.

Your feet quickly rushed out of the classroom, heading over to your locker where you put away your math textbook and grabbed out your science book.

You then headed towards Mr. Clarke's classroom, which happened to be your science class.

You entered, giving Mr. Clarke a smile before heading behind someone near the very back, where you put away your stuff and pulled out a notebook.

You began sketching anything really. Ornaments, Christmas trees, people with ugly Christmas sweaters. You hadn't been drawing for long but really enjoyed the fact that it gave you something to do.

The bell rang, so you packed away your notebook, hiding it from everyone else because no one knew that you had been drawing. Not even your closest friends.

Mr. Clarke started to teach, talking about Phineas Gage as you listened intently.

—
Lunch quickly came and you were about to walk out the door when four boys stopped you.

"___."

You turned to the voice that said your name, seeing a boy with curly hair underneath a red, white, and blue hat.

"Yes?" You asked, confused. "How do you know my name?"

"Hello," The boy said, laughing slightly. "We're in the same class."

You nodded. "Right."

You looked at the rest of them. "Well?"

They all snapped out of it, nodding to continue.

"We were wondering if you wanted to join us in AV Club for this lunch period today?" A boy said. He had dark, black hair and seemed taller than the rest of them.

You looked slightly confused. "Why me?"

"Because, well, you seem cool."

You laughed. "Uh huh. Well, I'll go with you."

You didn't notice that  Will was suddenly red faced with luck and embarrassment as you all walked out towards the AV room.

"You just go on in, I need to find something real quick." Mike said, grabbing Will and pulling him away from the rest of the group.

—
"Okay, Will. Now's your chance to ask her out on a date, or something. She's going to be right there."

"So are all of you guys though." He replied back to Mike who nodded.

"Yes, but" He paused.

"But?" Will urged him on.

"She will feel pressured to say yes."

"I don't want to ask her out if all of you guys will be there! I don't want her to feel pressured. I want her to actually consider it."

Mike nodded. "Okay, alright. Just, be careful. If she says no, I'm so sorry man."

Will smiled a thin line. "Thanks for the encouragement pep talk, Mike. Really appreciate it."

—
You stood in the AV room with the other two boys who had now introduced themselves to you.

"Lucas."

"I'm Dustin."

You smiled back, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear as you waited for the other two to come back from where ever they had gone.

The door suddenly opened and they walked in, the smaller one taking a spot right across from you and the taller one with black hair taking the spot next to you.

"So, why am I here exactly?" You asked them, confusion set in entirely.

"Well, Will here has something he would like to ask you." Lucas said, stepping away from you as you turned to face him.

"Um, yeah." He managed out, his face as red as a tomato while you just stared at him, waiting for the next words to be spoken.

"Would you maybe want to go out with me sometime?" He said, looking down at his hands afterwards. "I get it if you don't want to. I mean, you're way out of my league, anyways. It was just a thought and-"

"I'd love to."

Will stopped talking entirely as the rest of the guys smiled, looking at you. You had the same iconic bright smile on your face and the loose strands of hair once tucked, now loose danced around your face.

"Really?"

You nodded, listening as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Yeah, just meet me sometime tomorrow, preferably eight o' clock, by the Palace Arcade."

Will watched as you walked out into the rush of students coming back from lunch.

He looked over at his friends who stood smiling over at him.

"Can you believe it! Byers got himself a date." Lucas exclaimed.

"Yeah, now you don't have to stare at her creepily anymore." Dustin added.

"You're going to have the best night of your life tomorrow, Byers." Mike finished.

"Even if she is way out of my league." Will replied back to all of their previous statements, walking out of the room with the widest smile he could muster up on his lips.

—
longer than usual but it's okay because it was needed.

thank you guys so much for reading & I really hoped you enjoyed this longer Will imagine.

writers block sucks, let me tell you.

it really does.

on days when I couldn't write a bit, those are the days when updates are crucial for the upcoming holiday and I don't want to leave y'all hanging in the dust.

hopefully some of y'all send me requests to help me out here.

love y'all lots (can you tell I'm from the south).

thanks for reading & stay strange(r) (things) my friends.

-katherine

—
time: 11:52 pm
words: 1211
days until Christmas: 3 days!!!

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