byler

Will Byers arrives in a small village to stay with his grandmother for the entire summer, hoping to forget about Hawkins and the constant anxiety inside him, if only for a little while. Everything here feels foreign to him: the old wooden houses, the empty roads, the smell of grass after the rain, and the forest beyond the field. Will is quiet, withdrawn, and cautious; he draws a lot, rarely starts a conversation first, and more often observes people from the sidelines.

Mike Wheeler has lived in this village his whole life. Everyone knows him—a noisy, emotional, and overly curious guy who is always racing around the area on his bike and sticking his nose into other people's business.

Their first meeting takes place near the local store on a hot evening. Will is sitting on a bench with a sketchbook in his hands, trying to draw the old water tower, when a stranger's bicycle screeches to a halt beside him.

— Are you a newcomer? — Mike asks immediately, without even getting off his bike.

Will flinches from the surprise and looks up.

— Something like that.

— “Something like that”? You're either a newcomer or you're not.

Will sighs quietly and looks away.

— I came to visit my grandmother for the summer.

Mike looks at him in silence for a few seconds, then nods:

— Alright. That counts. I'm Mike.

After that, he starts appearing nearby almost every day. Sometimes Mike invites Will to ride along the country roads, sometimes he drags him to the river, or simply shows up at the grandmother's house without warning. At first, Will doesn't understand why Mike is spending time with him at all, but gradually, it becomes easier to be around him. Their conversations stretch late into the night: about music, fears, the future, and how much they both want to get out of this village one day.

Over time, Will begins to wait for the familiar sound of bicycle wheels under his window more than anything else.

Despite the differences in their personalities, they quickly become drawn to each other: Mike pulls Will out of his loneliness, and Will becomes the person with whom Mike can finally be truly honest.