I DO NOT OWN STRANGER THINGS.
Hawkins Middle School. Hawkins, Indiana. The Next day.
For the first time in a while, Mike was finding it hard to concentrate in Mr. Clark's class. Mad Max Mayfield never skipped and she was always stealing glances at him; but he was doing the same to her, so at least they were even. The first thing he did when coming to class was look for that head of red hair, and when he found it, he couldn't remove his eyes from it. Mike hated it, but his feelings for Max were getting more intense ever since they Eskimo kissed at Halloween and he couldn't stop it.
"The case of Phineas Gage is one of the great medical curiosities of all time. Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident: A large iron rod was driven completely through his head." Mr. Clark explained a she shows a picture of a skull with a line drawn through it. "Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine and physically, yes, he was. But his injury resulted in a complete change to his personality. So much so that friends that knew him started referring to him as No longer Gage. At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Although it wasn't a..." The lecture was then interrupted by Dustin barging into the room, looking out of breath.
"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke, really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class. Don't mind me. Really, continue, please. Thanks." Dustin chattered desperately as he tried to pull himself together. Mr. Clark gave him a look before continuing the lecture.
"We have to meet, all of us, at lunch, AV Club." Dustin whispered to the rest of the party.
"Why?" Mike whispered in return.
"I have something that you won't believe." Dustin insisted before turning to Max. "AV Club, lunch."
"Dustin!" Mr. Clarke exclaimed.
"Yes, my lord?" asked Dustin as he snapped to attention.
"Would you care to join the class now?" Mr. Clarke inquired, unamused.
"Please, yes.' Dustin said as he started to rummage through his backpack.
"The case of Phineas Gage." Mr. Clarke reminded him as Mike turned back to Max.
"Please come..."He whispered as he knew that he needed to talk to her desperately.
"I will, I promise..." she whispered back as Mike felt a pang of guilt go through his heart at her using El's love language.
"His name is D'Artagnan; Cute, right?" Dustin said as the party was gathered in the AV room, looking at a strange creature that Dustin allegedly found in his trash.
"D'Artagnan?" Mike asked in confusion.
"Dart for short." Dustin clarified.
"And he was in your trash?" Max asked.
"Foraging for food, you wanna hold him?" Dustin offered. Max clearly didn't want to and when he landed in her hands, it became like a game of hot Potato.
"What is he?" Mike asked when he got Dart.
"My question exactly." Dustin asked as ne pulled out a book. "At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog."
"Pollywog?" Max inquired.
"It's another word for tadpole. A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad."
"I know what a tadpole is."
"All right, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right? Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."
"Yeah, but aren't there non-aquatic pollywogs?" Lucas asked.
"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact." Dustin answered. "Indirana semipalmata and Adenomera andreae. One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?"
"Maybe some scientists brought it here, and it escaped?" Max offered, trying to sound reasonable.
"Do you guys see that?" Mike asked as he took a closer look at Dart. "Looks like something is moving inside of it."
"Whoa…It's okay, I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that. It's okay." Dustin said as Dart atemoted to flee the heat of a lamp. "And there's another thing. Reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him."
"So, if he's not a pollywog or a reptile…" Lucas started to say.
"Then I've discovered a new species." Dustin said with glee as the party headed out of the room.
"We gotta show him to Mr. Clarke." Lucas insisted.
"What if he steals my discovery?" Dustin asked nervously.
"He's not gonna steal your discovery."
"You know, I'm thinking about calling it Dustonious pollywogus; What do you think?"
"I think you're an idiot." Max said playfully, earning a smile from Mike.
"When I become rich and famous for this one day, don't come crawling back, saying, "Oh, my God, Dustin, I'm so sorry for being mean to you back in 8th grade." Dustin shot back, trying to earn her respect anyway that he could.
"Will, you coming? Let's go show Mr. Clarke." Mike asked as the final bell rang. The Party had agreed to wait until the day's end to show Dart to Mr. Clarke. However, Will had a look of total fear in his face and he knew something was wrong.
"It's about d'Artagnan…he's from the Upside Down." Will said as he looked deep into Mike's eyes which grew as fearful as his. There was no way in Hell that Dustin could show Dart to Mr. Clarke now. He had to be stopped.
"Shit!" Mike exclaimed as he and Will ran to Mr. Clarke's office; getting there just as Dustin was about to reveal Dart.
"Stop! I'm sorry, Mr. Clarke. It was just a stupid prank." Mike quickly said as he grabbed the trap.
"What are you doing?" Dustin asked in disbelief.
I told him to stop." Will whispered with fear as Mike took the trap out of the classroom.
"We need to go, Right now!" he exclaimed as the rest of the party quickly followed him out; freaked out by seeing him so freaked out.
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