The Long Game━ (l. sinclair)

a questionable birthday indeed

"Alright. Okay. I get it, Steph," Corey glared. "Can we sing now, so I can leave?"

Sam grinned, sending Max a smug look. "Told you he's a secret momma's boy."

"Sam—"

"Okay, okay, fine. We're singing," Sam said, while Max covered up a laugh as a cough in the background. "1... 2... 3—"

"Happy birthday to you..."

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"The case of Phineas Gage is one of the greatest medical curiosities of all time," Mr. Clarke lectured them during science. He had the lights off, displaying a picture of a skull with his overhead projector. "Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron was driven completely through his head." He took a dry-erase marker, drawing a line through the skull picture top to bottom. "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 to refer to him as 'No longer Gage.' At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Although it wasn't a crow—"

All of a sudden, Dustin Henderson was bursting through the classroom door abruptly. Everyone's heads turned to him, attention now taken away from Mr. Clarke.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke," Dustin panted, as if he were out of breath. He entered further into the classroom, heading for his seat. "Really, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class. Don't mind me," he rambled, making more people mind him. As Dustin shrugged of his bag and took his seat, he said, "Really, continue, please. Thanks."

Mr. Clarke's confused eyes slid off of Dustin, opting not to ask, and instead addressed the whole class.

"Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said," Mr. Clarke taught on.

Sam was very interested in today's lesson, so she was a little annoyed with Dustin when he gestured for the six Party members to lean in and listen to what he had to say. Sam and Corey had to stretch the most, because they were the furthest in the back.

"We have to meet," whispered Dustin urgently. "All of us. At lunch. AV Club."

Mike's eyebrows furrowed together, asking, "Why?"

"I have something that you won't believe," Dustin continued to whisper while Mr. Clarke still rambled in the background. The other, respective Party members nodded as a sign for confirmation. Then, to Corey, he said, "Oh. Also — happy birthday, man!"

Corey tried to look nonchalant and unaffected about another happy birthday wish (after numerous from everyone else), but Sam caught sight of the quirking of his lip. Her smile was much more noticeable when she saw.

"Thanks, dude," nodded Corey.

Then, Dustin was whipping around to the back of the class to where Max set in the corner.

"AV Club," Dustin hissed, not so quietly this time. "Lunch."

"Dustin!" snapped the voice of Mr. Clarke.

Dustin turned back, facing the front again with a wide-eyed, attentive look on his face.

"Yes, my Lord?" he inquired. Sam held a hand to her mouth to prevent the giggle bubbling in her throat from pronouncing itself, while she saw Will's body shaking silently in front of her; she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing.