She quickly turns to Liz who shakes her head, but Dart gets put into her hands anyway. She cringes, and quickly passes it onto Lucas.
"Ugh, he's like a living booger." Lucas cringes, passing it onto Will.
"Ugh, oh, God!" Will exclaims. He gives it to Mike who moves his hands up towards his face to get a better look at Dart.
"What is he?" Mike questions.
"My question exactly." Dustin states with a smile. He grabs a stack of books from his backpack, all of them about lizards and reptiles, and sets them on the table. "At first, I thought it was some type of Pollywog."
"Pollywog?" Max questions.
"It's another word for tadpole." Dustin explains. Liz put her hands on the table, and leans her weight on them, accidentally touching Max's hand. Both girls look at each other and Liz's cheeks redden slightly, not admitting to herself that she loves the feeling of Max's hand. Liz pulls her hand away slightly, but smiles once Max's hand touches hers once more. "A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad–"
"I know what a tadpole is." Max informs him.
"All right, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?" Dustin asks, making Liz nod. "Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."
"Yeah, but aren't there nonaquatic Pollywogs?" Lucas questions.
"Terrestrial Pollywogs? Yes. Two to be exact." Dustin states. He opens one of the books to a page that he marked. "Indirana semipalmata, and the 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 guesses.
"Do you guys see that?" Mike questions, looking at Dart. Liz leans over and looks at Dart. "It looks like something is... moving inside of it."
The group look at Dart and Liz moves the light right over him, so they can see better. This only leads to Dart screeching loudly, causing everyone to gasp. Liz jumps back as she hears it, and Dustin quickly catches Dart before he can jump off the table, "It's okay, it's okay. I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that." Dustin looks up at the group. "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..." Liz starts.
"Then I've discovered a new species." Dustin smiles, as he holds Dart.
Liz glances at Will who hasn't spoken a word during the whole time they've been in the room. She watches as his eyes widen as he continues to stare at Dart, as if he's realizing something. He looks like he's almost remembering something horrible. She reaches over to touch him and ask if he's okay, until the bell rings, signaling that lunch is over. Will jumps at the sound, and the group starts to exit the room.
"We gotta show him to Mr. Clarke." Lucas says as they walk out of the room.
"No! What if he steals my discovery?" Dustin panics.
"He's not gonna steal your discovery." Mike tells him.
"You know, I'm thinking about calling it Dustonious pollywogus." Dustin states, making Liz chuckle before he turns to Max. "What do you think?"
"I think you're an idiot." Max laughs.
"You know, when I become rich and famous for this one day, don't come crawling back to me, saying, Oh, my God, Dustin, I'm so sorry for being mean to you back in 8th grade. Oh, my God." Dustin mocks Max in a weird voice causing Max to laugh and roll her eyes. Liz smiled at the sound, but she was still worried. Worried about what made Will so scared in there, and worried for Max's safety involving whatever the hell Dart was.
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A/N:
[ 1581 WORDS ]
fifth chapter!!!
i love this book so much and i'm shipping max and liz so hard!!
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