𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐘𝐖𝐎𝐆
edited.
3015 words.
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"Have you seen them?"
"We're looking mom." Jonathan checked an old coat's pockets, y/n doing a scan of the messy kitchen counter. "Yeah w-we're looking." Will dug through a purse at the kitchen table, Joyce coming into the room.
"Aha! Found em!"
The Byers all turned to look down the hallway, Bob coming out of the bedroom. "Hiding under some jeans, sneaky little buggers." He handed the woman her car keys, Joyce kissing his cheeks. "Thank you."
She turned to Jonathan, "Can you take Will and y/n to school today? I cannot be late again." The boy raised his brows, whispering something to his mother. y/n didn't bother trying to listen, joyfully conversing with Bob.
The man however seemed to be paying attention to their conversation, perking up. "I can take them." He suggested, y/n smiling even wider. "Yes." She nodded, Joyce looking unsure. "Will you make sure they get in okay?"
"Yeah of course." Bob turned to the two kids, "What do you say guys? Wanna go for a ride in the Bobmobile?" y/n looked to Will, unsure how to decipher the man's words, the boy just looking up to his mother.
They exchanged looks.
***
"Was that you I heard milling around last night or was that a ghost?"
y/n pulled her eyes from the window, turning them onto the two males seated in front of her. Will also turned from the window, answering. "Me probably." Bob nodded, "Another nightmare?"
The girl in the backseat leaned forward slightly, she was in a deep slumber last night and hadn't noticed anything. Will averted his eyes back out the window, staying silent for a moment. "...No."
"Did I ever tell you about Mr.Baldo?"
The man glanced into the rearview, catching y/n's eyes. "You too y/n." The girl sat forward, pulling against her seatbelt. "Mr.Baldo?" Bob nodded,pursing his lips. "Yeah. I was a little younger than you, standing in line for the ferris wheel at the Roane County fair."
He turned his eyes back to the road, Will and y/n both watching him in interest. "And suddenly I feel this white fat glove tap me on the shoulder. I spin around and there he is, Mr.Baldo." He imitates the clown, wiggling his fingers. "Hey kiddo, would you like a balloon?"
Will tries to stifle his laugh, y/n scrunching up her nose in distaste. "Go ahead laugh, it's funny." Will began to laugh out loud, y/n still frowning. "It wasn't funny back then I can tell you that." Bob continued.
"I couldn't get him out of my head. Everynight he would come to me in my dreams and every night when he came to me I ran." y/n nodded, it seemed like the sensible thing to do. After all, she would run if a clown chased her, especially a bald one.
Bob sighed, "It got so bad that I made my mom stay in the room with me until I could fall asleep every night." Will turned back to the window, questioning him in disbelief. "Really?" Bob nodded, "It went on like that for months."
y/n began to grow slightly bored, moving her eyes back to the window as she waited for the story to reach its conclusion. "And then one day, the nightmares suddenly stopped." Will turned to him in amazement, "How?"
"Well I fell asleep and just like always Mr.Baldo came to me, only this time, I didn't run." y/n turned back to the man, her interest peaked. "This time, I stood my ground. I just looked at Mr.Baldo in his stupid face and I said 'go away'."
"Go away!" He repeated himself in a slightly louder tone this time, y/n watching intently. "Just like that, he was gone. Never saw him again. Easy peasy right?" Will nodded repeating after the man, "Easy peasy."
y/n smiled from the back, "Easy pees."
***
"The case of Phineas Gage was one of the great medical curiosities of all time. Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848..."
y/n tuned out her teacher, starting on her new letter for Eleven. She had learned quite a few words and was excited to tell the girl more about MadMax, the newest semi-addition to their party; it wasn't official yet.
Dear Eleven,
I am in Mr.Clark's class right now. Everyone is here except for Dustin. He is very late-
The door to the classroom burst open, y/n raising her eyes to see the person she was just writing about. "I am so sorry Mr.Clark." He stumbled into the classroom, out of breath. "Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class."
He sat down at his desk, y/n smiling at the boy. Mr.Clark began to speak again, Dustin turning to his friends. "We have to meet. All of us, at lunch, AV club." Mike leaned over his desk, "Why?" He whispered.
"I have something that you won't believe."
The group dispersed, Dustin turning to Max at the back of the classroom. "AV club, lunch." The girl leaned forward slightly in interest. "Dustin." The curly headed boy whipped around, Mr.Clark staring at him. "Yes my lord?"
"Would you care to join the class now?"
The boy nodded rapidly, fiddling with his book bag. "Please, yes." He tried his best to multi-task, getting out his text book and conversing with his teacher.
"The case of Phineas Gage."
"Phineas Gage."
"Page 104."
"104." Dustin finally pulled the book from his bag, flipping through the pages. "104. 104." He stopped on the page, Mr.Clark sighing. "Focus." He nodded, "Focusing, focusing."
However the second Mr. Clark turned again, Dustin was facing Max once more. y/n sighed at this, turning back to her letter. She picked up her pencil, beginning to write again.
Nevermind. Dustin is here now.
***
"His name is D'artagnan."
y/n frowned at the creature, the urge to scrunch her nose growing as she stared into the box. Dustin reached in, slowly pulling the small reptile out of the box. "Cute right?" The group stared at him in wonder.
"D'artagnan?"
"Dart for short." Max looked up, her face scrunched. "And he was in your trash?" Dustin looked up, "Foraging for food." He responded, his smile growing. "Wanna hold him?" Max immediately shook her head, the boy approaching her anyway.
He placed the creature in her hands, the redhead holding it as far from her face as possible. "Ugh it's slimy!" She passed it off to Lucas, the boy groaning. "It's like a living booger!" He quickly passed it to Will, the boy taking it reluctantly.
"Ugh god!" He passed it to Mike, the boy not even making a comment as he quickly passed it to y/n. She held it at eye level, trying to find anything cute about it, for Dustin's sake. She wanted desperately to agree with him without lying so she could see his gummy smile.
Though she wasn't sure why she felt that way.
"What is it?" She questioned, Dustin grinning. "My question exactly." A moment later he placed a stack of books onto the table, Dart back on the table, everyone ten times happier. "At first I thought it was some type of pollywog." Dustin explained, Max's brows furrowing. "Pollywog?"
"It's another word for tadpole. Tadpole is the larval stage of a-" The redhead glared at him, "I know what a tadpole is." y/n frowned slightly, sort of wanting the explanation, she may or may not have forgotten what they learned about the life cycle.
"All right then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic right? Well Dart isn't, he doesn't need water." Lucas looked up, "Well yeah aren't there non-aquatic tadpoles?" Dustin answered right off the bat, prepared for the question.
"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact." He opened the book, "Indirana Semipalmata-" He flipped the page, "And the Adenmera Andreae. One's from India, one's from South America so how did one end up in my trash?"
Max shrugged, "Maybe some scientist brought it here and it escaped?" Mike ignored the girl's statement, staring at Dart. "Do you guys see that? Looks like something's moving inside of it." y/n leaned over the creature, seeing what the boy meant.
She fought the urge to gag, knowing it was exaggerating however she loved to do things to show her emotions since she used to be an unemotional doll of sorts. Mike moved the light to shine on the creature, Dart hissing in anger.
He began to crawl from the coiled cord he was in, trying to escape the light. Everyone gasped, stepping back as Dustin rushed to his pet's aide. He caught him before he could fall off the table, muttering affirmations to him.
Lucas cringed, Dustin looking back up to the group. "There's another thing. Reptiles, they're cold blooded, they love the heat. Dart hates it, it hurts him." y/n looked up, rather confused. "If he is not a poly-wog or a reptile..."
"Then I've discovered a new species."
Will's eyes widened, y/n briefly glancing over to him. He stared at Dart with a worried expression, his mind somewhere else. Suddenly the bell rang, all the kids quickly grabbing their things and flooding into the hall.
y/n trailed behind with Max and Will, trying to listen to the boys through the hallways chatter. Max made her way to the front, y/n suddenly able to hear. "I'm thinking about calling it, Dustonioous Pollywogus. What do you think?"
Max smiled at him, shaking her head. "I think you're an idiot."
Dustin smiled at this reaction, y/n frowning once more. She couldn't figure out for the life of her what was wrong and why she felt bad everytime the two interacted. She turned to Will, the boy having stopped walking a few paces ago.
He stared at the ceiling, y/n getting worried.
***
"You guys coming? Let's go show Mr.Clark."
Will closed his locker, y/n standing beside him eyeing him suspiciously. "What?" Mike asked, confused. "It's about D'artagnan." Will looked up at his friends.
The girl sighed, she knew it.
***
"Stop!" Mike burst into the classroom, Will and y/n right behind him. "I'm really sorry Mr.Clark, it was just a prank." He gathered up the box on the table, Dustin glaring at him. "What the hell are you doing?"
Mike, out of breath, continued. "I told him to stop." He began backing out of the room, looking at his friends. "We need to go now. Right now!"
Will and y/n were quick to follow him, the girl grabbing Dustin's hand and dragging him away from their confused teacher. Max and Lucas hurried to follow, all the kids leaving the classroom.
They ran to the AV room, Mike locking Max out for some reason. The girl banged on the door. "Hello! Guys come on! Can I come in yet?" Mike called out from inside the room, "No!"
Lucas sighed, "I don't understand."
"What do you not understand?" Mike squinted at him, Lucas making hand movements on the table, as if laying out what he was saying. "Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?" Will spoke up, "Kind of but there was no tail."
"But then he heard it yesterday. The exact same sound." Mike explained, y/n watching the group, picking at her hat. "Why didn't you tell us before?" Will looked up, "I wasn't sure." Dustin brushed it off, looking to Mike, annoyed. "So it's a coincidence."
"Or not. What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down he somehow acquired true sight?" Lucas furrowed his brows, "True sight?" y/n continued watching them, finally speaking. "The power to see into the ether-real plane."
Lucas sighed, "Elaborate."
"Maybe these episodes that Will keeps having aren't real flashbacks at all. Maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down." Lucas began to catch on, "So that would mean..." Mike finished his statement. "Dart is from the Upside Down."
"We have to take him to Hopper." Mike nodded in agreement, y/n sensing an oncoming argument. "No way, if we take him to Hopper, Dart's good as dead."
"Maybe he should be dead."
"How can you say that?"
"How can you not! He's from the Upside Down!"
y/n frowned, she felt bad. It was obvious Dustin had grown attached to the creature but at the same time she did not want to deal with another demogorgon.
"Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad." Dustin argued, Mike looking at him like he was the dumbest person on earth. "That's like saying just because someone's from the death star doesn't make them bad!"
"We have a bond."
y/n instantly felt ten times worse, Mike scoffing. "A bond?! Just because he likes nougat!?" Dustin looked up, "No because he trusts me!" Lucas looked at him in disbelief. "He trusts you?" He questioned, Dustin nodding.
"Yes! I promised I would take care of him-"
Dart suddenly let out a screech, the room going quiet. y/n however seemed to not have noticed, too busy trying to decide the best course of action. Kill Dart and end up with a heart broken Dustin, or let it live and maybe he would turn out good? She was leaning towards the latter, she didn't want to hurt Dustin.
The creature screeched again, y/n looking up this time. She took a step away from the table, as did everyone else. Max banged on the door once more, "Guys! What's going on? Come on!"
y/n's guilt increased tenfold, she had forgotten the girl was out there and they were currently excluding her, an awful feeling. She turned her attention back to the box which was now shaking rapidly, Dart obviously unhappy.
Mike picked up the Mic, holding it as a weapon. "Don't hurt him." Dustin pointed at him, Mike nodding. "Only if he attacks." Lucas pointed to the box, "Just open it already!"
Dustin picked up the remote, pressing the button allowing the doors to pop open. The box immediately tipped over, Dart crawling out. "Holy shit!" Lucas stared at the creature, the group all staring in awe.
It began to morph, y/n scrunching up her nose in disgust as it formed two back legs. Lucas jumped back, "Oh shit!" Dart screeched again, Mike panicking and swinging his weapon forward. "Stop!" Dustin jumped over to him, making him miss his target.
Dart took this chance to scurry off the table, making his way to the door. Just as he made it there the door swung open, Max looking down at the creature running towards her. "What the-" Dustin and Lucas came barreling out the room, landing on top of the poor girl.
"Where'd he go? Where'd he go?" Lucas stood, y/n helping Max to her feet. "What was that?" Mike turned to her, "Dart! You let him escape!" Dustin stood, shoving Mike back. "Why did you attack him?!"
y/n frowned, this was a lot.
Mike shoved the curly haired boy aside, "Come on!" The group began to split, Dustin calling after Mike. "Don't hurt him! Don't you dare hurt him!"
***
"East is clear, no sign of Dart."
Mike's voice rang over the super com, y/n walking slightly behind Dustin, their hands intertwined. Ever since Will had gone missing they had gotten closer, y/n felt happier when he was around.
They turned the corner, Mr.Clark heading home for the day. He turned over his shoulder, looking at the two kids before Dustin saluted, the teacher copying the gesture. "West is clear too. Will?" Dustin spoke into the com, leading y/n down the hallway.
"South is clear. Lucas? Anything?"
"Nothing here man."
y/n sighed at the lack of progress, Dustin glancing back at her. "You okay?" She nodded, "I feel weird. Like something big is coming." Dustin nodded, looking forward again. "But Dart is my friend, I don't want to lose him."
The girl nodded, "I understand."
She suddenly stopped, Dustin turning to look at her. "I miss El. She would find Dart and know what to do." y/n looked to the ground, her hat shielding her eyes. "She could convince Mike to let Max join our party and-"
She was cut off, Dustin kneeling to look under her hat, the two making eye contact. "I miss her too, probably not half as much as you do though." He chuckled, the com turning back on. Dustin turned to listen, y/n suddenly feeling really warm.
"Guys...I found him."
Dustin looked up, his eyes wide. "Where?" He questioned urgently. "In the bathroom by Mr.Salerno's." Dusitn wasted no time, grabbing y/n's hand and taking off down the hallway towards his friend.
It wasn't long before they arrived at the bathroom, Dustin looking around, nervous. "Alright." He set his hands on y/n's shoulders, "You stay right here, I'll go in." She looked at him confused, Dustin pointing to the sign on the wall.
"Boy's bathroom."
y/n nodded in understanding, the boy rushing into the bathroom. She leaned back against the wall, staring at the pattern painted on the wall across from her. A minute later Mike, Lucas, and Max came rushing down the hall, Mike stopping to look at her.
"Why're you out here?" She pointed to the sign on the wall, Mike rolling his eyes as he grabbed her hand, pulling her inside with him. "Where's Dart?"
Dustin stood at the last stall, shrugging. "I don't know, not here."
"What?" Mike began to check each stall, Max looking at Dustin. "He said by Salerno's right?" The curly haired boy nodded, "Yeah maybe Will has him."
y/n's eyes widened. "Will..."
She took off from the bathroom, turning to the glass doors that led outside. Squinting, she could see a person standing in the field, Will. She ran towards him, bursting through the glass doors and outside.
"Will!"