𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧'𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲
❝sʜᴇ ᴅᴏᴇsɴ'ᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴ sᴏᴜɴᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ.❞
❝𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄 of the great medical curiosities of all time." mr.clarke started from the front of the classroom. arlo was once again sat at the back with max sat next to her. the boys were in their usual seats up from, a certain curly haired boy missing. "phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. a large iron rod was driven completely through his head. 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.'"
arlo had started tuning out what her favorite teacher had been saying, staring out the window. she hadn't gotten any sleep last night, and was trying her hardest to stay awake in the class. but the longer she heard mr.clarke go on about the american crowbar case, the more heavier her eyes would get. the door slamming open and bouncing off the wall is what made the girl jump awake, her head snapping over to the door to see dustin standing there. max heard the girl jump, her eyes flicking over to look at her worriedly. arlo just sent her a small smile.
"i am so sorry, mr.clarke." dustin panted as he made his way to his desk. "really, i'm so sorry. please continued with the class. don't mind me. really, continued, please. thanks." he insisted as he took his bag from his back and sat down.
"although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as i said." mr.clarke began again. arlo brought her hands up to rub her tired eyes, trying to wake herself up. she then felt something bounce off her head, making her pull her hands away from her eyes to see a crumbled ball of paper on her desk. she looked up, seeing that dustin was staring right at her.
"what?" she mouthed, her eyebrows raised. the henderson boy gestured to max, silently telling arlo to get her attention. the harrington girl rolled her eyes, gently patting max's arm. the red head looked at her with raised eyebrows, arlo pointing to where dustin was sitting.
"av club. lunch." the henderson boy mouther to the both of them.
"dustin." mr.clarke called, making the boy in question turn around.
"yes, my lord?"
"would you care to join the class now?" mr.clarke questioned, looking down at the hat wearing boy.
"please, yes." dustin nodded before he reached down for his bag to get his books.
"the case of phineas gage." the science teacher told him.
"phinease gage."
"page 104."
"104. 104."
"focus."
"focusing. focusing." dustin repeated as he placed his textbook onto his desk. once mr.clarke went back to the lesson, he turned back around to look at the girls. "av club." he mouthed.
arlo nodded while max held up a simply thumbs up. the curly haired boy smiled, repeating max's actions before he turned back around to listen to mr.clarke. max looked over at arlo with knitted eyebrows, silently asking what that was all about. arlo shrugged, slouching in her seat as she tried to focus on mr.clarke's voice.
"you'll get used to it." arlo told max, earning a nod from the mayfield girl.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐗 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐍 the av room, waiting for dustin to show them what was so important that they had to miss out on lunch. the boy put the trap that he made onto the table that was in the middle of the room. he had an excited smile on his face as he looked around at his friends and crush, trying to see if they were all just as excited as him. by the looks on their faces, he could tell that they weren't, but that didn't let that stop him from smiling. he opened his trap up, everyone looking inside to find an odd looking creature. it almost looked like a tadpole, but a lot bigger. arlo grimaced slightly, already not liking it.
"his name is d'artagnan." dustin informed his friends before he reached inside the trap and grabbed the creature. the creature made noises as dustin held him up. "cute, right?" he asked, his eyes immediately going over to where max was standing between lucas and arlo.
"i think we have different meanings for cute, dust." arlo mumbled, making max smile slightly.
"d'artagnan?" mike repeated.
"dart for short." dustin nodded.
"and he was in your trash?" max questioned.
"foraging for food." dustin answered. then an idea popped into his head. "you wanna hold him?" max quickly shook her head, backing up into arlo as dustin reached towards her. "he doesn't bite." he finished as he gently placed dart into max's hand.
"oh, god, he's slimy!" max exclaimed, quickly handing it over to lucas.
"ugh, he's like a living booger." the sinclair boy grimaced, quickly handing it to arlo.
"ew. ew. ew. ew. ew." she muttered as she quickly turned to percy, giving it to him without a second thought.
"why would you do that?!" he yelled at her, quickly handing it to will
"ugh, oh, god!" the byers boy let out, his face twisted it a look of disgust as he handed it to mike.
the wheeler boy was the only one who didn't react. instead, he held dart up on his hand, looking at him closely. "what is he?"
"my question exactly." dustin said before he went over to his bag, taking out all of the books that he had stolen from the library that morning. he placed them on the table. "at first, i thought it was some type of pollywog."
"pollywog?" max repeated, looking over at arlo with furrowed eyebrows.
"it's another word for tadpole." the harrington girl told her, causing the strawberry blonde to nod in understanding.
"tadpole is the larval stage of a toad." dustin then explained, assuming that max didn't know.
"i - i know what a tadpole is." max stopped him, nodding her head as she rolled her eyes.
"all right, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?" dustin questioned as he opened up one of the books to a specific page. "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, turning the pages to go to those two pollywogs.
"Indirana semipalmata and and the adenomera andreae." arlo blurted out as she looked down at the floor. she could feel everyone's eyes on her, making her look up to see all of the confused looks on their faces. "what?" the boys shook their heads while max looked at the girl with a small smile on her lips.
"uh, e - exactly." dustin continued, forgetting how smart arlo was. she was probably smarter than the boys at this point. "one's from india, one's from south america. so how did one end up in my trash?"
"maybe some scientist brought it here, and it escaped?" max suggested, looking over at arlo with knitted eyebrows. the shorter girl shrugged, silently saying that it could be a possibility.
"do you guys see that?" mike suddenly asked as he looked down at dart. this made everyone else look down at him, trying to see what mike was talking about. "looks like something is moving inside of it." everyone got closer to the unknown creature. mike moved the lamp over so that they could get a better look, but that immediately made dart let out a screech. lucas, arlo, and max all jumped back at the sudden noise, lucas grabbing ahold of arlo.
dart quickly climbed out of the trap and onto the table, fleeing from the bright light that was directed from him. dustin quickly held his hand out once he realized that dart was gonna fall off the table. "whoa. it's okay. it's okay. i got you, little guy. i know you don't like that. it's okay." dustin cooed as he held dart up, receiving weird looks from his friends. "and there's another thing. reptiles, they're cold-blooded. ectothermic, right? they love heat, the sun. darth hates it. it hurts him."
"so, if he's not a pollywog or a reptile. . ." lucas started.
"then i've discovered a new species." dustin finished before he brought a finger up to pet dart.
arlo watched the creature closely, watching as its tailed waved around from the affection that dustin was giving it. the space between her eyebrows then furrowed, feeling a wave of fear rush over her. her eye immediately snapped over to will, who was watching the creature in dustin's hands with this look on his face. she was about to ask what was wrong, but a loud shrill echoing through the school building interrupted her. she groaned at that, meaning that the lunch period was over and they had to start heading to their next class. all of them shot up from their positions and grabbed their bags before they piled out of the room.
"we gotta show him to mr.clarke." lucas told dustin as the group walked down the hallway.
"what if he steals my discovery?" dustin questioned, making arlo roll her eyes.
"he's not gonna steal your discovery." mike quickly assured.
"you know, i'm thinking about calling it dustonious pollywogus." dustin admitted before he turned to look at max. "What do you think?" he asked her.
"i think you're an idiot." the mayfield girl laughed, causing a small smile to appear on arlo's lips.
"when i become rich and famous for this one day, don't come crawling back, saying, 'oh, mygod, dusting, i'm so sorry for being mean to you back in 8th grade. oh, my god.'" he mimicked, earning a laugh from arlo.
"she doesn't even sound like that." she chimed in, wedging herself between max and dustin. the fear that she had felt in the av room quickly wrapped itself around her again, making her look back to see will had drifted behind. she was about to go to him but stopped, seeing that percy had went to go check on up. she smiled slightly.
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𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋, making her way towards mr.clarke room. dustin, lucas, max, and percy were already there, dustin not even waiting for the others to make an appearance before he started to explain. just as she was about to enter the classroom, she was pushed to the side but mike and will, the byers boys quickly apologizing to her. the two ran inside the classroom, arlo following them with a look of confusion on her face.
"stop!" mike yelled, making percy, max, lucas, dustin, and mr.clarke turn towards him. "i'm sorry, mr.clarke. it was just a stupid prank." he told the teacher as he grabbed the trap that dart was in.
"what the hell are you doing?" dustin questioned the freckled boy, watching him start to slowly back up.
"i told him to stop. we need to go. right now. right now!" mike yelled towards his friends before he ran back out the room. without another word, the group all left the classroom, arlo waving goodbye to mr.clarke.
the group of six followed the wheeler boy through the halls and back towards the av room. they all tried to ask him what was wrong, but he stayed silent as he pushed his way passed other students. when they had arrive to the av room, he opened the door up, letting lucas, dustin, will, and arlo through, but stopped when percy and max tried to enter.
"original party members only." he told the both of them, sending an apologetic look to percy. he was okay with the williams boy being apart of the party. i mean, he's been hanging out with them since school started. but it was a different story when it came to max. he didn't want her in the party.
"mike." arlo stepped forward, looking at the boy with knitted eyebrows. "just let them in. we can't leave them in the dark, dude."
"no. original party members only. sorry, percy." mike apologized before he sent a glare towards the red head besides him.
"mike -" arlo tried again, but the taller boy had already slammed the door in their faces. he walked over to place the trap down on the table. "what the hell was that? why can't they come in?"
"just shut up and listen." mike demanded, looking over to where will was standing. mike then started to explain to them what will had told him a few moments before. arlo listened closely, knowing that her mind wasn't playing any tricks on her when she had felt the will's fear. they all listened to mike explain before he went silent, letting the original party members take in everything he had just said.
before anyone could say anything, the sound of banging came from the door. arlo flinched at the sudden noise, looking over towards it before she heard max's voice come through. "hello? hello? guys, come on. can we come in yet?" she asked, her voice being muffled.
"no!" mike answered quickly. max quickly banged on the door again, arlo smile slightly.
"i don't understand." lucas admitted from his spot next to dustin.
"what do you not understand?" mike asked.
"will saw something that looked like dart last year?" lucas questioned.
"kind of, but there was no tail." will responded, that being the first time he spoke since they entered the room.
"but then he heard it yesterday. the exact same sound." mike quickly added, looking between his friends.
"Why didn't you tell us?" arlo asked, her voice soft as she looked over to will. she would've thought that because they had been going to the lab together for the last year that they would tell each other what's been going on with each other. she know she has.
"i wasn't sure." will told her, noticing the slight hurt on her face.
"so it's a coincidence." dustin concluded, looking over to mike.
"or not." mike challenged. "what if when will was stuck in the upside down, he somehow acquired true sight?"
"true sight?" lucas and arlo repeated, confusion evident in their tones as they looked between mike and dustin.
"it gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." dustin told them, earning a look of confusion from arlo. she looked over to lucas, silently asking him if he had understood that.
"elaborate." lucas said.
"maybe these episodes that will keeps having aren't really flashbacks at all. maybe they're real. maybe will can somehow see into the upside down." mike explained. arlo looked over at will with a worried look.
"so that would mean. . ." lucas started, his voice trailing off.
"dart is from the upside down." mike finished.
lucas sighed. "we have to take him to hopper."
"i agree." mike nodded.
"same." arlo chimed in.
"no. no way. if we take him to hopper, dart's good as dead." dustin quickly shot down, shaking his head at the suggestion.
"maybe he should be." mike reasoned.
"how can you say that?" dustin questioned.
"how can you not? he's from the upside down." mike shot back.
"maybe. but even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad." dustin defended.
"that's like saying just because someone's from the death star doesn't make them bad." mike compared, earning a nod of agreement from arlo.
"we have a bond." dustin mumbled.
"a bond? just because he likes nougat?"
"no, because he trusts me!"
"he trusts you?" lucas repeated, his eyebrows knitted together as him and arlo shared a look.
"yes! i promised i would take care of -" dustin started, but was quickly interrupted by a screech coming from his trap. all of their eyes snapped down to the trap, watching as it rattled. they backed away from the table, eyes focused on the box. they didn't even hear the banging that was coming from the door. the trap then flipped onto it's side, mike immediately grabbing the mic from the table. lucas watched as shadows started to cling to arlo as her eyes got darker, her face and body being swallowed into the darkeness.
"don't hurt him." dustin quickly said, seeing how his friends were getting ready to attack.
"only if he attacks." mike told him, looking back at arlo. the harrington girl nodded.
"just open it already." lucas demanded.
dustin reached forward to grab the button that opened up the trap. he pushed it, making the trap doors fly open, dart tumbling out. dustin dropped the button as he back away, lucas cursing as he watched the creature closely. it seemed like dart had gotten bigger over the last few hours, the creature slowly crawling. but then he stopped as a screeched left his mouth. arlo noticed that it looked like something was trying to come from inside of him. she grimaced when a leg popped out on either side of his back, pink liquid gushing out onto the table.
"oh, shit!" lucas exclaimed. the creature let out another ear piercing screech, mike quickly bringing the mic down to attack.
"no!" dustin shouted, pushing mike's hand away. dart jumped out of the way, rolling onto the table before he fell to the floor. the group of five watched as he started to make his way towards the door. and just as he got to it, the door flew open, revealing max on her knees. arlo quickly made the shadows that were clinging to her disappear, not wanting max to see them. dart quickly ran out the room, making a left before he disappeared. "oh, shit!" dustin cursed as he moved forward, tackling max to the floor.
"where'd he go?" lucas asked as he looked around the hall.
"what was that?" max questioned, looking up at arlo as she helped her up from the floor.
"dart!" arlo answered, making sure that the red head wasn't hurt.
"what?" the freckled girl asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"you let him escape!" mike shouted at her.
"why did you attack him?" dustin spat, nudging his finger into mike's chest angrily.
the wheeler boy simply pushed him off, walking past him "come on."
"don't hurt him. don't you hurt him!" dustin yelled after him. arlo brought her hands up to rub her head, feeling a headache starting to form at the front of her head. max noticed this, pulling the shorter girl into her to bring her some kind of comfort.
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daij speaks!
i know it's been a few days. but i finally updated :)). i can't wait to write the next one🤭. it involved a lot of marlo and a lot of arlo's abilities.
but i hope u guys enjoyed 🫶🏼