Three: Max Knows What A Tadpole Is
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When Y/n and Max woke up, they realized that they had school that day.
"Shit! I don't have any regular clothes to wear." Max cursed. Both girl were still in their Halloween costumes.
"Relax! It's fine, you can borrow some of mine." Y/n opened her closet and one of her drawers. "Pick what you like!"
"Really?" Max asked.
"Yeah, of course!"
Max grabbed jean shorts and a t-shirt. "Thanks."
"Sure! I'll go change in the bathroom, you can stay here." Y/n confirmed.
The two girls rode to school on their bikes together after Y/n introduced Max to her mom. Once they arrived, Lucas ran up and started talking to them. A conversation was sparked about Will, due to Max's curiosity about the previous night's events. Both girls wanted to be alone with one another, but joined the conversation anyway.
"I still don't get why they call him 'Zombie Boy'. I mean, I get it, he got lost in the woods for a week or something, but... why is he a zombie? Because everyone thought he was dead?" Max asked.
"Pretty much." Y/n replied.
"Yeah, I mean... we had a funeral for him and everything." Lucas explained.
"After a week?"
"Well, see, some other kid drowned at the quarry... we thought it was Will because his body was super decomposed." Lucas lied.
"What? Okay, that's not funny."
"It's not a joke, alright? It's public knowledge, you can ask anybody. Except Will because he is really sensitive about it." Lucas paused. "All right?" he finished.
Max nodded, furrowing her eyebrows out of a mixture of confused and surprised. "Okay."
They all walked off to their lockers, Y/n's being next to Lucas.
"You're flirting with her, aren't you?" Y/n asked Lucas
Lucas didn't respond.
Then the bell rang.
"Okay, come on, Mr. Romantic." Y/n said to Lucas, as they started walking to class.
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Once they sat down in class, Y/n looked at Max, who was next to her in the back of the class.
Y/n wanted Max to look at her, but she kept looking at Will.
Mr. Clarke was saying something about Phineas Crowbar... or Gage Rod... Contrary to the usual, she wasn't really listening. Neither was Max, they both stayed up extremely late the night prior. That's when Dustin barged into the classroom, the door slamming against the wall with a loud BANG! Which is what made Y/n actually pay attention.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Clarke." Dustin apologized, out of breath. "Please continue with the class." He said, panting.
Y/n heard Dustin's voice whispering. she didn't hear a lot, she was on the other side of the room. She managed to hear enough, though.
"A.V Club" something, something... "Lunch" something, something... "I have something you won't believe." She managed to make up of his unintelligible whispers.
"A.V Club. Lunch.' He then turned, whispering to Max and Y/n.
That was when Mr. Clarke called him out for not listening. "Dustin!"
"Yes, My Lord?"
"Would you care to join the class now?"
"Please, yes!"
"The Case Of Phineas Gage."
"Phineas Gage." Dustin repeated, showing his understanding.
"Page 104."
"104. 104..." Dustin said, rummaging through his backpack.
"Focus!"
"Focusing. Focusing."
Y/n took this time to open her book up to the right page, too. I mean, it did seem a little interesting, and she didn't want to get in trouble for not following along.
He turned around to whisper one more time, just to make sure Max and Y/n understood.
"A.V Club" He whispered, getting a thumbs up from Max, which earned Max a cheeky smile from Dustin.
Y/n got jealous. Again, she didn't know why, and tried to tell herself to snap out of it.
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When lunch came around, Y/n went straight to A.V club, noticing Max was the only one there.
"Where is everyone?" Max asked, trying to ignore her palms that were starting to sweat.
"I'm not sure." Y/n replied, getting butterflies, but attempting to play it cool.
There was an awkward silence in the air, Max and Y/n just kind of staring at one another.
Finally, Dustin bursted in, along with Mike, Lucas, and Will. Breaking the tense silence.
"Hi, Max." Dustin said, smiling. Again, a wave of jealousy washed over Y/n.
"Hey." Lucas said, smirking. It made Y/n's jealousy even worse.
Will looked at Y/n, slightly smiling as if he knew something she didn't, which made Y/n furrow her brows in confusion, cocking her head to the side ever so slightly.
Dustin revealed a small, slimy, creature. It looked like some kind of alien-like lizard, or a tadpole or something.
"Cute, right?" He asked as he pulled it out.
"D'Artagnan?" Mike questioned.
"Dart for short."
"And he was in your trash...?"
"Foraging for food." Dustin said with a smile. "You wanna hold him?" Dustin asked Max.
"No." Max said, shaking her head.
"He doesn't bite, don't worry, don't worry!" Dustin reassured while handing Dart over to Max, who was still shaking her head.
"Oh, god, he's slimy!"
Max then handed him over to Y/n...
"He's so squirmy!" Y/n was still disturbed, but more relaxed. Max found it pretty cool. Y/n wasn't really grossed out by Dart, she thought he was interesting. She pet Dart...
Then passed him on to Lucas...
"Ugh, he's like a living booger!"
Who handed him to Will...
"Ugh, oh... God!"
Who handed him to Mike...
Mike didn't groan in disgust like the others. His reaction was calmer than the rest of the group. More intrigued.
"What is he?"
"My question exactly." Dustin started. He slammed a book onto the table. "At first, I thought he was some kind of pollywog.
"Pollywog?" Max asked.
"It's another word for tadpole." Dustin explained. "A tadpole is the larvae stage of a toad."
"I- I know what a tadpole is."
"Alright, so 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. Indirana Semipalmata..." he turned the page. "And the Adenomera Andreae."
"Well what about those?" Y/n pointed out.
"One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?" Dustin wondered aloud.
"Maybe some scientists brought it here, and it escaped?" Max suggested.
"That's a great idea, Max." Y/n said, smiling.
"Thanks..." Max gave an appreciative smile back.
But no one acknowledged them. Except Will, he gave that look like he knew something again.
"Do you guys see that? It looks like something's moving inside of it." Mike said, making them all stare at Dart, who had something squirming around at the surface of his skin.
They shined a light on him, scaring Dart away with a screech.
Dart starts running off the desk, landing in Dustin's hands as Dustin comforts Dart.
"That's another thing." He starts. "Reptiles, they're ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun. Dart hates it, it scares him."
"So... if he's not a pollywog... or a reptile..." Lucas says, waiting for Dustin to finish his sentence.
"Then I've discovered a new species." Dustin concluded, with a small but excited smile.
They all stared for a moment in silence, until the bell rang, and they all scrambled on to their next class.
"I didn't even get to eat." Y/n whined. Max grabbed her hand and dragged her back to class with her, catching up to the rest of the party. It made them both chuckle and blush, their faces heating up as they smiled.
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Sorry this was late! Thanks for reading!
1171 words