Warnings: mentions of violence
Word Count: 1910
"Rise and shine."
El's eyes fluttered open at the sound of a voice. Glancing over and seeing Hopper in her doorway, she silently turned her back to him. "So, that's it, huh? You're still not talking?"
No answer.
"Alright. I guess I'm just gonna have to, uh... enjoy this triple-decker Eggo extravaganza on my own." He shrugged and left the room, knowing El had been sold without even seeing her widened eyes. A couple minutes later, she had joined him at the table and was watching him cut into the three Eggo waffles that had been topped with whipped cream and the candy Hopper hadn't eaten the night before. As El began to eat, he licked the whipped cream off of the butter knife with a groan. "Good, right? Know the great thing about it? It's only 8,000 calories."
El only stared back at him, uninterested. With a twist of his lips, Hopper moved his gaze to the lounge room, where the cord to the television still tracked its way into her bedroom. "You visited them again?"
She hesitated. "He says he needs me. He hurt her. He didn't mean to."
"Want me to check on them again?"
"'Again'?"
"I always check on her," He watched El shake her head in response. "I know you miss them, alright? But it's too dangerous. You're the last thing they need right now. You're gonna see them. Soon. And not just in that head of yours. You're gonna see them in real life. I feel like I'm making progress with these people."
El frowned and leaned forward. "Friends don't lie."
"What?"
"You say 'soon' on day 21. You say 'soon' on day 205. You now say 'soon' on day 326?"
"What is this? You're, like, counting the days now like you're some kind of prisoner?" Hopper fiddled with the buttons of his shirt nervously.
"When is 'soon'?" She pressed.
He shrugged. "'Soon' is when... it's not dangerous anymore."
"When?"
"I don't know."
"On day 500?"
"I don't know-"
"On day 600?"
"I don't know-"
"Day 700?! On day 800?!"
"No!"
"I need to see them!"
"I said I-" Hopper was cut off when El jerked her head up, sending their very unhealthy breakfast across the table and all over his clothing. He jumped up in shock. "Oh! Shit! Shit!"
El stood up as well, fury in her eyes. "Friends. Don't. Lie!" She hissed before storming back into her bedroom, waving her hand behind her to slam the door. In anger, Hopper harshly kicked the table, staring in the direction she had just gone.
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After volunteering to take Will to school, Bob found himself in a silent car ride with the boy, save for the quiet music he was playing. Will had barely spoken a word, too caught up in his own thoughts as he stared out of his window. "Was that you I heard milling around last night, or was that a ghost?" He lightly joked. Will briefly turned to him.
"Yeah. Me, probably."
Bob nodded. "Another nightmare?"
"Um... no." Will turned back to the window.
A couple beats of silence fell between them before Bob inhaled to speak. "Did I ever tell you about Mr Baldo?"
"Mr Baldo?" Will raised his brows as he turned back to him.
"Yeah. I was a little younger than you, standing in line for the Ferris wheel at the Roane County fair."
Will hummed and leaned back, indicating he was listening.
"And suddenly, I feel this fat white glove tap me on the shoulder. I spin around, and there he is. Mr Baldo," Bob's voice switched to imitate a clown. "'Hey, kiddo, would you like a balloon?'"
Bob chuckled as Will tried to hide a small laugh. "Go ahead, laugh. It's funny. It wasn't funny back then, I can tell you that. I couldn't get him out of my head. Every night, he would come to me in my dreams. Every night when he came to me... I ran," He sighed. "It got so bad that I made my mom stay in the room with me until I could fall asleep every night."
"Really?"
"Really. It went on like that for months. And then one day, the nightmares suddenly stopped. Wanna know how?"
Will widened his eyes at him. "How?"
"Well, I fell asleep... and just like always, Mr Baldo came to me. Only this time, I didn't run. This time, I stood my ground. I just looked at Mr Baldo in his stupid face, and I said, 'Go away. Go away!'. Just like that, he was gone. Never saw him again," Bob smiled at the hopeful look on the boy's face. "Easy-peasy, right?"
He slowly nodded. "Easy-peasy."
"Just like that." Bob snapped his fingers. Pulling up to the school, the two of them shared a smile before Will climbed out of the car. "Have a great day, kiddo." Bob called. Will nodded at him in response before slowly heading towards the entrance of the building, once again feeling everyone's eyes on him.
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"The case of Phineas Gage is one of the great medical curiosities of all time. Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron rod was driven completely through his head," Mr Clarke drew a black line through the picture of a human skull he had on the projector for his class to see. "Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine. And physically, yes, he was. But his injury resulted in a complete change to his personality."
Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Will turned around to find Max quickly looking away. Slightly suspicious, he slowly turned to Doc, who was already staring at him.
"So much so that friends that knew him started referring to him as 'No Longer Gage'."
Little did Will know, Doc had been comparing the case of Phineas Gage to him.
"At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Although, it wasn't a-"
Mr Clarke was interrupted when the door to the classroom slammed open, Dustin entering and panting. "I am so sorry, Mr Clarke," He hurried to his desk, the Party staring at him in confusion as he sat down. "Really, I'm so sorry. Please, continue with the class. Don't mind me. Really, continue, please. Thanks."
Stiffly, Mr Clarke continued, "Although, it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said."
As he spoke, Dustin leaned over so he and the boys could speak. Doc waited patiently, knowing the information would be relayed to her. Just as she thought, once they were done, Dustin turned to her. "AV Club at lunch." He loudly whispered, receiving a nod. Once again, Dustin relayed the message, but to Max. At this, Mr Clarke snapped.
"Dustin!"
Said boy whirled back to him. "Yes, my lord?"
"Would you care to join the class now?"
"Please, yes." He hurriedly began digging into his bag.
"The case of Phineas Gage."
"Phineas Gage."
"Page 104."
"104. 104."
"Focus."
"Focusing. Focusing," He placed the book onto his desk before turning back to Max. "AV Club." He whispered, Max giving him a thumbs up. Doc raised a brow when she saw Dustin's backpack move slightly on its own, but she told herself he had just nudged it somehow.
Once Max and the Party entered their meeting room, Dustin took his ghost trap out of his backpack, gave his friends a fair warning, and placed it on the desk. The six leaned forward when he popped it open, the boy staring inside with a grin. Inside, a small, slimy, chittering reptile-like creature looked up at them. The hairs at the back of Doc's neck stood to attention at it and her stomach dropped.
"His name is d'Artagnan." Dustin gently took it out of the pack as the others stared at it in wonder and confusion. "Cute, right?"
"D'Artagnan?" Mike blinked.
"Dart for short."
"And he was in your trash?" Max narrowed her eyes.
"Foraging for food. Wanna hold him?"
"No, no."
"He doesn't bite."
"I don't want to-" Before she could finish, Dustin placed Dart into her palms. "Oh, god, he's slimy!" She quickly handed him off to Lucas.
"Ugh, he's like a living booger." He then handed him off to Will.
"Ugh, oh, god!" Will handed him to Doc, who only stared at him with wide eyes. The second she and Dart made contact, they both recoiled from each other. Doc with a wince and Dart with a hiss. Not wanting to upset it any further, she quickly passed him off to Mike, who was the only one calm except for Dustin.
Mike brought Dart close to his face and examined him closely. "What is he?"
"My question exactly," Dustin grinned before taking out a stack of books and opening them all to different pages. "At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog."
"Pollywog?" Max questioned.
"It's another word for tadpole. A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad."
"I know what a tadpole is."
"Alright, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right? Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."
Lucas looked up. "Yeah, but aren't there non-aquatic pollywogs?"
"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two, to be exact. 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?"
Doc moved away from the desk at the sight of Dart's unusual body. "Guys, is it just me or is something moving inside of it?"
To get a better look, Mike moved the desk lamp to shine on Dart, who screeched upon contact and scurried off of the desk. The kids all gasped as Dustin hurried to catch him. "Whoa. It's okay. It's okay. I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that. It's okay," Dustin spoke to Dart in adoration, earning looks from his friends before he raised his head. "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..."
"Then I've discovered a new species." Dustin finished Lucas's sentence with a smile.
Unknowing of each other, both Will and Doc stared at Dart with fearful looks as Dustin lovingly petted him. Suddenly, the bell that ended their lunch period rang throughout the school, causing them all to jump up and rush to leave the room.
"We gotta show him to Mr Clarke." Lucas said as they exited.
"No, what if he steals my discovery?" Dustin hurried after him.
"He's not gonna steal your discovery." Mike replied.
"You know, I'm thinking about calling it Dustonious pollywogus. What do you think?" He turned to Max, who scoffed at him.
"I think you're an idiot."
"You know, when I become rich and famous for this one day, don't come crawling back saying, 'Oh, my god, Dustin, I'm so sorry for being mean to you back in the eighth grade, oh, my god'."
Trailing behind the four was Doc and Will, the latter staring after them in fear, and the former glaring at the creature that was no longer even in her eyesight. When he looked over at her, he gently touched her elbow, which calmed her down a bit. "S-Sorry," She sighed. "I just... I don't have a good feeling about Dart."
Will slowly shook his head, gently grabbing her hand. "Me, neither."