When the lunch bell rings, Goldie gathers her belongings and prepares to go to her and Max's usual place to dine— atop Steve's car.

However, as she swings her bag over her shoulder, Max stops her.

"We have to go to the AV room today," the red head states. "Dustin insists."

Marigold smiles lightly. So, her and Mike would be spending time together once again, and sooner than she originally thought. Maybe she'll make some progress with him today.

"Okay then," she nods, following Max to the "room", which essentially is a spare closet.

As they get into the hall, they stand patiently in front of the door. Considering everyone's classes are so spread out, there's no telling how long it'll take before the boys show it. Max takes this opportunity to question Goldie's earlier absence.

"Where were you earlier?" Max hums, looking skeptically towards her friends.

Marigold gives a shrug, "I was just taking my time, I guess. To be honest, I've been feeling a little down lately."

"What about?" Max frowns. "Is it the Billy thing? Or the Mike thing? Or—"

"No, no," Goldie cuts in, "It's a me thing. My, uh, my dad's prison release is coming around. He gets out on Friday. God, can you believe that?"

"Are you serious?" Max scoffs. "I can't believe they're letting him loose after what he did! The judicial branch is lacking, I swear to god. I'm so sorry, Goldie, I wish there was something I could do."

"No, it's fine," she shrugs nervously. "We literally moved across the country. H-He wouldn't be able to find us."

Max seems to notice her jitters as she begins to rock back and forth from heel to toe.

"Hey," she speaks up, "he's not gonna find you. Your mom wouldn't contact him, right?"

"I don't know," Marigold honestly replies. "I just don't know, Max..."

Before any further reassurances can be exchanged between the two, the four boys show up in a rush. They unlock the room, barely paying the girls any mind, and rush in as quickly as possible.

Lucas shuts the door behind them all, and turns back to the round table.

While Dustin situates himself, Marigold stares at Mike with a smile.

He notices her, of course, but tries to ignore her, making it clear that he's annoyed and wants absolutely nothing to do with her. Soon though, her stare is too intense to ignore.

"What?!" He whispers annoyedly, turning to look her in the eye.

Her smile never falters.

"Nothing. I just knew we'd be hanging out again," she states with a light giggle.

"Well don't get used to it," he grumbles.

He's so mean, but Marigold still finds herself helplessly attracted to him. Cupid really screwed up.

Dustin speaks up before the two can conversation any further. He describes the events leading up to this point in time, being sure to be as detailed as possible about how discovered an interesting species within the garbage can at his home.

Marigold seems thrilled at the story, which Dustin appreciates.

After all, all he really wants is some form of value— he wants to impress someone. Anyone.

Mike feels himself grow a tad bit "annoyed" by Marigold's intense amazement with Dustin's story. He finds himself rolling his eyes each time she nods her head or asks questions about what happened.

"Did you bring him along?" Marigold excitedly questions, moving closer to Dustin.

Dustin grins, "you bet I did. I knew you guys wouldn't believe me if I didn't."

He cracks open his "ghost catching" box to reveal a slimy tadpole-looking creature. It's making weird clicking/purring noises, nothing like what any of them have heard.

Goldie's eyes go wide with amazement.

"Wow!" She softly woes, staring at the creature in awe. "Dustin, this is so cool!"

Mike tries to stay focused on the animal, but finds himself more distracted by Marigolds constant praises. He can't help but hate that she's praising Dustin.

"His name is D'Artagnan," The smiling boy states triumphantly.

He then reaches into the box, carefully taking the small specimen into his hands, and holding him up for everyone to see.

"Cute, right?" Dustin hums, glancing to Max.

"Adorable," Marigold exhales, staring in awe.

Mike decides to step into the conversation, officially fed up with allowing Dustin to be the only one to converse with Goldie.

"D'Artagnan?" He questions.

"Dart for short," Dustin nods.

"And he was in your trash?" Max questions, a little freaked out by the being.

"Foraging for food," Dustin adds. "You wanna hold him?"

"No," Max shakes her head as Dustin moves the creature towards her, "no no no no."

"Don't worry, he doesn't bite!" Dustin insists, dropping the thing into her hands against her wishes.

"I don't want to—"

But it's too late. Dart's slimy body is already in Max's hands, while she stares down at him in pure disgust.

"Oh, god, he's slimy!" Max exclaims, quickly handing it over to Lucas.

Lucas seems equally discussed, "Ugh, he's like a living booger!"

Will takes him next, "Ugh, oh, god!"

Mike reaches out to take him, but Goldie beats him to the punch, carefully taking the pollywog into her own hands. She brings the little guy up to eye level, clearly interested in him.

"He's adorable," She whispers.

Mike rolls his eyes, and takes Dart from her before she's even done looking at him.

"Hey!" She frowns.

"What is he?" Mike questions, ignoring her pleads.

"My question exactly," Dustin pulls out a stack of books, dropping them on the table. "At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog."

"I thought he was?" Marigold questions confused.

"Pollywog?" Max interrupts.

"It's another word for tadpole," Dustin explains. "A tadpole is the larval state of a toad."

"I know what a tadpole is," Max roles her eyes.

"Yeah! We had plenty in Cali," Goldie adds with a grin.

"Alright, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?" He hums. "Well Dart isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Yeah, but aren't there non-aquatic pollywogs?" Lucas argues.

"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact. Indirana semipalmata, and Adenomera andreae," Dustin nods. "Ones from—"

"India, and the other from South America," Marigold blinks, staring at the creature in shock. "So how the hell could one possibly end up all the way over here? And in your trash can?"

Everyone else stares at her.

"How did you know that?" Dustin questions, both shocked and impressed.

"Um...I like science?" She shrugs, blushing st their stares.

"You can stop staring at her now, it's not even that impressive," Mike rolls his eyes, bring their attention back to the matter at hand.

What they don't know is that Mike seriously just didn't like the idea of them making her blush.

"Maybe some scientists brought it here, and it escaped?" Max suggests.

"Do you guys see that?" Mike interrupts, now staring at the creature. "Looks like something's...moving inside of it."

They all peak over and immediately notice what he means. Darts body is wiggling and whirling as if something is crawling around inside or trying to make its way out of the sides of darts body. Mike moves the light for further inspection, but Dart screams out.

They all flinch at the sudden noise and quickly move away from the table. Dart moves away from the heat and nearly runs off the table.

Dustin catches him in his hands, petting him and lulling him calmly.

"It's okay, I got you little guy," Dustin assures with a smile. "I know you don't like that. It's okay."

They all stare at him slightly disgusted.

"And there's another thing," He states. "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..." Lucas trails.

"Then I've discovered a new species," Dustin smiles.

Their fascination is cut short when the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch and beginning of next period. They all gather their things, and Marigold snaps back into "emo" mode.

She liked hanging out with the party. They gave her a distraction from the real world.

"You're acting weird," Mike states, catching onto the girls quick mode change.

Goldie snaps her head to him, noticing that everyone else has scattered to their next class. It's just the two of them.

"Oh, uh," she frantically pulls her backpack over her shoulders. "What makes you say that?"

He's sad because he can tell that she's nervous. Or afraid. Or something. He just can't tell of what?

"That. That thing you're doing right now where you act weird!" He sighs. "What's wrong?"

Truth is, she doesn't like the idea of being in an empty room with a boy. It's not that she doesn't trust Mike, she's just had enough happen to her to know which situations can lead to trouble.

As soon as they're in the hall way together, she seems to relax. There's more people around to witness in case something happens.

"I'm just having a weird time at home," she admits. "I would tell you, but I don't think you'd wanna hear it."

"Why wouldn't I wanna hear it?" He questions, walking along side her. "I wanna hear it."

"I thought you didn't care about me?" She smirks, the tardy bell rings.

Mike shoots her a squinted glare, rolling his eyes.

"I don't," he insists. "I'm just curious."

"Then maybe I'll swing by your house to share my story. For now, I need to get to class," she cheekily smiles. "See ya around, Mike Wheeler!"

He watches as she jogs away from him down the hallway, a small smile crawls into his features before he rushes into his class.

He hates what's happening. He hates the fact that picture of El in his mind is slowly being replaced by Marigold.