── ⋆⋅ 𖤐
THE
POLLYWOG !

Today you had arrived to school a bit later than you expected but you had to catch Andre soon. he wanted to know the reason behind everyone calling will 'zombie boy'. you placed your bike in the bike rack and headed inside the school.

Andre was already there waiting for you, making your way beside him you noticed a little irritated look on his face but you didn't question it.

"Okay, so you wanna tell me the story behind the whole 'zombie boy' thing?" Andre asks, "Well..cause he got lost in the woods." You answered in reply.

"Elaborate, please." Andre says while tilting his head in confusion. "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?" he asks.

"Yeah. I mean, we had a funeral for him and everything." You explained shortly, "After a week?" Andre questions.

"Well, see, some other kid drowned at the quarry. we thought it was will because his body was super- like, decomposed." You explained and Andre stops in his tracks, turning to you.

"Say what? okay, that's not funny." Andre says. "It's not a joke, alright? it's public knowledge. you can ask anybody." You say and Andre gazed at you before sighing.

"But not will. because he is really sensitive about it. I see him tense up all the time so yeah, just don't talk to him at all about it." You say while crossing your arms, "okay?"

Andre nods. "yeah, yeah. sure." after he says that he walks right past you and you're wondering: 'did I say something wrong'? but he seemed a little irritated before he got to school.

‧˚ 𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ

You were now sitting in class, your desk was beside Lucas's desk. Andre and Max were looking at will, it was a little odd how you didn't really..explain much to him.

Will looks over his shoulder and towards them, Andre quickly looks back into his history book while max looks towards a window, avoiding his gaze.

The door to the classroom bursts open and Dustin hurries inside, a whole bunch of books in his hands.

He looked like he was in a rush as he makes his way over to his desk and sits down next to you, he then turned to you and the others.

"We have to meet. all of us. at lunch, AV club." Dustin says, "Why?" Mike asks curiously.

"I have something that you won't believe." Dustin said and you just nodded while leaning back in your seat.

Dustin turns around to Andre and Max before whispering, "AV club. lunch." he says.

Mr.Clarke says something to Dustin and he grabs his history book, you turned to Andre and Max before whispering again.

"AV club." You whispered to the two of them and Andre gives you a thumbs up while max nods.

‧˚ 𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ

After class you had guided Max and Andre inside the AV club, shutting the door behind you. looking down into Dustin's box you saw a..tadpole?

He grabs it and holds it in his hands which makes you recoil a bit, "Cute, right?" he says.

"I'm sorry— but you named that thing D'Artagnan?" Andre asks while tilting his head, "Dart for short." Dustin replies.

"And he was in your trash?" Max asked with furrowed eyebrows, Dustin nodded. "Foraging for food."

Dustin then turns to Andre, "You wanna hold him?" he asked.

"No, no." Andre answered quickly while shaking his head, "he doesn't bite." Dustin insisted.

"I don't want to-" Dustin ignores Andre and places the tadpole in his hands, "Oh, god, he's slimy! what the fuck?!" Andre exclaimed.

Andre hands it to Lucas who's face contorted in disgust. "Ugh, he's like a living booger." Lucas says and hands it to will.

"Ugh, oh, god!" Will exclaimed and handed it to Mike. you took a little closer look at the 'tadpole'.

"What is he?" Mike asks, you wanted to know the same thing cause that definitely didn't look like a tadpole to you. any sane person would say the same thing.

"My question exactly." Dustin replied and you turned to him, seeing him take his books out from his backpack.

"At first, I thought it was some type of Pollywog." Dustin says as he sits from across you, Andre sits down next to you.

"Pollywog?" Max questions with a raised eyebrow, "it's another word for tadpole. a tadpole is the larval stage of a toad." Dustin explained.

"I know what a tadpole is." Max said while glancing at Dustin. "Alright, then you know that most tadpole are aquatic, right? well, dart, he isn't. he doesn't need water." Dustin explains.

"Yeah, but aren't there nonaquatic pollywogs?" Lucas asks, "Theres gotta be. I mean..it would make sense." You added.

"Terrestrial pollywogs? yep. two to be exact." Dustin answers while nodding slightly. "Indirana semipalmata. and the adenomera andreae. one's from India, one's from South America. so how did he end up in my trash?"

Andre shrugs, "Maybe some crazy ass scientists brought it here, and it somehow escaped?" he suggests.

"Wait, did you guys see that?" You chimed in, everyone turns to you confused. "Looks like something's moving inside of it."

Andre leans forward to get a better look, Mike grabs the lamp and puts a little more light on it and the thing screeches.

You flinch and Andre recoils back, grasping onto your wrist tightly. it lands in Dustin's hands.

"And there's another thing. reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right?" Dustin says, "they love heat, the sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him."

"So, if he's not a pollywog or reptile..." you trailed off.

"Then I've discovered a new species." Dustin says and you continued to stare at the creature weirdly.

The bell rings which makes you quickly stand up and grab your things, Andre follows you out the door.

"We gotta show him to Mr.Clarke." Lucas says, "Yeah. maybe he knows what it is." You added.

"What if he steals my discovery?" Dustin asks, "He's not gonna steal your discovery." Mike replies.

"You know, I'm thinking about calling it Dustonious pollywogus." Dustin says excitedly, he then turns to max.

"What do you think?" Dustin asks her and she looks at him, "I think you're an idiot." Max replies.

You turned to Andre who shrugged in reply, "Nice tune to it but it's totally scientific shit." Andre whispered to you and this made you let out a small laugh.

‧˚ 𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ

"This is the reason why I was late for class." Dustin says, You stood next to Andre who was leaning over the desk, still trying to figure out what the thing was.

"Pretty neat. these doors function?" Mr.Clarke asks. "Well, yeah, obviously. but it's not about the trap. it's what's inside." Dustin answers in reply.

"Now, this very well may change your perception of the world." Dustin continues, "Consider my interest piqued." Mr.Clark replies.

"Alright, first, let's just clarify that...this is my discovery, not yours." Dustin said, you pinch the bridge of your nose.

"Oh my god, dustin! just show him!" You exclaimed, "I'm just trying to clarify-" Dustin was cut off.

"Dustin!" Andre says while gesturing his hands towards the box in a 'hurry up' motion.

"Okay, fine." Dustin replied and was about to open the box until Mike rushed in, "stop!" he shouts.

"I'm sorry Mr.Clarke. It was just a stupid prank." Mike says, "What are you doing?" Dustin asks him.

"I told him to stop. we need to go." Mike answered, "Mike!" You shouted while you furrow your eyebrows in confusion.

"Right now. right now!" Mike shouted towards everyone you sigh and run after him, Andre looks confused then he shrugs and follows after you.

‧˚ 𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ

"I don't understand." You say while walking forward, completely forgetting that max was right outside the door and asking to come in. Andre snuck his way inside without the others seeing— Mike didn't care at this point though.

"What do you not understand?" Mike asks as he turns to you, "Will saw something that looked like dart last year?" You asked.

Andre looked between you and Mike, not understanding what you meant by 'last year'— what happened last year?

"Kind of, but there was no tail." Mike answered in reply, "but then he heard it yesterday. the exact same sound."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin asked, "I wasn't sure." Will answered.

"A coincidence."

"Or not."

You quickly cover Andre's ears and he glanced at you confusedly, you glanced at the pair of headphones on the desk. "Here wear these." You say and he seems confused— they were noise cancellation headphones.

He puts them on and looks away from you awkwardly.

"What if when will was stuck in the upside down, he somehow acquired true sight?" Mike suggests, "True sight?" Lucas questions.

"It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." Dustin says and you turned to him, "Elaborate." You say while titling your head.

"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 explains.

"So that would mean..." Lucas trails off. "Dart's from the upside down." You added.

"We have to take him to hopper." Lucas says, "I agree." Mike replied while nodding.

"No, no way. If we take him to hopper, Dart's good as dead." Dustin says and you turn to him, "Maybe he should be." You reply.

"How can you say that?" Dustin said as he turned to face you. "How can you not? he's from the upside down. someone with a sane brain would agree on this." you stated.

"Maybe. but even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad." Dustin says. "that's like saying just because someone's from Death Star doesn't make them bad." Mike adds.

"We have a bond." Dustin said while turning away. "A bond? Just because he likes nougat?" Mike replies while raising an eyebrow.

"No, because he trusts me!" Dustin exclaims, "He trusts you?" Lucas chimed in.

"Yes, I promised I would take care of him." Dustin says, the box begins to shake and Andre eyes widen slightly in surprise.

The box falls to it's side and Andre immediately pushes you behind him while grabbing a nearby broom. holding it close as he raises it slightly.

"Don't hurt him." Dustin says to Andre and Mike. "Only if he attacks." Mike replies.

"Just open it already." Lucas said and gestures to the box, Andre takes the headphones off and place it around his neck.

Dustin opens it and you see the creature's color change. "Holy shit!" You exclaimed while you stared at it in fear.

It starts growing legs, "Oh, shit!" this time Lucas exclaimed and Andre eyes widen once again, "What in the hell?" he whispers.

Andre went to hit it with the broom but Dustin stops him, "No!" Dustin shouted.

The creature starts running away and what made it worse was when max opened the door, "oh, shit!" this time you cursed.

You ran out the door but accidentally fell on Max and Andre falls on top of you too. "What was that?" Max asks as you quickly get off her.

"Dart!" Mike replied, "what?" Max says. "You let him escape!" Mike shouted.

"Mike she didn't know!" You shouted right back at him, "Why did you attack him?" Dustin asks Mike, Mike just ignored him.

"Come on." Mike says and you watched as he walked down the other hall.

Turning to Andre you sighed and handed him back the broom. "Listen- I don't think it's good for you to be here. it's best you go home." you say.

"And who decides that? you or me?" Andre asks while taking the broom from your hands, "Andre.." you trailed off sadly.

"Fine, y'know what? I'll go." Andre says and throws the broom back into the closet while walking down the other side of the hall.

‧˚ 𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ

You headed down and walked inside an empty classroom, hoping to find any signs of dart which unfortunately— you didn't.

Heading inside another empty classroom you could hear some movement and things being taken out of a small locker.

Grabbing a random stick you had found outside— you hold it close and walk inside. the classroom was dark which unfortunately didn't leave you with any kind of lighting.

You let out a small yell but suddenly stopped when you saw who it was. It was just Andre, "Yo, what the hell are you doing?" he asks.

"Uh- what are you doing?" You asked while squinting your eyes at him. he was supposed to be home by now.

"Looking for dart." Andre answers while shutting the small locker closed and putting his hand in his pockets.

"No! go home." You say and opened the classroom door, Andre quickly follows behind you and slams the door shut.

Andre scoffs, "Why? you insisted I come to the AV club and now you want me to leave? what is it that you're hiding? Just tell me instead of keeping me in the dark."

"It's for you're own good." You replied and headed inside the bathroom stalls, "Whoa, okay. 'my own good'? and who gets to tell me that? you or do I get to tell myself that?" Andre asks.

"There's just a whole lot of bullshit with the government and all of that so it shouldn't matter to you." You said and glanced at him, "stay out of it."

"I can't just 'stay out of it'! you brought me into it. so now I'm curious and wanna know more." Andre says and continues to follow you.

You shake your head. "Leave Andre. it's not good to be here during this stupid chase for a stupid tadpole. okay?"

"So you clearly don't want me in you're party do you?" Andre asks making you stop in your tracks.

"What? I do! it's just- it's just complicated. alright? you wouldn't understand." You reply in answer.

"But let me understand. you pretend you want me in you're party but then suddenly don't because of what? some dumb tadpole?" Andre says while crossing his arms.

You just turn away from him. "Go home Andre."

Andre clenched his fists before turning away from you, "that's alright. I don't wanna be in your stupid party anyways." he says.

Suddenly you turned to him once more and called out his name. "Wait. Andre! meet me at the Arcade. whatever time you're available." you said.

Andre turns to you and raises his eyebrows in surprise, "o..okay. cool. sure. I'll be there."

END OF CHAPTER THREE