November 1st, 1984

Beth woke up to see Max sitting up in bed, writing something on a piece of paper.

"Oh, um, hi. Sorry if I woke you." Max said to the girl once she saw her up.

"Oh no you didn't. What are you doing?" Beth asked as she got out of bed. "Oh, um, just a note for my mom. You know, in case she asks where I went." Max told the brunette.

Beth nodded before she went through her closet. "Did you sleep well?" Beth asked as she grabbed a purple sweater and dark blue jeans from her closet.

"Yeah, you cuddle in your sleep." Max smiled.

"Oh, um, sorry." Beth put a strand of hair behind her ear. "No it's okay. It was cool." Max said softly.

Beth smiled a bit before going back to her closet, "Do you like yellow?"

"Yeah yellow is cool." Max answered before Beth threw a yellow top to her.

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Max and Beth got to school and when they did Lucas asked if he can walk with them. He told them about what happened last year with Will and how he went missing, and how he "died".

"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 confused on what Lucas was saying.

"Yeah. I mean, we had a funeral for him and everything." Lucas told her. Beth was still confused on how they thought this kid was dead, when he wasn't.

"After a week?"

"Why would you think he was dead?" Beth asked.

"Well, see, some other kid drowned at the quarry. We thought it was Will because his body was super decomposed." Lucas answered her.

"What? Okay, that's not funny." Beth stopped walking.

"It's not a joke, all right? It's public knowledge. You can ask anybody. Except Will, because he is really sensitive about it. All right?" Lucas told both girls. Beth nodded and so did Max, not asking anything else.

"Okay..."

"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. 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." At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Although it wasn't a-" Mr. Clarke explained before Dustin burst through the door. Dustin was panting making Beth look up at him.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke. Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class. Don't mind me." Dustin sat down. "Really, continue, please. Thanks."

"Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said." Mr. Clarke continued before Dustin turned to his three friends and whispered something to them. He then turned to the two new girls, who were sitting next to each other.

"AV Club. Lunch." Dustin whispered yelled to both girls before Mr. Clarke got his attention.

"Dustin!"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Would you care to join the class now?" Mr. Clarke asked the curly haired boy.

"Please, yes." Dustin leaned down to grab his science book from his bag.

"The case of Phineas Gage." Mr. Clarke told him.

"Phineas Gage."

"Page 104." Mr. Clarke told him.

"104. 104."

"Focus."

"Focusing. Focusing." Once, Mr. Clarke started talking again, Dustin turned to Beth and Max again. "AV Club." He whispered.

Both girls put a thumbs up and Dustin grinned as he gave one back. He turned back to Mr. Clarke.

"And he began to curse, using terrible words that I don't dare repeat here."

Suddenly, a chittering noise came from Dustin's bag and he zipped it shut.

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Dustin lead the group to the AV Club room with his backpack. When they got inside the room, Dustin unzipped his bag and took out his ghostbusters trap.

Dustin told them all the story before he put the trap on the table and opened it. Inside was a small creature that looked like a booger. The monster had a long tail, little feet, and droopy eyes. The coloring was green and red.

"His name is D'Artagnan." Dustin said proudly. He put his hands in the trap and took out the monster. The small creature laid on Dustin's hand and it looked like it was being lazy. "Cute, right?"

"I wouldn't say that thing is cute." Beth said in response.

"D'Artagnan?" Mike asked confused.

"Dart for short." Dustin explained.

"And he was in your trash?" Max asked him.

"Forging for food." Dustin said. "You wanna hold him?"

"No, no." Max said.

"He doesn't bite."

"I don't want to..." Max said but Dustin put the little creature in her hands.

"Oh, god, he's slimy!" Max said as she passed Dart to Lucas.

Lucas groaned and said, "Ugh, he's like a living booger."

Lucas passed Dart to Beth and she said, "Ew! You're right he is a living booger!"

Beth passed Dart to Will and he said, "Ugh, oh god!"

Will passed Dart to Mike and he didn't put it down. "What is he?" He asked.

"My question exactly." Dustin said with excitement in his voice.

Mike put Dart back inside the trap as Dustin grabbed a bunch of books.

"At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog." Dustin explained to them.

"Pollywog?" Max asked.

"It's another word for a tadpole." Dustin told her. "A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad."

"I know what a tadpole is." Max said rolling her eyes at him.

"All right." Dustin said. "Then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right? Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Yeah, but aren't there nonaquatic pollywogs?" Lucas asked.

"Terrestrial pollywogs?" Dustin said. "Yep. Two to be exact. Indirana semipalmata and the Adenomera andreae."

Dustin showed them the book as he continued to talk.

"One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?" Dustin explained.

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

"Do you guys see that?" Mike asked suddenly. "Like something is moving inside of it."

"Gross." Beth said once she saw.

They all looked down at it to see what Mike was talking about. But suddenly, Mike moved one of the lamps over Dart and the creature let out a loud hiss.

They all jumped back and watched as he jumped out of the trap and onto the table.

Dart was about to jump onto the floor but Dustin grabbed him.

"It's okay, it's okay." Dustin cooed the creature. "I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that. It's okay."

They all gave each other looks as Dustin cooed the creature.

"And there's another thing." Dustin said suddenly, "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 said proudly.

They all stood in silence till the bell rang, saying lunch was over. They all grabbed their stuff and walked out the room.

"We've got to show him to Mr. Clarke." Lucas told them.

"What if he steals my discovery?" Dustin said.

"He's not gonna steal your discovery." Mike told him.

"You know, I'm thinking about calling it Dustonious pollywogus." Dustin explained. "What do you think?"

He was asking Beth and Max. They both looked at him. "That's dumb." Beth said.

"I think you're an idiot." Max said to him.

"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 8th grade. Oh, my God."  Dustin said as they walked through the hall.

"None of us sound anything like that." Beth laughed.

"You definitely do."

Hey guys!!! Here's the fourth chapter of Happier!! Hope you enjoyed and more is coming soon!! Especially some brother and sister moments between Beth and Brandon. Also something else I'm not going to mention it yet 😏

Anyways, have a nice day! Love you all!

-Mary💙