Chapter Five;
Awkward

It was awkward. It was so fucking awkward, and everyone could tell. It was obvious.  Especially when Mike greeted everybody, even Max, but skipped out on his usual hello to Scotty.

When Scotty pulled up to the schoolyard and locked his bike up, Mike wouldn't even spare him a glance. Seeming to be trying to forget he even existed.

God, did that hurt. It hurt to breathe for a moment when Mike did that, and Scotty was sure that he visibly winced by the look Lucas gave him. The brief moment of pain sent him back to last night.

He wasn't sure how long he was in the bathroom, but he did know that by the time he'd managed to drag himself out of the bathroom, his parents had already returned home.

However, everytime Mike did allow himself to look Scotty's way, a feeling of shame overwhelmed him and he felt sick.

When he walked into class, only to see Mike seated in a seat across the room from his normal one, he knew it was going to be a long day. One that he barely had the energy to think about dealing with. Especially when Carly White sat in his place. Which meant she'd spend the entire class period staring at Scotty, trying and failing to get his attention.

"Great." Scotty muttered, letting his backpack strap slide off of his shoulder and fall to the floor. He could sense Mike avoiding any and all sight of him.

"Good morning, Scotty!" Carly greeted, resting her chin on her palm. She sighed dreamily, her eyes trailing over his face. "You look tired.. Something wrong, handsome?"

Scotty grunted, slumping over and resting his forehead on his arms. "You could say that."

~~

"What the fuck is that thing?" Scotty ruffled his hair, squinting at the reptilian creature.

"His name is D'artagnan." Dustin said cheerfully, grinning as he held him up in front of his face. "Dart for short."

"Hmph." Scotty grumbled, rolling his eyes and shifting his weight.

"And he was in your.. trash?" Max said slowly, raising an eyebrow. "Doing what, exactly?"

"Forging for food." Dustin answered, his eyes lighting up as he admired the creature squirming in his hands. "Wanna hold him?"

"I'd rather choke and die, thanks." Scotty muttered, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to rid himself of the exhaustion he felt.

Dustin blinked, his smile faltering for a moment. "Welp.. Suit yourself! He doesn't even bite, don't worry!"

"N- Oh, god!" Max gagged, passing him on to Lucas. "He's slimey!"

"He's like a living booger!" Lucas' face scrunched up in disgust as he handed off Dart to Scotty, who shot Lucas an unimpressed look and nodded towards Will.

Will grunted, a slew of noises of disgust leaving his mouth as he handed the creature to Mike.

Mike watched the creature in awe. And for a moment, Scotty let himself wish Mike would look at him like that. That moment ended as soon as it began due to the pain gripping his lungs.

"What is it?" Mike asked, carefully examining him.

"My question exactly!"

"It's probably just a fucking lizard. A fat one." Scotty shook his head. "A legless fat lizard."

"Uh.." Dustin blinked, his eyebrows furrowed, looking around at the groip to see if they'd all noticed Scotty's bad mood. "No.. I thought it was a Polywog at first-"

"Polywog?" Max rose her eyebrow.

"You ever done the cycle of life in Phsycial Science?" Scotty yawned, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment. "Second stage or whatever."

"Yeah, so another word for Tadpole." Dustin explained briefly, glancing between Max and the creature. "A tadpole is-"

"I know what a tadpole is." Max interrupted, clearly becoming unimpressed.

"Alright! Good, so you know that most tadpoles are aquatic right?"

"Swimmy bitches."

"Well, Dart isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Aren't there non-aquatic polywogs?" Lucas crossed his arms as be spoke.

"Yep! Terrestrial polywogs." Dustin grinned brightly, his excitement growing as he continued to talk about Dart. "There's two species, to be exact."

"We learned about it in science last year." Mike nodded, deliberately avoiding looking at Scotty.

"There's the Indirana Semipalmata and the Adenomera Andreae."

"So?" Max waved her hand in a circle, motioning for him to continue.

"So," Dustin began pointedly. "One's from South America and the other Asia, specifically, India."

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

"Hey.." Mike trailed off, his eyebrows knitting together. "Do you guys see that? It looks like something's moving inside it."

Scotty's arms dropped to his sides, moving to rest on the desk in front of him as he got a closer look.

Dustin hummed, reaching for the desk light and bringing it towards Dart.

Scotty jumped back, startled, as the creature reacted in fear. Letting out an ear piercing shriek and scrambling for the edge of the table.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah." Dustin cooed, catching him and bringing him close to himself. "It's okay, I'm sorry. I know you don't like that."

"He doesn't like the light.." Scotty mumbled, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Exactly! And he's a reptile, right?"

"I mean.." Scotty trailed off, nodding his head side to side. "Probably."

"And reptiles are cold blooded.. So they love the heat, warmth, the sun. But Dart? Dart hates it. It hurts him."

"Okay, not a reptile then." Scotty said.

"Right." Dustin agreed, "And not a Polywog. So, if he's neither of those things.. That means.. I've discovered a new species!"

The bell rang, causing Dustin, in a panic, to quickly hide Dart in his Ghostbuster's compartment from last night.

"We've gotta show Mr. Clarke." Lucas said slowly, clapping his hands together and interlocking his fingers.

Dustin's eyes widened in a panic, "But what if he steals my discovery?"

"That's fucking stupid. Why would he do that?"

"He's not gonna steal your discovery." Mike deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he walked toward the door, holding it open for the party members to file out, but letting it slam shut in Scotty's face.

Scotty's eye twitched as he rolled his shoulders back. Grumbling to himself, he slammed the door open and turned to walk the opposite way of the party to his next class. "Fucking bitch."

~~

Scotty sat alone at the lunch table, a tray of food in front of him. None of it looked appetizing, and even then, he lacked an appetite.

He was a mess. The bags under his eyes, and the Thriller shirt that he hadn't bothered to change out of, proved it.

Before last night, Scotty hadn't suffered from an anxiety attack in nearly a year. Everyone was so proud of him.. and he felt like he'd let them all down. His parents were both so proud of him. And he'd just ruined all the progress he'd made over the eleven months.

"Hey," Max said carefully, setting down her lunch tray next to Scotty's. He glanced up at her, silently taking a bite out of his peanut butter and jelly sandwhich.  She sighed, glancing at the rest of the party who was still in line. When Mike saw her, he rolled his eyes and turned away from the table. "Did something happen?"

Scotty scoffed, shaking his head and muttering to himself. "What do you think, Sherlock?"

Max recoiled, pursing her lips. "I think you got in a fight with someone."

"Excellent observation, but no. Strike one."

"Dude, I'm trying to be kind and friendly here." Max rolled her eyes, shoving him with her shoulder in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yeah? Good for you." Scotty replied shortly, shoving his tray away from him, tossing the half eaten sandwich beside it.

"Jesus, what's your problem?"

"My problem is that Mike is a fucking bitch." Scotty answered, turning to look at Max.

Max's eyes widened and she pursed her lips, nodding along in agreement. "Yea- Well, yeah, no shit. Anyone can see that.. What'd he do?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, thanks." Scotty said, standing up and stepping out behind the bench as Mike, along with Dustin, Lucas, and Will arrived. "I'm not hungry."

"Oh.." Will blinked slowly, sitting down beside Dustin. He could sense that something was off with Scotty, and he was worried.

"Oh, can I have your pudding?" Dustin picked up the pudding cup from Scotty's lunch tray.

"Take all of it." He answered, picking up his backpack and sliding his arms through the straps. "Don't care."

Lucas and Dustin shared a look as Scotty left the cafeteria without another word.

"Okay, Mike." Lucas crossed his arms, leaning on the table. "What'd you do to him?"

"Nothing." Mike snapped, glaring at each of his friends sitting around him. "I didn't do anything to Scotty, so can we just drop it already? Jesus. Why is always my fault?"

An air of tension settled over them and, in silence, they finished their lunch.

~~

a/n: scotty being a (justified) asshole for a chapter straight

edited: no