Hayden - a Max Mayfield fanfiction

the pollywog

All of us were nervous. Dustin wasn't at school yet and it was almost halfway through first period. "The case of Phineas Gage  is one of the great medical curiosities of all time." Mr. Clark started "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." he droned on "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--"  " I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke.  Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class.  Don't mind me.  Really, continue, please. Thanks." Dustin says "Although it wasn't a crowbar it was a rod as I said" I watch him intensely as he whispers something to the boys. He turns to me and max "AV Club. Lunch." he whispers-"Dustin!" Mr. Clark shouts "Yes, my lord?" Dustin responds "Would you care to join the class now?" Mr. Clark asks "Please, yes." Dustin nods "case of Phineas Gage." "Phineas Gage." Dustin flips through his book "Page 104." Mr. Clark tells him the page number "104. 104." he says still flipping through the pages "Focus." Mr. Clark instructs "Focusing. Focusing." he says and turns towards Max and me again "AV Club." he whispers and we give him a thumbs up  "And he began to curse, using terrible words that I don't dare repeat here."

 "His name is D'Artagnan. Cute, right?" Dustin pulls the creature out from his ghostbusters trap -"D'Artagnan?" I ask grimacing at the mention of three musketeers "Dart for short." he replies "And he was in your trash?" Max asks "Foraging for food. You wanna hold him?" He says holding out Dart "No, no." she says "He doesn't bite." He tries to reassure "I don't want to--  Oh, God, he's slimy!" she gets cut off as the creature is dropped into her hands and shoves it into Lucas' hand "Ugh, he's like a living booger." He says passing him to Will "Ugh, oh, God!" who gives him to me I hand him to Mike who stares at him intensely "'What is he?" "My question exactly." Dustin says grabbing his bag "At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog." pulling out a bunch of books "Pollywog?" "It's another word for tadpole." "A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad."-"I know what a tadpole is." "All right, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?" Dustin asks "Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water." He says super excited "Yeah, but aren't their non-aquatic pollywogs?" Lucas asks "Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact. Indiana semipalmate. And the Adenomera Andreae." He says flipping through his books "One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?" He looks up at us "maybe some scientists brought it here, and it escaped?" Max proposes "Do you guys see that? Looks like something is moving inside of it." "Whoa. It's okay. It's okay. I got you, little guy." "I know you don't like that. It's okay. 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." "We gotta show him to Mr. Clarke." "What if he steals my discovery?" Dustin asks nervously "He's not gonna steal your discovery." Lucas says "You know, I'm thinking about calling it Dustonious pollywogus." he turns to us "What do you think?" -"I think you're an idiot." Max responds "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.'" I chuckle at him

I walk to my locker and wave at Max as she skates down the halls towards Dustin and Lucas. I shoved my binder into my backpack and swung it over my shoulder, heading down the hall towards Mike and Will "Will, you coming? Let's go show Mr. Clarke." I hear Mike say. Will starts to look a little scared "What?" Mike asks "Will?" I add "It's about D'Artagnan." He says looking around. "What about him?" Mike asks "I...heard him...in the upside-down" I have a flashback of yesterday. When I heard that low growl. I sigh "when is this gonna be over" we start to walk towards Mr. Clark's room. I hear them louder and louder as we progressively get closer. "I'm just trying to clarify" "Dustin!" "Okay, fine." "Stop!" Mike runs through the door "I'm sorry, Mr. Clarke. It was just a stupid prank." "What are you doing?" Lucas asks "I told him to stop. We need to go." Mike says "Mike!" Dustin yells "Right now. Right now!" he yells and runs towards the A.V room. Dustin Lucas and Max all start to run after him as me and Will walk fast towards them. -"Guys, come on. Can I come in yet?" Max yells from outside the door that Mike locked her outside of "No!" He yells "I don't understand." Lucas says, confused "What don't you understand?" Mike asks "Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?" Lucas asks "Kind of, but there was no tail." He says. "But then he and Hayden heard it yesterday. The exact same sound." Mike explains "Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin asks "I wasn't sure." Will says apologetically. "A coincidence," Dustin says. "Or not. What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?" Mike says defending his friend "True Sight?" Lucas asks "It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." Dustin explains "Elaborate." Lucas asks "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."  "So that would mean..." "Dart is from the Upside Down." "We have to take him to Hopper." Lucas says "I agree." Mike agrees "No way. If we take him to Hopper, Dart's good as dead." Dustin says defending Dart "Maybe he should be." I say -"How can you say that?" Dustin yells as I pull back "How can you not? He's from the Upside Down." Mike defends me "Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad." Dustin again defends Dart "That's like saying just because someone's from the Death Star doesn't make them bad." Mike yells -"We have a bond." Dustin yells "A bond? Just because he likes nougat?" Mike yells "No, because he trusts me!" Dustin yells again "He trusts you?" Mike asks "Yes, I promised I would take care of him." he yells. the trap rattles loudly on the table "Guys, what's going on? Come on." "Don't hurt him." -"Only if he attacks." "Just open it already."  "Holy shit!" Mike hits the mic on the table, missing Dart by an embarrassing amount  "Oh, shit!" Lucas yells  "No!" Dustin yells as the door opens revealing an extremely confused Max  "What the..."  "Oh, shit!" I say "Where'd he go?" Lucas says -"What was that?" Max asks "Dart!" Mike says -"What?" Max asks "You let him escape!"  Mike accuses. "Mike, you can't blame her we were totally excluding her," I say and he rolls his eyes-"Why did you attack him?" Dustin says angrily at Mike-"Come on." Mike runs away "Don't hurt him. Don't you hurt him!" Dustin chases after him

"Sorry about Mike," I say as I walk beside Max. "I-it's fine" she stutters "I guess..." we continue to walk. "so what were they talking about in there?" she asks getting me to stop. "oh haha... Mike thought the slug was from an alternate dimension. sometimes his imagination is too big" I say still paused. She turns around to face me. She stares at me long enough for a blush to form on my cheeks. "that's weird but not impossible to imagine I guess" she says "Anyway we should look for dart we don't want people finding our interdimensional slug" she jokes "yeah definitely" I say. We walk towards the gym and all of a sudden I see a flash of curly brown hair. "uhh hang on I'll be right back." I say and run off towards the boy but he's gone. "hey guys... I found him" I hear through my walkie "what where?" I respond "In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno's." Will replies "Copy that." Mike says and I take off running through the halls towards the bathroom.

"Let's go. Down here." Mike says "We're coming!" Lucas says "Stay low. Keep quiet." Mike says. We barge into the bathroom and see Dustin standing there "Where's Dart?" Mike asks furiously -"I don't know. Not here." Dustin lies -"What? He said by Salerno's, right?" Max asks, clearly confused like the rest of us "Yeah, maybe Will has him." Dustin suggests "Where is Will?" I ask in fear