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CHAPTER TWELVE: POINTLESS ARGUMENTS
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LIZ'S HAND BRUSHED against Max's hand as they walked through the woods, following the train tracks just like they had done earlier in the day. They had been walking for quite some time, and Liz hadn't been keeping track so, to her, it felt like forever. Dustin and Lucas were in front of the two girls, arguing over something, and Steve was leading the group.
"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas questions, referring to the fight that had just occurred at the junkyard.
"Yes." Dustin sighs, annoyed at people not believing him about Dart. "He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt."
"He was tiny two days ago," Max says, confused at how Dart could've gotten that big in that small amount of time.
"Well, he's molted three times already," Dustin explains making Liz raise her eyebrows in surprise at how quickly he's grown in two days.
"Malted?" Steve questioned.
"Molted." Dustin corrected. "Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms."
"When's he gonna molt again?" Max questions.
Dustin shrugs, "It's gotta be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends."
"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," Steve states causing Dustin's eyes to widen at Steve's words. The rest of the group didn't know that Dustin had found Dart and lied about it to keep him.
"Wait, a cat?" Lucas questions Dustin, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder to halt his walking. "Dart ate a cat?"
"No, what? No." Dustin lies. Liz rolls her eyes at his horrible lying skills.
"What are you talking about?" Steve questions, oblivious to the fact that Dustin doesn't want Lucas to know. "He ate Mews."
"Mews?" Max questions. "Who's Mews?"
"It's Dustin's cat," Liz tells her before looking at Dustin sighing, "Dustin, just tell him."
"Liz!" Dustin yells at her, trying to tell her to shut up.
"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas yells, hitting Dustin in the arm. He points at Liz, "And you knew and didn't tell us!"
