ZOOMER GIRL // MAXINE MAYFIELD

CHAPTER FOUR ~ WILL THE WISE

Word Count: 1600

~~~

     Mom steps back and looks back at the school, like something in there might help. But as soon as she does, Will's eyes open again. I go to say his name but when I do, the hardest tug I've ever felt on the string makes me pause. Just as he lashes out. Will shoves me away with more strength than I knew he had and I land hard on my ass.

     "Will!" Mom is in front of him again in seconds, her hands on his face as Will slowly realizes where he is. "Will, are you okay?"

     I can only stare. But Max snaps me out of it by grabbing my hand and helping me stand back up. I barely glance at her though. Still so startled by Will. Mom is hugging him close to her now and she's already leading him back towards the school by the time Max gets my attention.

     "Are you okay?" 

     "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." 

~~~ 

     The next morning, I'm the first to wake up. After I shower and get dressed, I listen to mom on the phone with the police department trying to get a hold of Hopper. "Mom?" I grab my bag and look at her, but she doesn't look up from what she's doing. "I'm biking to school, mom." 

    She doesn't answer when I walk out the door. In the time it takes me to get to school, I feel dizzy. I don't let it stop me though as I spot the party, minus Dustin, at the side of the building. I jog over just in time to hear Mike suggest the trash diving. 

     "Ew, count me out." 

     "Frankie?" They all turn to me and Max grins. 

      "Where's Will?" Mike asks and I rub the back of my neck as I step closer. 

     "Mom had Will stay home."

     "Well, what about you?" Max asks.

     "What about me?" I raise my brows and Mike leads us back to the school dumpsters. 

       Thankfully, I don't draw the short straw. Lucas ends up losing, and Mike has to egg him on to get him to actually do it.

     "This is so gross." I mutter and lean on my stick across from Max and Mike. 

     "What the hell's going on?" Dustin asks as he suddenly rounds the corner and stands next to me. 

     "What do you think?" Mike asks, "We're looking for Dart."

     Lucas throws two bags of garbage out, nearly hitting Dustin before he jumps out. "Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up. After I drew the short straw. Real convenient."

     "You stink!" Max mutters before walking over to stand between me and Dustin. 

     "Hi, Max." Dustin smiles and I roll my eyes.

     "Hi." Max glances at me after Dustin looks away and I shrug.

     "Where's Will?" 

     "He stayed home." I answer and Dustin looks a little disappointed but nods.

     "Are you just gonna stand there?" Lucas cuts in and tosses Dustin a stick. "Or you gonna help?" We all start poking through the trash.

~~~

      "All living things, from complex mammals to single-celled organisms, instinctively respond to danger." Mr. Clarke explains as he looks from one student to the next. "Expose a bacterium to a toxic chemical, and it will flee. Or deploy some other defense mechanism. We're very much the same. When we encounter danger, our hearts start pounding. Our palms start to sweat. These re the signs of the physical and emotional state we call... fear."