"i work hard every day of my life. i work 'til i ache my bones."

★・・・・・・★

After Amber went home, she screamed into her pillow. She couldn't believe it. She had a crush on a girl that she's known for two days. It's unimaginable.

There was a knock on her door as Kristen said,
"Hey, Amber. Mom and Dad are at the airport. I'm gonna go pick them up. You wanna come?" 

"No, I'm good," she declined. "Thanks, though."

"Oh. Alright."

Kristen closed the door as Amber screamed more into her pillow, then fell fast asleep.

-

Amber woke up with her voice scratchy. She got ready for school and surprisingly, Kristen drove her to school. She got out of the car and saw Max there.

"Hey, Max," she lightly smiled.

"Oh, hey, Amber."

"Can... can we talk?" Amber said.

After she said that, the bell rung. "After class?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," they walked to class together.

"What's wrong with Will?" Max asked.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Amber talked and told her parts, without mentioning the Demogorgon or the Upside Down.

"I still don't get why they call him zombie boy," she admitted. "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?"

"I mean, yeah. We had a funeral for him and everything."

"After a week?"

"Well see, some other kid drowned in the quarry. And everyone thought it was Will cause the body was super decomposed."

"What? Okay, that's not funny."

"It's not a joke, alright? It's public knowledge. You can ask anybody. Except Will, because he is super sensitive about it. All right?"

Max nodded and said, "Okay."

They then walked to class and learned something that Amber didn't care much about.

-

In class, Mr. Clarke talked about the case of Phineas Gage. Blah, blah, blah. Nothing important was talked about. But then Dustin came in late, which isn't like him.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke," Dustin apologized as he was panting. "Really I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class. Don't mind me. Really, continue, please. Thanks."

"Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said," Mr. Clarke said as he continued.

Dustin spoke with the party and then turned around to tell Amber to meet in AV Club at lunch.

Amber couldn't hear him at first but then Mr. Clarke spoke to Dustin.

"Dustin!"
"Yes, my lord?"

"Would you care to join the class now?"
"Please, yes."

"The case of Phineas Gage."
"Phineas Gage."

"Page 104."
"104, 104."

"Focus."
"Focusing. Focusing."

Dustin turned around to Amber and whispered,

Amber gave him a thumbs up and turned around to Max.

Mr. Clarke saw and spoke up.
"Amber, would you care to join the class?"

"Sorry," Amber said blatantly.

As class ended, Amber and Max went to the AV Club.

The six of them looked over Dustin's trap from his Halloween costume from last night. They saw a weird-looking creature but they didn't know what it was.

"His name is d'Artagnan," Dustin smiled. He picked d'Artagnan up and placed him in his hands. "Cute, right?"

"D'Artagnan?" Mike asked.

"Dart for short."

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

"Foraging for food," Dustin replied. "You wanna hold him?"

"No, no," Max refused.

"He doesn't bite."

"I don't want to-" Max got cut of by Dart getting placed in her hands. "Oh, God, he's slimey!"

Max passed him to Lucas.

"Ugh, he's like a living booger."

Lucas passed him to Will.

"Ugh, oh, God!"

Will passed him to Amber.

"Ew!"

Amber passed him to Mike.

They were standing very close. Mike didn't know whether he should like it or not. But one thing was for sure. Max was jealous.

Mike got Dart and said,
"What is he?"

"My question exactly," Dustin spoke. He grabbed a bunch of books a placed them on the table. "At first I thought he was some type of pollywog."

"Pollywog?" Max asked.

"A pollywog is another word for a tadpole. And a tadpole is a larval stage of a toad," Dustin explained.

"Yeah, I know what a tadpole is."

"Alright, then you know most tadpoles are aquatic, right? Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Well, aren't there non-aquatic pollywogs?" Lucas asked.

"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact. Indirana Semipalmata, and the Adenomera Andreae. One's from India, one's from South America. So how'd one end up in my trash?"

"Maybe some scientists brought it here, and it escaped?" Max suggested, careful to not look at Will.

"Do you guys see that?" Mike asked. "It looks like somethings moving inside it."

Everyone looked over at Dart to see what Mike was talking about. Lucas moved the light over Dart and it screeched really loudly.

They jumped back and Dart climbed over the cords that was keeping him in a small circle and jumped into Dustin's hand.

"It's okay. It's okay," Dustin said as he comforted the small creature. "I got you little guy. I know, you don't like it. It's okay."

Lucas and Will gave him a weird look as he comforted the creature.

"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..." Lucas said.

"Then Dustin discovered a new species," Amber chimed in.

Will spaced out and Amber noticed. She was going to say something, but the bell rang and they all scrambled around to get their things.

They walked out of the AV room and Lucas and Max were beside Dustin.

"We've got to show him to Mr. Clarke," Lucas said.

"No, what if he steals my discovery?"

"He's not gonna steal your discovery," Mike said.

"You know I'm thinking of calling it "Dustonious pollywogus". What do you think?" Dustin asked Max.

"I think you're an idiot," she replied.

"I agree," Amber said.

"Y'know, when I become rich and famous for this one day, don't come crawling back to me, saying, 'Oh, my God, Dustin, I'm so sorry for being mean to you back in 8th grade, oh, my God.'"

"We're not going to, idiot," Amber said. They walked to their classes and said bye

-

School had finally ended. Amber and Mike were at Mike's locker.

"We should go."
"Yeah."

Mike and Amber went over to Will and Mike said, "Will, you coming? Let's go show Mr. Clarke."

Will walked over to them.

"What?" Mike asked.
"What?" Amber asked.

"It's about d'Artagnan," Will said.

He explained to them about Dart and Mike busted into Mr. Clarke's room.

"Stop!" he shouted. "I'm really sorry Mr. Clarke. It was just a stupid prank."

"What the hell are you doing?" An annoyed Dustin asked.

"I told him to stop. We need to go. Right now. Right now!" Mike yelled.

Amber, Will, Lucas, Max, and Dustin followed him out the door and into the AV room but he locked Max out.

There was banging on the door and Max's voice yelling, "Hello? Hello? Guys, come on! Can I come in yet?"

"No!" Mike yelled back.

"I don't understand," Lucas then said.

"What do you not understand?" Amber said.

"Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?"

"Kind of, but there was no tail," Will explained.

"But then he heard it yesterday. The exact same sound," Mike said.

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I wasn't sure."

"So it's a coincidence."

"Or not. What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight."

"True Sight?" Amber asked. She didn't know much about D&D, so it confused her.

"It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane," Dustin explained.

Amber sighed and said, "Elaborate."

"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."

Lucas sighed and said, "We have to take him to Hopper."

"I agree," Amber said.

She didn't want to fight another thing. Not now or ever. Not without El.

"No. No way," Dustin argued. " If we take him to Hopper, Dart's as good as dead."

"Maybe he should be."

"How can you say that?"

"How can you not? He's from the Upside Down!"

"Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad."

"That's like saying someone from the Death Star isn't bad."

"We have a bond."

"A bond? Just because he likes nougat?"

"No, because he trusts me!"

"He trusts you?" Lucas asked as he and Amber gave him a look.

"Yes, I promised I would take care of him."

Dart started screeching and it made Amber jump off the table and into the corner a little.

Banging came from the door again, and a redhead's voice. "Guys, what's going on? Come on."

The box flipped over, making Mike grab a speaker.

"Don't hurt him."

"Only if he attacks."

"Just open it already," Amber said.

Dustin grabbed the switch slowly and opened it.

Out came Dart, slimey and a little bigger.

"Holy shit!" Lucas said. Dart screeched again and out came two legs in the back of him. "Oh, shit!"

Dart roared and Mike attacked him with the speaker.

Dustin screamed, "No!" and moved Mike's hand out of the way. Then the door flung open and appeared Max. Dart was on the floor and crawled out of the room.

"What the..." Max said

"Oh, shit!" Dustin and Lucas ran and accidentally tackled Max.

"Where'd he go?" Lucas asked.

"What was that?" Max asked.

"Dart!" Amber exclaimed.

"What?" she questioned.

"You let him escape!" Mike yelled.

"Why did you attack him?" Dustin yelled at Mike.

"Come on."

"Don't hurt him! Don't you hurt him!" Dustin yelled at Amber and Mike as they started looking for Dart.

-

Amber was walking and looking for Dart.

"East is clear. No sign of Dart," Mike said through the walkie.

"West is clear, too. Amber?" Dustin asked through the walkie.

"All clear here," Amber announced. "Will?"

"South is clear. Lucas? Anything?"

"Nothing here, man."

Amber and Mike met up in the gym and saw the boys' locker room door close and open. "Stay here," Mike said to Amber. Amber stayed and Mike went to check the boys' room. A little while later, Mike came out of the room, Max following behind.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Max asked.

"I don't hate you. How can I hate you, I don't even know you."

"But you don't want me in your party."

"Correct."

"Why not?"

"Because you're annoying. Also, we don't need another party member. I'm our paladin, Will's our cleric, Dustin's our bard, Lucas is our ranger, Amber's our druid, and El's our mage!"

Amber came forward revealing herself at the mention of El's name.

"El? Who's El?" Max asked.

"Someone. No one," Amber said, covering for Mike.

"Someone or no one?"

"She was in our party a long time ago. She moved away, okay?" Mike said.

"She was a mage? What could she do, like magic tricks or something?"

"Yeah, something," Amber said.

"Well, I could be your zoomer."

"That's not even a real thing."

"It could be."

Max started going in circles on her skateboard.
"See? Zoomer."

"Mind-blowing," Mike said sarcastically.

"Come on, you know you're impressed."

"I don't see any tricks. You're just going around in a circle."

"If it's so easy, you try it."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know how."

"So then you admit, it's kind of impressive."

"I think if I spent, like, all day practicing, I could do that."

"I would give you a million bucks if you could."

"Okay, you're making us dizzy," Amber said.

"Please just stop."

"I'll stop when I join your party."

"Come on, just stop."

"It's a simple question. Am I in or out?"

Max went around them a couple of times when all of a sudden she flew back on her board and onto the floor.

"Jesus! Are you okay?" Amber asked while Mike helped her up.

"Yeah, yeah. I think so."

"What happened?" Mike asked.

"I don't know, it was like a magnet or something pulling on my board. I know that sounds crazy."

Amber and Mike shared a look before looking at the gym door and running to it, to reveal nothing.

"She's gone, remember?" Mike said.

"Yeah," Amber replied.

"Guys, I found him," Will said through the walkie.

"Where?" Dustin asked.

"In the bathroom, by Mr. Salerno's."

"Copy that," Mike said.

-

They got there and there was no Will or Dart. Just Dustin who got there before them.

"Where's Dart?" Mike asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Not here."

"What?"

"He said by Salerno's, right?"

"Yeah, maybe Will has him."

"Where is Will?" Amber asked.

They ran around the school trying to find Will, and Amber and Mike found him in the field. Frozen. He wouldn't move, he wouldn't speak. He just stood there. Mrs. Byers was there and she, Lucas, Dustin, and Max ran into the field.

"We just found him like this!" Mike said.

Amber touched him and she flew back and passed out. She woke up and was in the Upside Down.

Oh, Jesus