Chapter Three : The Pollywog

chapter thirty-two , Thriller

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Gus has always been a heavy sleeper.

When Steve woke up, he realized that she wasn't going to wake up to any of his movements. So, he was going to have to wake her up himself. That made Steve's stomach turn nervously. Gus looked like an angel when she slept. There was absolutely no trace of the stress that has been building in her life. But when you tried to wake her. She was like an angry bear. Waking Gus up was something everyone chose to avoid. Sadly, Steve couldn't this time.

He walks back into the room and sees Gus lying on her back with her head and arms hanging off the bed. Her mouth was wide open as small snores escaped it. Steve lets out a soft laugh and closes the door behind him. "Gus?"

The brunette continues to snore.

Steve lets out a soft breath then inhales a quick one. He walks over to the bed and crouches in front of her. Steve keeps his eyes on the snoring girl and a smile sprawls across his lips. He lifts a hand up and pokes her shoulder. "August—"

Gus' body twitches. "Don't let the sheep out..." she mumbles.

Steve raises his brows and laughs. "August." He pokes the side of her neck. Gus doesn't move. Steve knits his brows together, thinking. He puts his finger into his mouth and sticks it in her ear. Gus' eyes fly open and she shoots her head up. Her head connects with Steve's and he falls back with a groan.

"Shit!"

Gus touches her forehead and groans. Steve keeps his eyes closed with his face scrunched as his forehead throbs. "This didn't end well..." he groans. Steve sits up and looks at the girl, who has her hands over her face. Steve stands up and walks over to her. "Hey, Gus—"

"I told you never to do that again." Gus snaps, taking her hands off her face. Her eyes connect with Steve's and he slightly tilts his head. Gus' stomach flutters. "Don't look at me like that." She sits up and sighs. Gus pinches the bridge of her nose and groans. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Well, with how wasted you were. I wouldn't be surprised." Steve lets out a chuckle. "I made you breakfast downstairs if you—"

"I should get home, actually." Gus cuts him off.

Steve's smile lessens. Gus must've forgotten what they talked about last night. Makes sense. Steve fiddles with his fingers, "No, yeah—Of course." He sputters. "I can drive you home. If you want?"

Gus slowly stands up and wipes her eyes. "I actually moved. So, you don't know where I am now."

"Oh." Steve raises his brows. "Is it a secret?"

Gus purses her lips and nods. "Actually, yeah." She bunches her shoulders. "Glad you understand."

Gus looks around, "Is Nancy here?"

Steve blinks, "Uh, no. Why would she be?

Gus cranes her neck forward. "I thought you and her went to the party together?"

"We did."

"And you left her there?" Gus cocks her head to the side.

"We broke up—"

"That doesn't mean you should've left her!" Gus raises her voice. She then massages her temple.

"I made sure Jonathan took her home, August," Steve assures her.

"...oh." Gus folds her arms across her chest. She rocks back and forth on her heels. "Okay." She slowly nods her head.

"I'm sorry about Nancy breaking up with you," Gus speaks.

Steve manages a small smile. "Thanks..."

Gus looks down at her shirt and sighs. "Everything is a fucking blur..."

Steve slightly opens his mouth. "Do you...happen to remember making out with a certain someone last night?"

Gus snaps her eyes over to Steve's and pulls her brows together. "Made out? Who did I...?" She trails off her sentence as her eyes widen. "No!"

Steve nods his head. "Yeah..." he chuckles.

Gus covers her face as her face gets red. "Oh My God—Carol and I almost had sex." She sits on the edge of her bed. Steve blows air out of his mouth. "Hey, if it makes you feel better...I think Carol liked you."

"It doesn't."

Steve's reassuring smile drops and his shoulders sag. "Right..." he scratches the back of his neck.

Silence settles into the room and Gus was left feeling bad about how she answered that. The girl reluctantly inhales a deep breath.

"Thanks though."

Steve's hand drops to his side and he looks at the girl with his brows raised. Obviously shocked by her sudden change in tone. Gus presses her lips into a small smile. "I should...start heading home." she looks at her watch. "Hopper's gonna give me an earful and we still have school."

Steve slightly opens his mouth. He almost forgot that he had school. Anytime he was around Gus, it was like he had tunnel vision for her and her only. Everything else be damned. Gus stands up from the bed and slightly tilts her chin to look up at Steve. "I appreciate this, Steve." she sighs.

Steve's eys slightly widen from hearing his first name. "Everything is kinda spotty from last night, but I remember almost getting into a car with William, and who knows what would've happened."

Steve blinks. "William? Who's...?" he glances at the ceiling and Gus waits for him to understand. Steve opens his mouth, "Oh, Billy!" he snaps his fingers.

The bob-haired girl points at him. "There we go." she chuckles softly.

"Didn't know that's what his name was short for." Steve frowns.

Gus raises her brows, "Right?! His name is William, so why does he go by Billy." she shakes her head and scoffs. Gus softly laughs and Steve joins her. The bob-haired brunette slowly trails off her laughter and keeps her eyes on Steve. She pulls her brows together, watching Steve smile. Gus' heartbeat quickens, but she stops. She was just getting over him and suddenly they spend a few hours together, now she feels like she was the same Gus that fell for him in the first place. Gus shifts her eyes over to the can on his desk and she raises her brows. "Farrah Fawcett spray?" she brushes past Steve and walks over to the hairspray.

Steve's eyes widen and he spins around and watches the girl pick up the can. "Uh--that's my moms. She must've like--left it in here or something."

Gus frowns and looks at the blonde girl on the can. "It's hairspray, Steve. Nothing to be ashamed of." she looks at him with a tight-lipped smile. "Is this how your hair gets so..." she trails off her sentence and Steve raises his brows.

"Get so...?" Steve takes a step closer to the bob-haired girl. "Lucious?"

"I didn't say that." Gus shakes her head, leaning against the desk.

"Tamed?" He takes another step forward.

Gus cranes her neck forward, "Out of all the words to choose--you decided to use tamed?"

Steve blinks, "Well, yeah. My hair is pretty tamed, y'know?"

Gus knew that Steve's hair was amazing. But she would never admit it to his face. She would never tell him that she was envious of it too. So, the brunette lets out a soft hum and shrugs. "It's...okay."

Steve's smug smile drops. "Just okay?"

"Just okay." Gus tosses the hairspray can over to the boy and he catches it with ease. "Thanks again, Steve." she grabs her boots and sends him a two-finger salute before leaving the room. Steve stares at the doorway a few minutes after Gus left, his heart still ramming against his ribcage. His cheeks were flushed, thinking about their conversation. He was shocked it was an actual conversation. And Gus was sober.

☆

Gus keeps her eyes on the wooden door with her heart practically in her throat. She inhales a deep breath, hoping that she could keep her nerves down. She knew she was going to get reprimanded by Hopper, but the brunette didn't think her head could take a lot of it. Gus opens and closes her fist. She lifts her hand and knocks rhythmically on the door.

It doesn't even take a minute. The door quickly swings open and Gus pokes her head inside. Her eyes land on the table and she already sees Hopper and Eleven sitting down eating a triple-decker Eggo extravaganza.

"Hey—"

"Sit."

Gus pouts her lip, she drops her bag, and makes her way over to her seat. She sits down and sinks into her seat with her arms folded. Silence settles into the cabin. They all look from one person to the other. Gus bites her thumbnail. None of them wanted to talk first, each person had anger towards a specific person at the table.

Gus shifts her eyes over to Eleven's plate. She leans over to the girl's food and grabs one of the Reese's Pieces. Gus eats the candy. Eleven pinches Gus' arm and the girl lets out a small 'ow'.

"Where were you, Gus?"

Gus looks at Hopper and she sucks in a breath. "Uh...I slept over at Fallon's."

Hopper raises his brows, "Oh, is that right?"

Gus glances at Eleven, noticing the tone in Hopper's voice. "Yes...?" She starts to become unsure about her lie. Hopper leans back in his seat, "I called The Price's house yesterday."

"You...called a house?"

Hopper and Gus look at Eleven. Gus slightly opens her mouth, "No, he didn't call the actual house. He called the phone that's at their house."

"Oh." Eleven nods.

Hopper shakes his head, "Gus. Cynthia said that she heard Fallon screaming and hyperventilating all around the house screaming about how she lost you."

Gus' eyes slightly widen. "Shit! I forgot to tell Fallon—"

"Tell Fallon what?" Hopper cranes his neck forward.

"Uh, well—"

"Actually, no."

Gus closes her mouth. He then looks at Eleven, "We talk first. Then I'll talk to Gus."

Gus let's out a sigh of relief and slumps into her chair. It's like Hopper's entire attitude changed. His eyes were now gentle and his body was relaxed. Gus squints her eyes noticing how calm he was with Eleven.

"I feel like I'm making progress with these people." Hopper states.

Eleven slightly leans forward. "Friends don't lie."

Gus makes an 'oh' with her mouth and looks at Hopper.

"What?"

Gus looks at Eleven.

"You say 'soon' on day 21. You say 'soon' on day 205. You now say 'soon' on day 326?"

Gus looks back at Hopper.

"What is this?" Hopper leans back in his seat. "You're like counting the days now like you're some kind of prisoner?"

"When is soon?" Eleven raises her voice.

"Soon is when...it's not dangerous anymore." Hopper hesitates.

"Jesus, you aren't good at this reassuring thing." Gus murmurs, scratching the side of her neck.

"When?"

Hopper shrugs a shoulder, "I don't know."

"On day 500?" Eleven questions.

Gus feels a chill shoot down her spine and her back straightens.

"I don't know." Hopper repeats.

"Hey, guys maybe we should—"

"On day 600?" Eleven leans closer, her voice becoming aggressive.

"I don't know."

"Day 700? On day 800?"

Gus massages her temples, a headache starting to form.

"No!" Hopper snaps.

"I need to see him!" Eleven bangs her hands against the table. Gus let's out a frustrated groan. "Guys, chill the hell—"

"Tell me!"

Eleven snaps her head up, sending the food all over Hopper's uniform. He quickly stands up, "Oh, shit!—shit!"

Gus let's out a small whine and points at the food all over the table. "No, what? I could've eaten that!" She holds her arms out. "I would eaten it!"

Eleven stands up, "Friends. Don't. Lie!" she stalks away from the table and goes into the room, slamming the door behind her.

Hopper kicks one of the legs of the table and Gus pulls her face back. "Okay, wow—I'm still sitting here."

Hopper paces back and forth and rubs his chin in anger. Gus slumps her shoulders. Ah, shit. Now Hopper was even more pissed off and Gus was screwed.

"August..."

Gus looks at Hopper with a wince. "Hey, Hop—"

"Why were you late?"

Gus covers her face, "Okay—all right. Here's the truth." She takes her hands off her face and looks at Hopper. "I went to a Halloween party last night."

"The party I told you not to go to?" Hopper questions.

Gus nods her head. Hopper shakes his head, "You stink of alcohol, Gus."

The brunette pinches the bridge of her nose. "Yeah. Things got a little out of hand last night." She then rubs her eyes. "Can I go to my room?" She asks quietly.

Hopper chuckles, "We're not done talking about this! You disobeyed me!"

"Hopper, I just wanted to have fun!" Gus raises her voice. "I wasn't trying to make you mad—"

"Really? Because you've been doing that a lot lately." Hopper states.

Gus slumps her shoulders. "Okay, but this time I wasn't." She sighs. "I just wanted to be normal." A soft chuckle escapes her lips. "And I didn't want to worry about my powers or me staying back a grade."

A lump forms in her throat and she wipes at her eye. "I didn't want to think about being a complete screw up."

Hopper's angered expression drops and his eyes soften. Gus snaps her eyes over to Hopper and she sniffles. "Don't look at me with sympathy—ground me so I could go to my room, please."

"You're not a screw up, August."

A chuckle exhales from her mouth. "Right—then what do you call me being held back and me getting into unnecessary fights?" She looks at the ground. "Everything's just been so much harder now."

Gus bites the inside of her cheek. She looks to the side and blinks her tears away. Hopper pulls his brows together. This entire time, Gus has been running away from her feelings. She didn't want to think about all the crap that's been eating away at her and there has been a lot eating at her. As time went on, Gus felt like she was growing tired of feelings all together.

Hopper let's out a soft breath. "Gus, do you want to see Ms. Kelley again?"

Gus let's out a scoff, she tries to come up with some snappy remark. But the girl stops and sighs. She didn't have the energy for it.

"Yes."

Hopper presses his lips into a small smile. "I'll give her a call." He walks over to the girl and touches the top of her head.

Gus let's out a soft chuckle, "Thanks, Hop."

"Don't thank me yet, you're grounded."

☆

Fallon slows her car down and parks it. She lets out a soft breath. "And that's the story."

A whistle comes from the girl. Fallon looks over at the chestnut brunette. Robin shakes her head with disbelief. "I can't believe you punched Billy in the face..." she then frowns. "...I'm proud of you."

Fallon raises her brows and her smile grows. "Really?"

"Hell yeah!" Robin exclaims. "You knocked that racist on his ass. I just wish I was there to cheer you on."

Fallon laughs softly and scratches her neck. "Yeah, well—Gus did enough cheering for the both of you."

"And Gus didn't get a single punch in at all?" Robin asks. "She just...talked to him?"

"Yeah, with words!" Fallon nods her head. "Crazy, huh?"

"Wild." Robin exhales. "I'm proud of her too."

Robin turns and meets Fallon's eyes. Robin's jaw goes slack, seeing the bright smile across Fallon's lips. Anytime Fallon would smile it made Robin's heart skip a beat.

"I'm glad you're smiling."

Fallon raises her brows and her face starts to heat up. Ever since her parents got divorced and her father moved back to Washington, Fallon hasn't been smiling as often as she usually does. And seeing all her pain wash away for a moment meant everything to Robin.

Robin shifts her eyes to Fallon's lips but she quickly looks back into the girl's brown eyes, realizing what she was doing. "Uh, we should get inside. Don't want to be late, right?"

Fallon presses her lips together and clears her throat. She looks away from the girl and rubs her wrist. "Oh, yeah—definitely. Can't be late for education." She grabs her bag and gets out of the car with Robin. From each side of the car. The two girls let's out a sharp breath, hoping to cool themselves down.

...

"I still don't get why they call him 'Zombie Boy'."

Max and Lucas walk down the hall together. "And why do they call Sofía 'The Forgotten One'?"

"I mean, I get Will. He got lost in the woods for a week or something, but why is he a zombie?" Max questions. "Because everyone thought he was dead?"

"Yeah. I mean, we had a funeral for him and everything." Lucas states.

"After a week?" Max scrunches her nose.

"Well, see, some other kid drowned at the quarry." Lucas explains. "We thought it was Will because his body was super decomposed."

"What?" Max stops in her tracks and stands in front of Lucas. "Okay, that's not funny."

"It's not a joke, all right? It's public knowledge." Lucas states. "You can ask anybody. Except Will and Sofía, they are both really sensitive about it, all right?"

Max's eyes search Lucas' and she realizes that he was actually being truthful.

"Okay, and what about Sofía?" Max inquires. "How'd she get that nickname?"

Lucas' expression drops and he couldn't help but feel guilty. "Well, Sofía didn't really have any friends before she ran away. And when she disappeared nobody noticed."

Max raises her brows, "Seriously? No one? What about her parents?"

Lucas presses his lips together. "She's an orphan."

Max's jaw goes slack, not expecting that. "Oh." She looks at the ground. "So, I'm guessing you guys weren't friends with her before, right?"

"No, we weren't." Lucas admits.

Max looks back at Lucas and pulls her brows together. "Then why do you look sad?"

Lucas inhales a breath. "Sofía is an amazing friend and an amazing person. And thinking about how she didn't have anyone to even notice that she disappeared makes me feel like shit. I became her friend too late."

Max sighs, "Or...maybe you became her friend at the right time?" She shrugs a shoulder. "You guys are now there to support her. Which is pretty cool."

Lucas raises his brows, taking in what Max said. "Huh, I never really thought of it that way."

"Of course you didn't." Max lets out a scoff with a mixture of a chuckle. "You're lucky I'm around now." She continues down the hall and Lucas walks beside her with a smile on his lips.

"The case of Phineas Gage is one of the great medical curiosities of all time."

"Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron rod was driven completely through his head."

Sofía keeps her eyes on the projection screen, her mind not even in the right place.

"Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine. And physically, yes, he was. But his injury resulted in a complete change to his personality."

Sofía raises her brows, catching what Mr. Clarke was talking about.

"So much so that friends that knew him started referring to him as 'No longer Gage'."

"That's kind of mean..." Sofía murmurs, looking down at her book.

"At the time, this was known as the American acrobat Case. Although it wasn't a—"

The door swings open and slams against the wall, causing the class to look at the curly-haired boy running into the room.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke." Dustin huffs. "Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class." He walks over to his seat and sits next to Sofía. The girl's eyes follow Dustin and she softly smiles. "Don't mind me. Really, continue, please. Thanks."

"Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said."

Dustin looks at his friends and catches their attention. Everyone leans toward the boy.

"We have to meet. All of us. At lunch, AV club."

"Why?"

"I have something that you won't believe." Dustin says, a smile on his face.

Sofía looks at the other three and they were just as confused. But they all nod and go back to listening to Mr. Clarke. Dustin turns to the girl sitting at the back of the class. "AV club. Lunch."

Sofía follow Dustin's eyes and she looks at Max. The Alvarez girl lets out a soft breath and turns back to Mr. Clarke.

"Dustin!"

"Yes, my Lord?" Dustin turns back to the teacher.

"Would you care to join the class now?" Mr. Clarke inquires.

"Please, yes." Dustin takes his book out.

Sofía slightly turns her head and looks at the boy. "Case of Phineas Gage." She tells him.

"Phineas Gage..." Dustin softly speaks, taking the book from his bag.

"Page 104." Sofía whispers

"104. 104..." he flips the page and smiles. Dustin looks at Sofía. "Thanks, Sof."

Sofía's face heats up and she chuckles. "Yeah, of course." She looks back at the projection with a small smile.

☆

Flashback

Eleven follows Gus and Hopper through the snow ridden woods in silence. Hopper was in the front his boots making fresh prints in the snow, Gus was in the middle her converse following his footprints, and Eleven was a few feet behind Gus; hoping to have enough space between them as possible. As much as Eleven was grateful for Gus' help with finding Will, she still wasn't quick to trust the teen. And Gus understood that.

The short-haired brunette pulls her brows together when they get closer to the cabin. Hopper walks up the porch steps and opens the door. He kicks his boots against the doorframe, letting the snow fall off his shoes. Gus does the same thing. Eleven watches the two walk into the cabin. She shifts her eyes to the doorframe and gently kicks her shoes against it, allowing the snow to fall off.

Gus looks around the cabin and she lets out a breath, it becomes heavily viable as it drifts across the room. "What is this place?"

"It's a cabin." Hopper states.

Gus tilts her eyes to the roof and she chuckles. "I meant like why are we here?"

"Oh, well, my granddad used to live here." Hopper states. "Long time ago. I mainly just use it for storage now." He walks over to one of the boxes and picks it up. "Lot of history here."

Hopper turns to the two girls, who were still confused. "So, Uh...what do you two think?"

Gus raises her brows.

"It's a work-in-progress. You know, it's, Uh...it takes a little imagination, but, Uh...once we fix it up, it's gonna be nice. Real nice."

"This is our new home."

Gus looks around the cabin once again with her lips pursed.

"Home." Eleven repeats, a small smile on her face.

Hopper looks at the quiet teen, waiting for her thoughts. "August?"

Eleven looks at her as well.

Gus looks at Hopper and she raises her brows. She shifts her eyes to Eleven and shrugs her shoulders. "I'm in." She nods her head. "I've always wanted to live in a cabin."

That was a lie. Who wanted to live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere? Not Gus. But if it was to protect Eleven. She was willing to do it. Hopper smiles softly, he walks over to one of the boxes and flips through the vinyls. "Hey, Gus, come over here a sec."

Gus walks over to Hopper and stands beside him. Her eyes light up, seeing the piles of Vinyls. "Holy shit!" She laughs.

Hopper squints his eyes and Gus looks at him. The girl's jaw goes slack seeing his strict expression. "Sorry." She looks back at the vinyls. Hopper chuckles and grabs one of the vinyls. "I have a feeling you're gonna like this."

Gus looks at the Thriller vinyl and her eyes widen. "Holy—"

"August."

Gus closes her mouth and looks at the blank-faced girl. The teen presses her lips into a small smile. "Sorry."

The short-haired girl looks back at Hopper. "You had this treasure locked in this fortress, not being played?"

"Okay—"

"It was all alone, Hop." Gus shakes her head. "No one around to listen to its sweet melancholy tune."

"It is just a vinyl."

"Just a vinyl?" Gus raises her brows. "Just a vinyl?" She looks at Eleven. "Did he seriously just say that?"

A small smile spreads across Eleven's face. Gus looks back at Hopper. "This." She holds the Vinyl up. "Is not just a vinyl. This is the King of Pop's vinyl, all right? Get it right next time, Hop."

Hopper holds his hands up, "Okay, I'm sorry." He chuckles.

"Oh, don't apologize to me." Gus holds the vinyl out to him. "Apologize to Michael."

"Gus—"

"Go on. Apologize." Gus raises her brows.

Hopper's mouth hangs open. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Gus moves the Vinyl from side to side.

Hopper let's out a soft breath. Gus most definitely wasn't going to let this go until he apologized so.

"I...apologize, Michael."

Gus squints her eyes and hums softly. "Okay, you're good to go." She looks at the piles of vinyl and grabs one. "Here. I know you're gonna like this one."

Hopper looks at the vinyl and laughs. "Yeah...yeah, yeah." He holds it out to Eleven. "Okay, now this...this is music."

Hopper takes the vinyl out of the slip and places it on the turntable. He puts the stylus on the vinyl and music starts playing through the cabin. Gus raises her brows as soon as Hopper starts to snap his fingers. She holds her hands up, "Let me get out of your way."

Hopper begins to dance and Gus covers her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Eleven smiles softly.

"All right. Let's get to work."

The three go to separate parts of the house and start to clean. Gus had the broom and was sweeping anything she could spot that was dirty. She would even take down the cobwebs (The ones without spiders. She wasn't going to be messing with them) on the ceiling with it.

"Okay, you two!"

Gus and Eleven look at the man with blank expressions.

"There's only two rooms in this house." Hopper sighs.

Gus purses her lips, "Oh, well, I can sleep on the couch. If we ever get one. No big deal."

"Not happening." Hopper points at her. "Nice try, though."

"Hop—"

"If we're gonna be living in the same house, we've gotta learn how to deal with each other without using powers that could take this whole house down, all right?" Hopper looks at each girl. "So, until we can add an extension of some kind to this place, you guys are going to be in the same room."

Simultaneously, Eleven and Gus look at each other. Gus pats her hands against her thighs and she sputters her lips. "I mean...if this is the only short-term solution, then yeah, okay."

Hopper shrugs his shoulders, "Might be short-term, might be long-term. Who knows?"

"Wait what?" Gus' eyes widen.

Hopper claps his hands, "Back to cleaning!"

Present

"Holy shit, Dustin."

Dustin looks at the Alvarez girl, who's eyes were wide. "His name is d'Artagnan." He picks the creature up in his hands. "Cute, right?"

Sofía tilts her head her eyes glued to the creature. An uneasy feeling starts in her stomach and she touches her abdomen.

"d'Artagnan?" Max raises her brows.

"Dart for short." Dustin replies.

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

"Foraging for food." Dustin looks at Max with starry eyes. "You wanna hold him?"

"No, no—"

"He doesn't bite—

"—I don't want to."

Dustin places Dart in Max's hands. Max's mouth hangs open and she grimaced. "Oh, God, he's slimy!" She hands it to Lucas.

Lucas wrinkles his nose, "Ugh, he's like a living booger." He hands it to Will who lets out a groan of disgust.

"Ugh, oh, God!" He hands it to Sofía.

The young girl freezes and her eyes widen as soon as she comes into contact with the creature. "Uh..." her voice gets caught in her throat. Her entire body starts to get cold and a lump forms in her throat. "...I-I can't..." she hands it to Mike.

Sofía looks down at her trembling hands. As much as she thought the creature was adorable when she first saw it, Sofía immediately felt sick and unsafe when she came into contact with the thing.

"What is he?" Mike asks.

"My question exactly." Dustin smiles. He opens his bag and pulls out the piles of books he got from the library.

"So, you returned your other books?" Sofía asks.

Dustin slightly opens his mouth. "Uh, well..." he then chuckles. "...not necessarily."

Sofía chuckles and shakes her head. "The librarian just happened to make an exception for you?" She raises her brows.

"She never makes exceptions." Lucas states and Sofía points at him as he helps prove her point.

"Well, this time she did."

Lucas and Sofía look at each other.

"Right..." Sofía looks at the books.

"Back to the important issue at hand." Dustin says.

"Late fees are an important issue Dustin." Sofía states with her brows pulled together.

Dustin nods his head, "I know that, but we can talk about it later."

"Can we refocus, please?" Mike speaks.

Sofía looks at the Wheeler boy and sighs. She looks at Dustin and nods her head, telling him to continue.

"At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog." Dustin starts.

"Pollywog?"

"It's another word for tadpole." Dustin explains. "A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad."

"I know what a tadpole is." Max says.

"All right, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?" Dustin opens up one of the books and places it on the table. "Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water."

"I mean, there's such thing as Terrestrial pollywogs, right?" Sofía asks.

Dustin looks at Sofía, "Yep, two to be exact." He tips to a page he bookmarked with a post it. "Indirana semipalmata...and the Adenomera andreae."

"One's from India, one's from South America." Dustin pronounces. "So, how did one end up in my trash?"

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

"Do you guys see that?" Mike points out. "It looks looks like something is moving inside of it."

Sofía looks at the creature and she scrunches her nose. Mike moves the light toward Dart and it lets out a screech. The creature quickly moves for the she of the table, but Dustin catches it before it could fall.

"Whoa. It's okay. It's okay...I got you, little guy." Dustin softly assures the creature. "I know you don't like that. It's okay."

"And there's another thing." Dustin looks at the Party. "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." Dustin's smile grows.

The bell rings causing everyone to jump. Sofía quickly grabs her bag and rushes out of the door. She lets out a sharp breath like she couldn't breathe.

"We gotta show him to Mr. Clarke." Lucas insists.

"No, what if he steals my discovery?" Dustin says.

"Mr. Clarke wouldn't do that, Dustin." Sofía reassured him. She turns her head and notices Will starting to slow down behind the group.

Sofía grips the straps of her bag and makes her way over to him. "Hey, Will?"

Will looks at the girl and she raises her brows with worry. "You okay?" Sofía asks.

Will shifts his eyes back to Dustin and he swallows. "I-I don't know...there's something about D'Artagnan."

Sofía's throat tightens. "I think I get what you mean." She slowly shakes her head. "There's no way it's some...normal creature, right?"

The only time Will and Sofía felt this kind of uneasy connection was when it had something to do with the Upside Down. And they both knew that's exactly what was going on.

Sofía inhales a breath, "Well, we can't have Dustin show d'Artagnan to Mr. Clarke."

"So, you're gonna tell him?"

Sofía pulls her brows together, "Wh-why do I have to tell him? Why can't you tell him?"

"Well, why don't we both tell him?" Will questions.

Sofía nods her head, "Right now?" She starts to grow nervous.

Will presses his lips together. "After school?"

"Yeah, yeah—I like that. After school is a good idea."

As soon as the last bell of the day rung, Will and Sofía both felt their hearts sink. They didn't want to put a damper on Dustin's eccentric mood. So, they decided to tell Mike first so he could be the one to tell Dustin. What? It was easier to have someone else do it.

"Stop!"

Everyone turns to the three kids that had just rushed into the room. "I'm really sorry, Mr. Clarke. It was just a stupid prank." Mike grabs the box Dart was in.

"What the hall are you doing?" Dustin snaps.

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

Sofía looks at Will, "See, neither of us would've been able to put that much urgency in the situation."

Will blinks, trying to find a rebuttal, but he just ended up nodding in agreeance with the girl. Mike rushes out of the classroom and everyone quickly follows. They all run down the hall and get to the AV room. Mike rushes everyone in but he stands in front of Max, "Party Members only." He then closes the door in her face.

Sofía's mouth hangs open, "Mike!"

"What? This is urgent!" Mike says. "We don't need outside people listening in."

As Mike, Sofía, and Will explained to Dustin and Lucas about Dart being from the Upside Down, the box started to shake which caused the group to fall silent.

The box falls to the side and Mike grabs the microphone.

"Don't hurt him." Dustin quickly says.

"Only if he attacks." Mike assures.

"Just open it already." Lucas says.

Dustin presses the button to the box holding Dart and the creature flies out.

Sofía's eyes blow wide when she sees two arms now on the creature.

"Holy shit..." Lucas whispers.

Dart's stomach starts to move, then two legs come out of its side and Sofía's stomach turns.

"What the fu—" Sofía shifts her eyes to the microphone in Mike's hand. She quickly grabs it and raises it above her head.

Dustin's eyes widen, "No!"

Before Sofía could bring the microphone down on Dart, Dustin grabs her arms. Dart runs off the table. Sofía snaps her eyes over to Dustin, "What the hell?!" She yanks her arms from his grip.

The door flies open and Dart runs toward it. Max's eyes land on the creature and her mouth drops to the floor. "What the—"

"Catch it!" Sofía chases after the creature that just sprinted out of the room. Her body slams into Max's, causing everyone else to fall.

"Sorry, I'm not very coordinated." Sofía groans, she gets up then helps Max up.

"And yet you were coordinated enough to try and kill Dart!" Dustin exclaims.

"It grew legs, Dustin!"

"What was that?"

"Dart!" Mike snaps.

"What?"

"You let him escape!"

"Why did you attack him?!" Dustin shouts at Sofía.

"Are you shitting me, right now?!" Sofía let's out a chuckle. "Why?!" She shakes her head and runs down the hall that Dart went down with Will and Mike.

"Don't hurt him! Don't you hurt him!"

☆

Gus looks at the clock that was ticking louder than usual. She leans her chair back and forth with her headphones practically blasting out her ear drums. She twirls her pencil around her fingers. A finger comes into her visual and taps her table. The brunette strips her headphones off her ears and places them around her neck. She presses the pause button on her Walkman.

"So, August, do you have anything for me?"

Gus runs her tongue over her teeth and flips the paper over, revealing a black circle she colored with charcoal.

"August."

Gus keeps her eyes on her charcoal covered fingers. "Yes?"

"Do you remember the task I asked for you to achieve today?"

Gus slowly nods her head, "Draw what I think of myself."

"And...would you mind explaining to me how this represents you?"

Gus' chest tightens and she sighs. "Why'd you become counselor?"

"Gus—"

"Come on, Ms. Kelley. If you answer the way I want you to. Then this goes perfectly well with what I'm trying to explain to you."

Ms. Kelley inhales a breath and presses her lips into a small smile. "When I was younger I would consider myself..."

"Troubled?" Gus finishes. "You were trouble? Emotionally damaged? Traumatized?"

"I had my own problems to work through, yes." Ms. Kelley nods her head.

Gus sighs, "Good. Then I can explain, well first let me ask you this."

"Do you ever just feel like you..." she scratches her head with the eraser of her pencil. "...suck the life out of everything or everyone around you?"

Ms. Kelley pulls her brows together.

"Like, maybe you're the problem?" Gus finally meets the Counselor's eyes. "Because that is how I feel."

"And why is that?"

Gus sighs, "Well, mom's dead. Dad's...dead." She winces. "Outcasted by this whole town and even after the Chief adopted me, I didn't get any brownie points." She spins her pencil again. "Then the people I actually do tolerate start disappearing."

Gus points her pencils at Ms. Kelley. "I've been trying to find a four leaf clover, but I can't. I'm starting to think they're complete bullshit, y'know?"

"Well, it's also now November, Gus."

The Colombian girl's shoulders sag. "Shit, you're right." She huffs. "Well, I walked under a ladder like a year ago. I knew I shouldn't have done that. But I just thought "my life couldn't get any worse, right?"." The teen then shakes her head and starts to sink into her seat.

"I was wrong..."

"Gus, I'm going to be honest with you, here." Ms. Kelley starts.

Gus raises her brows, "Ah, yeah! Let's do this." She rubs her hands together then places her hands against her knees and leans forward. "Give it to me, Doc."

"I'm not a doctor, but okay..." she tilts her head. "Have you ever heard of Maladaptive Guilt?"

Gus deadpans. "Are you serious?" She rolls her eyes. "I thought we were going to get down and dirty, Ms. Kelley." She rubs her face, not caring about messing up her eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara.

"I know I feel guilt, all right? It's like my thing."

Ms. Kelley looks at the charcoal smudged over Gus' face and she chuckles. She grabs a wet nap from her box and hands it to the girl. "You've got charcoal."

"On my hands?" Gus looks at her charcoal covered fingers.

"Your face."

Gus closes her eyes with embarrassment. "Thank you." She starts to clean her face.

"August, Maladaptive Guilt is when someone has an exaggerated amount of guilt." Ms. Kelley explains. "They feel guilty about things that are out of their control or even when they try to make amends for things that are just too extreme to forgive."

Gus finished cleaning her face and she thinks about Ms. Kelley's words.

"Some things are out of your control." Ms. Kelley states. "And I know you want to be everywhere to stop things from happening, but sometimes those bad things have to happen in order for you to get to your happy ending."

Gus keeps her eyes on Ms. Kelley. That's some corny shit.

"Right, of course." The teen smiles.

Ms. Kelley squints her eyes, noticing Gus' expression was too grateful. "You thought that was bullshit, right?"

"What?! N-No." Gus quickly speaks.

Ms. Kelley deadpans and Gus let's out a breath.

"Complete bullshit." Gus admits. "Call me a control freak, tell me I have a hero complex—I don't care. But I will do everything in my power to try and keep bad shit from happening if I can and if I fail...then I'll deal with it in my own Maladaptive Guilty way."

The timer rings on Gus' watch and she quickly stops it. Ms. Kelley raises her brows, "You're taking my job from me, Gus."

Gus looks up from her watch and chuckles. "Oh, yeah, I'm definitely gunning for you. Watch out." She stands up from her seat. "I should get going."

"We'll continue this next week, August." Ms. Kelley says. "We haven't even gotten the chance to dive into this masterpiece of yours." She points at the black circle.

Gus snorts, "Right..." she places her satchel over her shoulder and walks toward the door. "...spoiler alert, Doc."

Ms. Kelley looks at the teen.

"It's supposed to be a black hole." Gus gives the counselor a small smile before she softly knocks on the door and leaves her office. The brunette walks down the hall of the empty high school with her breathing heavy. Any time Gus left her sessions with Ms. Kelley, she was either feeling heavy with negative emotion or she was feeling light of them. There was no in between. Today, she was feeling heavy.

Gus opens the front doors to the school and walks down the steps. She looks around the parking lot, not spotting Fallon's car. Fallon said she would pick her up and they were going to go out for ice cream with Robin. Maybe she forgot. Gus huffs and sits on the steps.

"You definitely should've drove to school today, Gus." The girl spoke softly. A cool breeze rushes through her hair and manages to get under her crew neck and she shivers quietly. Five more minutes and I'm walking.

A familiar car speeds into the parking lot and Gus' stomach tightens. "No, no, no...please, God, no..."

And sure enough the car stops in front of her. "Ride for August Castillo-Hopper?"

Gus stands up, "I'll walk." She starts to walk away from the car.

"Oh, come on, Guster!"

"Leave me alone, Harrington!"

"Fallon sent me!"

Gus stops and exhales sharply. She turns on her heel and looks at the car with her arms folded. She walks back over to the car and Steve smirks. He quickly stops smiling as soon as Gus got closer to the car.

Gus presses an elbow against the car and slightly leans her head in the window which causes Steve's heart beat to quicken. Just imagine Gus...it'll make you sweat too.

"Is she okay?"

"Uh, who?"

"Fallon!"

Steve blinks, "Oh, yeah. She's just hanging out with some girl named...Raven."

Gus deadpans, "Robin."

Steve looks out his window, "Where?"

It took everything out of the girl not to smile at that. "The girl that Fallon is hanging with. Her name is Robin, not Raven."

Steve looks back at the girl with his mouth open. "Oh...that makes more sense."

Gus nods her head, "Uh-huh." She opens the car door and gets into the passenger seat. "So, Uh...thanks, I guess."

"No problem, I guess." Steve says. He drives out of the parking lot and the two were left in silence. It wasn't like the comforting silence when Steve was aiding Gus with her hangover. This time it was awkward, because Steve kept saying a word, then stopping. Gus was going to jump out of the car if he did it one more time. She told him that too and she sounded serious. So, Steve had to choose his words carefully.

"Do you want to go out to eat?" Steve taps Gus thumbs against the steering wheel. "I mean, not like 'go out' but I mean. Do you just want to eat?"

Gus sniffles and scratches the side of her nose. "Not really that hungry, actually."

Steve purses his lips, "Well, you're not hungry for something small? I mean, it could be anything. Ice cream, Mac and cheese, burger, fruit—"

"Did Fallon say something to you?" Gus rolls her head over to him.

Steve glances at the girl that was already staring at him. "What? No, I-I mean. She asked me if I could pick you up, but that's all she said..."

Gus' nose twitches. "Steve, you don't have to lie, all right? It's fine. She told you that I usually get a certain way after counseling, right?" She pulls her knees toward her chest her chin against her knees. "And to try and encourage me to eat something?"

Steve sighs, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to lie. I just—"

"You were just trying to help, I get it." Gus sputters her lips. She then chuckles. "That girl knows me well, that's for sure." Gus looks at Steve. "I could go for some hot chocolate and a donut or something. What do you think?"

Steve looks at her and softly smiles as he sees the small smile across Gus' lips. "I definitely could go for some hot cocoa."

☆

Sofía and Dustin walk down the hallway in silence. They get to the front door and stop, when Mr. Clarke walks past them. Mr. Clarke look at the two kids. Dustin sends the teacher a two finger salute and Sofía gives him a wave with a small smile.

Mr. Clarke smiles and waves at the kids before leaving the school. Sofía's hand drops to her side and she brushes past Dustin.

"West is clear too, Will?"

"South is clear. Lucas? Anything?"

Dustin looks at the quiet girl, sensing the anger coming off of her. "Why'd you—"

"Don't ask me that again, Dustin. Seriously." Sofía tucks some of her hair behind her ear. She looks down the hall to her left then her right. The girl stops and turns to Dustin, causing the buy to stop right in front of her. His sneakers touch hers and he swallows from how close they are.

"Maybe we should go our separate ways."

Dustin pulls his brows together, "Wh-what?"

Sofía points behind them, "You go down that hall and I'll go down this one." She points her thumb behind her.

Dustin takes a small step away from Sofía. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing Dustin..." Sofía sighs softly and walks away from him.

"A-Are you sure?" Dustin follows after the girl and she groans. "Because I feel like I did something to make you mad."

"Look..." Sofía turns back to him. "...if you really want to talk to someone. Talk to Max." She turns on her heel and starts away from him.

"Max? What does Max have to do with this?" Dustin runs ahead of the girl and stands in front of her.

"Nothing, nothing..." Sofía pinches the bridge of her nose. "I'm just on edge, all right? I get that you like d'Artagnan, but I don't. Simple." She shrugs one shoulder. "I mean, it's cute. But it came from the Upside Down. And everyday I try to forgot about that place, so I am sorry if I'm having a little trouble liking your Pollywog!"

Dustin's eyes were wide listening to the girl's rant. Sofía inhales a deep breath and wipes her nose. "Like I said before, we should go our separate ways."

Sofía quickly walks away from the boy with her hands trembling. Dustin watches the girl walk away. How did he not even take into consideration how Sofía felt seeing Dart? Dustin opens his mouth to call out to the girl, but before he could even get a word out Sofía freezes in her tracks. Her entire body falls cold and the hair on her neck starts to rise. Her lower lip trembles and she feels her worry rise, which causes her eyes to water.

"Sofía?"

The girl inhales a shaky breath and she wipes at her eyes. Dustin quickly makes his way over to the girl. "Are you—"

"Something's wrong with Will."

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author's note.

I love long chapters. Those who don't...I'm sorry lmfao

words : 8049