Love Story: Volume One

season two: part three

Dustin slammed the door and ran to his room, not even uttering a hello to Edwina or his mother.

Edwina had been growing suspicious of her little cousin as of late. Sure, he had always been a weird-ass kid, but recently, he was closing himself off. He never left his room, except for food or school. His door was always shut now, which was new for Dustin.

Maybe he just wanted more privacy. Edwina could get behind that. He was growing up, as much as it pained her to admit. But his constant murmuring was creepy, and he took all of Edwina's nougat.

That's where she finally drew the line.

She knocked on the door, and when there was no answer, she yelled out. He would just have to deal with it.

"Dustin! I'm coming in!"

"Wait no don't-"

Edwina really wished she had listened to him, that she had just stayed out of this whole mess that he got himself into. She would have been able to have a normal senior year, and not have yet another Upside-Down related incident. Sadly, that was not the case. Because when she opened that door, Dustin was holding a slimy skin, staring at something that was... eating Mews.

"Oh shit. Oh shit!" She shut the door and walked over to Dustin. "What did you do!"

"I- I kept a pollywog I found but then it grew and it may or may not be a baby Demogorgon."

Edwina covered her face with her hands. "Are you serious Dustin? Actually?"

He looked at her guiltily. "He looked scared."

Of course. Some dangerous-looking thing could be baring its teeth at Dustin, but if their eyes looked sad, Dustin would try to help it. Damn him and his good heart. "I-I can't believe you."

"I'm sorry, he was so cute I couldn't kill him."

"Yeah? Well, now it might kill you."

"I get it. I get it."

Dustin started pacing. "Okay, I have a plan."

"I have a better one. Let's leave your room. I'm scared of that slimy little shit."

Dustin nodded quickly. "Good idea."

They both ran out of the room, shut his door, and ended up on Edwina's bed. "Okay, so about my plan..."

...

"Mews! Mews! Here kitty kitty!" Edwina's aunt was currently outside calling their "missing" cat. Meanwhile, Edwina and Dustin were both watching from inside. She started back towards the house, and Dustin enacted Phase One.

"Dusty, baby, you sure she's not in your room?"

He put a finger against his lips and started pretending he was on the phone with someone. It was obvious to anyone with a right mind, but her Aunt Claudia was distraught and didn't even notice there was no voice actually communicating with her son.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Thank you so much, Mr. McCorkle. Thank you so much. You are a true lifesaver. All right, this was great! Bye-bye now. Mhm. Bye."

He hung up the phone and turned to his mom. "Good news!"

"They found her?"

"No. But they did see her wandering over by Loch Nora."

"How did the poor baby get all the way out there?"