𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 | stranger things

eleven

Wren was late for school that day because Nancy's idiot boyfriend never showed up to drive them. As she was placing her bike in the bike rack outside of Hawkins High school, another kid her age pedaled up to her. It was her brother's friend, Dustin Henderson. He was also late.

"AV Club. Lunch," was all he said before pedaling across the street to the middle school.

Wren had never received an invitation to hang out with them before. When lunch time came, she almost didn't go thinking it was some sort of trick to get her in trouble. But then she remembered the urgency in the boy's voice, so she figured it must be important.

Her first thought was that this had something to do with the Upside Down. But if it did have something to do with it, then wouldn't he have told her right then and there instead of waiting until the middle of the day.

She worried too much. Maybe she should speak to her therapist about that.

Robin would never believe you if you told her about everything that went down last year, she thought as she walked across the street to Hawkins Middle School.

Dustin was waiting for her outside of the AV Club room. He led her inside, where Mike, Lucas, Will, and Max were already gathered around the table. The monster trap he had made as part of his Halloween costume was sitting in the middle. He opened it up, revealing a creature of some sort. "His name is d'Artagnan," he said proudly.

"That thing has a name?" Wren frowned.

"Of course he does. He's gotta have a name, right?" Dustin smiled as he carefully took d'Artagnan out of the monster trap. He held him up to Wren, who grimaced and took a step closer to Max. "Cute, right?"

"Uh . . . sure."

"D'Artagnan?" Mike questioned the name.

"Dart for short," Dustin told him.

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

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

Max shook her head. "No. No."

"He doesn't bite," Dustin reassured her as he placed Dart in the redhead's hand.

"Oh, God, he's slimy!" Max quickly passed him to Wren.

"No, I don't want him!" Wren squeaked, shoving Dart into Lucas's hands. She took a hand wipe out of her bag to sanitize her hands, a disgusted look on her face.

"Ugh, he's like a living booger!" Lucas gave him to Will.

"Eugh, oh, God!" Will groaned. Dart was handed to Mike, who brought him up to eye level so that he could get a better look.

"What is he?" Mike asked.

"My question exactly," Dustin replied, grinning in awe at the mysterious creature. He took a stack of books out of his bag and placed them on the table. "At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog."

"Pollywog?" Max questioned.

"It's another word for tadpole," Wren said, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

"A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad," Dustin added.

"I'm pretty sure she knows what a tadpole is, Dustin," Wren retorted, and Max nodded.

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

Wren frowned. "Everyone needs water. No species can survive without it."

"Aren't there nonaquatic pollywogs?" Lucas asked.

"There are exactly two terrestrial pollywogs," Wren informed him. "Indirana semipalmata from India and Adenomera andreae from South America."