That smile -Dustin Henderson-

13.

Will still didn't show up so, at lunch, Mike tried calling Mrs. Byers to see what was wrong but that didn't seem to work as he hung up and ran back over to us "anything?" Lucas asked but Mike just pushed past us while saying that we need to talk in the AV room.

When Max tried to come he just said "Party members only," Max seemed upset and Dustin tried to get him to change his mind but Mike wasn't having it. "This is non-negotiable," he said while walking into the school.

"Sorry Max," Dustin shrugged and made his way into the school, I didn't say anything to her but I shrugged as she looked to me for help. She let out a sigh and I couldn't help but feel a small sense of pity towards her.

"My brother is really stubborn, he'll come around," I mumbled to her, she put on a small smile and I smiled back before following the other three into the school and to the AV room. I guess I should try and be nice to her since Mike seems to not want her around but I will always feel that sense of jealousy, no matter how nice she may be. We all crowded around Mike as we waited for him to tell us what was so important.

"Will didn't want me to tell anyone, but on Halloween night he saw a shadow in the sky," mike explained, we all looked at him in confusion. Why wouldn't Will want us to know about this? We are his friends after all.

"A shadow?" Lucas asked slowly

"What kind of shadow?" I asked hesitantly, Mike shrugged in response

"I don't know, but it scared him. And if Will really has True Sight I mean, if he can really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday," mike explained further, I took in a deep breath and pursed my lips, I really feel bad for Will because he has to deal with these episodes and the shadow monster thing.

"So that's why he was frozen like that?" Lucas asked

"Maybe," Mike answered

"Can it hurt him? The shadow?" I asked with a worried glance at all three boys, I really don't want Will to get hurt especially after what happened last year.

"I'm not sure, Dustin?" Mike said, all of our attention was now on Dustin as he thought for a second.

"Well, if you're in another plane, you can't interact with the material plane, so theoretically, no, the shadow can't hurt him," Dustin quickly explained and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, if that's even what's happening. This isn't D&D, this is real life," mike said with furrowed brows while staring down at the floor.

"So, what do we do?" Lucas asked

"We acquire more knowledge, I'll go to Will's after school. See what's going on, you guys stay here and look for Dart," Mike explained the plan and Dustin's brows furrowed at him

"Dart? What's he gotta do with this?" He asked

"Will heard him in the upside down, I don't know how yet, but he's gotta be connected to all this. He's gotta be. If we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing. Maybe we can help Will," Mike explained and Dustin seemed worried for Dart, I'm not surprised honestly, I let out a sigh and Dustin's eyes met mine. I gave him a reassuring smile but he didn't return it, his mind seems preoccupied at the moment. Kinda understandable, I guess. The bell rang and we all headed to our next class, Dustin walked with me down the hallway since we had our next class together.

He glanced around to make sure the others were gone "Hey, after school we gotta protect Dart," he said and I furrowed my brows at him.

"Why me?" I asked

"Because you know about me taking him home, I need your help," he said with pleading eyes that I just couldn't say no to. "Please? I can't do it alone," he pleaded with a pout, I bit my bottom lip and let out a sigh.

"Fine," I breathed out and he jumped excitedly which made me giggle

"Thank you so much! You're the best!" He exclaimed before placing a kiss on my cheek, I stiffened up for a second as he walked into the classroom excitedly but I eventually snapped out of it and smiled softly to myself. I felt my cheeks heat up and my heart started pounding but I tried to ignore it as I made my way into the classroom and sat in my usual seat.

-Time skip-

The final bell rang and Dustin and I quickly left school and rode to his house on our bikes without saying anything to the others or waiting around, we didn't say a word to each other the whole way. We dumped our bikes in the yard and quickly went into his house where Mrs. Henderson was calling out for Mews, their cat, and pouring food into the cat's bowl. She stood up as she heard the door open.

"Hey Dusty," she said with a smile and Dustin brushed her off while walking right past her. "Oh, you brought Addy, hi sweetheart," she said, I quickly smiled and said hi as I made my way past her too. "Is everything okay?" She asked and Dustin quickly turned around

"Yeah, everything's fine," he said before we walked into his room and he closed the door. "Dart. I gotta talk to you buddy," Dustin said as he placed his bag down and made his way over to the tank where he usually keeps his turtle. I heard a faint noise coming from the corner of the room but I decided to ignore it as Dustin pulled the cover off of his tank. There was a massive hole in the glass and there was a weird sort of slime coming off of it, I stared at it with wide eyes as Dustin picked up what seemed to be shed skin.

I let out a groan as I looked away in disgust "gross, what happened to him?" I asked and, before Dustin could answer, a screech was heard from the corner of the room and we both jumped.

"Dart?" Dustin asked softly as he slowly made his way over to the corner where the noise came from. I followed hesitantly and, as we looked behind his chair, we saw Dart with his head in Mews' stomach. I resisted the urge to vomit as I backed away and stared in horror, my heart was pounding and my hairs on my neck stood on end. I heard Dart screech once more and Dustin stumbled back while breathing heavily

"We have to tell the others," I said and Dustin nodded frantically

"Agreed,"

A/n: wow, I didn't expect this to get over 100 reads haha thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Bye!