𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭

v. POLLYWOG

   

     The next day, Charles sat in his usual seat behind Will, waiting for class to start. "Hey." Max said to him as she is about to walk by. "Hey." Charles smiles. Will glanced back at him when this occurred but looked away, ahead of him.

     "The case of Phineas Gage is one of the great medical curiosities or all time. Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron rod was driven completely through his head. Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine. And physically, yes, he was. But his injury resulted in a complete change to his personality. So much so that his friends that knew him started referring to him as No longer Gage." Their teacher said as Will turned around, he had felt like someone was staring at him, he figured it was Charles. He was always staring.

     But Charles is trying to balance a pencil on his nose again, and so he looks at Max who looked away right away, looking anywhere but at Will. Will turns away, back towards the front of the class.

"At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Althought it wasn't—" Mr. Clarke is cut off by the door bursting open and Dustin running in. "I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke. Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class. Don't mind me." The boy said as he walked to his desk.

"Really, continue, please. Thanks." Dustin said as he takes off his backpack before sitting down. "Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said." Mr. Clarke said as all of the party members lean over, "We have to meet. All of us. At lunch, AV Club." Dustin whispered to the three leaning closer and even though Charles was still leaning back on his chair, he could still hear the boy.

"Why?" Mike whispered back. "I have something that you won't believe." Dustin whispers and then Mike nods before they all lean away, Dustin turning the other way towards Max.

"AV Club. Lunch." He whispers and Max leaned over, confused so she didn't hear him. "Dustin!" Mr. Clarke said and Dustin turns away. "Yes, my lord?" Charles rolls his eyes, quickly writing on a piece of paper that they were meeting in the AV Club at lunch then passed it to the girl next to him. "Max." He whispers and she passed it back to Max.

"Would you care to join the class now?" Mr. Clarke asked as Charles glanced back at Max who smiled and nodded at him. "Please, yes," Dustin says and then opens his backpack. "The case of Phineas Gage." The teacher tells the boy.

"Phineas Gage."

"Page 104."

"104. 104."

"Focus."

"Focusing. Focusing." Dustin said then turned towards Max again, "AV Club." He mouths and she raised her hand to show him a thumbs up with an exaggerated smile at him.

Dustin immediately smiled back, raising a thumbs up as well before turning back to the front of the class again. "And he began to curse, using terrible words that I don't dare repeat here."

At lunch, in the Audio Visual room, the five boys and Max all surround the table, where Dustin's trap was. He opens in and they all peak in. "Dustin, what the fuck is that?" Charles asked with his face all scrunched up when he saw the creature. "His name is d'Artagnan." Is the only thing Dustin said as Charles glanced up at him.

Dustin reached into the trap and took the creature out, holding it in his hands. "Cute, right?" He asked as he looks at Lucas who is standing next to him. "D'Artagnan?" Mike asked and Charles raised an eyebrow. "Dart for short." Dustin simply said, glancing at him.

"And he was in your trash?" Charles asked as he crossed his arms. "Foraging for food." Dustin says then he looks at Max. "You wanna hold him?" He asked and she immediately shakes her head. "No, no." She protested and he holds Dart out. "He doesn't bite." He insisted. "I don't want to—" But Dustin puts Dart into her hands anyway. "Oh, God, he's slimy!" She grimaced then hands it over to Lucas who was between her and Dustin.

"Ugh, he's like a living booger." Lucas said before passing it over to Will who cringed instantly. "Ugh, oh, God!" He said then passed it over to Charles who stood between him and Mike. Charles held it for a while, raising his finger to pet it for a second. "Gross." Max grimaced and Charles rolls his eyes. "It feels just like a pet I had as a child." He said then hands it over to Mike who raised it up high to his face, to examine it much more closely.

"What is he?" Mike asked, curiously as Charles wiped his hands on his pants. "My question exactly." Dustin said with a smile. And so Dustin brings out the books, as he always does.

"At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog." Dustin explained as Charles stood side by side with Will, Mike on the other side of Will who was sitting on the table. "Pollywog?" Max questioned. "It's another word for tadpole." Dustin explains as he looks up at the ginger girl.

"A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad." Dustin explained further. "I know what a tadpole is." Max said to him instantly. "Alright, then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?" Dustin says as he opens one of the books.

"Well, Dart, he isn't. He doesn't need water." Dustin said as Charles felt a hand brush by his. "Yeah, but aren't there nonaquatic pollywogs?" Lucas asked as Will slips his hand into Charles'. "Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact. Indirana semipalmata. And the Adenomera andreae. One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?" Dustin says as Charles slowly interlocks his fingers with Will, hiding their hands behind his back.

"Maybe some scientists brought it here, and it escaped?" Max says. "Do you guys see that?" Mike suddenly asked and Charles looks at the creature on the table. "Looks like something is moving inside of it." Mike said then they all lean closer. Mike turns the lamp so it was directly above the creature. It screeched loudly and they all gasp, as it moves over the cords and the edge of the table. Dustin quickly reached out and caught it before it fell.

"Whoa, it's okay. It's okay. I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that. It's okay." Dustin kept saying to the tiny creature in his hand. Charles squeezed Will's hand softly to make sure he was okay and Will squeezed his hand back. "And there's another thing. Reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him." Dustin explained to them as Will suddenly slips his hand away.

"So, if he's not a pollywog or a reptile.." Lucas trailed off and Dustin looks up, proudly. "Then I've discovered a new species." He says. Dustin carefully pets the creature in his hands then the bell rang, all of them flinching and rushing to grab their backpacks to leave for their next class.

The other four exit early as Charles looks at Will. "Hey, you okay?" He asked, worriedly as he squeezed Will's shoulder softly. "Yeah, yeah," Will said then they followed the other four. "We gotta show him to Mr. Clarke." Lucas said.

"No, what if he steals my discovery?" Dustin asked, worried. "He's not gonna steal your discovery." Mike said right away. "You know, I'm thinking of calling it Dustonious pollywogous." Dustin said then looked at Max on the other side of him. "What do you think?" He asked Max.

"I think you're an idiot." Max said as Charles and Will walk side by side, following the four. "You know, when I become rich and famous for this one day, don't come crawling back, saying, Oh, my God, Dustin, I'm so sorry for being mean to you back in 8th grade. Oh, my God." Dustin said and Charles chuckled but stopped when he noticed that Will did. He turns around towards Will.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked him with worry. "Yeah, yeah.." Will said as he nodded before walking past Charles who sighed but turned around as well, walking with Will.

authors note joyce's reaction to will getting bullied, "i will kill them" what a mood