CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
2x03: The Pollywog

Sam stood at the foot of Corey's loft bed (basically a bunk bed without the bottom bunk) with Stephanie and Max, the former holding a red velvet cake in her hands. Silently, Stephanie counted to them with her fingers held up:

One... Two... Three—

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Corey shot awake with a terrified gasp, flinging out of his bed in alarm at the sudden noise. He fell from the top bunk of his bed all the way to the floor with a loud THUMP.

"Shit!" Stephanie cursed, scrambling to help Corey stand. "You're fine, you're fine—don't tell your dad! He'll kill me."

Corey rubbed his head with one hand and kept the other arm wrapped around his torso. "It's my birthday, and you tried to kill me," he grumbled. "It would be warranted."

"No, no, we did not try to kill you," Stephanie panicked, pointing at him with her finger. "You didn't even fall that hard. You're fine."

Max nodded. "And plus, that was hilarious."

"Thank you very much, Mayfield. Didn't know you suddenly lived here," Corey quipped.

Max smiled in return, matching his sarcastic energy.

Sam sighed at how downhill this morning was going. She stepped up to Corey before any more snarky comments could be made, displaying the cake she and Max had made at midnight for him.

"How's fifteen feel?" she asked him casually, not prepared for—

"Fifteen?" said an incredulous Max.

Corey raised an eyebrow at her. "Didn't anyone tell you? I'm a delinquent."

"Damn," Max mused, eyebrows raising up for moment. "What'd you do to get held back?"

"Murder."

"Oh."

"I'm kidding."

Max tsked. "Here when I thought you were actually cool..."

Corey opened his mouth to retort, but Sam pushed Corey away from Max with the hand she freed up, nodding for Stephanie to get the lighter.

"We're singing to you before Uncle Dan comes in here and lights us on fire with this lighter," Sam said, leaving no room for pushback. "Also, your mom is totally 'not' out in the living room with the whole shebang—streamers, confetti, that shit."

Corey tried hiding his surprise, but ultimately failed. Or, maybe, Sam was just very good at reading people. She could tell Corey hadn't expected his mom to even remember his birthday, let alone celebrate it.

"Really?" he asked softly. Then he cleared his throat. "I thought she was leaving for that work trip today."

"She pushed it back a day," Stephanie said, then her voice got teasing. "You're fifteen now. Practically a man. Her little baby's growing up—"

"Alright. Okay. I get it, Steph," Corey snapped. "Can we sing now, so I can leave?"

Sam grinned, sending Max a smug look. "Told you he's a secret mama's boy."

"Sam—"

"Okay, okay, fine. We're singing," Sam said, while Max covered up a laugh as a cough in the background. "1... 2... 3—"

"Happy birthday to you..."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

"The case of Phineas Gage is one of the greatest medical curiosities of all time," Mr. Clarke lectured. He had the lights off, displaying a picture of a skull with his overhead projector. "Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron was driven completely through his head." He took a dry-erase marker, drawing a line through the skull picture top to bottom. "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 friends that knew him started to refer to him as 'No longer Gage.' At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Although it wasn't a crow—"

Dustin Henderson burst through the classroom door. Everyone's heads turned to him, attention now taken away from Mr. Clarke.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke," Dustin panted, out of breath. He entered further into the classroom, heading for his seat. "Really, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class. Don't mind me," he rambled, making more people mind him. As Dustin shrugged ofd his bag and took his seat, he said, "Really, continue, please. Thanks."

Mr. Clarke's confused eyes slid off of Dustin, opting not to ask. Instead he addressed the whole class again.

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

Sam was very interested in today's lesson, so she was a little annoyed with Dustin when he gestured for the six party members to lean in and listen to what he had to say. Sam and Corey had to stretch the most, because they were the furthest in the back.

"We have to meet," Dustin whispered urgently. "All of us. At lunch. AV Club."

Mike's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"I have something that you won't believe," Dustin insisted while Mr. Clarke rambled in the background. The other party members nodded as a sign for confirmation. Then, to Corey, "Also—happy birthday, man!"

Corey tried to look nonchalant and unaffected about another happy birthday wish (after numerous ones from everyone else), but Sam caught sight of the quirking of his lip. Her smile was much more noticeable when she saw.

"Thanks, dude."

Dustin whipped around to the back of the class where Max sat in the corner.

"AV Club," Dustin hissed, not so quietly this time. "Lunch."

"Dustin!" Mr. Clarke snapped.

Dustin turned back, facing the front again with a wide-eyed, attentive look on his face.

"Yes, my Lord?" he inquired.

"Would you care to join the class now?" Mr. Clarke asked with an edge to his voice.

Dustin pointed, nodding eagerly. "Please! Yes."

"The case of Phineas Gage."

"Phineas Gage," Dustin echoed, pulling out his supplies and textbook.

"Page 104."

"104... 104—"

"Focus."

"Focusing," Dustin said, not really focusing.

And then Sam swore she could've seen Dustin's backpack vibrate.

And then something felt off.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Sam frowned as she walked between Will and Max towards the AV Club room. "I was really hoping to have those cookies at the cafeteria today."

Lucas nodded from next to Will. "Me too. They're always so soft and warm—"

Sam beamed, pointing at him. "And in the middle—"

"The best part!" Lucas exclaimed.

"That's what I've been saying!"

Will and Max held amused grins as Sam and Lucas geeked out over the supposedly famous chocolate chip cookies.

"Maybe Dustin will make this quick and they'll still have some left," Will offered, opening the AV Club door.

"He better," Max muttered, and Sam and Lucas hummed in agreement.

The four of them walked into the room to find Dustin, Corey, and Mike already waiting for them.

The seven kids leaned forward on the table, staring down at Dustin's Ghostbusters trap that Sam had tweaked—or, more specifically, what was inside.

"His name is d'Artagnan," Dustin introduced, as the little... creature... croaked (??) at them.

It was a reptilian-looking thing that seemed much slimier and odder than any animal Sam had ever seen or heard of before. It had yellow spots on its butt, but was also a series of grays, reds, and greens. Sam could not, for the life of her, figure out what she was looking at.

Dustin gently picked it up from out the open trap. He stared at the thing, entranced, before grinning up at his friends. "Cute, right?"

"I think you and I have different definitions of cute," Corey commented, his face twisted in judgement and disgust.

"d'Artagnan?" Mike deadpanned to Dustin.

Dustin didn't seem to pick up on the fact most of his friends did not share any sentiment for d'Artagnan. "'Dart' for short," he informed, grinning.

"And he was in your trash?" Max said, side-eyeing the other kids.

Dustin nodded in excitement. "Foraging for food," he answered, looking up from Dart to Max. As if he was struck by an idea, he brightened up even more. "Do you want to hold him?"

"No!" Max instantly protested, nothing but fear in her eyes. "No, no—"

"He doesn't bite," Dustin dismissed, moving to hand Max the creature. "Don't worry!"

"I don't want to—" Dustin shoved Dart into her hands, and Max recoiled in disgust. "Oh God, he's slimy!"

Max got rid of Dart as quickly as she could, handing him off to an unwilling Lucas. Just like Max, he looked appalled.

"Ugh! He's like a living booger," Lucas groaned, handing Dart off to Will.

Will revolted, nose scrunching up. "Ugh, oh God!" he exclaimed, before tossing Dart into Corey's possession.

"Oh—" Corey gagged, and Sam was genuinely terrified he was about to throw up. He was quite literally swallowing down vomit. "Holy shit, this is so fucking disgusting!"

Then Dart was pushed into her hands.

Sam froze for a moment, feeling Dart wiggle in her hands. She smiled down at the creature, inspecting him further. His little tail was wagging as he squirmed in her palms.

"He's so cute," Sam cooed, her bottom lip jutting out in an awed, happy frown. She looked up at her friends with a pleading look. "Guys, we gotta keep him as a pet!"

"A PET?" Dustin cried, completely bewildered. "Samantha, this is a scientific discovery!"

Sam pouted, still looking at Dart like the cutest thing in the world. "But look at him!"

"Yeah." Lucas nodded, repulsed. "We're looking..."

Sam shot him a cool look, and Mike took the opportunity to steal Dart from Sam before she actually did keep him as a pet. He ignored her yelping, "Hey!"

Mike was the only party member apart from Sam to not immediately try and get rid of Dart; although, he wasn't wooed by the creature like Sam was. He held it to his face for further inspection, an inquisitive look on his face.

"What is he?"

"My question exactly," Dustin cheered. He pulled out a few books from his bag, which gained everyone's attention while Mike set Dart back down in the trap. "At first I thought he was some type of pollywog."

"A pollywog?" Corey and Max questioned in unison, sharing confused looks.

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

"We know what a tadpole is," Max deadpanned, because they weren't dumb.

"Alright," Dustin moved on, opening one of the books he'd checked out from the library. "Then you'd know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?"

"Right."

Dustin's expression went intrigued. "Well, Dart isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Yeah." Lucas shrugged. "But aren't there nonaquatic pollywogs?"

"There are," Sam said. "The Indirana semipalmata and Adenomera andreae."

Dustin side-eyed Sam for a moment, trying to tamper his shock. "Okay, I'm gonna..." he cleared his throat, "stop being surprised that you know so much and move on—" Dustin looked at his friends that didn't instantly know the scientific names of terrestrial pollywogs. "Out of the two, one is from India and the other is from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?"

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

"Do you guys see that?" Mike asked, his eyes trained on Dart. Everyone else looked at the creature too, except for Corey, who immediately had bile rising in his throat. He stepped away as Mike continued, "It looks like something is moving inside of it."

And upon further inspection, Mike was right. Near the two sides of Dart's butt, his skin was moving as if there was something in there. To try and get a clearer look, Sam tried shining the AV Club's lamp onto Dart.

She soon regretted it as Dart began screeching, making everyone jump back.

"I'm sorry!"

Dart crawled out of his makeshift containment cell and made a run for it at full-speed away from the lamp; he was going towards the edge of the table. Before Dart could splat to the floor, Dustin whipped out his hand with quick reflexes. Just as Dart fell of the table, Dustin's hand caught him, scooping the creature into his chest safely.

"Woah," Dustin breathed. "It's okay, it's okay. I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that. It's okay."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Sam rambled, heart racing. "I'm sorry, I—I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay, Specks," Dustin said, smiling. "Here's another thing: reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun... Dart hates it. It hurts him."

Lucas shrugged cluelessly. "So if he's not a pollywog or a reptile...?"

Then his head swiveled back to Sam, and she immediately understood what he was silently requesting. He wanted her to finish his sentence for him.

"Oh my God, Lucas, I don't know everything," she said, blowing out an exasperated breath.

"Sorry," Lucas muttered, not sounding sorry at all.

"Guys!" Dustin interjected. "I've discovered a new species."

The bell rang then, making them all jump into action.

"Oh, no!" Lucas exclaimed. "Sam, the cookies!"

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

As the bell rung, signaling the end of the school day, Sam and Mike were talking animatedly near Will's locker—well, Sam was talking animatedly. Mike just listened in contentment. The two of them began walking for Mr. Clarke's class, until they quickly realized Will wasn't following in their lead.

They immediately turned back around.

"Will, you coming?" Sam wondered why he had yet to join them.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, let's go show Mr. Clarke."

But Will... Will didn't look like he was okay. He slowly shut his locker, nothing but instability in his eyes. For the second time today, Sam felt something was off in her chest, though she couldn't quite place it. It was a cold feeling she hated.

"What is it?"

Will didn't answer. He just walked up to the two, looking fearful.

"What?"

Will looked seriously into their eyes, and his voice came out shaking: "It's about d'Artagnan..."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

"This is the reason I was late for class," Dustin said to Mr. Clarke with an eager grin. He placed his closed Ghostbusters trap on Mr. Clarke's desk with much enthusiasm.

Mr. Clarke stared down at the contraption with an approving nod. "Pretty neat. These doors function?"

"No—well—yes," Dustin admitted, blowing out a frustrated breath. Calmly, he explained, "Yes, they function. Sam made them do it—but it's not about the trap. It's what's inside... Now, this very well may change your perception of the world."

Mr. Clarke shrugged happily. "Consider my interest piqued."

"Alright, first, let's just clarify that... this is my discovery, not yours—"

"Dustin, Jesus!" Lucas threw his hands up in annoyance while Corey scoffed. "Just show him!"

"I'm just trying to clarify—"

"Dustin!" Max snapped.

"Okay, fine," Dustin conceded. Back to Mr. Clarke, he said, "Prepare to have your mind bl—"

"Stop!" came the interjecting voice of Mike, who was running into Mr. Clarke's classroom at an alarming pace. It was alarming, because Corey had never seen Mike run so fast in his life. He didn't even know Mike could run.

He was followed by an equally-alarmed-looking Sam, then after them, a frail Will. Mike practically threw himself onto Mr. Clarke's desk, snatching the trap into his hands before Dustin could even open it.

"We're really sorry, Mr. Clarke," Sam panted, wearing a forced-apologetic face. "It was just a stupid prank—"

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Corey said with a bizarre look at the pair—Mike held the trap for himself and Sam stood in front of the party, trying to push them out of the classroom with her feeble strength.

"I told him to stop," Sam lied, apologizing to Mr. Clarke. She was still trying to push her friends. "We need to go. Right now."

"Guys—"

"Right now!" Mike shouted, already halfway out the doorframe.

The rest of them snapped into action at Mike's commanding voice. Albeit disoriented, they scurried out of Mr. Clarke's classroom and matched Sam and Mike's pace all the way to the AV Club.

"Party members only!" Mike hollered, and Sam didn't even have a chance to argue before Max was being forced out of the room and the door was being locked behind her.

Sam glanced between the door and the group of boys who were currently flocking around the desk in the center of the room. A dismayed groan built in the back of her throat as she stomped her foot before storming over to the party. She sent a glare Mike's way as the boy began to rattle off everything Will had told them at the lockers mere minutes before.

Now that Sam was focusing on it, what Will said made sense. She'd even thought that something felt off when Dustin entered the classroom, but had brushed it off as simple anxiety—which was reasonable enough, because ever since last year, Sam had always been more on edge than usual. Firing a machine gun at an interdimensional monster at the age of twelve would do that to you.

Will told Lucas, Dustin, and Corey exactly what he'd told Sam and Mike. Dart wasn't a pollywog, or a reptile, or any kind of animal for that matter.

Dart was a creature from the Upside Down.

"I don't understand," Lucas said, after pacing for a little.

Mike narrowed his eyes at Lucas judgmentally. "What do you not understand?"

"Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?" he questioned.

Feebly, Will nodded. "Kinda," he said quietly. "But there was no tail."

"But then he heard it yesterday," Mike said. "The exact same sound."

Corey shook his head at Will. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

Will shrugged. "I wasn't sure."

"So it's a coincidence," Dustin hoped.

"Or it's not," Sam argued. "What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?"

All her friends looked a little put off, but Sam met their stares seriously.

"Can you guys stop using stupid D&D metaphors for everything?" Corey said. "What the hell is True Sight?"

"It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane," Dustin explained.

Corey glared at Dustin. "Elaborate."

"Maybe these episodes that Will keeps having aren't really flashbacks at all," Sam theorized.

Mike nodded in agreement. "Yeah, maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down."

"So..." Lucas started, looking to Sam for an answer, "that would mean..."

"Dart is from the Upside Down," Sam finished, with full confidence in her words.

Dustin tilted his head facing the table, shaking it profusely. "No way. He can't be."

"Come on, Dustin," Sam pleaded. "Don't tell us you don't feel it."

Corey's head turned to Sam slowly, a suspicious look in his eyes. "Don't feel... what?"

"That—that cold feeling, right in your chest," she tried to explain. "And it's terrifying, and it's hard to breathe... That feeling."

"I feel it too," Will agreed.

"Okay, well, no one else does," Corey judged. He was nudged harshly by Lucas. "I'm just saying. Clearly they need psychological help—"

"Corey," Lucas hissed, hitting him harder this time. His glare moved off of Corey to look at Mike. "We have to take Dart to Hopper."

"I agree," Mike said immediately.

"No!" Dustin protested. "No way. If we take him to Hopper, Dart's good as dead."

"Maybe he should be dead!"

"How can you say that?" Dustin asked, appalled.

"How can you not?" Mike shot back. "He's from the Upside Down!"

"Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad!"

Sam, Lucas, Mike, Corey, and Will shared particular looks.

"That's like saying just because someone's from the Death Star, doesn't make them bad," Mike argued, wondering how naive their friend could be.

Dustin frowned, staring at the trap Dart was in. "We have a bond—"

"A bond?" Mike repeated incredulously, laughing with no humor in his voice. "Just because he likes nougat?!"

"No! Because he trusts me!"

Lucas raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "He trusts you?"

"Yes!" Dustin said, desperate now. "I promised I would take care of him!"

"I didn't make any promises," Corey said. "I'll kill him."

"No!"

"But it's my birthday."

"Well, I don't c—"

Dustin's words were silenced by Dart, who began letting out hisses and screeches while he moved around in the compartment. The sudden action caused the party to remain on high alert as they slowly backed away from the table, their eyes stuck on the shaking box.

From the other side of the door, Max pounded on it rapidly. "Guys, what's going on? Come on!"

They didn't have time to focus on Max, as guilty as Sam felt about it. She was too busy watching as Dart's trap flipped onto its side. Mike was first to move, grabbing the AV microphone from the table and holding it up, acting as if it were a weapon.

"Don't hurt him," Dustin warned.

Mike's eyes were trained on the trap. "Only if he attacks."

"Or breathes," Corey muttered under his breath.

"I heard that," Dustin sneered.

"Yeah, I don't care."

"Just open it already," Lucas urged Dustin.

Hesitantly, Dustin grabbed the control connected to the Ghostbuster trap. He pressed the red button Sam had configured, and the doors burst open.

Dart rolled out, looking a little different than he had a couple hours ago. Sam's eyes widened at the sight of the creature, who had grown from the size of a tadpole to the size of a guinea pig.

"Holy shit," Lucas cursed. Dustin dropped the controller in shock.

Sam took fearful steps backward as Dart walked closer to the edge of the table. "What if he's growing to be a Demogorgon?" she worried. "Guys? Have we thought about that?"

No one answered. All they could focus on was another surprise quickly coming to the party. From the lower end of Dart's body, a pair of legs pushed out of his skin, while red-tinted slime oozed out. Everyone flinched back at the sight. Maybe this was a baby Demogorgon.

"OH, SHIT!" Lucas shouted, much more imperatively now.

Dart released another screech, and Mike was more than ready to take action. With his eyes set on Dart, Mike swung down his hand to squish the creature with the microphone—

"NO!" Dustin yelled, pushing the microphone and Mike's arm out of Dart's way.

Dart jumped off the table, much too close to Sam's feet for her liking. She pushed herself behind Lucas, which was difficult since he'd pressed his back pressed as far as it could go against the wall.

Dart was making a run for it towards the door, but Sam felt at least a little relief upon knowing the door was locked. He couldn't get out into the school.

Except, well, he could. The door was suddenly pushing open to reveal a wide-eyed Max, who immediately darted out of the way, allowing the escaped creature to make a swift getaway.

"FUCK!"

"Oh, shit!"

The party sprinted out of the room after a chittering Dart. Lucas and Dustin's combined clumsiness caused them to run straight into Max and send them all sprawling, landing in a mess of differing hair shades and elbows.

"Shit, where'd he go?!"

Mike, Corey, and Will looked around frantically in hopes of apprehending their escapee. Sam stumbled over to Max, tripping over Lucas's leg, but straightening herself up so she could reach a hand out to her friend.

"What was that?!" Max exclaimed, taking Sam's outstretched hand and allowing Sam to pull her up. Lucas remained groaning on the ground and Dustin struggled to stand to his feet.

"Dart!" Mike snapped, spinning around to face her with an angered expression. "You let him escape!"

Max's face screwed up, bewildered. "What—?"

"Why did you attack him?!" Dustin yelled once he finally managed to regain his composure, pushing Mike against the AV Club doorway angrily, betrayal burning in his teary eyes.

Corey was quick to shove Dustin off of Mike, glaring at Dustin from his position now in between the two.

Now out of Dustin's grasp, Mike scoffed, "Come on!" and took off down the hall. He wasn't in the mood to argue about Dustin's freaky bond with an extraterrestrial slug.

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

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

The last thing Corey expected to be doing on his birthday was go on a manhunt for a creature from a dimension he would like to pretend didn't exist. Each member of the party (and Max) was assigned a sector of the school to search, in hopes Dart would turn up. Lucas was north, Mike and Corey were east, Will was south, and Dustin was west. Sam had decided to search outside, while Max told them she would search the cafeteria.

Corey honestly didn't understand why he was the only one paired up while everyone else could search alone. Mike had just pulled him along, which was very unfortunate, because Corey had been trying to avoid Mike as much as possible.

I'm your best friend and you think I'm irreplaceable. Are you in love with me?

So, yeah. Corey was avoiding Mike. How could he not? Wouldn't you if... if... if—

"I'm sorry you have to spend your birthday looking for Dustin's stupid pet," Mike was saying, and Corey remembered he should be paying attention.

Corey's head snapped to Mike, causing him to scoff awkwardly. "Yeah, it's... pretty weird, but... you know... whatever..."

He turned his head away from Mike, pretending to continue searching for Dart, ignoring the burning stare from the boy next to him.

Out of nowhere, catching him completely off guard, Mike latched onto Corey's wrist. He pulled Corey into him, forcing him to stop turning away. Corey's eyes went wide on the grip.

Why the fuck is he holding my wrist? Why the fuck is he holding my wrist?

"Are you alright, dude?" Mike asked obliviously, and Corey had to force his eyes off of where Mike was touching him. "I feel like you've been weird since last night."

Okay, Corey was good at this part. Lying, that was.

"What are you talking about?" Corey gaslit, face screwing up and arm forcing itself from Mike's grip. "I'm fine. Are you?You've been moody for like, three days."

"I haven't been moody for three days!"

"You're right," he agreed. "You've been moody for the past year."

Mike glared. "That's not true."

Corey raised an unwavering eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe I have been. But... it's hard not to be, okay?" Mike snapped, face flushing a little in embarrassment. "There's been a lot going on in the past year. It's hard to deal with."

"So you get angry instead?" Corey finished, voicing what could have been left unsaid. He knew he couldn't have made just another snide comment for this.

Mike's guard fell a little. "Yeah. Yeah, I get angry."

Corey snorted, although it wasn't as happy as it appeared to be.

"Then you've been hanging out with me too much, Wheeler. When did you take a page from my book?"

"Maybe I didn't do anything and you're just a bad influence on me," Mike bantered.

Corey sent him a mock-accusatory look. "Well who's the idiot who let me stick around?"

"I'm not an idiot for that," Mike said, and he sounded certain. Corey was about to humor the choice of for that, implying Mike was an idiot for other reasons, but then Mike hit him with a curve-ball. "And it's 'cause I finally get you now."

"You... you do?" And—wow, Corey was not used to letting his unbothered facade drop so many times in one interaction.

Mike nodded. "I do," he admitted. "And... I'm sorry for all the delinquent comments. I'm sorry for being moody. You're alright, Gray."

This time, Corey's snort actually was humored.

"Be careful, Wheeler. Now it's looking like you're in love with me."

"Shut up." Mike nudged him, looking away to try and hide his furious blush. He coughed into his fist while turned away in an attempt to recompose.

He didn't deny anything, and Corey's heart was beating fast. Why was Mike making him feel this way recently? Why did Corey find the pink tint to Mike's face endearing? Why was he fascinated by Mike's collection of senile sweaters?

You're a fucking faggot, that's why, his father's voice said in his head. Daniel Gray wasn't even here, yet he still managed to get Corey flinching at his words. His fists unintentionally clenched.

He wasn't. He couldn't be.

I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm no tI'm not I'm—

"East is clear. No sign of Dart," Mike was saying. Corey glanced to see he was speaking into his walkie and contacting the other party members.

"West is clear, too," Dustin responded. "Will?"

"South is clear. Lucas? Anything?"

And after a beat—

"Nothing here, man. What about you, Sam?"

"The leaves are pretty," she said.

Mike exhaled before speaking into his walkie again. "He means about Dart, Sam. Not the leaves."

"I know, but I just wanted you guys to know. I love when they change colors in the fall," Sam said. Corey could literally hear her beaming smile. "Oh. Also, no Dart. Sorry."

Mike shook his head to himself. Then he looked back at Corey. "Come on," he said. "Let's keep looking for that little bastard."

"Yeah. I think, um..." Corey tried finding the right words that wouldn't raise suspicion. "I think we should split up to cover more ground."

"You sure? You didn't bring your Walkie."

And.

Oh.

That was why Mike asked Corey to come with him. There wasn't any reason apart from that. Not even friendship. Just convenience. Corey was stupid for theorizing anything else.

He shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Yeah, I mean, Max is searching and she doesn't have a walkie either. I'll be fine."

"Alright," Mike said. "I'm going to the gym. Stay safe, Gray."

"No promises, Wheeler."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Sam was a little offended that no one wanted to hear about how beautiful the fall leaves were, but she also understood how imperative it was to find Dart, so she left the topic alone. Instead, she picked up one of the big orange leaves from the ground, deciding to bring it home with her. Then, she traveled to the supply shed outside—the same one Mike and Nancy retrieved the hoses from when they were all creating that sensory deprivation tank.

Sam had the idea that something was here, outside, with them. Ever since she'd exited the school, the chilling feeling was back in Sam's chest—this time, it was more all-encompassing than before. It was so great that Sam was heaving for breaths. This was like that night outside the arcade.

She found it suspicious that the shed's door was already open, so she figured she was on the right track by trying inside. There was, of course, a multitude of tools in the shed, and it was also really fucking cold, but Sam couldn't see any sign of an interdimensional baby Demogorgon.

"Guys," came Will's whispering voice through Sam's walkie. "I found him."

"Where?" Dustin asked immediately.

Very quietly, Will said, "In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno's."

Sam groaned. That was on the complete opposite side of where Sam was. She was absolutely nowhere near Dart, or Will, or anyone right now.

But then what was that undying feeling in her chest?

"Copy that," Mike said.

Sam sighed, feeling a little crazy. Nevertheless, she brought her walkie up to her mouth. "I'm a little far away from there, but I'm on my way."

Sam wasn't on her way that quickly though. She clipped her walkie back onto her pants, looking around the whole toolshed. The cold in her chest was mixing with a sinking feeling, and Sam hated the combination.

"What's wrong with me?" she muttered, although she had no answer to the question.

So she exited the supply shed and tried to find the rest of her friends.

Sam decided to walk around the field to get to the other side of the school, rather than twist and turn through halls to try and find the party. She was very prepared to go into the bathroom and find Dart.

She was very not prepared however, to see Will Byers standing out on the open field, stiff as a board yet twitching like mad.

"Will!" Sam screamed, breaking out in a run for her friend.

Standing right in front of Will, Sam could see how Will's eyes were rolled all the way back. He was shaking crazily, breaths coming in uneven whimpers and pants.

"Will!" Sam yelled again. She put her hands on his shoulders, trying shake him awake. "Will! It's me! It's Sam! Come on Will, wake up!"

But Will didn't even acknowledge the fact that Sam was in front of him. He was frozen before her eyes. He was freezing cold—the type of cold that made Sam's chest hurt.

Panicking, Sam kept one hand on Will, her eyes glued on his body, while she whipped out her walkie again.

"Guys!" she cried desperately. "Guys, I found Will! H-he's on the field. Something's wrong. Something's really wrong!"

Then Sam chucked her walkie away, not caring for taking the time to resituate it back on the loop of her pants. Her now-freed hand returned to him. She kept trying to shake him awake.

"Will! WILL! WAKE UP!"

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Published: January 14, 2024
Re-published: October 30, 2025

BAILEY YAPS...

Happy birthday Corey Gray my favorite held-back and repressed boy! Love you, man

Did you guys know that 1) I used to hate him (for no reason, I just hadn't written his POV yet). 2) His name was originally going to be Charles (went by Charlie) until I remembered Lucas's middle name is Charles. 3) His love interest was going to be Max until I realized he was gay as hell, and then it was going to be Will until I started to hate Will (for Noah Schnapp reasons idk it's hard to look at his face), and now it's Mike because I yearn to shine the light on who Mike really is because average Stranger Things watchers don't get him like I do

Also he has the same birthday as my best friend I'm kinda gay for so I do love him now

(Someone once asked me if Sam and Lucas ever got their cookies, and the answer is: Lucas snatched the last one before realizing it was the last one. When he did, he split it in half and gave it to Sam, and she was so happy you would've thought he gave her a million dollars.)