CHAPTER SIX.
THE AV CLUB

☆ミ ☆彡

"THE CASE OF PHINEAS GAGE IS ONE OF THE great medical curiosities of all time. Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident," Mr. Clarke was explaining to the class. Challan was in the process of taking notes, writing down everything he was saying, her hand moving furiously across her paper. Max glanced over at her a snickered quietly, shaking her head.

Mr. Clarke used a dry erase marker to draw a line through the skull image shown on the projector. "A large iron rod was driven completely through his head. Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine. And physically, yes, he was..."

"Pst."

Challan turned her head to the sound. "You know you don't have to write down every single thing he says, right?" Max whispered, fighting back an amused smile at how serious the shorter girl seemed to be in her note-taking.

Challan looked down at what she was writing and then back up at Max. "I don't want to miss anything important."

Max found herself chuckling softly before the two returned their attention to Mr. Clarke.

"...So much so that friends that knew him, started referring to him as 'No longer Gage.' At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Although it wasn't a—"

Mr. Clarke was interrupted by the door being slammed open by Dustin Henderson who immediately apologized, sounding very out of breath.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke. Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class," he panted.

Challan looked at Mr. Clarke expectantly, but Dustin continued speaking, all other eyes on him. "Really, continue, please. Thanks."

"Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said," Mr. Clarke continued and Challan went back to writing her notes.

Challan hadn't noticed Dustin turning to the back where she and Max were sitting. He whispered something loudly to Max, who was the only one looking his way, Challan too busy writing something into her notebook.

"What's he saying?" Max whispered to Challan. The black-haired girl looked over at the redhead.

"Huh? Who?" She whispered back.

"Dustin," Mr. Clarke's voice interrupted their conversation, and also inadvertently answered her question. The two turned to the front.

"Yes, my lord?" Dustin remarked with a hint of a British accent as he turned back to Mr. Clarke.

"Would you care to join the class now?" Mr. Clarke questioned in annoyance.

"Please, yes," Dustin replied, pointing up at the man.

"The case of Phineas Gage."

"Phineas Gage," Dustin repeated.

"Page 104."

" 104. 104." Dustin pulled the textbook from his backpack.

"Focus."

"Focusing. Focusing."

The curly-haired boy turned back to the two, his eyes looking between them as he whispered again, "AV Club."

Max sent him a sarcastic thumbs up whilst Challan nodded with uncertainty. Why did he want them to meet him in the AV Club? Where even was the AV Club? Dustin sent the girls a thumbs up with a large smile and then turned back to face the front.

The two girls looked at each other before shrugging. Neither of them knew what this was about. But for Challan, being included for once felt really good. She had a good feeling about this.

••••

"You know, you're pretty short for a dancer," Max said as the two girls walked aimlessly in search of the AV Club room. Neither girl had ever been there before though Max was new so it was understandable. Challan didn't participate in extracurricular activities, which is why she had no clue as to where she was going.

"What?" Challan asked perplexed.

Max chuckled, "It's just, aren't ballet dancers usually taller than you are. At least, that's what I assumed. I've never actually met a dancer before." She watched Challan's face carefully, ready to apologize in case she offended the girl.

"I guess you're right," Challan said with a shrug. Ballet dancers weren't all necessarily tall, but Challan was uncharacteristically short for her age a whopping 4 feet 7 inches. Another thing people would use to make fun of her but Challan didn't really care about her height. Her parents and doctor said that she was still growing, so she wasn't too concerned about her height at the moment.

"Well that just makes you unique, tiny dancer," Max grinned.

"'Tiny dancer'? Like the Elton John song?" Challan raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no. Like you're short but also a dancer," Max explained, "You listen to Elton John?"

"My dad likes him," Challan replied with a nod.

"Is Tiny Dancer your favorite song of his?" Max raised a questioning eyebrow.

Challan bit her lip, beginning to feel embarrassed, "Of his? Probably. And before you ask, it's not my all-time favorite song."

"What's your favorite song then?" Max asked.

The shorter girl shrugged, "I don't think I have one. You?"

Max shrugged too, "Hard to say. I like a lot of songs. But maybe Heart Of Glass by Blondie." Challan made a mental note of that as she nodded her head.

"We should get together and play each other songs we like. I need to make sure you have a good taste in music before this friendship can go further," Max then proposed.

Challan laughed lightly, "Okay then. Let's do it. You can play me Heart Of Glass."

"You don't know Heart Of Glass?" Max asked incredulously and Challan shook her head 'no.'

"Okay, I'm definitely playing it for you sometime. And while we're at it, you gotta tell me more about this ballet stuff. I'm intrigued," Max smiled.

"Only if you tell me more about skateboarding. I am also intrigued."

"Deal. I can even teach you how to ride if you ever feel up to it," Max confirmed.

"I think I'll probably sit out on that one. I'm too clumsy and will definitely fall off and break something," Challan shook her head.

"Okay little miss dramatic," Max teasingly rolled her eyes. "Wait, how are you clumsy and a ballerina?"

Challan shrugged as she continued scanning the doors for any indication of the AV Club room, "One of my many mysteries I suppose." Max smiled, looking down at the ground to conceal it. She found herself smiling a lot around the girl.

The two continued looking around for the AV Club room, finally finding it and opening the door. As soon as the two entered, Mike scowled. "What are they doing here?" He questioned, looking between his friends.

"I invited them," Dustin said, beckoning them over. Mike rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and sulking. Challan became uncomfortable with his unwelcoming attitude. Clearly, she wouldn't be making friends with everyone in this friend group. Although after what he said to her on Halloween, she wasn't sure she wanted to be his friend anyway.

The two girls stood around the table with the four boys and Dustin gave them a brief rundown on what was going on. Dustin then pulled out the box he used for his Ghost Busters costume and set it in the center of the table. The group looked around at each other as Dustin opened the box. They all leaned forward to peer inside of it.

Challan wasn't sure what she was looking at but she was sure that it looked repulsive. It was a slimy-looking multicolored creature with a tail. It slithered about in the box and chittered. The sound made Challan's face scrunch up. She had never seen anything like it and would like to go back to a time when she didn't know that thing even existed. Max had a matching look of disgust on her face.

"His name is d'Artagnan," Dustin spoke, pulling the creature out of the box and cradling it in his hands. "Cute, right?" Dustin looked at Max.

"Not at all," Challan blurted without thinking and Max snickered. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that... out loud," she muttered.

"D'Artagnan?" Mike asked, drawing attention away from her.

"Dart for short," Dustin replied as the creature continued chittering.

"And he was in your trash?" Max asked for further clarification.

"Foraging for food," Dustin confirmed looking up at the redhead. "You wanna hold him?"

Max immediately shook her head, "No, no."

Dustin didn't listen though, "He doesn't bite."

"I don't want to—"

"Don't worry, don't worry." Dustin shoved Dart into Max's hands.

"Oh, God, he's slimy!" Max said, handing it off to an unsuspecting Challan who almost dropped it. She honestly wanted to.

"Ew, ew, ew!" Challan gave it to Lucas.

"Ugh, he's like a living booger," Lucas said, giving the creature to Will.

"Ugh, oh, God!" Will quickly gave it to Mike who held it up to his face and inspected it further.

"What is he?" Mike asked, the only one besides Dustin who wasn't grossed out by the creature.

"My question exactly," Dustin replied before digging into his backpack and pulling out some books. He placed them on the table. "At first, I thought it was some type of pollywog."

"Pollywog?" Max inquired.

"It's another word for tadpole," he answered and she nodded. "A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad—" he continued to explain further until Max interrupted him.

"I know what a tadpole is."

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

"Yeah, but aren't there nonaquatic pollywogs?" Lucas asked. How do they know these things? Challan was a smart girl, having acquired a lot of knowledge through reading with all of her free time. With that being said, she didn't know everything and she certainly didn't know why anyone would know things about pollywogs.

"Terrestrial pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact," Dustin replied, turning to the first page that he had bookmarked with a sticky note, "Indirana semipalmata." He opened another book to the bookmarked page, "And the Adenomera andreae. One's from India, one's from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?"

"Maybe some scientists brought it here, and it escaped?" Max reasoned. It was possible. But what scientists would come to Hawkins of all places?

"Do you guys see that? Looks like something is moving inside of it," Mike said. They all leaned forward to take a look. He was right, it definitely looked like something was moving inside of it. Challan leaned away from the creature. This was getting creepy.

Mike brought a lamp over Dart to get a better look at it. Dart looked up and screeched, causing them to jump. Dart quickly moved away from the light, almost falling off of the table before Dustin caught the creature.

"It's okay. I got you, little guy. I know you don't like that. It's okay," he smiled down at Dart. He looked up at them, "And there's another thing. Reptiles, they're cold-blooded. Ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun. Dart hates it. It hurts him."

"So, if he's not a pollywog or a reptile..." Lucas began.

"Then I've discovered a new species," Dustin finished.

"Or maybe it's just a different type pollywog or reptile. Like one believed to have gone extinct or something," Challan proposed, speaking for the first time in a while.

Dustin's face fell slightly, "Hmm, I didn't think about that."

"But, it would still be cool if you rediscovered a species believed to be extinct," Challan tried to cheer him up. He nodded his head, a grin taking over his face again. Suddenly, the bell rang, startling them for a moment before they quickly gathered their things. Challan picked up her backpack from the floor and exited the AV Club room, Max moving to walk beside her.

"We gotta show him to Mr. Clarke," Lucas was saying.

"No. What if he steals my discovery?" Dustin countered.

"He's not gonna steal your discovery," Mike vocalized as if the idea was incredulous.

"You know, I'm thinking about calling it Dustonious pollywogus. What do you think?" Dustin said, looking over at Max with a smile. Max walked next to him on her other side.

"I think you're an idiot," Max replied with a grin.

"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 to her, and Challan laughed lightly. He smiled over at Challan and they continued on their way to their next classes.

••••

After the final bell had rung, Challan, Max, Lucas, and Dustin met up in the hallway as they made their way to Mr. Clarke's classroom. They entered the classroom, greeting the man before Dustin got down to business, not even waiting for Will and Mike to show up.

He placed the trap on Mr. Clarke's desk, "This is the reason I was late for class."

Mr. Clarke examined the contraption, "Pretty neat. These doors function?"

"Well, yeah, obviously. But it's not about the trap. It's what's inside. Now, this very well may change your perception of the world," Dustin said.

Max gave Challan a look, the shorter girl giggling.

"Consider my interest piqued," Mr. Clarke smiled.

"All right, first, let's just clarify that... this is my discovery, not yours," Dustin voiced.

"Dustin, Jesus! Just show him!" Lucas exclaimed.

"I'm just trying to clarify—"

"Dustin!" Max pressed.

"Okay, fine." The door to the classroom was thrown open and Mike and Will ran through.

"Stop!" Mike called, the five turning to him.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Clarke. It was just a stupid prank," Mike looked up at the man, grabbing the box containing Dart. Challan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dustin exclaimed.

"I told him to stop. We need to go. Right now," Mike continued, backing out of the classroom.

"Mike?" Dustin questioned.

"Right now!" Mike shouted, making Challan jump.

They all ran after the Wheeler boy, confused as to what was happening. He ran to the AV Club room, opening the door for his friends and standing in front of the entrance when Challan and Max were about to enter. He eyed them before slamming the door shut in their faces and locking it with a resounding click.

"What the hell? Let us in?" Max yelled, twisting the doorknob before beginning to knock on the door. She was ignored.

Challan sighed, "He really doesn't like us."

"Yeah, and it's bullshit! We didn't even do anything wrong!" Max replied, turning back to the door and knocking harder.

Challan couldn't hear what they were saying. "Maybe we should just go," she suggested.

Max didn't respond to her and began to bang on the door, "Hello? Hello? Guys, come on. Can we come in yet?"

"No!" Mike yelled back. She hit the door with the side of her fist, turning away from it.

"What do you think they're saying?" Max asked, looking at where Challan was sitting on the ground.

Challan shrugged, "I don't know. Probably something stupid and boyish." Max smiled at that and sat down on her skateboard on the other side of the door. She then leaned her ear on the door again to try to hear what was being said. She could hear muffled voices but couldn't make out the words being said. When the room went completely silent, Max banged on the door again.

"Guys, what's going on? Come on," she said, only to be met with silence.

Challan tapped her fingers together in boredom. "This sucks," she muttered. She watched a lot of movies and tv shows and none of the friendships she had seen in them was like this. This felt one-sided. Like she and Max (mainly Max) were trying so hard to befriend the boys and they were giving nothing in return.

"Yeah," Max agreed with a huff. An idea popped into Mayfield girl's head and she unzipped her backpack. She pulled a paperclip off of a folder and unwound it, moving over to the door's lock.

"What are you doing?" Challan asked, sitting up straighter.

"Picking the lock," Max stated, sticking the paperclip in the lock and beginning to wiggle it around.

Challan grew anxious, "Isn't this illegal?"

"Definitely. But they shouldn't have locked us out," Max replied. She continued to maneuver the paperclip around in the lock. Challan looked around the hallway, making sure that no one was coming.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Challan was anxious, she didn't typically do things that she wasn't supposed to. She was a rule follower, she had to be. Following the rules was the best way to not be noticed. To fade into the background. And she had to do as much as she could to not draw attention to herself. She had enough attention on her as is.

Max said nothing, her attention still on the lock. Challan leaned forward again to scan the hallway. She then stood up, moving to stand behind Max in an attempt to block her from any potential passerby's view. Max turned to look at her briefly, wondering what she was doing. Once she realized, she turned back to the lock, a small grin coming onto her face. They were almost like partners in crime.

Max finally got the door unlocked and twisted the knob before pushing it open. The two girl's eyes looked down when they heard a sound. A creature was running towards the door and Challan stumbled back slightly as it rushed out of the room. "What the..." Max spoke.

"Oh shit!" Mike exclaimed. The boys ran to the door. Dustin slammed into Max who was still on the floor. Max's back pushed into Challan's legs and the three tumbled onto the floor. Challan gasped in surprise and pain, her legs being pinned underneath the two's bodies.

"Ow, get off!" She cried, attempting to push them off. Max shoved Dustin off of herself before quickly scrambling off of Challan, eyes widening in concern as she looked down at the smaller girl.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Does it hurt anywhere?" She asked quickly. Challan was a dancer and couldn't afford an injury. Especially one to her legs. Challan was frozen for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she affirmed. The pain in her legs and back was slowly beginning to subside.

"Are you sure?" Max wasn't convinced. She would hate to be part of the reason Challan was injured and unable to dance, even if it technically wasn't her fault.

"I'm sure," Challan smiled at the girl. Max helped her to her feet.

Max then turned to boys who were frantic. "What was that?" The redhead asked.

"Dart!" Mike replied.

"What?" The two girls questioned. That thing looked bigger than Dart had. And it had legs.

"You let him escape!" Mike declared, eyes on Max.

"Why did you attack him?" Dustin shouted, pushing Mike angrily.

Mike pushed him off, "Come on." He ran off after Dart.

"Don't hurt him. Don't you hurt him!" Dustin shouted after his friend.

••••

A little bit of a longer chapter but I couldn't shorten it anymore. I hope you all enjoyed. Please vote, comment, and support, it gives me the motivation to actually write.