Chapter Three
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Dustin's New Pet

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            Dustin wanted to keep the slug they had found, and pleaded to Olivia if he could keep it. Olivia denied at first, but finally gave in when he wouldn't stop pleading. So, not wanting to explain it to their mother, Olivia slowly crept into their house first to see if she was asleep yet. When she thought the coast was clear, she gestured to Dustin that it was okay. However, after a few steps, Claudia Henderson had saw them, her chirpy voice stopping the siblings in their tracks.

            "Livy? Dusty?" Their mother called. Dustin sighed, not wanting to face her right now. "How was it?"

            "How was what?" The siblings chorused.

            "How was what? The greatest night of the year of course," Claudia exclaimed with a laugh. Just then Mews slipped her way towards Olivia and curled up on her feet. Olivia picked her up and Mews nudged her head on Olivia's shoulder. Olivia cooed at her beloved cat.

             "Oh yeah," Dustin stuttered. "It was uh, tubular. Right, Liv?"

             "Uh yeah... totally, tubular?" Olivia said slowly, not knowing what the word tubular meant. Claudia frowned at her children's offbeat behavior. Olivia grimaced, knowing fully well that her mother could sense something was up.

              "What's wrong with you guys?" Claudia queried after an awkward pause.

            "Nothing," They said in unison, again.

             Their mother's face softened, her motherly instincts starting to kick in. "Did something happen?"

             "No. What? No." Dustin denied quickly.

            Claudia studied them with concern. "Dusty, are you constipated again? Livy, did you faint honey?"

            Olivia winced at the subject that was brought up, she certainly didn't want to get into that again.

            Dustin cringed. "No, mom!"

            "Okay, the both of you are acting weird." Claudia spoke worriedly.

             "We are not acting weird!" Dustin's cage started to rattle, making Claudia jump backwards. Mews hissed and started to squirm in Olivia's arms. Dustin looked up at Olivia for help.

             "Awesome, right?" Olivia chirped before kissing Mews on the forehead and putting her down. "You see mom, he rigged the trap with a motor, to make it looks like he caught a monster just like the movie." She gestured towards the cage with a grin. "He's a little genius, right mom?"

            Claudia laughed nervously, as Olivia just went along with it. Dustin nudged her shoulder when she didn't stop laughing.

             "Alright, well, I'm beet, you know," She stretched her arms and gave a fake yawn. "Good night mom, love you," She kissed her mom on the cheek but as her and Dustin started to rush to their rooms, Claudia stopped them again.

            "Wait! Who's jacket is that?" Claudia tilted her head at the oversized piece of clothing that was swallowing her petite daughter.

            "Uh, Jonathan's," Olivia lied. "I was cold and he offered it— I forgot to give it back."

            Claudia put her hands on her hips in defeat. "Alright," She said slowly. "Goodnight, I guess." Before Claudia could interrogate them anymore, the two siblings rushed to Dustin's room.

            Dustin carefully placed the slug in the tank he already had from his turtle. He broke off a few pieces of Nougat and fed it to the unusual creature.

             "What is that thing?" Olivia hissed. She was completely grossed out by it, and wondered why Dustin wanted to keep it. He started talking to it as if it were some cute animal.

            "I don't know," Dustin shrugged. "He's pretty cute though, isn't he?"

            "Yeah sure, I guess..." She trailed off, looking closer at it. "He's cute for being an alien slug."

             "Alien slug, really?" Dustin arched his eyebrows while smiling sweetly at the strange creature, as if it were a cute puppy. "I'm glad I found you," He cooed. "D'artagnan," He said, glancing at the abandoned candy wrapper. "I'm gonna call you D'artagnan."

           Olivia shook her head disapprovingly. "Alright, you can keep him, but if mom finds about this, your explaining it to her, got it?"

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            Olivia fiddled with the ends of her cream sweater, a habit she often did when she was nervous. She was hoping she their mom wouldn't find out about Dart. She was currently leaning against her car at the middle school to pick Dustin up. However, she become a little impatient after waiting for half an hour when he wasn't showing up. Loosing her patience, she decided to just go into the school to get him. After lurking hallways and an awkward encounter from her old science teacher, Mr. Clarke, she spotted Max, sitting in front of the AV club door.

            "Oh, hi Max," Olivia greeted kindly. "Are the boys in there?"

           "Yeah, and they won't let me in," She replied, a little irritated.

            "I'm sorry, I know Dustin and his friends can be idiots sometimes." Olivia said, which made Max giggle. "Do you have a paper clip by any chance?" Olivia asked. Max nodded and got one out of her backpack.

            "Thank you," She started undoing the paper clip. She put it in the lock, and she smiled once she heard the door click.

             "That's awesome," Max said, amazed.

            As soon as she was able to open the door, the creature her and Dustin found was crawling out of the room. All the boys started to run out of the room, accidentally shoving Max to the floor.

            "Where did he go?" Mike asked Olivia, looking around with panic.

            "What was that?" Max asked as Olivia helped her get up.

              "Dart!" Mike replied with annoyance in his tone. "You let him escape!"

              "Mike, really? It's not her fault." Olivia spoke, disappointed at how the boys were treating Max. Mike ignored her, running the direction Dart had gone.

              "Don't hurt him! Don't you hurt him!" Dustin screamed. "Liv, will you please help me find him?" He pleaded.

                Olivia folded her arms and sighed, not wanting to get into this mess. "Fine," She mumbled.

              "Do you have your walkie talkie on you?" Dustin asked.

            "Olivia nodded. "Yeah, why?"

            "Splitting up will make it easier to find him. I'll go this way, and you go with Max that way, okay? If you find him, just tell me through your walkie."

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            "Why do you hang out with these guys so much?" Max asked curiously as they searched for Dart through the hallways. "I mean, your obviously way cooler than them."

            Olivia chuckled at the girls comment. "You know, they're pretty cool once you get to know them. I'm sorry about Mike being a jerk. He... lost someone one close to him last year, and hasn't been the same since." She tried to explain it to her without explaining everything. She knew it wasn't her place to tell. "And I'm not just saying this because I'm Dustin's sister, but he's really the sweetest kid I know."

            "You know, Dustin's pretty lucky to have a sister like you." The red headed replied. "I've never had someone in my life that I could really look up to."

              Olivia's face softened at the girl. "Well, you have me now." Max looked at her with a small smile.

            "Guys, I found him," Will spoke through the walkie talkie, startling the two girls. "In the bathroom... by Mr. Salerno's."

             Everyone shuffled into the bathroom. "Where's Dart?" Mike asked.

             "I don't know. Not here." Dustin replied. Olivia knew her brother better than anyone and knew that he was lying. The siblings kind of knew how to read each other's minds, so when Olivia looked at him with raised eyebrows, Dustin gave her a pleading look.

            "What?" Mike panicked and started to check every stall.

            "He said by Salerno's, right?" Max questioned.

             "Yeah, maybe Will has him." Dustin shrugged.

            "Where is Will?" Olivia asked, noticing the Byers boy wasn't there.

            "Seriously, guys? I thought one of you guys was with him. He can't be alone," Frustrated with them, she ran out of the bathroom to go search him.

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            Olivia finally found Will outside on the field. However, he was in some kind of a trance. She tried to shake him out of it, but it wasn't working.

            "Will? Will, it's me, Liv. Can you hear me?" She cried out, not knowing what else to do. Lucas came running up to her. "Liv, what happened?"

             "I-I don't know. But go get the others Lucas, fast." She instructed him. He nodded and ran back into the school. She sighed of relief when see saw Joyce walking out with the others. "What happened?"

            "I just found him like this," Olivia said worriedly. "I think he's having another episode."

            "Will? Will! Will! Sweetie wake up. It's mom. Can you hear me? It's me."