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After a summer spent in a hospital, Tina Bowman was ready for school. For something normal. For something that didn't aggravate the newly healed scars on her arm.
When walking into her 3rd Grade classroon, she made sure to keep looking ahead. To not draw attention to herself, to her arm. To make sure the sleeve didn't roll up, and reveal the marks beneath.
It wasn't like she was ashamed of them, but everytime someone saw the scars they'd peater her about it until she explained what had happened. It had been fine the first time, but repeating herself over and over so many times got boring. It was better just to hide it, out of sight, out if mind.
Her classmates were still the same, with only a few, small changes. Some had new haircuts, a few with new clothes, but not much changed.
Most. One had definitely changed.
Lex, a small blonde girl who had an affinity for baseball, was way quieter than she had been the year before. Her and Tina weren't close, but Lex knew everybody, so it was obvious when she became more withdrawn.
She didn't play baseball at recess anymore, preferring to stick by herself, or with her older brother when given the chance. Lex didn't participate much in class anymore, a far cry from the girl who'd blurt out what was on her mind even if the teacher didn't call on her. Tina could only imagine as to why the sudden change occured, but didn't pay it anymind for the first part of school.
Then, Ms. Scott paired them together for a science project. To make a presentation about lizards, and show it to the class. If Tina had her way, she'd talk about literally anything else. She'd had her fill of lizards.
Lex seemed to be thinking the same thing, but they wre both resigned to their fate. The two girls regarded eachother. Lex, despite not playing baseball anymore, still was dressed for sport and had her hair tied back. Tina on the otherhand, was dressed in longsleeves, the only one out of the two prepared for the chilly fall weather.
They sat and pondered what lizard they should choose. Chameleons were already chosen by some other group, and komodo dragons were the example, so they were off the table. Tina sighed.
"We could do the lizard that bit me this summer." She sighed, and rolled up part of her sleeve, exposing some of the small bite marks. Lex watched her with newfound interest.
"You were bit?" She asked. Tina nodded. Lex looked at her oddly.
"Didn't you say you were going go Costa Rica over the summer?" She asked. Tina blinked, shocked Lex had even remembered that. "Yeah."
"What lizard was it?" Lex asked. Tina shrugged.
"I dunno. Some weird one that the doctor didn't recognize. Said I drew it wrong." Tina huffed. "I didn't, by the way."
Lex tilted her head, her hair smishing as she did so. "Can you draw it?"
Tina shrugged, grabbed some pencil crayons, and started drawing the odd lizard. It was small, chicken sized, and stood on its hind legs. It had a long neck, a thick tail, and three toes on each foot. The doctor at the hospital that treated her said it shouldn't have three toes, but Tina knew what she saw. She wouldn't have gotten that detail wrong. When the drawing was done, she passed it over to Lex.
Lex studied the drawing, with a look of realization in her eyes. "This is a compy."
"A what?"
"A compy, Tina. A dinosaur." Lex whispered the last part, and Tina blinked at her.
"A dinosaur?" She asked. "Aren't they all bones now?"
Lex shrugged. "They were, but my Grandpa brought them back."
Tina stared at her, dumbfounded. She was no scientist, being only in elementary school, but even she didn't think that was how that worked. She eyed Lex warily.
"Don't joke like that." Tina said, grabbing the drawing back and turning slightly away from Lex. The other girl crossed her arms and glowered at Tina.
"I'm not!" Lex whined. "I'm serious! I saw them! They are in one of my brothers books, too! You can check if you don't believe me."
Tina sighed. "I'll look, but you better not be joking with me."
~~~~~
After school, Tina walked with Lex and Tim, her brother, to their house, rather than going back home. Tim let them inside.
The two girls scrambled up the stairs towards Tim's room. Tim, already aware of what they were planning due to Lex's surprising amount of chatter, raced after them.
"Wait! Don't go in without me there!" He cried. Lex ignored him, yanking his door open and pulling Tina in along with her. She began ruffling through Tim's mountains of books. Tina picked one up and began flipping through it, studying the images within.
"I don't think it was a dinosaur," She said, pausing on a page with a triceratops on it. "It's not in the book."
"That's cause you have a book on herbivores," Lex explained, flipping quickly through the pages of her second book. "Compy's eat meat."
Tim finally reached them in his room. He glared at Lex.
"I told you to wait."
"I didn't hear you."
"Yes you did! Little lyin-" Tim didn't have time to finish his sentance before Lex was pushing him out of the way and shoving a page in Tina's face. "Is this it?"
Tina stared at the dinosaur on the page, and felt her heart stop. It was almost identical to the lizard on that Costa Rican beach. Had the same stripes, the same footprints, the same colours. Tina nodded, not able to form any words.
Tim grabbed the book from his sister, and sighed. "Sorry about that."
Tina shrugged, still processing. She glanced at the sibling duo.
"You've seen these?" She asked, breathless. "In real life?"
Tim nodded grimly, "A whole island full of dinosaurs, in Costa Rica."
Tina nodded. She felt strangely calm about the whole ordeal. A dinosaur island was crazy, but where else could that lizard have come from?
Lex grabbed her hand, and turned to Tim. "I'm hungry."
Tim gave her a startled look at the change of conversation, but Tina laughed. She wanted a change of topic. They made their way downstairs, and Tina was grateful that someone else understood. That someone else believed her.