With six of us working together, we were able to make her bathroom look practically spotless within a little over an hour and a half. As expected, Richie threw a fit the moment we walked down the steps of Bev's apartment. He was exaggerating about how he could have practically died of boredom while he was waiting for us. Stan had looked at him as if he was going to say something, but he didn't. I wish he did, I love his little comments. We had no destination in mind the moment we started riding away from Bev's apartment. We just knew that we wanted to be as far away from that place as possible.

As we rode down the street, Richie was the only one talking. Everyone else looked like they were lost in their own thoughts. Were they all thinking about what we just had to clean up? Were they thinking about what Bev told us what happened? Were they thinking about both? Whatever it is, everyone seemed distant. I, however, kept thinking about how I could talk to Richie about what happened last night. I felt like I owed him an explanation, and I just needed there to be a perfect time to give it. But with my lack of sleep working against me, Richie's lucky I don't knock him off his bike. He really doesn't know when to stop talking. "I mean, could you guys have gone any slower? I swear Eddie's mom runs faster than the way you guys took." Richie laughed, as he continued to ride around the group of us.

"Richie, I mean this in the nicest way possible– I really do, but please for the love of God...stop talking." I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

He came to a stop in front of the group, making the rest of us come to a stop in the middle of the street. "It's not my fault you guys are traumatized from cleaning up a bathroom that went all Eddie's-mom's-vagina on Halloween!"

"She didn't imagine it," Bill said, looking at Richie. "I suh-suh-saw something too."

"You saw blood too?" Stan asked, looking a bit nervous.

"No, not blood. G-Geor-Georgie, I saw Georgie." Bill gulped, looking down at his bike.

It was the first time I had heard of the name or thought of that poster that smacked me in the face when we first moved into town. Nobody really talked about him anymore and it was really sad. He was only six-years-old and already forgotten. "Maybe you were dreaming? Could it have been a bad dream or something?" I asked, looking a little concerned.

"It seemed so real. I mean it seemed like him but there was this..."

"Clown," Eddie filled in, looking up at Bill. "yeah, I saw it too."

We knew Bev had the sink experience, and both Stan and Ben nodded in agreement with Bill and Eddie...which only left Richie and I. The rest of the group looked at us and I looked at Richie who looked unbothered. "Wait, can only virgins see this stuff? Is that why I have not seen this shit?"

I rolled my eyes and looked at my friends. "Contrary to Richie's comment, I haven't seen anything either. I mean...is it possible that you guys just, I don't know– imagined it?"

Before any of them could answer, a scream came from the woods next to us. We all looked over, only to see a bike lying in the road and Belch's car next to it. "Oh shit, that's Belch Huggins's car," Eddie said, looking at all of us. "We should probably get out of here."

"Wait, isn't that the homeschool kid's bike?" Bill asked, pointing at it.

"Yeah, that's Mike's," Eddie said, beginning to turn his bike around to leave.

"We have to help him," Bev replied, looking at all of us.

Richie looked at her with raised eyebrows. "We should?"

"Yes!" Bev said, dropping her bike and walking off.

I looked at the rest of the group and dropped my bike. "I don't know him personally, but if I was being harassed by Henry Bowers and his goons, I'd want someone to help me too."

One by one, they all began to put their bikes down and join me to follow Bev into the woods to find Mike and the Bowers gang. When we came to an opening in the woods where a small stream separated us from the Bowers gang. They had Mike on the ground and Henry Bowers was leaning over him, holding a huge rock in his hand. Bev looked down and picked up an equally as big rock and chucked it over at the group, nailing Henry on the side of the head and knocking him to the ground. Stan was trying to catch his breath as he looked at her. "Nice throw."

"I'll say," I replied, just as impressed as Bev handed me a rock and the rest of the group picked the ones up by our feet.

Mike ran away from the group of boys and practically crawled his way over to us, Stan and I meeting him at the edge of the water to help him up. Vic and Belch helped Henry stand back up and they immediately faced us. "You losers are trying too hard," Henry laughed as he walked towards the edge of their side. "she'll do you, you just have to ask nicely like I did." He grabbed his crotch and smirked over at Bev.

I looked at my friend who kept a blank expression on her face, but her eyes read something else. I looked over at Henry. "What are you trying to hide Henry? I mean, there's got to be a reason why you lie about sleeping with girls. Are you compensating for something? Or is it that the only action you've got is with the right hand of yours?"

I could hear quiet stifled laughter from my friends behind me, which made me feel a lot more confident in what I had said. Henry's eyes narrowed and he scoffed. "Don't think Vic didn't tell us about your little get together in the school library," I looked over at Vic who was rocking on his heels and biting the inside of his cheek. "so you're pretty good with your mouth, maybe we should be project partners next year."

I knew what he was talking about. Vic and I had been partnered for a presentation in class which required spending parts of class time in the school library looking for information. That's when I found out there was a different side to Vic. He was smart and nice, but around the other two...he was completely the opposite. Before I could say a reply, a rock flew across the stream, causing the three boys to duck. "RAHHHH!"

I looked behind me to see Ben standing there with another rock in his hand as Eddie chucked one over too, his face red. "Thanks.." I said, catching his attention.

"You're my cousin," Eddie replied, breathing heavy as we all braced ourselves for retaliation.

"ROCK WAR!!!" Richie screamed, only to get knocked in the head with a rock thrown by Belch.

I crouched low and crawled over to him as our friends threw the rocks. His head wasn't bleeding, but he did have a huge red bump. "Richie, are you okay?" I asked, trying to get a good look at his head.

"I'm fine." He said, brushing me off and backing away to stand himself up.

A rock landed beside me and I grabbed it, standing up and making my way back to my friends. I grabbed two more by my feet, throwing one of them at Henry, but missing him by a few inches. I threw the next one, this time aiming nowhere and hit Belch in the arm. "FUCKER!!"

I could feel the adrenaline begin to pump through my veins as rocks flew from both sides. I felt on top of the world and had a routine. throw. duck. throw. dodge. duck. dodge. throw again. I was fighting the three people who seemed to make our lives a living hell– side by side with my friends. Not to mention I'd never seen Eddie go as berserk as he was. He was like a wild banshee. When I came up from picking up two more rocks, a rock nailed me in the head and I was almost knocked back onto the ground. 

The rocks fell out of my grasp and I brought a hand up to where the rock hit me, bringing it back down to see my fingers covered in blood. I looked over in the direction of where the rock came from and saw Vic who looked like he was immediately sorry. "I'm bleeding-" I turned to my right to see Stan who's eyes widened once he looked at my head. "Stan, I'm bleeding."

The blood began to drip from my forehead and onto my clothes and the ground. Stan grabbed my other arm, pulling me off to the side. I turned to look at my friends to see Eddie already looking at me, his face twisting in anger. He picked up more rocks and started throwing them like rapid fire. "DON'T YOU," he picked up two more rocks, FUCK WITH," he pushed his way to the edge and into the water. "MY COUSIN!!!!!"

Suddenly it was like the tables turned because Vic and Belch were backing away from the edge and no longer throwing rocks. Bill threw a rock, hitting Henry on his upper neck and both Vic and Belch bolted when they realized we weren't giving up. Stan stood in front of me as we watched Henry slowly stand himself up, looking at us all as if he literally wanted to kill us. One by one, we started to leave until it was just Richie standing there alone. "GO BLOW YOUR DAD, YOU MULLET WEARING ASSHOLE!!" He yelled, flipping Henry off before running after us.

We didn't see what Henry did or where he went afterward. Instead, we walked back out to get all of our bikes out of the street and walking back into the woods. We placed them just on a hill beneath the main train track that ran through Derry before walking down the hill in a line. Eddie had taken out a small gauze pad from his fanny pack and handed it to me so I could hold it against my cut. It was already soaked. "Thanks, guys, for what you did– but you shouldn't have done it. Now he'll be after you too."

Eddie snorted and looked at him. "Bowers? He's always after us, we're used to it by now."

"Yeah, he's nothing big," I replied, turning back and smiling at Mike.

"I guess that's one thing we all have in common." Bill sighed.

"Yeah homeschool, welcome to the losers club!" Richie retorted, staying at the end of our line.

"The losers club...." I said as we came to a stop at the end of the hill and looking at them all. "I like that."

"Yeah, me too." Ben smiled.

We sat down together on a grassy area, Eddie immediately opening his fanny-pack and trying to work on my cut. Everyone was quiet, trying to process really what we had done. I mean, we literally just beat down on the three bullies of the town and we won. Did that mean we'd have hell coming back to bite us in the ass? Probably, and I think that's what everyone is worried about. Bev started to ask Mike some questions, just to get to know him a bit. About his family, why he was homeschooled, how his summer was– really general ones. He spoke as if he was four years older than he really was, he was mature...yet quiet. I couldn't help but feel like he would fit in with our friend group really well. 

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm gonna need to unwind myself for a while if you know what I mean." Richie joked, holding his hand out to Stan for a high-five...but receiving a dirty look instead.

I scoffed and shook my head. "Are you kidding me?" I mumbled under my breath, why was he always so crude?

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Richie asked, turning towards me. "Was it an apology for, oh I don't know, leaving me out in the middle of the woods last night?!" My eyes went wide when I realized what he was talking about. "There's a killer out there somewhere! Are you out of your fucking mind? I mean look at me, I'm adorable– someone WILL take me!"

Everyone was as shocked as I was. They were probably more shocked at the fact that Richie and I hung out together...just us two. It was like they were watching a ping-pong match. "I'm sorry..." Eddie said, leaning away from me, holding a bloody gauze in his hand. "what happened exactly?"

"She left me....in the woods....by myself at NIGHT!" Richie said, throwing his arms into the air.

An eerie silence settled over the group and I kept my eyes on Eddie. He stood up and dropped the gauze to the ground, staring at Richie. "OKAY FIRST I HAD TO CLEAN UP A BLOODY MURDER SCENE WHERE GOD KNOWS WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED THERE AND HOW MUCH BACTERIA AND DISEASE I WAS EXPOSED TO-" He took a breath and turned to Bev. "no offense Beverly," he turned back to Richie, his original demeanor returning. "BUT NOW YOU TWO ARE HANGING OUT?!?!" He reached into his open fanny-pack and took out his inhaler, taking two puffs.

"Eddie...calm down," I said, worried that he might actually do something incredibly crazy.

He turned towards me and pointed his inhaler at me as if he was going to spray me with it. "NO! I CANNOT BE RELATED TO HIM!" He turned back to Richie. "I TOLD YOU WHAT WOULD FUCKING HAPPEN RICHIE. I FUCKING TOLD YOU!"

"WELL, YOU WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT BECAUSE YOUR COUSIN IS FUCKING CRAZY!" Richie yelled back, pointing at me.

"Richie..." Bill said, standing up from his spot on the ground.

"I MEAN SHE'S RELATED TO YOU SO THERE'S OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING WRONG WITH HER! SHE'S GOTTA BE FUCKING BI-POLAR OR SOMETHING."

I stared at him in disbelief. I mean, I expected him to be upset about leaving him behind...but this was really hurtful. I should be feeling angry at how he was yelling at me and calling me names, but I couldn't be. All I felt was sadness. I stealthily wiped my eyes before the tears reached my cheeks and sniffled, looking back at the group. "Richie, yuh-you need t-to calm down."

"I'm going home." He said, walking over to his bike, picking it up and leaving.

As he rode away, the rest of us sat there– once again engulfed by the silence. Only this time, it was because of me. I cleared my throat and stood up. "I think I'm gonna go home."

"Yeah, maybe we should all go home. It's almost time for dinner." Stan said, standing up as well.

Everyone came to a silent agreement and we all got on our bikes and rode back down the road in silence. When it was time to split up, I noticed Bill was still riding along with me. We didn't talk, I think he knew I didn't want to. We just enjoyed each other's company and that was enough. When we came up to my house, Bill walked up to my front yard with me. "Thanks.." I said, looking down at my feet and kicking the ground. "for walking me home and for the Richie thing."

"It's n-no problem. Richie is just..."

"I know," I replied, giving him a small smile. The front door opened and Bill and I looked to see my mom walking out. "Hi, mom."

She looked up from her purse and widened her eyes. "Danielle Faye Merritt, what happened to you?!" She said, running over.

I looked over at Bill and gave him a 'please don't tell her the truth' look. She grabbed my chin and turned my head to her, tilting it so she could see my cut better. "She fuh-fell off her bike. We were all ruh-riding in the woods."

She sighed and examined my forehead. "Eddie cleaned it up a bit..."

She dropped her hand from my chin and dug into her purse for the car keys. "We're going to the hospital. We need to check if you need stitches or note." She unlocked the car and looked over at Bill. "Thank you for walking her home Bill, would you like me to drop you off at your house?"

"N-no, ma'am. I live juh-just around the corner." He replied, smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow Dani."

"Bye Bill, thanks again," I replied, giving him a sincere nod as he rode away on his bike.

"Come on, let's go." She said, nodding at the passenger seat and getting into the car.

I sighed and walked around the car, opening the door and getting in. "I'm fine mom. I don't think I'm concussed and I don't think I need stitches."

"Well we're going just in case, so suck it up." She replied, pulling out of our driveway and leaving the street.

As we drove through town, I couldn't help but think about everything that happened today. Bev's bathroom, what happened in her bathroom that made it that way...what I witnessed at the store. I looked at my mom and bit the inside of my cheek. She works at the station, she'd know the details about it. According to her, they hear everything. "How was work today?"

"Oh, it was good. Rosa and I went out to lunch and just talked." She said, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel.

Okay, I cared about her day, but I really didn't care to hear about her lunch. Not the details I wanted, so I guess I'd have to be a little more obvious. "So...nothing interesting happened? Say...robbery or a break in-"

She looked at me and laughed. "No, nothing like that happened. If it did, I most definitely would have heard about it. Nothing like that happens here sweetie, Derry is a safe place."

I nodded and smiled, but as soon as she turned away I dropped the smile and huffed. As we passed by the store, I couldn't help but think. I know what I saw. I know it was real, I could hear it and see it happening right in front of me. Maybe the clerk guy was too scared to call the police? Maybe someone came in after me and the robber never actually took anything?

All I know, is something weird is happening here in Derry and I'm starting to think it's not the safe place my mom believes it to be.