July faded into August and while things weren't the same between the losers club, they were certainly better than they were in prior weeks. No, we still don't hang out together as a group, I'm not even sure who's talking to who. All I know is that I've got Bill, Richie, and Stan by my side– the friends I haven't lost. I haven't talked to Bev since that day at her apartment, I guess I just pushed a wrong button or went too far when asking about her dad. So I'm giving her the breathing room that maybe she could need. While I am talking to the three boys, none of them show any wanting to hang out together as a group– especially Richie. While he's not mad at the fact that Bill punched him, especially since we talked about it– he's just not ready to face his friend and apologize for the fight.

Richie and I have hung out quite a bit since Stan's Bar Mitzvah, though neither of us could bring up what he said that day. I was way too nervous to ask him if he liked me and I don't think he'd even be able to answer without making a joke. I've been trying to pay attention to what he does whenever we do hangout– keeping Benny's signs in mind. It was no use though because Richie could do one thing and then do the complete opposite of the other– he was practically a walking contradiction.

I invited Richie to come to the pool with me but he turned me down because he had something really important to do. God knows what else is important to Richie Tozier other than comic books, crude jokes, and the arcade– so I just went by myself. I didn't stay long before returning home for some lunch and a shower. My mom wasn't supposed to work today, but Rosa called in sick and she had no choice but to go in. I turned the TV off and stared at the clock in the kitchen– it was only 2:30. She wouldn't be home for a few more hours and I'm absolutely bored. Maybe I could head out to the arcade or something to pass the time until she was off work. Who knows, I could even bump into Richie.

I got up off of the couch and walked to the front door, walking out and locking it behind me. I grabbed my bike and carried it off of the porch, getting on it and riding away from my house. It was overcast, the sun hiding behind the clouds as if it was too scared to shine some light on Derry...we could definitely use it. When I got closer to the town's center, I got off of the street and onto the sidewalk. I reached the arcade and got off of my bike, resting it against the building where a bunch of other bikes was. I looked across the street to see Eddie leaving Keene's pharmacy and walking towards the alleyway, sitting down on a wooden box. He looked pretty upset, but I wasn't sure if I should go over or not. We haven't talked since the Neibolt– I wouldn't even be surprised if Aunt Sonia told him never to talk to me again.

I took a deep breath and looked both ways before crossing the street, jogging so I wouldn't get hit by any cars. When I reached the alleyway, I cautiously walked up to Eddie who was completely oblivious to my presence. "Hey..." He snapped his head in my direction and I held my hands up. "don't freak, it's just me."

He took a deep breath and went to say something but shook his head, looking away. I bit the inside of my cheek...maybe this was a bad idea. I turned around to leave the alleyway when I heard Eddie sigh. "Wait..." I turned back around to see Eddie looking at me, still upset. "I'm sorry I just–"

"Your mom banned you from speaking to me?"

He laughed to himself. "Did you expect any less?"

"Not really no," I replied, walking back over to him and motioning at the box beside him. "Can I sit?"

He nodded and I sat down next to him, both of us looking at the walls of the alleyway as if they were actually worth admiring. "How have you been?"

I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders. "It's been rough, especially those first few weeks without everyone..."

"Especially Richie, huh?" He asked, looking at me as if he already knew the answer. "Since you like him and everything..."

I brought my knees up to my chest and rested my back against the wall as I crossed my arms and rested them on my legs. "Well yeah, that was pretty hard. But I missed you a lot too..."

"I missed you too," He replied, looking away and back at the alleyway across from us. "I'm sorry for what my mom said about you. I wanted to say something but she's–"

"Pretty scary, yeah I know. It's okay though. I just wish I could have said something back you know? Stand up for myself."

"Tell me about it. Ever since the...well, you know– she hasn't let me step foot outside. I was only allowed to come out today to pick up my prescriptions because she couldn't miss her show."

"How's the arm?" I asked, trying to get a look at his cast. "Any signatures yet?"

"Oh it's um..." he quickly hid is arm next to his side so I couldn't see it. "It's fine."

I narrowed my eyes at him– he was hiding something. "Let me see your cast."

"That's okay Dani you don't–"

"Eddie!" He looked at me in shock at the fact I raised my voice at him. "Let me see."

He sighed and turned towards me, holding up his broken arm. His cast was plain– no signatures on it at all. I grabbed it and slowly turned it so I could see the top of the cast and that's when I saw it. In black sharpie, 'LOSER' was written in big letters. I looked back at Eddie who was looking off at the ground, still upset. "I get it off soon."

"How soon?"

"Six weeks..."

"Who did it?" He avoided my gaze and I cleared my throat, catching his attention. "Who wrote this?"

"Greta Keene..."

I let go of his cast and stood up. "I'll be right back." I walked out of the alleyway and into Keene's Pharmacy. I could see Greta sitting at the checkout counter, flipping through some magazine. I walked towards the office supplies aisle, turning down it and grabbing a pack of four sharpies. I walked out of the aisle and over to the counter, placing the markers down.

Greta barely looked up from her magazine, popping her gum. When she realized it was me standing in front of her, she smirked and sat up. "Well, well, well...if it isn't the little slut."

I gave her a fake smile. "Hi to you too Greta."

She looked down at the sharpies and back up at me. "Already preparing for the things you're going to write on the bathroom stalls next year with your loser friend Beaverly?"

"Isn't that your job?" I replied. "I mean, seeing as you spend so much time in there with your friends. You guys probably just stand around trying to come up with some other shitty insult or nickname for everyone else. Am I right?"

She picked up the markers and went over to the cashier. "$2.50."

I dug into my pocket to grab the money as I reached for the sharpies she placed on the counter. She slammed her hand onto mine, leaning across the counter. "Listen carefully, I will make your life a living hell in school if you ever talk to me like that again." Her eyes glared at me as she laughed to herself. "You're nothing but a loser. A stupid slu–"

I swung my free arm across the counter, punching her square in the face. She stumbled back away from the counter, holding onto her eye. I grabbed the sharpies, dug into my pocket and grabbed my $5 bill. "Don't fuck with my cousin or any of my friends again, got it?!" I yelled, throwing the money at her and walked away. "Keep the fucking change."

I walked out of Keene's and turned the corner of the alleyway, hoping Eddie was still there. He hadn't moved an inch, still solemnly staring at his cast, running his fingers over the black sharpie. He looked up at me with wide eyes. "What happened?"

I plopped back down next to him and opened the packet of sharpies. "I punched her in the face." I looked up at him to see him smiling. "Nobody messes with my cousin, not even Greta Keene."

"Thanks, Dani..." He said, nodding his head.

"Anytime. Now turn back this way and give me your cast." He turned towards me and placed his cast in my lap. I looked at the selection of sharpies I had and picked up the red one.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked, looking at me as I took the cap off of the sharpie.

"Sure."

"That day we were all sitting by the Paul Bunyan statue...talking about the things we saw, you said you saw a robber. I understand why everyone else saw what they saw...but why a robber? Why is that your fear?"

I took a deep breath as I stared at Eddie's cast. I guess I told him that my dad had died...but now how. "It's not a robber in general– it's a certain one." I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried to think of what I could do to cover up Greta's word. "My dad was murdered last July when Benny and I were with him. We were out to drop Benny's Police Academy application off and on the way home I begged for ice cream. We stopped and there were these two guys who were just...staring and watching us when we went to get our ice cream." 

I looked over at Eddie to see him watching me intensely. "On our way back to the car, one of the men was walking over to us. Dad told Benny and me to get into the car and we did. I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it was only a few seconds before the guy shot him."

"Who was he?"

"I guess my dad and his partner had arrested his dad a few months prior for some huge drug ring. His dad committed suicide in jail and he blamed my dad for it." I looked up at Eddie. "They caught him that night, he was sitting in a car outside of my dad's partners house. He was going to attack them too once they all went to sleep, but a neighbor noticed and called the Police."

"Dani...I'm sorry," He said, taking a breath. "I don't remember much...about your dad. But I remember when our dads would always take us to the park and they'd take turns pushing us on the swings and chasing us around the playground."

We both smiled at the memory and silence took over again as I went to work on his cast. Eddie stared straight ahead as if he was lost in thought. His lips pursed as he tried to chew on his cheek. "The pills are fake...everything is fake."

I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean everything is fake?"

"The pills I take, my inhaler– I'm not sick. My mom's been lying to me." He dug into his fanny pack and brought out a full bottle of pills. "They're gazebos, they do absolutely nothing."

"Gazebos?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"That's what Greta told me. I probably could have gone my whole life taking these...these fake things. Nothing's wrong with me and here I am, eight years full of gazebos and lies from my own mom."

I shook my head and laughed as he turned to me confused. "Eddie, they're not gazebos."

"Wait, so they're real? But Greta said they were–"

"No, they're not called gazebos. They're called placebos. They're really just pills that have no effect and are really just used to make someone feel more at ease."

He looked at the pill bottle in his hand, his eyebrows furrowed. "Whatever," he stuffed them back into his fanny pack and zipped it up. "they're still fake, my mom still lied to me and I'm nothing but a big loser."

"You're not a loser Eddie," I replied, looking down at his cast, admiring my artwork. "you're anything but."

He took his cast off of my lap and brought it closer to him, looking down at it as I picked up the sharpies. "Lover?" He asked, looking at me.

I stood up and nodded. "I see the way you care about people– the losers club. You went against your mom's word and talked to me that day at the Quarry, you even came to my house and look at us now, we're friends!" 

He stood up and I handed him the markers, smiling as he put them in his fanny pack. "You've got a big heart Eddie, I know it, my mom knows it, Bill knows it– hell even Richie knows it. Nobody with a heart as big as yours is a loser. Only people like Greta Keene or Henry Bowers are the losers."

We walked towards the opening of the alleyway and he turned to me as if he wanted to say something. Before I knew it, his arms were wrapped around me and he was hugging me– instantly I hugged him back. "Thanks, Dani...for everything."

We pulled away and I smiled at him. "Anytime...we're family after all."

He walked away down the street in the direction of his house and he turned back to wave at me. I waved back and watched him walk away until he rounded the corner. I jogged across the street and over to my bike. I used all the money I had brought with me at Keene's, so I didn't have enough to stay at the arcade. Guess I'd be going home early after all. I got on my bike and left town, heading back towards my neighborhood. As I neared my neighborhood, I rounded the corner and almost ran into another bike. "I'm sorry!"

"D-Dani?" I looked up to see Bill sitting on his bike.

"Hey Bill," I didn't want this to be awkward, not with Bill. "What's up?"

"I was just h-h-heading to Bev's." I'll admit, my feelings were a little hurt. I figured Bev and I were a lot closer than her and Bill– no minding the fact that they had the hots for each other. But still...Bev was practically my only girl friend. "Have you heard f-f-from her?"

I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. "No...not since the day at the ballpark."

He shook his head. "Me neither. I-I've called too and n-no answer." He took a deep breath and looked over towards town. "I think sum-something is wrong."

I looked toward town and then towards my neighborhood. My mom wouldn't be home for a few hours and if something was wrong– I didn't want Bill to have to go alone. "Okay, let's go."