RICHIE AND EDDIE FOUND A WAY TO GET JOLYN TO THE KASPBRAK HOUSE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. How, exactly, she had managed to anger her cut and slice it even further open on a twig, neither boy could comprehend, but that didn't matter. Jolyn felt like she was about to faint from the feeling of blood gushing from the wound, and she finally realised how badly she had injured herself to begin with.

        "You never should have even gotten in that filthy water!" Eddie scolded her. "That close to the Barrens and the sewers, who knows how much of it is really water. And not to mention, do you realise how many people use that quarry for swimming? And have you seen the people in this town? They're all disgusting, and who knows what sort of germs or diseases they're carrying and infecting that water with without even knowing!"

        "I get it, Eddie, alright!" Jolyn finally snapped, groaning from the immense pain she felt. "Can you just hold off on the lecturing until after I've had a bandage and some drugs to knock me the fuck out?"

        "I'm just saying you need to be more careful," Eddie said.

Richie pulled Jolyn down Eddie's street, making the boy stop and turn sharply to face him.

"Uh — Rich? What the fuck are you doing?"

"We need to get Jolyn bandaged up, and your house has way more supplies and shit than mine does," Richie said.

        "Dude, if my mom catches us and sees me bringing a girl into the house, she's going to fucking freak!" Eddie whispered harshly. "Why can't we just go to your house?"

"Eds, relax, I'll sneak Jo around to your bedroom window. Your mom won't ever even know we were there!"

"No way, it's too risky!" Eddie's voice was steadily getting higher with every sentence. "Jolyn, what about your house?"

Jolyn didn't reply, she just sent Eddie a pleading look with her eyes while Richie was too focused on Eddie to notice. She silently begged him not to press the matter of going to her house, Richie's plan of sneaking into Eddie's house seeming much more promising and less stressful. Eddie sighed heavily, his eyes trailing back upwards to Richie's.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked before quickly adding, "Alone?"

"Yeah, sure," Richie shrugged uncertainly, glancing at Jolyn to reassure her he wasn't leaving her for good — even though she didn't need that reassurance — before walking a short distance to huddle close and hear all of Eddie's concerns, knowing there was a list a mile long.

"What's wrong with going to your house, Richie?" Eddie said with a deep, concerned frown. "I don't need anything special to bandage an arm, and if you don't have exactly what I need, I can just improvise. You know that, Rich, so what's the problem?"

"I don't want Jolyn to see my house!" Richie whispered in exasperation. "We can sneak passed your mom, not a problem, and we could get passed my parents too . . ."

"But?"

"But I don't want Jolyn to hear them arguing, Eddie," Richie's voice was now almost pleading and desperate. Eddie could see in his eyes just how much the thought of Jolyn Mitchell hearing what Richie listened to on a daily basis pained him. "And I know they're home now. They're always home at this time of day. I just can't deal with that right now, Eddie, please."

Eddie sighed again, glancing up at Richie with a look that said you owe me for this, and Richie understood what he meant.

"You sure, Eds?"

"Don't call me Eds," Eddie replied, but the small, sympathetic smile that was twitching at the corners of his lips told Richie that he wasn't mad and he was sure, giving in and taking a chance.

        "Thank you," Richie said softly.

        Eddie nodded and they both turned back to a very confused Jolyn. Richie has a feeling she would have shown a great deal of irritation at their whispering and stalling, but for the time being she was too woozy to care. Richie wrapped an arm around her waist and draped one of hers over his shoulders so he could help her the rest of the way to Eddie's house and around to the back where his bedroom window was.

        Sonia Kaspbrak hardly was ever seen outside of her home even in summer, and this summer was no exception. Richie and Jolyn had to wait ten long minutes before Eddie appeared at the window to let them in, apologising and muttering something about foot cream and shuddering. Neither of the other two teens bothered asking about it, and Richie hoisted Jolyn up and between her lame attempts to pull herself up, Eddie helping her, and Richie pushing from behind, they were finally able to get her inside.

Eddie cringed as Richie popped in behind her, even though they were careful not to make any loud noises, and kept checking over his shoulder. He was terrified that at any given moment he would hear his mother's heavy footsteps thundering down the hall. Sonia Kaspbrak had fallen asleep before Eddie had finished rubbing in her foot cream, and he made sure of it before leaving his job after only one foot was done.

        Of course, the television set was bound to cover up some of the noises that the three teens made, but Eddie was still cautious and Richie could see the evident, overwhelming fear in his eyes. He was so proud of his friend for taking a risk, and he was even prouder of him because he knew it was the right thing to do. Deep down, Eddie was possibly even braver than any of the other losers.

Eddie sat Jolyn down on the toilet lid despite the flooding thoughts of germs swimming freely through his mind, more worried of Jolyn falling from the ledge of the tub and injuring herself even further. Richie closed the door to the bathroom before he knelt by Jolyn's side while Eddie rummaged through the medicine cabinet above the sink. Normally he could just use his fanny pack, but he had used up his heavy duty gauze fixing up Ben's stomach and the dainty stuff he had left wouldn't be near enough for Jolyn's arm.

        "Fuck!" Eddie cursed.

        "What's wrong?" Richie asked with a furrowed brow.

        "The heavy duty gauze, it's not here, I forgot to pick up another roll last time I went to get my inhaler refill!"

        "Can't you just use another type of gauze, Eddie?"

        "Do you not see the amount of blood gushing from Jolyn's arm? Of course I can't just use something that provides less coverage than a fucking band-aid! I need real medical gauze, and it's gone, it's not here."

        Richie muttered a string of curses under his breath, racking his brain of any possible ideas before he finally uttered the only logical thing he could come up with — and it was probably their smartest option anyways. "Alright, Eds, you stay here with Jo, and I'll go pick up some gauze. What kind do you need?"

        "It's not that simple, Richie," Eddie began, but Richie quickly stopped him.

        "It's going to have to be unless you want to have to take her to a hospital," he argued. "Now, come on, just tell me what to look for. Trust me, I can do this, Eddie."

        Eddie's expression stated very plainly that he wasn't at all comfortable with Richie's plan, but he groaned and nodded his head anyways. "I need ABD pads," Eddie explained. "Those should be large enough to cover the entire gash, and they'll stick better. I can use the thinner gauze to wrap around it just for a bit of extra protection. Go out the back the way you came in, I'll stay with Jolyn and clean the wounds while you're gone."

        Richie nodded, repeating under his breath what Eddie told him to get before quietly opening the bathroom door and creeping as quickly as he could without waking up Eddie's mom. Eddie breathed a sigh of relief once he was sure Richie was safely on his way and knowing his mother was still snoring in her chair down the hall.

He turned back to Jolyn, grabbing a washcloth from the towel cabinet above the toilet and wetting it with warm water. He grabbed the bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and a bag of cotton balls before kneeling in front of Jolyn and taking her arm in his hand. Jolyn hissed in pain and tried to jerk her arm away as the warm compress touched her cut, but Eddie did his best to hold her in place.

        "If it doesn't sting or burn," he told her, "then it's not working."

        Jolyn sent him a frown, but complied and fell still even though she would still occasionally wince when Eddie hit a particularly tender spot. "How do you know to do all of this?" She asked to break the silence that had been blanketed over them.

        Not that Jolyn really minded the silence, but she was merely curious and intrigued by Eddie Kaspbrak, especially since he was helping her. Eddie shook his head lightly at her question, a cold amusement crossing his small, baby-like face.

        "My entire life has revolved around a pharmacy and never ending doctor visits just because I sneezed or choked at dinner from my mother's excessive use of pepper in her cooking," he said with a scoff. "Why do you think I walk around wearing a fanny pack? I have to take allergy medications, I have an inhaler for my asthma, bandaids in case I step on a rock and cut my foot, and gauze for when I twist my ankle wrong in gym class."

        "Wow," Jolyn whispered. "So, you're mom is a real strict health nut, then, huh?"

        Eddie shrugged. "I guess that could be one way of putting it. My friends just say she's overbearing."

        "They're not wrong, but I think it sounds a little bit worse than that," Jolyn mused.

They fell into silence again as Eddie tried to focus on Jolyn's arm, noticing how jagged the cut looked. His brow furrowed, and he finally brought himself to ask the question that he'd been wondering since he first saw the wound. "Jolyn, how did you cut yourself?"

And much to Eddie and Jolyn's surprise, both, the blonde began to laugh. Eddie wasn't sure if it was from pain, hitting her head, lack of blood, or just the situation, but she was full on doubled over with laughter.

"There's this stupid bush right underneath my window," Jolyn said. "It's all prickly and shit, and when I was climbing out my window this morning, I tripped. I managed to pass the bush, or at least I thought I had until I felt the stinging in my arm."

"You snuck out?" Eddie asked, completely ignoring everything else about Jolyn's story. "Your parents don't know you left?"

        Biting her lower lip and hiding a small, involuntary grin, Jolyn shook her head. "No, and they probably won't find out. I've done this before, just not very long or often because I never had much of a reason to."

"I don't think I could ever sneak out," Eddie said, cringing. "I've never been good at lying or keeping secrets or being sneaky."

"Well, perhaps you just need the right teacher," Jolyn offered. "You can't expect to learn everything by hanging around Tozier most of the time."

Although she was just joking and Eddie knew it, he didn't laugh. It brought another question to his mind; one that was probably better suited for Richie himself, but Richie wasn't there and Eddie was in the moment. A sudden rush of bravery seemed to have encased him, and he took a deep breath because even so, he still needed to mentally prepare himself before opening his mouth to speak. It was just his nature, and he didn't want to get out his inhaler to help him breathe.

"What about you? Why are you suddenly so fucking eager to . . ."

Eddie's voice cut off abruptly with a squeak, and Jolyn could hear the heavy, out of sync pounding coming down the hall. One look in his eyes explained that Eddie's mom was no longer asleep in her recliner.

"Eddie-bear?" She called out. "Who are you talking to?"

Eddie swallowed hard, very visible beads of sweat breaking out across his entire face. "No one, mommy," he replied in a forced, sickening sweet tone. It was almost stifling. "I was just about to take a shower after being out with my friends."

"Are you sure, Eddie? You know how I feel about you lying to me," Sonia's voice sent shiver up even Jolyn's spine. It didn't exactly compete with a murderous sewer clown, but it was pretty damn scary.

"Yes, mommy," Eddie said, shifting uncomfortably, looking tense. He was terrified that his mother would just break all boundaries and bust through the door, discovering the fact that he was hiding in there with a bleeding girl.

"Alright, well, don't forget to take your medicine. I have a few errands I need to run, but I'll be back within the next few hours."

As her footsteps slowly faded into silence, Jolyn watched Eddie's shoulders slump and his entire stance relax. "You're really afraid of her, aren't you?" Jolyn asked after a few moments of silence.

Eddie sent her a small, sharp glare, but he eased off quickly. Jolyn's voice wasn't taunting or demeaning, it was soft and sympathetic. "I'm not afraid of her," Eddie said unconvincingly. Jolyn just raised her brow at him and Eddie sighed, shaking his head and going back to tending Jolyn's arm. "So why are you suddenly so fucking eager to hang out with Richie?" The words just sort of spilled from Eddie's lips, and then he quickly added, "Or any of us for that matter?"

Jolyn seemed taken aback not only by the question, but the blunt manner in which it was asked, coming from Eddie especially. "I'm not," she admitted. "I'm terrified, actually, but . . . Something happened with Richie last night and I just — I don't know, I guess I just like the idea of a second chance at having friends."

Eddie eyed her suspiciously, but he found no such thing as a bad intent in Jolyn's face. "I guess having another person for Richie to match wits with in the group wouldn't be such a bad thing," he mumbled beneath his breath so low that Jolyn almost wasn't sure she caught the correct words.

        She smiled gently. "You don't have to be so worried to admit how you feel, you know," she said. "About your mom, I mean."

        "How would you know?"

        "Because I get it," Jolyn admitted. "I hate my father with a burning passion, he was never there for me when I needed him. Now all he does is blame me for his own mistakes that he still refuses to mend."

        "My dad died when I was really young," Eddie shrugged. "Cancer. Mom just doesn't want the same thing or worse to happen to me."

        "But do you never feel like she's suffocating you?" Jolyn pushed. "Like you're living in a fucking prison and you just can't get out?"

        "Just forget it, Jolyn, you don't understand," Eddie shook his head, refusing to take his eyes away from her wound as he finished cleaning it.

        "But, Eddie,"

        "Jolyn, stop!" Eddie finally snapped, right when Richie opened the door, carrying the smallest possible box of ABD pads, and Jolyn felt her heart tug a bit when she realised that was probably all he could either manage to afford or smuggle out of the store without being noticed.

        "What's going on in here?" Richie asked.

        Almost instantly, Jolyn and Eddie replied at the same time, sharing a small glance to silently agree that their words were between them. "Nothing," they said.

        Richie didn't look at all like he believed them, but he said nothing more about it and instead handed Eddie the box he brought back so he could finish his work, the bloody rag he had used to clean Jolyn's arm turning his stand alone, white porcelain sink red.

        Jolyn sat alone in her room that night, playing her favourite tape through her walkman. Her hair was still damp and tied back in what was left of her messy ponytail from when she had left her house that morning, a big black book splayed out before her on her bedspread, and sporting a brand new purple bruise on the side of her face that came close to matching. She wasn't exactly truthful with Eddie when she mentioned her dad wouldn't even notice she had been gone.

Jonathan Mitchell was many things, including ignorant and drunk, but stupid was not one of them. And when he had entered her room late that afternoon and seen the bright white bandages on her left arm . . .

        Jolyn fought back a scream when she glanced up at her window and saw a pair of blue eyes peering back at her, the darkness of the night shrouding the face and giving her a prominent flashback of that night in the rain not even a year ago and the eyes of a clown peering from a storm drain at her through a puddle of blood. But she relaxed when she realised it was only Beverly outside her window, tapping on the glass and waving to be let in. Out of habit from how she used to always act with Bev, Jolyn rolled her eyes fondly and leapt from her bed to go and pry the window open quietly so she didn't wake her father who had finally passed out drunk.

        "Bev! What the fuck are you doing?" Jolyn hissed as soon as she had the window open wide enough.

        "Hello to you too," Beverly joked, climbing inside once Jolyn had moved to the side. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You know, after today?"

        "I'm fine," Jolyn said quickly with a small shake of her head. But Bev narrowed her eyes in suspicion, the way Jolyn hurriedly clutched her arms to her chest not going unnoticed.

        Still, Beverly didn't feel like pushing her luck in that moment, so she just nodded and walked over to sit on Jolyn's bed. The blonde girl hesitated for a moment, watching Bev carefully; every detail was exactly how Jolyn remembered it all except for Beverly's hair which was now in a boyish looking bob. It suited her.

        Finally, Jolyn slowly made her way over to join Beverly who was looking around Jolyn's room and her eyes finally settling on the still walkman with its tape still spinning. "The Dirty Dancing soundtrack?" Bev asked in amusement, brow raised with a smile. "Is that still your favourite?"

        "Yes," Jolyn said, grabbing her walkman and stopping the tape in a very matter-of-fact way. "It is and always will be the best. Just you wait! Someday, it's going to be a classic."

        "I don't doubt it," Beverly chuckled. "It is a really great movie," she paused, biting her lower lip before speaking again. "Remember when we used to gawp over Patrick Swayze together?"

        "What do you mean used to?" Jolyn snorted, fighting a smile herself. "I still drool over him!"

        And just like that, Jolyn and Beverly reverted back to being just two young girls, best friends and sisters at heart. It felt so good, but Jolyn felt this nagging sensation in her gut. As their laughter died away, that feeling grew and Jolyn pursed her lips, not wanting to ruin the moment, but she couldn't keep it in. She couldn't contain her curiosity or the hurt she still felt stinging and tugging the tears from the corners of her eyes.

        "Why did you do it?" She finally blurted out. Her voice was already starting to crack; it's amazing how quickly emotions can flip from laughter to tears. "Why did you leave me?"

        Beverly didn't seem at all surprised by Jolyn's question, but her face still fell drastically. She seemed almost ashamed, and Jolyn might have even felt a bit guilty had it not been for such a strong burning desire to know the answers. The truth.

        "What did you want or expect me to do, Jo?" Bev sighed. "You were my best friend, and then suddenly one day you're being convicted of killing a little boy? What else was I supposed to believe when there was no one else there who could have done it and you were found covered in his blood? Of course I ran, Jolyn, I felt betrayed."

        "So did I when you abandoned me, Bev!" Jolyn cried, exasperated.

        Beverly sat for a moment, stunned into silence and unable to tear her eyes away from the blubbering blonde girl before her. Jolyn was silently sobbing, trying desperately not to wake her father. Bev knew the feeling, and she remembered why she and Jolyn had been so close. Sighing, Beverly scooted closer on the bed to her friend, wrapping a familiar, warm arm around Jolyn's thin torso.

        "I shouldn't have left you," Bev whispered finally. Jolyn buried her face in Bev's dress, using it as an extra shield to muffle her sobs and taking in Bev's natural scent to soothe her. The girl never wore perfume, it gave her father one more thing to creep over her about, but there was something not quite right or unfamiliar about Beverly's scent from how Jolyn always remembered it. "But, I wasn't sure I could trust you after I found out about you and Bowers —"

        "He didn't used to be all bad," Jolyn muttered. "Now, he's nothing but the asshole everyone always made him out to be."

        "— And then when the news flooded the halls about your arrest and Bill's little brother, I —,"

        "Flipped out?" Jolyn offered, grinning slightly and earning a snort from Bev despite the morbid mood of the conversation.

        "Yeah!" She chuckled loudly before Jolyn quickly shushed her, jerking her head towards her closed bedroom door and Bev instantly got the message, quieting down. "Yeah, I guess that's one way of putting it."

        "Yeah," Jolyn sighed, her smile falling sad again.

        "I was wrong, Jo, I'm sorry," Bev continued sincerely. "I don't expect you to forgive me, but I'd like it if maybe we could have another chance?"

        Jolyn glanced up, her eyes red and swollen, her lips glistening slightly with a mixture of tears and spit. Her cheeks were blotchy, and streaked with the stains of her tears, but Beverly reached up and brushed a stray piece of blonde hair behind Jolyn's ear, looking her in the eye hopefully.

        "Why did you really come here tonight, Bev?" Jolyn asked finally, her voice no more than a croak. "I know you better than I know myself, you didn't come here to check on me or apologise."

        "You're right, you know me better than anyone," Beverly agreed. "But you're wrong. I did come here to apologise because I saw something tonight — something I wished I hadn't and it made me realise you were the only one who would ever believe me. My own father certainly didn't!"

        Jolyn furrowed her brow in confusion, shifting on the bed to face Beverly better. "What are you talking about? What the hell happened to you?"

        She had been so caught up in her emotions, and the lighting in her room was pretty much non-existent; Jolyn hadn't been able to realise beforehand that Beverly didn't own a single dress that had any sort of red on it except for tiny dots of rosy coloured flower buds. But right now, Beverly's dress was covered in red. And judging by the off smell, it was blood.

        "I don't know!" Beverly whispered. "One moment there were these voices in my sink, coming from the pipes, and then the next, it's gushing blood all over me and I couldn't get out, I,"

        Jolyn seized Bev's wrist in a flash, pulling the girl from her memory of that night. Beverly looked at Jolyn with a mixture of shock and worry, initially trying to yank herself free until she saw the expression deep within Jolyn's ocean blue irises.

        "Voices?" She repeated firmly, her voice low. "From your drain? What sort of voices?"

        Bev shook her head frantically, suddenly frightened and unsure of why Jolyn was asking her this. "The missing kids," she said quietly. "And there was something else, like a — a,"

        "Clown?"

        Beverly's eyes widened, but she nodded and Jolyn instantly let go of Bev's arm. "Son of a bitch," she muttered under her breath before turning back to Bev. "I want to see your bathroom."