With all the schoolwork and testing out of the way, Richie woke up Thursday morning with a sense of zeal.

Summer vacation was official – and now, he'll have to answer some tough questions.

Before his adventure down to the Barrens commenced, Richie needed to hit the library for the duration of the morning. Donning on olive green khakis, a white t-shirt, and a light reddish Hawaiian print buttoned-down shirt, he made his way downstairs where his parents were reclining at the kitchen table.

"Where are you off to, sweetie?" Maggie asked.

"Oh, I'm off to the library first, and then I'll be heading down to the Barrens."

"Be back before dinner," Wentworth said, nodding at his son.

"Don't worry, I will."

As Richie hopped onto his bike, he started to pedal towards the library which was a couple of minutes away.

So, you are going to learn a lot about yourself in these next few hours – scared?

"Pfft," Richie sounded, "no. I need to learn because my parents sure aren't going to teach."

Sounds like someone is in for a rude awakening.

Richie chose not to argue as he saw the library in the distance. As soon as he locked his bike on a nearby rack, he made his way inside the building.

"How can I be of assistance?" the librarian asked as Richie approached.

"I need to have a book about…"

"…about, what, my dear?"

Richie gulped. "A-about men's…" he bit his lips and started to point downwards, hoping that she would catch the point.

"I think I can help."

The teen blew a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

As he sat down at one of the tables, Richie's conscience flared again.

Geez, you couldn't even mention what you needed? Oh boy, you are in for an awakening like none other.

'Can you please shut up! I'm getting real sick of you butting into everything.'

Nah, I enjoy doing this too much…

Richie shook his head as the librarian came over with a few books.

"These might fulfill what you were looking for."

As she walked away, he glanced over the titles.

"Hmm, where do I start?" he pondered, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses.

Glancing over the Human Sexuality title, Richie grabbed the book and flipped over to the table of contexts, finding what he needed and flipped over to the necessary section.

He began to read, gazing over the pages in electric speed. If one page didn't contain anything, he moved on.

He was on a mission, and he wasn't going to stop until he found his answer.

"Nothing in this book," Richie said as he grabbed another.

He skimmed over and over, frantically searching but to no avail.

It wasn't until the last book – a paperback novel entitled Sexual Mischief – that he found one caption that he ran over and over.

"It's like this," Richie whispered, "if two boys were to ever be with each other, that would be worse than cheating on your lover."

Richie felt chills running down his spine; nevertheless, he continued.

"Are you sure about that, Papa?"

"I'm almost certain – why the whole town would be in an uproar and try to bind the two inbreeds together with one noose."

Richie slammed the book shut and glanced around. Nobody else was in the library outside of the librarian, who was moseying around the aisles.

'Do I…am I one of them?'

Ding, ding, ding, looks like someone has their answer.

Chills ran down his body hearing his conscience come about.

Richie shook his head. "No," he whispered, "I'm not like that. I damn well know that."

Picking up the books and heading towards the librarian's desk, he set them down and headed outside, wanting to clear his head. Along the way, he spotted one kid entering that he knew somewhat well.

"Hey, new kid," Richie called out, "shouldn't you be spending your summertime not in here?"

"I don't know – how about you?"

"…Touché."

As Richie unlocked his bike and hopped on in route to Eddie's house, he couldn't get the thoughts out of his head…or his conscience to shut up.

'There is no way that I…I am one of them.'

We'll see by summer's end...

"Gee, you do well with goodbyes, huh Eds?"

"Oh, fuck off, trashmouth."

Bill shook his head, seeing his two friends arguing like the lovable losers they were.

As the three started on their route towards the barrens, they passed the time with some simple discussion.

"So, what are you all looking forwards to the most this summer?"

Richie responded to Eddie first, "Well, I want to honestly find out more about myself…however weird that sounds."

"Meh, is this what I have to go through in a few months?"

"Y-yeah, Eddie…so d-does Stan."

"He does, but he gets to have some fancy celebration after he becomes a man – I know I'm not getting that."

"Well, we can always plan something for you."

Eddie looked over at Richie in a way that made him flush, "Really, you would do that for me?"

"What are friends for, right Bill?"

"I a-agree with Richie."

The trio reached the barrens, and as soon as they hopped off their bikes, Eddie made a beeline to Richie, engulfing him in a hug.

"Thank you, friend."

Richie felt his heart thump inside his chest, having his friend this close to him.

"You're quite welcome," he replied with a hug of his own.

"Aww, how adorable is this?"

Eddie and Richie broke apart as they heard Stan approaching. They each greeted him with a one-finger salute.

"Hey t-there, Stan," Bill waved.

"So, what's the game-plan? Do we go exploring in this great summer weather?"

"There's a s-sewer drain a-around here that I wo-would like to see," Bill explained, to which the rest of the group nodded.

They all followed Bill's lead for a couple of minutes as they approached a near-filled sewer.

"We're going in there?" Stan asked.

"If y-you want to," Bill replied.

"I'd rather stay out here – you two enjoy being in the greywater."

"What the hell is greywater?" Richie turned to ask Eddie as he was ankle-deep in the water.

"It's where all the rainwater and sewer water meet, so you're swimming in piss and shit; you two enjoy."

"T-thanks," Bill hollered as he was about fifty feet ahead of the pack.

"Funny, I don't smell anything shitty," Richie responded as he crouched down towards the waters.

"Your sense of smell must be gone because I can smell it from here."

"Oh, are you sure it's not your trashy breath?"

Eddie scoffed while Stan rolled his eyes.

"You two bicker so well for friends," Stan said.

"Don't look at me; he's the one that started it!"

"Oh, did I – poor little Eds can't take the heat."

"Please stop calling me Eds!"

"H-hey guys!"

Bill's urgent cry got the rest of the group's attention as he held a shoe.

"That's not…"

"No, G-Georgie wore galoshes."

As Bill examined the shoe in more depth, he found the last name of RIPSOM written inside the shoe.

"T-this is Betty's sh-shoe," Bill reported.

"No shit, really?" Stan asked.

"Boy, it must have sucked for Betty, hopping around these parts with only one shoe."

As Richie hopped on his right leg turning towards Eddie and Stan, both boys gave dreadful looks.

"Are you mentally all there?" Eddie asked.

"Eh, I ask myself that question every single day."

"So," Bill said as he approached the group, the shoe still in hand, "w-what do you all th-think?"

"My mom would flip her shit like nothing else if she realized we were hanging out here, okay?"

As Eddie walked away from the sewers, Bill called out to him.

"If I w-was Betty, I would w-want to find me…and G-Georgie too."

"Good, then you lead the pack!" Eddie yelled.

"Oh, c'mon Eddie," Stan pleaded but the youngster wasn't having any of it.

"It's summer, we're all kids – what do you expect of us?"

Before anyone could answer, a rumble from the bushes nearby startled them. They all looked to see the new kid emerging, kneeling over what looked to be a serious injury to his stomach.

"New kid?"

He looked up at Eddie and replied, "It's…Ben."

"…Okay, Ben," was the only response Eddie could come up with.

"Holy shit, are you okay?" Stan asked.

"What does it look like," Ben replied.

"We need to get you medical help and fast," Richie piped up as he nearly sprinted towards his bike.

The group all nodded and as they made their way back, Bill being the last with the shoe still in his possession, it was Eddie that piped up.

"Please put the shoe down, Bill – nothing good is going to come from that."

"Let him do what he wants," Stan replied on his bike as Ben was leaning on him.

"…Fine!" Bill responded as he placed the shoe in one of the bushes, "I'll be b-b-back for it l-later."

Eddie rolled his eyes as he hopped on his bike, and as the gang rushed towards the nearest pharmacy, one kid couldn't stop his conscience from arguing.

So, how does it feel to get a little taste?

'A taste…of what?'

Don't be retarded, you know what I mean.

Richie sighed and shook his head; he couldn't keep the subject at bay, nor his emotions, any longer.

'If I keep this up, the guys would surely want to know what's going on…'

They hit the back of the pharmacy and all hopped off their bikes, Stan being careful of Ben's wellbeing.

"Okay, Richie, you stay out here and keep Ben company – the rest of us will go in."

Nods went all-around at Stan's plan and they went to execute.

"So…Ben, it's…umm…good to finally recognize you before you die."

Ben looked up and wiped some of the crusty blood from his nose, "Gee, thanks…"

"…What were you doing at the library before this?"

"I was looking through Derry's history, very fascinating stuff if you ever have a chance; I feel with all the disappearances occurring that there must be something going on."

"I hear you on that end," Richie said.

"So…what were you doing there?" Ben asked.

Richie gulped as he went wide-eyed. "I was looking into…some…personal things."

"Personal? Like, are we talking about reflection of self, or—"

Before Ben could respond, the trio of boys rounded the corner with bandages and antiseptic supplies.

"Oh, thank goodness," Richie whispered.

"How did…who coughed up the dough?" Ben asked.

He got his answer in the form of a red-hair girl standing behind the group.

"It was me," she said.

"Yeah, thanks…umm…"

"It's Bev."

Stan nodded, "Got it – do we owe you anything?"

"Nope," she responded as she held up a pack of cigarettes, "we are all clear."

Bev took the next minute to examine Ben.

"Shit, Ben, what happened to you?"

"Oh…I sort of fell…"

"Into Bowers and his goons?" Eddie asked to which Bill hit him.

"Hey! It's a legitimate question."

"He's right," Ben responded, "Bowers tried to cut me."

He lifted his shirt to see the blood crusted H on his stomach, almost making him hurl.

"Geez…I don't know what else to say, but that looks like it must have hurt," Stan said.

"W-what do you t-think, Einstein," Bill responded.

"We have medical experts here," Richie said, pushing Eddie down towards Ben's stomach, "that will help you be back on your feet in no time!"

"…Thanks," Eddie said deadpanned.

"Alright, I'm taking off – it was nice to meet you all," Bev said as she departed from the group.

"See you around," Stan waved.

"Wow, don't try too hard now," Richie said.

"At what?" Stan asked.

"Trying to impress her; last I heard, the list is longer than my—"

"Can you please shut up for, I don't know, five minutes as I try to fix Ben? I don't need to have him puking," Eddie pleaded.

Richie looked into Eddie's brown eyes and the look he gave made him immediately shut up.

"Thank you," Eddie said as he turned his attention towards Ben.

"Gee, is there anything Eddie cannot do?" Stan asked.

"Rhetorical or…" Ben said.

As Eddie let out a small chuckle, he made sure Ben was bandaged up correctly, and not hearing Richie go on made him feel fine.

But for Richie, he was still fixated on the look Eddie gave him.

'His eyes…they shine in the right light. Is this what…is—'

You're going to have to try harder to get him now.

Richie closed his eyes and sighed.

"Are y-you okay, R-Richie?" Bill asked.

Richie nodded, "Yeah…I'll be fine."