The day was finally here—possibly the best day of the year to Georgie, second only to Christmas. The last day of school. Which in turn also meant the first day of summer vacation! Once the school day had finished, of course. And it had now come to the most important part of the day: the final ring of the school bell. Georgie packed up his backpack and scrambled out of the classroom along with all the other students as his teacher said, "Have a good summer, everyone!"

Georgie, Dorsey, Katie, and Anna all walked down the hall together toward the front exit of the school. "We're officially third graders!" Dorsey said.

"Well, not quite," Georgie said, "since we haven't officially started third grade yet. We're more like…second-and-a-half graders!" Everyone laughed.

As they exited the school building and entered into the bright outdoors, Georgie felt as if the world was just as happy as he was at that moment. The sun was shining brightly, there wasn't a cloud in the brilliant, blue sky, and the air was warm and welcoming. Bees and butterflies flittered from one beautiful blooming flower to the next, and the birds all chirped and twittered in a melodious harmony from the trees. Summer was definitely in the air. Georgie's friends all had their rides to pick them up, so they greeted each other farewell. But Georgie knew he would see them all again soon during the summer break, so he wasn't too upset about saying goodbye.

"Hey, Georgie!" Georgie turned around and saw Avery walking towards him.

"Oh, hi, Avery!"

"Could I come over to your house? You know, since it's the first day of summer and everything?"

"You mean…now?"

"Yeah. That's alright with you, isn't it?"

"That's alright with me, but…what about your parents? Did they say it's alright?"

"I'm sure they won't mind. But what about your parents?"

"I…don't know. Guess you can come walk home with me and Bill and find out."

"Fine by me."

Georgie saw Bill making his way toward the elementary school, so he and Avery started walking toward him.

"Hey, Georgie," Bill greeted.

"Hi, Bill! This is Avery. I don't think you've met him before."

"No, it's nice to m-meet you, A-Avery! Georgie told me a lot of g-g-good things about you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Bill." Avery noticed Bill's stutter, which Georgie had never told him about before, but he didn't mind. He imagined Bill already got bullied enough about it, so he didn't even want to bring it up.

"Is it alright if Avery walks home with us?" Georgie asked Bill. "We wanna ask Mom if it's okay that he stays over at our house today."

"Okay, s-sure," Bill said as they started making their way home.

Bill felt good to finally be off for summer break. He had finished his first year of high school, which seemed like an enormous feat. The thought that he still had to go through three more grueling years was one he didn't want to acknowledge for the next three months. Now was the time for friends, fun, and relaxation. He was currently sitting on his bed in his room, sketching some ideas he had floating around in his head—ideas of creepy monsters and creatures. He always enjoyed showing off his creature designs to Georgie so he could freak him out; the kid was kind of a wimp when it came to monsters.

Then, speak of the devil, Georgie came rushing into Bill's room excitedly and said, "Mom said it was okay for Avery to stay over!"

"Great! Have fun!" Bill said as Georgie dashed downstairs just as quickly as he had arrived.

Bill could hear the excited shrieks of the two boys from downstairs as they played. He was glad his brother found a new friend, because often times, he got lonely whenever he wasn't at school. Georgie's other three friends rarely ever came over to visit him, at least compared to how often Bill's friends came over. So, Georgie often had to rely on Bill to be his friend, or sometimes the other Losers. But Bill enjoyed being Georgie's friend very much. He often felt as if Georgie was his best friend, although he would never admit this to any of his friends out loud. It sounded a bit strange that a seven-year-old could be his best friend. Although the other Losers liked Georgie a lot, they were all a little too old to be proper friends to him, so Bill sort of felt like it was his sole duty to be Georgie's friend. He understood him and respected him in a way the others didn't, and a lot of that probably just came from knowing him from birth, to be fair. But Bill was excited nonetheless that Georgie would be able to spend more time with kids his own age. He really needed that.

Rather than being cooped up alone inside his room, Bill thought it would be better if he went downstairs to join the boys while he continued sketching. He trotted down the stairs with his sketchbook in hand, walked over to the living room, and seated himself on the couch.

"Oh, hey, Billy!" Georgie said excitedly at the sight of his big brother. Georgie and Avery were currently playing Super Mario Bros. on the TV. Even though they had the sequel, Georgie seemed to enjoy playing the first game more. Bill had to agree.

After they had finished playing, Avery asked Bill, "What are you drawing?" Bill showed off his grisly drawings to Georgie and Avery. Georgie seemed slightly disturbed, but Avery was intrigued. "What do you call that thing?" Avery asked, pointing to a creature with a single eye, five rows of needle-like teeth, and a huge, curving horn protruding from its forehead.

"I call it…" Bill paused, because truthfully, he hadn't thought up a name for it yet, "Armadon." The name had just popped out of Bill's mouth, but it seemed to suit the monster well.

"He's scary," Georgie said.

"He is," Bill said. "And if you're not careful," Bill took a blanket that was lying on the couch and wrapped himself in it, concealing his body and face, "the Armadon is gonna get you!" Bill lunged toward Georgie, but the younger Denbrough jumped out of the way just in time, letting out a loud shriek. Bill started to chase Georgie around the house while growling monstrously. Georgie scampered away as fast as he could, laughing and screaming at the same time. Then, Bill shifted his focus toward Avery, and he started chasing after him, too, shouting, "Don't think I forgot about you!"

After chasing the two kids around the house to exhaustion, Bill collapsed on the couch to catch his breath. Georgie said, "Looks like the Armydile or whatever isn't so tough after all!" as he and Avery proceeded to tackle Bill while he rested on the couch.

"O-o-okay, okay! You killed the Amadon! That's it! That's it!" Bill pleaded, and the two boys thankfully decided to show him mercy.

"Avery," Sharon said, walking into the living room, "how do you plan on getting home? Are your parents coming to pick you up?"

"Actually…" Avery thought, "my parents don't even know where I am. Could I call them on your phone?"

"Yes, of course. Gosh, I hope your parents aren't too worried."

"Nah, they never worry about me," Avery said as he got up from the couch and walked over to the phone. He dialed in his home phone number and waited for someone to pick up. "Hey, it's me," he greeted. "I'm at my friend's house. Do you know who's picking me up? Okay. Yeah, sure." Avery turned to Sharon and said, "Mrs. Denbrough, could you tell my dad your address, please?"

"Sure thing," Sharon said as she picked up the phone. After she told him the address, she gave the phone back to Avery, then Avery said goodbye and hung up the phone. "So, is your dad going to come pick you up?" Sharon asked.

"No, my brother is. He's on his way now."

"Oh, well, I hope we didn't make you feel rushed to leave early. You could've stayed here a little longer if you wanted to."

"Nah, they wanted me to come back now in time for dinner."

"Okay, then."

About ten minutes later, Bill looked through the window and saw a crappy, busted-up, old sedan pull up to their house. "Hey, Avery, I th-th-think your b-brother's here," Bill said.

Avery looked out the window and said, "Yep, that's him."

"Come on, m-me and Georgie'll walk you out." Bill got up along with Georgie and Avery, and they made their way toward the front door. Bill was curious to see what Avery's older brother was like.

As they walked down the porch and across the front yard, the front window of the car rolled down, revealing the ugly face of Patrick Hockstetter. Oh, shit! Bill thought. He's Avery's brother?! "I-is that your brother, Avery?" Bill asked, just to make sure.

"Yep," he answered.

"Come on, Avery, get in the car," Patrick said impatiently.

"I know, I'm coming. Jeez," Avery said.

"You little shit, you should be grateful I even came to pick you up."

Avery opened the passenger door and got in the car as he said, "But Dad made you come get me."

"I know, and it's bullshit!" Patrick responded. He then looked up and met eyes with Bill.

Bill's heart stopped. Shit, he sees me.

As Patrick started to drive off, he said, "See ya around, B-B-Billy!" He let out a cackle as the car's engine roared away.

Bill could tell Patrick went easy on him this time around, probably because the kids were around. At least it was summer now, so there were less chances of running into the Bowers Gang. Still, Bill knew he would get it big time the next time he encountered Patrick.

"He knows you?" Georgie asked.

"Yeah. Wh-why didn't you tell me Avery's b-b-brother was P-Patrick?"

"I didn't know what his brother's name was. I don't even know Avery's last name."

"Well, it's H-Ho-Hockstetter; I can tell ya that."

"Isn't Patrick one of the guys that bullies you?"

"Yeah. Jeez, Georgie, I didn't know Avery was his brother."

"But Avery's not like that, Billy. You met him; you know he's really nice."

"No, I know he is. I'm just…surprised…that the brother of that psycho could be so nice and so…normal. You sure lucked out on which Hockstetter you got to be in your school." Bill just hoped this wouldn't make his relationship with Patrick even more contentious than it already was. It didn't seem like Patrick cared much for his brother at all, but Bill was sure that Patrick would use any excuse that he could to place more baggage on "the stuttering freak". But then Bill took a step back and realized that even if this made things worse between him and Patrick, that ultimately didn't matter. What truly mattered was that Georgie was happy, and in turn, Avery was happy. And hopefully that wouldn't change.