A/N: I know I'm 16 days late, but here's a Fourth of July chapter for you. I hope you enjoy!
The hot July sun beat down on the streets of Derry as Bill and Georgie walked toward the town square, where the annual Fourth of July festival was always held. They had planned to meet up with the rest of the Losers there. The marching band was getting ready for the parade, the streets were adorned with red-white-and-blue balloons and banners, and several people were handing out American flags and Uncle Sam hats to anyone who wanted them. Georgie took a flag as they walked by.
The other Losers were all waiting underneath the giant Paul Bunyan statue in the town square. "Hey, there's Big Bill!" Richie said excitedly. "And Little George, of course." He patted Georgie on the head. Georgie glared up at Richie as he fixed his hair from being misaligned.
"This is your first Fourth of July in Derry, huh, Ben?" Stan asked.
"Yeah, this is all new to me," Ben replied as he took in all the festivities.
"I have to admit," Mike said, "even though I've lived in Derry all my life, this is the first time I've ever been down here for Fourth of July."
"It's great, isn't it?" Eddie said.
"It sure is something," Mike answered.
"M-m-my parents are gonna get here a li-little later to grill up s-s-some food," Bill said.
"Ah, yes, the Annual Denbrough Fourth of July Cookout!" Richie said in a bad British accent.
"Now with three new additions," Eddie said, smiling and looking at Ben, Mike, and Beverly.
"Ooh, look! There's a clown there!" Georgie pointed to the stage, where a clown stood, making balloon animals for children.
"You w-w-wanna go there?" Bill asked.
"Yeah! I wonder if he can make me an elephant! Or a giraffe!"
"Well, you can count me out," Richie said. "I don't wanna be anywhere near Creepo the Clown."
"That's okay, just m-m-me and Georgie will go."
"I can go with you guys, too," Beverly said, joining Bill and his brother.
"Why don't the rest of us go get some ice cream?" Eddie suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Ben said.
"All food sounds good to you, Ben," Richie said as they started walking toward a nearby ice cream truck.
"Beep, beep, Richie," Stan said.
Zack and Sharon finally finished dragging out the grill from the car to an empty spot in the grassy area of town square. They also brought with them burger patties, hot dogs, buns, huge bags of chips, and cans of various sodas. As they started to set up, they saw Eddie, Richie, Stan, Ben, and Mike walking toward them with ice cream cones in hand.
"What's up, Mr. and Mrs. D?" Richie said.
"Hi, guys," Zack responded.
"Where's Bill and Georgie?" Sharon asked.
Stan answered, "They're with Beverly over by—"
"Oh, they're coming back now," Eddie pointed out.
Bill, Beverly, and Georgie all returned. Georgie had in his hand a yellow giraffe balloon animal. "Mommy, Mommy! Look what that clown made for me!" Georgie said excitedly, running up to his mom to show her the balloon.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Sharon said enthusiastically.
Georgie's attention wandered to the big bag of Lays that his parents brought. "Ooh, yummy!" He said as he picked up the bag.
"Hey, just don't eat all of it," Richie said with a mouth full of ice cream. "Save some for us, too, you little tater chip hog."
Georgie gasped upon seeing the other Losers eating ice cream. "Where'd you get the ice cream? I want ice cream!"
"From that truck over there," Mike said, pointing to the ice cream truck behind them.
"I wanna get an ice cream! I wanna get an ice cream!" Georgie chanted while hopping up and down.
"Okay, okay, hold your horses," Zack said as he reached into his pocket to get his wallet. "Here's some money for you and Bill." He gave a couple bucks to Bill and Georgie each. Georgie dashed toward the truck while Bill straggled behind him.
"Don't you want to get some ice cream, too, Beverly?" Sharon asked.
"No, I'm fine, Mrs. Denbrough, thank you," Bev smiled.
Bill and Georgie returned with their frozen treats. Bill licked on a chocolate ice cream cone while Georgie sucked down a red-white-and-blue Bomb Pop. Red and blue juices ran down all over Georgie's mouth and hands.
"Georgie, look at you!" Sharon said, slightly flustered. "You're a mess!" She grabbed a paper towel from a roll they brought from the car and started wiping the juices off of Georgie. "Now you're going to be all sticky."
"Mom!" Georgie said frustratedly. "I'm trying to eat my popsicle!"
"I know, I'm just cleaning you up a bit."
After everyone finished up their treats, they made their way to find a spot along the sidewalk so that they could get a good view of the parade. With Derry being a small town, the parade wasn't much. It mainly consisted of the town officials waving to the citizens—such as the fire department and the mayor. The highlight was the marching band and their rendition of "The Stars and Stripes Forever", accompanied by a man dressed as Uncle Sam with a real-life bald eagle resting on his arm.
Once the parade had finished, and as the day waned into the afternoon, Zack grilled up a bunch of burgers and hot dogs for everyone to feast on. Richie raised up his can of Coke as he proclaimed, "A toast to the Losers Club! And to the Denbrough parents, too, of course." He then proceeded to take a huge bite out of his hot dog.
"I bet you feel like you have eight kids whenever we're around, huh?" Beverly asked Sharon and Zack.
"Certainly feels like it at times," Zack chuckled.
"But we enjoy all of your company, of course," Sharon added.
The afternoon faded into the evening, which meant it was darker, which meant it was getting closer to the best part of Fourth of July: the fireworks. Zack ignited some sparklers and handed them out to everyone.
"Whoa, these are so cool!" Ben said as he grabbed his sparkler. His face was lit up with childlike wonder and glee. "I've never gotten these back at my old town."
"Yeah, they're super cool!" Georgie emphasized as he twirled his sparkler around.
"Careful with it, Georgie," Sharon said. "And that goes to all of you, too. Remember, you can still get burned by these."
The grand finale to the day finally came. Fireworks were launched from behind the stage in town square, exploding in brilliant, vibrant colors against the black night sky.
"This is amazing," Mike said in awe. "I've always seen the fireworks from a distance back at the farm, but seeing them so up close is a whole different experience."
"Ooh, look at that one, Billy!" Georgie pointed at a gigantic firework that exploded in sparks of red, yellow, and green.
"Wow, that was a pretty one!" Bill said.
The firework show ended in a finale of about twenty fireworks bursting one right after another, lighting up the dark sky in a bright, rainbow explosion. Everyone in the town square applauded once it had finished.
"How do you top something like that?" Ben asked excitedly.
"You don't," Stan said rather matter-of-factly. "Well, what I mean is, I think we're all gonna start heading home now."
"Yep. You guys wanna help us take all this stuff back to the car?" Zack asked the Losers, indicating the grill and all the supplies they brought with them. "We got an extra seat in the car…maybe room for one more person in the trunk; whoever helps bring back the most things gets a free car ride home!"
"Oh, I'm down for that!" Richie said as he grabbed as many food items as he could manage.
"Hey, don't hog all the stuff!" Eddie said angrily as he picked up whatever was left over by Richie. "Give some other people a chance to help out, too!"
"C'mon, guys, I need that ride home more than any of you!" Mike said as he hauled the grill back to the car.
"He's got a point," Zack said. "And I think that grill is heavier than any of the other stuff combined. I think Mike's won one of the spots so far!"
"Shit! Come on, this isn't fair! Richie took most of the stuff before anyone else had a chance to get any!" Eddie complained as he finally arrived at the car with only the paper towel rolls and lighter fluid in hand.
"I think you lose points for swearing, Eddie!" Sharon chuckled.
"Now we're on a point system? Come on, you guys are just making this up as you go! Besides, I'm the one who has asthma here, so I should win some bonus points for that!"
"True. Still, Richie did bring back more stuff than you!" Sharon said.
"Rules are rules," Zack added. "Sorry, Eddie. I think Richie's got it this time."
"Damn it!"
"Looks like I beat ol' Eddie Spaghetti once again! I can always count on never failing whenever I'm up against you!"
"Beep, beep, big time, Richie," Eddie said, annoyed.
"If it makes you feel any better," Zack said to Eddie, "I think we're gonna be placing Richie in the trunk."
"I don't care!" Richie said. "It's more fun for me back there anyways!"
Zack, Sharon, Bill, Georgie, and Mike got into the car, and Richie squeezed back in the trunk. They all waved goodbye to Stan, Beverly, Ben, and Eddie as they rode home, ending another great Fourth of July.