A/N: This chapter is in the summer of 1989. Definitely after First Day of Summer, but could honestly fit either before or after Fireworks.
"I'm bored," Georgie said as he flopped down on Bill's bed. "And it's too hot."
Bill was sitting at his desk, writing a short story he had been working on. He then dropped his pencil and turned around to face Georgie. "You w-w-wanna go outside? We could maybe go to the p-p-park or something," Bill suggested.
"Okay, sounds good," Georgie said as he lifted himself up from the bed. "Anything sounds better than being cooped up in this sweaty house." He made his way out of the room and down the stairs, with Bill following closely behind.
The Denbrough brothers went out the front door and swung by the garage. The garage door was open, probably because Zack had recently been doing work in there. Bill found Silver outside, leaning up against the front side of the garage—the spot where he usually left it. Bill hopped on the bike, and Georgie squeezed in front of him on the seat. "Georgie!" Bill said, annoyed. "Get your b-big b-butt out of the way. I'm sick of you always hitching a r-r-ride with me."
"Well, how else am I supposed to go with you to the park?" Georgie whined.
"Whatever happened to th-that bike Grandma gave to you for Ch-Christmas? I feel like y-y-you haven't touched it since."
"Yeah, because it doesn't have training wheels. I can't ride a bike without training wheels."
"Well…" Bill said as he went into the garage to find Georgie's bike, "who says you can't?" He found the small, shiny, red bike and handed it to his brother.
"I say I can't. Because I know I'll just topple over on my side and hurt myself."
"That's why you practice. Come on, we can p-p-practice right here. I'll help you."
"Okay," Georgie said hesitantly as he climbed onto the bike.
"Now just start pedaling forward," Bill told him. "I'll be right behind you to catch you in case you fall."
Georgie slowly pedaled forward, wobbling as he went along. He almost fell over a few times before Bill caught him. "Just be sure to keep your balance," Bill said. "I know this might sound strange at first, but it might be a bit easier if you start to go a little faster."
"Are you crazy? I can barely balance myself at this speed."
"I know, but just try it. Trust me."
"Okay." Georgie picked up some speed and started riding into the street, and he found that it was surprisingly easy to keep himself balanced now.
Bill let him go off on his own as he encouraged him by saying, "You're doing great, Georgie! Woohoo! Look at you go!"
Georgie's confidence on the bike was building, so he managed to gradually turn the bike around and ride back toward Bill. "I'm doing it! This is so much fun!" he exclaimed. "Uh, now how do I stop?"
"You can stop pedaling to slow down gradually, or you can squeeze the little lever on the handlebar to stop quickly. That's the brake."
Georgie pulled on the brake and skidded to a stop. "It's surprisingly easy to get a hang of it!" He said.
"I knew you could do it. See? It's s-s-super easy."
"I can't wait to tell Mom and Dad about this!" Georgie dropped his bike on the sidewalk and dashed into the house. Bill followed behind him.
Sharon was washing dishes in the kitchen and Zack was sitting on the couch watching TV in the living room when Georgie and Bill came running in. "Mommy! Daddy! Guess what?!" Georgie yelled excitedly.
"What is it?" Sharon asked in anticipation.
"I can ride a bike now! Without training wheels! Billy just taught me!"
"Wow, that's great, buddy!" Zack said.
"I'm so proud of you!" Sharon added.
"I learned really quick, too! It's actually pretty easy now!"
"Well, I'm glad to hear that!" Sharon said. "Maybe you can practice some more by riding over to the park."
"Yeah, m-m-me and G-Georgie were going to the park anyways. Th-that's why I taught him just now," Bill said.
"That's great, champ," Zack said. "Thanks for being such a good big brother."
"Come on, Billy, let's go! I wanna ride some more!" Georgie said impatiently as he tugged on Bill's shirt toward the front door.
"Alright, have fun, you guys!" Sharon said as the brothers left.
Once back outside, Georgie picked up his bike from the ground and got on. "Thanks for teaching me, Billy," he said.
Bill sat on Silver and responded, "Well, you did m-m-most of the work. You sh-should be thanking yourself."
"It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I don't know why I thought it was going to be so difficult."
"That's why you sh-shouldn't be afraid to try new things. Sometimes your f-f-fears are the greatest things holding you back."
"Sometimes you can be real cheesy, Bill. You know that?" Georgie smiled. "Sounds like you got that off of a fortune cookie."
"What can I say? I'm a real cheesy kinda guy," Bill laughed.
"Well, cheesy or not, it's still a nice message. Thanks, Billy."
"Always happy to help, Georgie." Bill looked down and realized he was still sitting on Silver, and he suddenly remembered what their whole purpose of going outside was. "Well, now that y-you can ride that bike, you know what this m-m-means, right?"
"No, what?"
"You gotta name it. Like I named mine."
"Hm, I'm not sure. I'll name him…Fireball, since he's red like fire."
"I like it! Come on, let's take Silver and Fireball to the park." Bill started pedaling and picking up speed. "Hi-yo, Silver, away!"
Georgie pedaled right behind him. "Let's go, Fireball!" he exclaimed as he rode off into the sunset toward the park.