AN- Remember to review, follow, favorite, what have you. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think so far! :)

P.S I do want to thank all the people who have followed, favorited, and reviewed. You are all amazing and I'm really glad you like this! You're the reason I keep wanting to continue this story!

Also, again, I have read the book IT, but now that I have two jobs and a new house to work on, I don't have time to read a book the size of two bricks to read again.

So I'm going off on some of the book that I remember, the miniseries and the 2017 movie.

"Did we lose them?", yelled Mike, as he pedaled his way through the small wood near Derry. Doing his best to not get a flat tire over the jagged rocks that rested next to the rushing creek, Nora quickly looked back.

She laughed. "Yes, Speedy, you lost them."

"Good", responded Mike. He slowed down as soon as they reached a trail that the townspeople used for hikes.

"You know, too bad you're not old enough to drive yet. I bet you could run Huggins' car off the road with your skills."

He scoffed. "That's one of the things I'm saving up for. That and enough money to go to an actual college", (he swerved to avoid running over the carcass of a dead rabbit), "and hopefully I can get a real job, maybe get out of this town."

"Sounds like a smart plan to me. You're a pretty productive guy, Mike."

"Thanks. And you seem on the same boat as me. You don't want to stay in-"

Nora rolled her eyes. "Lewiston. It's a nice city and all, but I don't want to spend my whole life there." She rested her chin on his back, loosening her hold around his waist.

"So why did your parents want you to come here?"

"I don't know. I mean, to spend time with my relatives, but it seemed like it was completely out of the blue. My father grew up here, and I guess he just wanted me to experience it for myself. But I don't feel right here. Stupid, I know."

He slacked his shoulders. "No I get it, but for different reasons. At least that's one thing we have in common", said Mike, smirking.

After a few moments of thinking about it, Nora smiled. "Yeah, guess we do. Well, that and Bowers trying to kill us."

The rest of the ride was very peaceful believe it or not; the sun shining off the leaves of the many trees made this afternoon all the more... magical, in a way. Granted, bullshit like magic didn't exist. However, Nora was still a sucker for something close to it. The warm summer air with the occasional dusty breeze made being a kid in the summer heat just... perfect. Plus she made a new friend. What could be better? She missed Jamie, and her other friends, Anna and Robin, back in Lewiston. But this time, it was a boy she could get along with. Why couldn't it be this easy all the time?

Finally the two stopped at a rickety wooden gate with a sign that was marked: NO TRESPASSING.

"This is me", said Mike. He stretched his arms as he set the peg down.

As Nora dismounted his bike, she could see a two story house with a four acre yard, and a silo. There were sheep running around the fenced yard; looked like they were playing in their own shit. "In all honesty, I had a pretty good time with you, Mike."

"Me too. Uh, are you sure you don't want me to take you back? Bowers and those dicks should be gone by now."

"I'll be fine. It's about time I learn my way around this town. Maybe you can properly show me the sites of Derry... sometime."

"Alright, see you later, I guess", said Mike, smiling. Sure, he was a sweaty mess, but still good looking nonetheless.

Nora bit her lip, teetering back and forth on her feet, hands adjusting her black skirt so it was down. Though little did it matter since she was wearing black leggings. "I guess", she repeated. She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

She could sense him hesitantly pondering what to do next, but grateful when he returned her affectionate gesture. Once again, she did something spontaneous: she smelled him; shaving cream and dirt. In that instant, she remembered what was still inside her sewn on pocket of her skirt. The yarmulke... Stan.

Why did that little hat make her think like that?

Abruptly letting go of Mike, Nora smiled, waved, said goodbye and hurried back down the path towards home without looking back.

Making her way through the woods, she finally reached the part of the landscape where she could see the creek. A few feet ahead is the Quarry, then the spot as Richie and his friends would call it, the Barrens.

This thought had been bothering Nora ever since she hugged Mike. Why had she immediately thought of the yarmulke? Taking it out of her pocket, she gently caressed it. And why had she thought about Stan as though she was on the defense? Just because she had a new friend who was a boy didn't change how she felt about Stan.

Stan...

Did she even like him that way? Of course she did. If she didn't, why was she still harboring something that was important to him? Sure, he was one of Richie's best friends. Based on everything Richie has ever said about him, made him seem like a stingy buzzkill. On the other hand, he was funny, charming, and smart. Of course that was how Nora saw him. As one of the few people who had been there to see him grow up, it was only right to think of him that way.

"I'm so clueless", murmured Nora, putting the yarmulke away.

Laughter...

She froze, staring straight ahead. Quickly she looked all around her. "Mike?" Nobody else was there. But it was clearly the man's laughter she had heard before at school. Why would it be here?

Snap.

Snap.

Snap.

Turning very slowly around, Nora could hear the eerie noise coming from behind a tree. Should she run? All sense had disappeared from her mind as she stayed where she was. "The fuck?", she whispered.

Suddenly, a hand, yes, a gray decaying human hand crept from behind the tree. The rest of the body emerged as well. What Nora saw seemed to make her breathless. For as much as she wanted to scream, she couldn't.

It was a man? But much like his hand, his entire body was a dark gray and looked as though it had been dead for a while or so. The slashes in his skin were deep red, flies swarming around him. The holes where his eyes should have been contained millions of squirming ticks. The creature took a step forward.

Nora shrieked. This thing had tried to scream, but his mouth was shut due to what appeared to be stitches across his lips, but the strands of thread were lined with bloody teeth, each tooth on each stitch had begun to snap apart. Taking a few more steps, the thing had started to run towards Nora. With each step, another stitch and bloody tooth would fall to the ground. It screamed its head off as though being viciously murdered.

Gaining what was left of her sanity, Nora screamed and turned on her heel running as fast as she could from whatever the fuck was chasing her. She was scared to look back. Out of fear that it would get closer if she dared to.

Darting past a large Oak tree, she stopped running. "Damn it!", she yelled, taking deep breaths; a side stitch. Immediately, she looked behind her. All sense of dread vanished. The creature was gone. The air felt different, back to all that magical bullshit. "What the fuck?!", she repeated.

Snap.

The sound had come in front of her now. Desperately, she glanced around the ground; there was a large branch that had fallen from the Oak. Grabbing it, she retreated behind the tree. Now she could at least have a chance at defending herself from this... thing.

"Tits?!", yelled a somewhat familiar voice. It was enough for Nora to let her guard down. Peering around the tree, she felt a mixed twinge of relief and annoyance.

Patrick Hockstetter was not so subtly strutting around. "TITS?! I'm coming for you!"

Nora furred her eyebrows. He really was crazy. She knew better than to approach him. Patrick was headed towards the edge of the creek, downstream.

"I gotta get out of here", breathed Nora. Cautiously, she made sure Patrick was gone before she proceeded to run back up the path, weapon still in hand. Making her way up the steep incline, had to be a shortcut that lead back to Main Street.

Reaching the top, Nora screamed. But ultimately felt ridiculous as she watched the bike avoid her and screech to a stop. Three more bikes did the same.

"The fuck!", yelled Richie, catching his glasses as they flew off his face. Putting them back on, he glared at Nora. "What are you doing here, Nor? I thought you were home."

Staring at Bill, Eddie, Stan and a kid on the back of Bill's bike she had never seen before, made Nora think even now wouldn't be the best time to tell them what she had been running from. "You'll sound crazy", she thought.

"I... I was... hiking", she lied.

"Looks like you were practicing!", exclaimed Richie, who forgot how furious he was with her, but now looked ecstatic.

"W-w-what?", stuttered Bill, confused.

"Duh, Big Bill!", exclaimed Richie. "Look at her! Leaves in her ratty hair, clothes sweaty as Hell, and shit, Nor! A stick? I thought girls used their fingers to get themselves hot. And in the woods too! Have you no shame?!", he mocked, laughing.

"Gross, Richie!", yelled Eddie. Still, he couldn't help but think of how unsanitary it all must have been.

"I was not!", yelled Nora. She threw the branch away, blushing out of embarrassment, completely forgetting about what she saw. But she knew she must have looked like crap. That was nothing compared to how the chubby kid looked; there were red slashes near the bottom of his stomach. "What are you guys doing here? And what's wrong with him?" Wait a minute, could this kid have encountered what she had? Maybe she wasn't crazy after all...

Stan briefly looked at Bill, then back at Nora. "That's Ben. Bowers cut him up, we're going to get stuff for him."

"Oh", said an oddly disappointed Nora. "I guess that's why Patrick was over there." She pointed to where the skinny boy was seen last.

"Shit!", yelled Eddie. "We're dead if those jerks catch us. I'm probably already going to die from just being out here!"

"For the last time! Not everything is poison ivy! You see what you've done to him, Stanley?", said Richie, gesturing to Eddie, grabbing for his fanny pack.

"Pa-pat-patrick was h-here?!", shouted Bill, ignoring his friends. "L-let's get out of h-here!" He started to pedal.

Eddie and Richie followed suit.

"You can hop on, we can get you something for your elbow", said Stan to Nora.

She looked down. Indeed, there was a bloody stream flowing down her arm. At some point during the chase she had cut her right elbow against a tree most likely. "Thanks", she said appreciatively, admiring his kindness. Stealing a moment to stare at his eyes and curly hair. Mounting the bike, she joyously entwined her arms around Stan's waist.

"I'd rather you just hold onto my belt. Makes it much easier for me to steer", he said strictly.

Another rush of disappointment flooded into her. "Oh, okay", said Nora. This didn't stop her from holding onto him as he caught up with the others. Just being near him made her happy. If it hadn't been for the summer heat, she was sure she would've felt his body heat.

The laughter and the sound of the bloody teeth snapping rang in her ears as the group rode back into the streets of Derry.