All eight kids made sure they were a good enough distance away from the unconscious Bowers before they laughed off what they all had done. As they walked one by one down the grassy path to retrieve their bikes they inspected the slowly growing black and blue bruises on their arms, legs, and backs arguing over whose would last the longest.

There was a newfound feeling in the air. Maybe it was because for the first time that summer, they had worked together to achieve what seemed like a small feat for most people. But it was a big deal to the outcasts that looked at each other feeling closer than they ever had before.

Mike had let everyone pass in order to get to the back of the line to walk next to Nora as she scraped at the dried blood on her lip.

She looked up at his face, silently asking her a question as he eyed the others. "Oh! Yeah. These are my friends", she said gesturing to the guys. She pointed at Richie. "That's my cousin, Richard Tozier." She cupped her hands to her mouth. "Guys!", she yelled as she put one back down into her pocket and the other resting on Mike's shoulder. "You know Mike, right?"

A few looked back but merely glanced. Stan frowned as he noticed the affectionate contact between Mike and Nora; he furrowed his eyebrows. He thought about saying something or going back so he could be near her as well but decided against it. He continued forward.

"Yeah. The homeschooled kid. We've seen him around before", said Eddie doing his best to keep up but made sure he didn't lose his breathe going up and down the path.

"You don't say much do you?", said Richie, smirking.

Beverly scoffed. "Beep beep Richie", she said, causing Bill to laugh.

Nora glared at Beverly. Annoyed that the redhead was teasing her family.

That didn't seem to faze Mike at all. He smiled as he scratched the back of his head. "Sometimes. Mostly try and keep to myself. Especially around those pricks."

"Stalkers", corrected Nora.

"Yeah. Listen, I appreciate what you all did. But you shouldn't have done that, he'll be after you guys too now", said Mike.

Eddie snickered. "Bowers? He's always after us."

There were murmurs of agreement.

"I g-guess that's one th-th-thing we all have in c-c-common", piped up Bill. Was his stuttering getting worse?

"Yeah homeschool, welcome to the Losers' Club!", announced Richie.

Once the gang retrieved their bikes, they all decided to head into town and get something to eat and make the most out of the rest of the day. They deserved a treat. Passing Belch's car, Richie made sure the windshield had a few extra loogies on it. Eddie attempted to do the same but the farthest he got with his wad was hilarious considering it landed in front of his feet.

Stan walked up beside Nora. His expression had lightened up since he realized he could have more time to spend with her now that they met up. "Do you want to hop on?", he asked hopefully as he mounted his bicycle.

She smiled at him, starting to speak but shut her mouth. There was conflict going in and out of her mind. "In a minute. I have to do something", she said, resting a hand on his. She took a few steps to the left leaving Stan looking put out. He sighed as he walked up next to Ben and Bill.

Nora let out a frustrated breath but regained herself as she approached the person she wanted to talk to. "Hey, Marsh."

Beverly gave a startled jump but eased. "Uh, hey", she responded without stopping. She did however decrease her speed.

"Listen, Marsh...", began Nora. "God, um, okay. I just wanted to say, thank you for helping Mike. He would've been really fucked if you hadn't stopped Bowers."

All she got as a response from Beverly was a click of her tongue off the roof of her mouth.

"And, I know I came off as a bitch. But I'll be honest, I'm not used to hanging around girls like you."

There was an abrupt stop and a screech of a tire against the road. Beverly glared at Nora, finally staring her straight on. "Like me? What do you mean? Like a slut?"

Nora didn't respond. More shocked at this sudden burst of frustration. She wanted to say no. Didn't she? Rumors were a dangerous thing. "No", she said, half lying, half telling the truth.

"Because it's not true and I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't judge me based on what you hear. Are you friends with that bitch, Gretta?", demanded Beverly.

Finally something they could agree on.

Nora relaxed. She offered a smile. "No way in Hell would I even want to be in the same room with that skank. Marsh, I am sorry. When I said girls like you, I meant, well...cool."

Instead of saying another word, Beverly's eyes softened as she and Nora continued to walk and catch up with the guys. Putting a hand into her pocket, Bev pulled out her pack of cigarettes and a red lighter. "Have one", she said casually. "Have one and we'll forget this bullshit."

This must be a truce.

Nora smiled unsure of herself. Granted there had been a hidden interest of what it was like to smoke. She also wanted to take a fresh shot of whiskey before she died. Taking the pack and lighter, pulling out one smoke, she flicked the little button in order to light it. It took her a couple of tries to set it aflame. Managing to finally get it lit, ignoring Beverly's innocent smile as though she was teaching a dog a few tricks, put the cigarette to her lips took a long breath in and immediately coughed as though her lungs were on fire. Despite herself, Nora shared in Beverly's laughter. "I guess it doesn't always go well for a first timer?", chuckled Nora. She handed the lit smoke to Bev. No use in wasting it.

"You get used to it quick. Trust me", said Beverly taking a puff herself. How did she make it look so easy?

"Yeah. Maybe I could come over to your house sometime so you could teach me", said Nora.

"No!", yelled Beverly a little too loudly. Regaining herself, she took another puff. "It's just my dad hates having a lot of people in the house..."

"Okay, sure", said Nora. "How about anywhere else?"

"Sounds good", said Beverly smiling.

"And this is really late to answer your question but that book I was reading? It's called Stranger Things. It's SO good, Marsh! I could lend it to you."

"Sure. Never heard of it before."

"No spoilers but I think you'll like it, it's addicting as fuck."

The girls caught up with the guys who were standing in an alleyway going down Main Street. The bikes settling in a bike rack a few feet away. As they approached they spotted Richie harassing a member of the school band that lost his spot in the parade because the Tozier boy stole his instrument and was blowing in it as hard as he could only to have it pulled out of his grasp.

"What the fuck, dude?", yelled Richie.

Nora looked at Bev and the girls broke into another laughing fit. "What are you doing Richard? Working on your technique on perfecting the blowjob?"

"Shut your damn mouth!", said Richie as Eddie handed him an ice cream cone.

"What are you guys looking at?", asked Beverly, putting the cigarette out on the ground.

It was a missing kid poster over another. Did they really have to do that? Why put them over each other? Talk about disrespectful.

Yet there was black and white Ed Corcoran's face smiling back at the kids.

"They said they found part of his hand all chewed up near the standpipe. He asked to borrow a pencil once", said Ben solemnly.

Bill ignored him as he looked at the missing kid poster under Ed's. It was Betty Ripsom's. "It's like she's been f-f-f-forgotten because Corcoran's missing."

"Is it ever gonna end?", asked Stan. The group knew he wasn't too fond of this subject. It was rare that he wanted to contribute to the conversation.

"I actually think it will end, for a little while at least", said Ben.

"What do you mean?", asked Bev.

Ben seemed uneasy now that all their attention was on him, but he wouldn't let that stop him. They were his friends after all. "So I was going over all of my research and I charted out all of the big events. The Ironworks explosion in 1908. The Bradley Gang in '35 and The Black Spot in '62. And now kids being...", he paused. "I realized that this stuff seems to happen-"

"Every 27 years", interrupted Bill.

"Are you sure it's not just some crazy asshole?", asked Nora.

"No. It c-can't be just a m-m-man. It has t-to be something else. We all saw something. Whatever it is caused all that blood to drench Beverly's bathroom", said Bill to Nora.

"What?", asked Nora and Mike simultaneously.

One by one the kids explained all the weird things they saw whenever they were alone to Mike and Nora as they made their way to the local park that was hosting a talent show. Kids ran around screaming out of joy and exploding firecrackers, the few barbecues that were the cause of all the smoke blowing into the air. The gang sat in the middle of the park next to a large Paul Bunyan statue.

From what she had heard, Nora assumed what she had seen in the woods was the same thing that her friends had encountered. But how? How and why?

They all sat in a circle on the few benches that were there. Bill was next to Eddie. Richie was being a smartass and sat on the water fountain. Nora sat in between Bev and Stan while Mike was next to Ben.

All were in agreement that the thing wasn't exactly a thing at all. It was an IT.

"Ok so let me get this straight", said Stan. "IT comes out from wherever to eat kids for like a year and then what? IT just goes into hibernation?", he said confused. But then again, how could any of them understand what they were up against. Could IT be the reason behind all the missing kids? "Maybe it's like... What do you call it? Cicadas", continued Stan. "You know, the bugs that come out once every 17 years."

"You would know that, Stanny", joked Richie.

"Beep beep", said Eddie through grit teeth.

Mike shook his head. "My grandfather thinks this town is cursed. He says that all the bad things that happened in this town are because of one thing. An evil thing that feeds off the people of Derry."

"IT", said Ben. Mike nodded.

"But it can't be one thing. We all saw something different", contemplated Stan, trying to be logical.

"Maybe. Or maybe IT knows what scares us most and that's what we see", said Mike.

"I, I saw a leper", confided Eddie. "He was like a walking infection." He shuddered.

Stan sighed. "But you didn't. Because IT isn't real. None of this is", he said abrasively. "Not Eddie's leper or Bill seeing Georgie or the woman I keep seeing."

Richie snickered. "Is she hot?"

"No, Richie. She's not hot", yelled Stan, getting angrier. "Her face is all messed up", he said as his voice cracked.

Nora grabbed his hand and held it firmly. He was relieved of his anger almost immediately as his eyes softened at the sight of her hand over his. "None of this makes any sense. They're all like bad dreams", he said.

"I don't think so, I know the difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?", said Mike seriously.

"What did you see? You saw something too?", asked Eddie.

"Yes", said Mike hesitating. "You guys know that burnt down house on Harris Avenue?"

Nobody spoke but listened wholeheartedly.

"I was inside when it burned down. Before I was rescued...my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me. They were pushing and pounding on the door trying to get to me. But it was too hot. When firefighters found them the skin on their hands melted down to the bone", he finished. His eyes not concentrating on anything, but lost in some type of void unable to get out.

Ben rested a hand on Mike's shoulder. That broke him out of his fog but only just.

"I saw something, too", said Nora. She was confident enough to talk about it now. "Remember when you guys found me in the woods the other day? When you found Ben?", she started. Her eyes glued to a pile of dirt. "I saw this decaying thing, you could say a zombie. But it, it was gray and its mouth was bloody and the teeth were rotting and falling out. It chased me but I ran. It was like that zombie I saw in a movie when I was little. I hated that thing...", she couldn't talk anymore. A few tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt her face reddening from embarrassment. She relaxed once Stan let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, engulfing her in a tight side hug. Nora turned her head so that they were looking at each other, close enough to be able to count every freckle on his cheeks if she so wanted. She was grateful for what he had just done. He stared straight into her eyes yet stole a moment to glance at her lips. Stan thought about kissing her, but this wasn't the right time. They gently rested their foreheads against one another.

"We're all afraid of something", said Mike.

"Got that right", said Richie as he turned around and saw a man in a generic costume staring at him from up on the stage.

"Why Rich? What are you afraid of?", asked Eddie.

"Clowns."

"T-takes one to sc-sc-scare one", stuttered Bill.