"What are you smiling about?" Stanley stared at him. "She called you a dumbass."
Eddie's smile only grew bigger. "I know. Ali Sumner called me a dumbass."
***
in which ali sumner befriends a group of outcasts and finds herself harassed by ronald mcd...
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EIGHTEEN: Ice Cream
Words: 741 (including non-story related words such as these)
Author's Note: 🎺 ***
The Derry festival was always a fun sight. There were carnivals, rides, cotton candy. Everything like that. The carnival wouldn't be open until later in the year though and right now, there was a parade going on in the streets.
Bill, Bev, Ben, Stanley and Mike gathered around a wall with a poster on it. A missing poster.
Eddie and Ali were away from the group, getting ice cream from the ice cream truck.
Meanwhile, Richie was trying to steal a trombone from one of the parade band members.
The band member was trying desperately to pry the trombone away from Richie's fingers as Richie blew into the mouthpiece, doing a shit attempt to play it.
Instead of music or even a tune, his playing sounded like those sound effects on TV when a cartoon character was thrown out of view and crashed into something. All it needed now was the random cat screech.
Ali and Eddie eyed the other losers as they waited in line for the ice cream.
"They look like they're talking about something serious." Ali saix, observing the stern look on Bill's face. "What do you think it is?"
"I don't know." Eddie shrugged, watching them too. "They're pointing at something on the wall. Poster or something."
"Oh." Ali tucked a loose hair behind her ear. "What do you-"
"How may I help you, lids?"
Ali and Eddie realized they were up to order.
Ali looked at Eddie. "Three vanillas, please."
"Coming right up!" The ice cream guy said cheerfully. "That'll be $5.99, please!"
"Oh, uh." Ali realized she didn't have any money on her. She had left all her cash at home.
She eyed the ice cream guy. He was at least only two years okder than her.
Ali sighed.
Oh well. You do what you gotta do.
Ali was about to lean closer and flirt, when Eddie shook his head and took out a ten-dollar bill and passed it to the guy.
"Thank you! Your order will be right up!" The ice cream guy put Eddie's bill into a cash register and took out a few other bills and handed it to Eddie. "And here's your change, mister." He walked off to fetch their ice creams.
Ali turned to look at Eddie. "You do know, I could've just gotten us that ice cream free, right?"
Eddie laughed. "I know. Why do you think I stopped him? I wasn't about to watch you do that. The guy was at least eighteen, Ali. Eighteen. You're thirteen."
Ali flipped her hair about and pretended to be offended. "Well, Mr. Keene was atleast fifty and you didn't have any problem then."
Eddie laughed even harder. "Oh, good God! Please do not remind me of that performance!"
They both laughed until the ice cream guy came back with their ice creams.
Ali handed an ice cream to Eddie and they walked over to the group.
"Think of it as payback for that Keene thing." Eddie shrugged. "Me paying for the ice cream, I mean."
Ali smiled. "Sure."
"What are you guys talking about?" Eddie asked when they joined.
"What they always talk about." Richie rolled his eyes, also joining in. "Death, missing kids, evil clowns..."
Ali was about to pass Bev her other ice cream cone when Richie snatched it from her.
"Hey!" Ali tried to get it back but Richie licked it before she could. "Pig!"
Richie smirked, his lips coated with ice cream. "Mmm, yummy. Vanilla's kinda plain though, don't ya think?"
Ali rolled her eyes and walked over to Bev's side.
"I thought you were getting ice cream for us?" Bev asked.
"Yeah, I did." Ali shook her head.
"So what happened?"
"Richie happened." Ali motioned to Richie as he happily devoured his ice cream.
Bev sighed and shook her head but turned her attention back to whatever conversation she and the others were having earlier.
"I actually think it will end." Ben said. "For a little while, at least."
"Huh?" Ali asked.
"I was going over my Derry research." Ben explained. "And I charted all of the big events. The Ironworks explosion, 1908, The Bradley Gang in '35, and the Blackspot in '62, and now kids being..." Ben hesitated to continue when he saw Bill. "It seems all of this stuff's happening every..."
