"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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TWENTY-ONE: Boo
Words: 956 (including non-story related words such as these)
Author's Note: 🤡 ***
The losers screamed and everyone scattered.
Beverly and Ali were separated from everyone while Stanley, Bill and Ben were off to one side. Richie and Eddie were screeching and screaming together on the other side.
Ali stuck her hand down her jean pockets and felt around for the handle of her switchblade.
Ever since that encounter at the house on Neibolt Street with Eddie, Ali didn't leave the house without her mace and a switchblade she had stolen off some older kid from school.
It was a good blade. Real sharp too.
When Ali felt the handle, she grasped it tight and took it out. She wasn't sure what to do with it or if it would even give them a chance against this giant-ass clown, but she didn't care. It was the only weapon she had. Except for the mace, but what was she gonna do? Spray the clown to death?
The clown suddenly turned to look at Ali and Beverly and to their horror, it crawled out of the screen and crawled its giant self toward them.
Beverly screamed and she and Ali backed away into a corner, Ali still holding out her switchblade. Ali was stunned in fear and she held the switchblade unsurely. Tightly, but unsurely. She didn't even know if she'd be able to do anything with it.
The clown rose its giant hand and slapped the blade away from Ali. The blade was tossed and landed on the screen, its blade pinning it to it.
With no more defences, Ali joined Beverly and both screamed as Pennywise neared them, crawling toward them faster and faster.
Ali's life flashed before her eyes and she braced herself for the clown.
Thirteen years old.
She had made it to thirteen years old.
That's not bad, huh, dad? Ali thought to herself, imagining she was talking to her dead father. You only had to wait thirteen years to see me again.
Three months back, Ali would have gladly taken death and greeted it like an old friend. There was nothing for her here. Her mother was a drunk and didn't even care about her, while the only person who did care about her, her aunt, was barely even at the house because she was always working.
Ali was miserable. Lonely and miserable.
But now, she had friends.
Eddie, Stanley, Ben, Beverly, Bill, Mike and even Richie and his big-ass mouth that couldn't shut up.
Those were people she had to live for. Her friends.
She didn't wanna die now.
Not now that she was finally somewhat happy. Not now that she could finally be able to smile and laugh and giggle. Not now that she had people that cared about her and that she cared about.
Not now.
For fuck's sake, please not now.
Ali still had her eyes shut and seconds have passed until she realized nothing was happening.
She opened her eyes and saw a shaken-up Beverly beside her also just recovering from the scare, and the boys by the garage door, staring at them as scared as they were. The garage door was open and light had shone through.
No Pennywise, though.
The clown was gone.
Beverly rushed into Bill's arms and Ali realized it had been Ben who let the light in.
"Thanks, Ben." Ali thanked him before she walked over to the losers, Richie and Eddie formed a group hug with her and she was so shaken up she didn't even try to resist it.
"It saw us..." Eddie said quietly as soon as everybody had somewhat recovered from that experience. But then suddenly his eyes widened and he was panicking again. "It saw us! It knows where we are!"
"It always has." Bill replied calmly, but he was slightly shaking.
He walked out of the garage and went to his bike. He got on it.
"S-so let's go." He said.
The losers stared at him.
"Go?" Ben asked incredulously. "Go where?"
"Neibolt." Bill announced. "That's where G-g-g-eorgie is."
"After that?!" Stan yelled, using a tone of voice nobody had ever heard him use before. Outrage.
Richie nodded. For once, the humouring glint in his eyes were no longer there and he just looked scared. "Yeah. It's summer. We should be outside..."
"If you say it's summer one more f-f-f-fucking time..." Bill stared at the losers. Then at Ali.
If anybody would be on his side, it was Ali. She was more of the tough one of the group.
Bill shot Ali a look of 'Right?'
But Ali looked more exhausted than anyone. Bill looked down and realized her arm was slightly bleeding from when Pennywise slapped the blade away from her, but she didn't seem to notice the pain. Adrenaline was rushing through her veins.
"Bill, I don't know if this is a good idea..." She said weakly. "I mean, when we were on our owns and encountering this creature, we barely made it out alive."
"That's because you were on your own!" Bill insisted. "If we go, all of us, together, we can kill this thing."
"Bill. Eddie and I were together when it attacked us." Ali reminded him. "And we barely made it out alive from that and I'm pretty sure the only reason we even made it out alive is because it let us."
"No, but if all of us are together, I just know that..." Bill looked at his friends, disheartened by the lack of support. "Are any of you coming with me or not?"
When nobody else agreed with him, Bill nodded once and then headed off on his bike.
"Bill!" Beverly shouted after him. "Wait!"
The losers exchanged a look before they all grabbed their bikes and began to chase after him.
