Math class~~~ Stan Uris x reader //COMPLETE//

12

!!read!! Author's note, before I start: This is really where the story starts changing. It won't follow canon anymore. 

I ran downstairs to find my worried-looking parents.

"We thought you were going to that girl's house for a sleepover," she said.

"Oh, Mom, I'm so sorry! She wasn't as nice as I thought, kind of a jerk actually, when she's at her own house, so I came back and barely made it before curfew. I went up to my bedroom and fell asleep before I came down to tell you guys. I'm really sorry, Mom, I'll try really really hard never to do it again," I lied convincingly. It's a talent, which I don't use that often, but I can fake sincerity with the best of them.

She pursed her lips. "It's okay, honey, reminds me of something that happened a couple of times when I was a kid. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine," I said.

"Okay, then. That's all," she dismissed me, although not unkindly.

"Thanks, Mom," I replied, running back upstairs. 

I opened my bedroom door, closing it behind me. "Stan?" 

He didn't reply, so I looked first under the bed, then in the closet. There were seven drops of blood on the carpet, fresh and red. I gasped, then changed into my normal clothes, pulling on socks and tennis shoes. I ran out the door, taking my bike and riding as fast as I could to the Barrens.

~

I found them at the sewer entrance again.

"What do you want?" Richie asked rudely.

"What weird stuff have you guys seen?" I demanded.

"Why would we tell you?" Eddie asked.

"Because Stan's gone," I started crying, "And there's seven fresh drops of blood on my carpet."

"Clown?" Bill asked.

I nodded. "And a woman, tall and spindly, and a hateful, white-eyed version of Stan. One time, there was a circus, and they were going to burn us at the stake, that was when we were going bird watching at Memorial Park." I recounted all the encounters in detail, from the first manifestation of Pennywise.

"Georgie screamed that too. 'You'll float, too.' he kept saying it," Bill said unsteadily after I finished.

"I think fate is trying to draw us back together. I was going to come with Stan today, so he could apologize and . . . I can't be alone, not anymore. Are you going to help me find him, or should I go myself?"

"We'll help," Bill said readily, and Ben, a dark-skinned boy with short hair, and Beverly nodded, but Eddie and Richie were more reluctant.

"Remember what he did, though?" Eddie asked, seeming torn.

"With or without you guys, I'm going. I won't leave him to die, not if there's a chance he's still alive. I won't let another Georgie happen, or a Betty Ripsom, or an Eddie Cocoran. I cried for them all, but I won't cry for Stan until I've tried my damn hardest to get him back!" I said.

"You cried for Georgie?" Bill asked, looking a little stunned. "You didn't even live here when that happened."

"They were lives, people lost and forgotten by most, but I don't forget. I pay attention, Bill, I always have. They deserve our grief. I don't want to mourn Stan like I did them."

They looked impressed by that.

"Oh, that's what it takes for you to like me? Only for Stan to go missing? Fuck, help or not, but tell me, you're wasting time. Do you know where it comes from?"

"29 Neibolt Street," Bill replied. "I'll help." He looked around, and everybody followed his lead with varying degrees of nervousness. 

"Come on, then," I said, checking that my big pocket knife was still in my pocket. "But who are you?"  I asked Buzzcut.

"Mike Hanlon. The homeschool kid," he replied shortly, at which I nodded.

"Wish we could've met under better circumstances, Mike," I said, then remounted my bike and started riding to 29 Neibolt. Let them follow if they would.

~

BOOM, I know short but HEY double-update when I said maybe TOMORROW?! Within an hour. I feel coolish now!! Tell me what you think will happen though haha. I don't think you'll be able to predict the course of events in Neibolt!! *evil laugh, remembers real course of future events, sobs* Also I turned my reading list into a hall of fame for my favorite works, so occasionally I'll add works to that. They're guaranteed to have GRAMMAR so check them out if bad grammar drives you crazy (I feel you).