I stood with my brother and the rest of the gang by the lockers. It was the last day of school and it was finally over. We were waiting for the Denbrough kid and his gang of freshmen friends. We picked on them quite frequently, but it never escalated to anything more. Not when i was around at least. Most of our gang, were freshmen as well actually, as all except me have been held back a year, or two. Frankly, my friends were assholes, but it was either them or be known as Daisy Huggins, the girl whos only friend is her brother. Besides, i liked hanging out with them. I liked feeling like the most powerful group in school. I liked being treated the same even if i was the only girl in the group. And I liked Henry. With him being the leader of the group, i guess thats why i went along with a lot of their asshole tactics. My brother would kill me if he knew.
We walked outside just as the losers were dumping what was left in their bookbags, in to the trashcan. Patrick and Henry did most of the "work" while my brother and i stood aside until we got our turn. The smaller asthmatic kid got pushed our way. Belch let out his usual, disgusting, loud burp in his face as i pushed him in to his friend. I always felt a little bad, but its just kind of what we do.
We got in to Belch's car, Belch driving, Henry in the front, and the rest of us in the back. The stereo blasted Metallica, and we drove off. We drove around a bit, before Henry spotted the new kid. He had been waiting on his chance with him for a week now. So, we followed his plan. We stood behind some bushes, while Henry waiteedd beside the giant statue that stood outside of the Derry Public Library. Vic grabbed him, and we made our way to the kissing bridge. As we got to the bridge, i seemed to be the only one who noticed the 5, perfectly alligned bright red balloons. Written on each one was a name. Our names. IN big white letters read each of our names. "Uh g-guys"They didnt hear me. They were fixed on whatever Henry was doing at the moment, though i was too freaked out to care. I was vaguely aware that Henry was screaming at something my brother had said. But i was too freaked out to care.
Suddenly , the balloons began to pop, one by one, in a way that seemed too slow to be normal. First was Patrick. Then Victor. Next was Belch. I clenched my fists at the thought of anything happening to my brother. He was my best friend. Next was me, which somehow, seemed to pop the slowest out of all of them. Lastly, Henry. My daze was broken by the new kid using Henry to kick himself over the railing. The same railing i had carved D + H in at age 12. We were sent to look for him, but Belch and I gave up after Patrick walked away.
About an hour of none of us finding the new kid, We all met back up at the car and left. All of us except Patrick.
