Chapter Four:
Piece Of Shit Clown
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
tw: homophobia
"I'm home, dad! I brought Richie and Bev, too!" Maya called, shutting the front door behind her.
"Josh the posh!" Richie shouted, as he made his way over to an already annoyed Josh. Josh groaned, leaning his head back on the couch.
"Damnit, Maya." Josh cursed, squinting at his sister.
"Josh the posh?" Beverly questioned, following Maya into the kitchen. "What's that from?"
"I don't even know. It's just some weird name, I guess." Maya shrugged, opening the freezer. Beverly nodded as she stepped into the kitchen beside Maya.
"Dad, this is Bev." David looked up for a second, before setting knife down and wiping his hands on the towel. "The one I told you about this morning."
Beverly's heart skipped a beat at the thought of Maya talking about her to her father.
"Hey! That was rude!" Richie shouted from the kitchen with a loud crash.
"David. Hope you like spaghetti, that's what's on tonight's menu. If you don't, there's left overs in the fridge." Beverly and David continue to talk as Maya wrapped the ice pack in a towel.
"Richie! I got the ice for you!" Maya shouted, turning around with it in her hand. Richie came running in and came to abrupt stop in the corner of the kitchen. He leaned against it and waited for Maya to hand him the ice.
"What happened to you?" David asked, looking up from pasta he was stirring.
"Got hit in the head with a rock, ow, shit." Richie winced as Maya placed the ice pack against his head. Maya frowned and whispered a quick sorry.
"By who? Did you win?" David glanced towards his daughter, who was tentatively taking care of Richie. Completely unaware of Beverly's jealous gaze. The redhead crossed her arms, her eyes focused on them as she glared daggers at Richie, who remained blissfully unawre of it. If Beverly was a cartoon character, she'd certainly having steam coming out of her ears.
Beverly inhaled sharply and looked away when Maya turned her head to look at her dad, sneaking a glance at Beverly while she was at it.
"Bowers, and yeah, We nailed him with rocks." Maya replied for Richie, putting his hand on the ice pack and turning around. "I nailed him in the chest a few times. But, Bev over here. She's a champ. Hit him in the head a few times. But, I did hit Belch in the dick with a rock.. so.. He won't be having any children."
Maya walked over and wrapped her arm around the slightly shorter girl. Smiling at her proudly she squeezed her, "You're a champ."
"Congrats, guys! If I wasn't house-bound I would beat the hell of them." Josh called, slowly getting of the couch and waddled over using his crutches. "They're complete and utter dicks."
"Language.." David said, exasperated.
"W-What? But, Richie just said shit and Maya said dick!" Josh huffed and leaned against the counter. "Why don't you say it to them?"
"No one can control him, Josh." Maya said, glaring at Richie in a teasingly. Josh rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"You guys are such idiots." Josh huffed, and pushed himself of off the counter. "Dad! I'm hungry! When's dinner gonna be ready?"
"I'm hungry, too." Richie agreed, walking over to Maya and slinging his free arm around her "And you know I only hang out with you because your dad can cook.. and your nice ass."
"Whatever, dickhead." Maya rolled her eyes, scoffing.
David sighed in disappointment, "Language."
"It's the truth!" Richie shrugged, pushing himself off of the counter.
"Uh-huh, sure. But I know you love me." Maya teased back, winking and nudging the boy. "For others things, not my ass."
Beverly felt another wave of jealousy, but she pushed it down. She didn't quite understand why she felt jealous, anyway. It's not like Maya was her girlfriend. Beverly shrugged the feeling off and turned to look around the room. It was a typical kitchen. There was a white fridge in the corner, a counter right next to it. The stove was next to it, then the rest of the wall was counter tops and cabinets. The sink was on the other wall under window looking out into their backyard.
"You guys just can't watch your mouth, can you?" David shook his head and poured the spaghetti from the pot and onto the large plate. "Doesn't matter. Dinner's ready, eat up."
The kids quickly walked to the six person table as David placed the plate in the middle. He set the sauce next to the plate and sat at the head of the table, with his children on each side of him. Beverly sat next to Maya and Josh was next to Richie, much to his annoyance.
"So, Beverly, when did you and Maya become friends?" David asked, after swallowing a mouthful of spaghetti.
"Oh, it was only a few days ago. She was really nice, though." Beverly smiled, looking at the curly haired girl out of the corners of her eyes with a smile on her face.
Maya blushed lightly and quickly took a drink of her water. Richie smirked and nudged her under the table, earning a kick back from Maya. This didn't go unnoticed by Josh as he looked at his sister and rose his eyebrows. But she ignored him and focused on the redheaded girl. Maya listened to Beverly intently, not wanting to miss a single detail.
"And then, Richie got hit in the face with a rock!" Beverly laughed, remembering the memory from a few hours ago. "It was so funny."
"You guys suck!" Richie whined, setting his fork down to cross his arms. "I hate you.."
Maya shook her head with a smile on her face, she looked back to Beverly who was talking to Josh, and her dad. Her eyes lingered on Beverly as she laughed at something Josh said. Which was probably something embarrassing about her. She noticed the way her nose crinkled and her eye brows furrowed slightly. She gulped as she took another bite of her spaghetti.
Maya chatted to Richie until they were finished with dinner. David started to clean up while Josh went back to the couch to read his comics. Maya and Beverly said goodbye to Richie as he left to go home.
Beverly narrowed her sky blue eyes as Maya gave him a tight hug and told him to ride safely. She kissed him on the cheek, and patted him on the side of his face. "See ya later, dork. Bike safely or I'll kick your ass."
They were probably dating.
Beverly thought bitterly. They were always so close and affectionate. Always together. Richie always has his arm around her. Beverly's thoughts continued on, until she caught herself and stopped them.
Maya turned to Beverly with a bright grin on her face. She laced her fingers into Beverly's and excitedly pulled her up the stairs.
"Wow, I like your room." Beverly said as the door closed behind them.
"Thanks." Maya replied. Beverly looked around the small room in awe. The walls were painted with a pale yellow. There were two windows, one was in the middle of the wall and the double bed was against it. The second was on the left side of the bed. The bed was decorated with plaid pink and blue sheets, pillows, and blankets.
There was a white dresser against the wall on the other side of the bed. The dresser was a bit messy but it was cute. There was a boombox on it and a Polaroid of her and her friends in Halloween costumes. A white desk was on the other side of the room, under the second window.
Beverly glanced at Maya who had gotten comfortable on the bed, who was looking at Beverly expectantly. She quickly went to sit next to the girl.
The girls talked until the late hours of the night, laughing at jokes and stupid things they used to do and believe as a kid. They danced the night away to their favorite songs, dubbing Hooked on a Feeling as their song.
When it was finally time for them to go to sleep, it was around two A.M. Maya handed Beverly a pair of pajamas, Maya changed in her room while Beverly went into the bathroom.
When she came back Maya was already comfortable in bed, but she had a magazine in her hand. Beverly quietly got into bed next to her, Maya looked up and smiled at her. She put the magazine aside and laid down.
"We aren't gonna go to sleep yet, I just have to turn the light off." Maya said, as she switched off the lamp beside her. Beverly laid down and turned to face Maya, who did the same for her. Maya's heart raced as Beverly's breath fanned her face.
"So.." Beverly started, in a whisper. "You and Richie, huh?" She was barely able to hide the bitterness behind it, but she successfully covered it up with a teasing tone. Maya's eyes widened as her face went red quickly.
"What? Oh, no, no. Never" Maya shook her head, "I don't like boys."
Maya quickly realized her mistake as she sat up and covered her face. "Shit, shit, shit..shit!" She whispered harshly.
"You like girls?" Beverly asked, sitting up and looking over at the girl. Her breathing was uneven and she seemed to be crying. "Maya?"
Maya was terrified. She felt so stupid. How could she accidentally tell the girl she likes that she was gay? It was good enough to have her as a friend, but now she probably can't even have that!
She bashed herself, "Such a screw up.."
"Are you crying?" Beverly asked, quickly slipping an arm around the girl. "It's okay.. I'm not mad or upset. Love is love, right? Besides I'm not exactly straight either, but we can talk about that later. This is your moment."
"Y-You like girls?" Maya sniffed, she didn't usually cry. Unless it came to this. She was scared of losing her friends and family, and them not accepting her. She just wanted to be loved. She knew she was, but she was scared it would stop if they knew she was gay. She couldn't lose her friends. She absolutely couldn't lose her family. She was a very family oriented person. She wanted a big family. "An-And you're not mad?"
"No, of course not, how did you figure out that you liked girls?" Beverly asked, still rubbing her friend's back soothingly.
"Well, I started to have a crush on this girl back in Colorado. She was a bit older than me, and a bit strange.. it was weird and kind of hard to accept. Sometimes I wish I was straight still. But I've come to mostly accept it." Maya explained after calming down. She laid back down after Beverly and started to continue to explain it.
"You didn't tell anyone there?" She asked, turning to face the still slightly worried girl.
"No, no, I didn't tell anyone.. well, I have now. You and Richie know. I told him a few days ago. I didn't want to be bullied even more.. or have my friends leave me.. so I didn't tell anyone. That's what I'm scared of with the whole 'not being accepted' thing."
"Well, we won't leave you. The others won't either.. they care about you. Who you like doesn't matter. As long as you're happy. You are.. happy, right?"
"Ye-Yeah, I am.. Thanks, Bev.. what did you mean when you said you're not straight?" Maya asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked over Beverly's nervous face. "Are you a lesbian?"
"I.. well, I like both girls and boys.. bisexual." Beverly explained, earning a nod from Maya as the conversation switched back to Maya and how she dealt with it. Beverly played close attention the whole time.
****
Maya's eyes fluttered open, she looked towards where Beverly was previously asleep. She was met with an empty space. She looked around in confusion, until she heard laughter downstairs.
She got up and started down the stairs, she had a smile on her face, she wanted to see what Bev looked like with morning hair.
"And- get this, she's gay!" She heard Beverly's laughter. Maya's stomach dropped as her blood ran cold. She took another quiet step to see who she was talking to. "I almost threw up when I told her it was okay!"
No.. she whispered to herself. No.. no. no, no, no..
"She told me first! She even believed I would still be friends with her! Pathetic!" Richie's voice broke her heart as she covered her mouth. "And she thought I wouldn't fucking tell anyone? Stupider than I thought."
Richie? No, this can't be true.
"Wow, and I thought she was cool. Such a shame." Stan shook his head, his curls bouncing.
Maya felt tears well up in her eyes. They all hated her now just like she thought.. she should have kept it to herself.
"D-d-disgusting" Bill stuttered out, shaking his head. "W-W-We can't let her h-hang around anymore."
"Oh, look. There she is now. The star of our show!" Mike said sarcastically, glaring as he looked at her. When did they get in her house? How did they get here?
"I can't believe I raised a queer!" David scoffed "I want you out of my house. Immediately. I'm so disappointed in you, Maya. I raised you better."
"No, dad, please! Dad, don't do this! I-I'm sorry! I can be straight! I can like a boy, dad, please! I-I.. I can do it! I promise, dad! I can stop it, I can!"
"I'm embarrassed to be your brother, you fucking dyke!" Josh seethed, sending her into a panic. "You're a disgrace."
Maya felt the tears pour down her face as a scream ripped it's way out of her throat. The group of laughing people suddenly froze, their mouths wide and eyes squinted.
"Maya." A voice said, "Maya. Come with me, Maya! You'll be accepted down here!"
"W-what? Who.. who said that?" She looked around the room, fear coursing through her veins.
"Maya! Come with us! You can float, too! Float and be accepted!" Suddenly, a clown appeared in the small dining room.
Maya let out another scream as she fell backwards and crawled quickly against the wall. The clown looked demonic. It had a red balloon in it's hand with a sinister grin.
"Float with us, Maya, float with us!" The clown smiled, taking large steps towards the cowering girl.
"N-No! I don't want to! Leave me a-alone!" Maya shouted, covering her face as sobs racked her body. She peeked through her hands to see the clown's smile drop into a scowl.
"Float with us! Float with us! Float with us!" The voice was deafening, it was surrounding her. She could barely hear the sobs that racked her body and screams that left her lips.
****
"Maya!" Maya felt hands grip her shoulders as she jolted awake in a cold sweat.
"No! No! Stay away from me! Don't touch me! Don't fucking touch me!" Maya shouted, backing away and into the corner from the worried redhead. The door was thrown open as David ran in, a baseball bat in hand. The bat was immediately dropped when he saw the state his daughter was in. Sobbing and cowering in the corner. Her hands were covering her face as tears ran down it, her once beautiful curly hair was a mess. Josh struggled to walk in quickly after, glancing at Beverly before his eyes landed on his sister. His eyes widened as he dropped his crutches, and rushed over to her.
"Maya? Maya, sweetheart, what happened?" David asked gently, pulling her hands away from her face slowly.
"I-I don't know! She was sleeping... and then she just started thrashing and repeating no over and over again." Beverly explained, as she tentatively made her way over to the frantic girl. "And screaming.. I didn't know what to do."
"T-there was a.. a c-c-clown and.. and you hated me... the clown..a clown." Maya mumbled, almost inaudibly as she rocked back and forth. "Why was there a cl-clown? Yo-You don't hate me.. ri-right?"
David's face paled as he pulled the girl into her arms, Josh rubbing the girl's back. "No, baby. I love you more than you could ever imagine."
"It wasn't supposed to be this year." He whispered to himself, Beverly heard him say something, but couldn't quite make out what it was.
She shrugged it off as she stood awkwardly above them until Maya looked up at her. She slowly and nervously reached her hand up and pulled Beverly down with her.
"Y-you don't hate me, r-right?"Maya whispered "For what I told you?"
Beverly frowned as she grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, "I could never."
"What did she tell you?" Josh asked, putting a protective arm around his sister.
Beverly glanced at Maya nervously, but she seemed to be in a daze. Most likely reliving the events in her head.
"Uh.. nothing important." Beverly said, cursing herself for sounding so unsure. Josh searched the girl's face suspiciously, before opening his mouth to speak.
"They all hated me." Maya mumbled, still staring at the wall.
"Hated you for what, sweetie?" David asked, stroking his daughter's hair. He had never seen it this bad before. Sure she had nightmares.. but never like this. She must have seen something bone chilling for this reaction, he thought.
"They promised.. you kicked me out.." She mumbled, taking in a shaky breath. "He lied. He said it didn't change anything."
Maya's breathing became uneven and faster as she started to pull on the hairties on her wrist. Beverly was terrified. What had she seen? She wondered.
"Hey, Maya, listen to my voice." Beverly started, lowering her voice in a soothing manner. "It wasn't real. It was just a nightmare. Nothing but a nightmare. Okay? Listen to my breathing. In for five and out for five."
Maya started to breathe normally again after a few minutes had passed. Maya was still quiet and still as she leaned her head against her dad's shoulder. Her hand was still tightly clasped around Beverly's, but she didn't mind. They sat in silence until Maya fell back asleep.
Hopefully peacefully this time. David prayed as he carried her to her bed.
"What did she tell you? Is she okay?" Josh asked worriedly as he reached for his crutches.
"Oh, well, that's... it's not exactly my place.." Beverly started "it's personal.. and she trusted me"
"I just want to know if she's okay. She's been through a ton of shit she didn't deserve and I don't want her hurt again."
Beverly thought for a few minutes. What should she do?
"Josh, leave the girl alone and go to bed. Now." David scolded. Josh went to argue, but decided against it when his father gave him a pointed look. He huffed but started for his room.
"I'm sorry to do this, but, what did she say? I'm her father. I need to protect my little girl." Beverly frowned, and in any other situation, would have felt envious of the kind and loving father Maya was blessed with, but this wasn't the time.
"I think she should tell you.." Beverly sighed nervously. David frowned, and nodded, giving one last glance to the girl before turning for the door. He stopped at the frame and turned back to her.
"At least tell me if she's being safe, with whatever this is."
"Yeah, she is." Beverly confirmed. The man smiled and nodded.
"Thank you." Then, he turned and shut the door quietly. Beverly crept over to the girl's bed and slowly got in next to her.
She looked at Maya, the tears on her face has dried. She looked peaceful. Almost as if nothing at all happened. Beverly sighed, and turned over to glance at the clock one last time before trying to go to sleep.
3:53 A.M was the last time Beverly saw before drifting into a slumber.
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{ Word Count: 3403 }
{ A/n: Ya'll catch the stranger things reference? }
{ Edited: Yes }