FIREWORKS
After the rest of the group got to Maya's, they all decided to head to the backyard with smoke bombs and water balloons
"Richie! Put the water balloon down!" Maya called, throwing her hands up. "Don't throw it at me!"
"Say it, babe." He joked, stepping closer, hearing the laughter of the rest of the loser's in the background.
"No! You're delusional!" Maya cried out, as she ran behind Bill for protection.
"Fine, it's your loss." He smirked and launched it at her as Bill side-stepped quickly.
"Traitor!" She gasped out after getting hit in the chest with a water balloon. "Ugh. Now I'm all wet!"
"That's not the only reason you're wet." Richie retorted, winking.
"I'm gonna get you, Tozier!" She huffed, taking the water balloon Eddie had in his hands.
"Me too!" Beverly shouted, picking up a water balloon from the bucket near her.
"Oh, shit." He muttered as he quickly tried to back away from the two girls advancing towards him with water balloons.
"Oh shit, indeed, my friend" Maya nodded, as she threw the balloon up and caught it.
"Come on, ladies, ladies, let's talk about this! Maybe a threesom-" Stan watched in amusement as Richie was soaked with water. Eddie laughed lightly as the boy groaned in annoyance.
"Ha!" Beverly said. hi-fiving Maya.
"Gotcha!" Maya teased, putting both hands on her hips.
"T-that's what you get" Bill said walking over with a hot dog in his hands.
"Well, I'll get her back!" Richie said, wiping his face off.
"You guys should eat before the fireworks start." David said, placing a bottle of ketchup on the picnic table. The group of friends nodded quickly before rushing to the table.
Maya sat in the middle with Richie and Beverly on either side of her, Eddie was across from her and Bill and Stan sat on either side of him. Ben and Josh had fold out chairs pulled up to the end of the table.
Maya was about to take a bite of her hot dog, but Richie quickly grabbed her hand and took a bite of it.
"Gotcha." Richie winked, Maya scoffed and continued to eat her food.
"Whatever, loser." Maya nudged him, and stole some of his chips in retaliation.
"You guys are cute." Ben commented looking at the two with a smile, "I should've known when you said you didn't like Bill."
"Oh, we're not together." Maya quickly explained, rolling her eyes.
"Y-You're not?" Bill asked, looking towards the scoffing girl.
"No! Seriously, why does everyone think that?" Maya groaned.
"Because he never leaves our house, Maya." Josh said, looking at her. "he never leaves."
"One time I c-called you in the m-morning and R-Richie answered." He said "s-s-six different times."
"I called you at night at Richie answered." Stan said, winking at Beverly. He knew that they weren't together, Maya told him earlier. He just likes to annoy her sometimes.
"Come to think of it, yeah, me too!" Ben agreed, "it was last week"
"Well, we aren't dating"
"And they never will." Beverly says, nudging the girl.
"Nope. We wouldn't work, would we?" Richie teases.
"Holy shit, okay, you need to stop with that." Eddie huffed "It's weird and doesn't make sense."
"Oh, oh, is someone jealous?" Josh teased "too bad Eddie spaghetti, she's-"
"Josh!" Maya whispered harshly, glaring at him. She had told him a few days ago. She still hasn't told her dad, yet. She didn't know that he knew already. She guessed that Stan knew something now, too. Beverly had mentioned that it had slipped out to him about her being gay.
She wanted to know what the topic was for that, but she didn't pressure her.
"She's what?" Eddie asked quickly "taken?"
"Not necessarily." Josh said, clearing his throat.
"What does that mean?" Ben asked, confused, the table was being really weird.
"Nothing!" Beverly said quickly "It's nothing."
"Uh, okay.." Eddie said, looking away.
"Can we start the fireworks now, dad?" Josh asked, after finishing his food.
"Sure, get comfortable everyone!" David nodded, going inside to get a lighter. The group quickly shot up and ran to their respective chosen spots.
Maya sat down on the blanket she had laid against the house. She pressed her back too it and waited for the people she would be sitting with to come over. Richie ran over with another hot dog and sat down, he moved her feet and sat against her.
"Uh, Rich, whacta doin'?" Maya asked smiling at the boy below her.
"Oh, you know. Sitting down." He replied with a shrug.
"Okay then.." She whispered, shaking her head. Beverly and Stan walked over, they were the two others she was sitting with.
Beverly sat on the left of her, with Stan on the right. Maya leaned her head on Beverly's shoulder, her hands were under Richie's arms, and interlocked together, almost how a mother would hold her young child. Beverly had her head rested against the house, and her hands rested in her lap.
Stan's knees were pressed against his chest, his hands resting on them. His head rested against the brick of the home.
Maya watched the fireworks in awe. They were beautiful. All of the colors mixed together perfectly. The reds, blues, yellows, greens, pinks, and purples exploded and fell into a rain of color. Maya lifted her head to get a better view as her eyes lit up and a smile grazed her features. She's always loved this day, mainly because of the food and fireworks.
Beverly's eyes weren't on the sky, however. They were on Maya. She watched the brunette in admiration, Beverly nervously gulped as she turned her face back towards the sky.
Maya turned her head to look at Beverly, blushing when she saw the girl was already staring. Beverly's eyes widened and her head quickly turned back to the sky.
Maya turned her head back to the sky, but slowly trailed her hand down to the ground between the two.
Beverly noticed this and moved hers closer to Maya's, moving slowly incase she wasn't going to accept it.
Maya's heart beat increased when their fingers brushed. Beverly's face flushed as she made the move to interlock their fingers.
A grin broke out onto Maya's face as she squeezed Beverly's hand. It felt cold in her warm one. She liked how it felt.
Perfect. Is how she would describe it. It was as if their hands were made for each other.
The firework show lasted for a couple hours, both girls were taking glances at each other. Neither of them getting caught again, shockingly.
Once the firework show had ended, around one in the morning, the group of friends made their way up to Maya's room, they were all staying the night due to the curfew. Maya and Beverly would share the bed, Richie and Stan would take the floor, much to Maya's dismay, claiming she would take the floor for them, but they refused. David drove both Eddie and Ben home, because their moms didn't want them staying the night at a "stranger's" home.
The five friends who stayed talked quietly for around an hour. They had gotten told off by Josh more than once, but that didn't stop them. They continued talking until they started to fall asleep.
After Bill, Stan, and Richie had fallen asleep, Maya and Beverly continued to talk. They were facing each other with one hand under the pillow and one hand on top.
"Thanks for inviting me over." Beverly whispers, her blue eyes trailing over the tanner girl's face.
"Of course, Bev, you can come over anytime you want " Maya whispers back, her eyes doing the same to the paler girl.
"Will your dad be okay with that?"
"Of course, he doesn't mind." Maya frowns "he loves to cook, so the more the people, the more food he can make."
"Is that why Richie is always over?"
"Kinda. We usually feed him lunch and dinner, and breakfast if he's up and over early enough, or if he's stayed the night."
Beverly nodded and the two continued quietly talking until they fell asleep.
****
After David had fed them breakfast, which consisted of waffles, eggs, bacon, and orange juice, he left for work. Josh left to go to a friends house, so Maya locked the house and put the key necklace around her neck.
"Alright, guys, let's go." Maya said as they mounted their bikes, Bill had brought his over, Richie had his already at her house, Stan didn't have his, so Maya gave him Josh's old bike. Beverly didn't have her bike, though.
"Bev, you can ride on the back of mine." Maya offered, with a sweet smile. Beverly nodded as she climbed onto the back of her bike. She slipped her arms around Maya's waist and held tightly.
She breathed in the summer air as Maya started to ride towards Bill's house. She wasn't sure what to expect when they got there, he was very insistent on seeing it this morning.
Beverly pulled tighter as Maya turned a corner, she leaned her head on her back. She listened to the calming sound of her heartbeat and her breathing. Beverly closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment, the warm summer breeze blowing past her, the hot sun shining on her face, and most importantly, in her opinion, the scent of the perfume Maya used. It smelled like berries, Beverly liked it, it fit Maya and her personality perfectly.
The ride to his house ended all too quickly for Beverly, and soon they were all in Bill's garage, watching as he placed a slide into the projector. A map of Derry appeared on the screen as Bill adjusted it to the way he wanted it.
"Look" He said pointing to an area of the map labeled storm drain "T-t-that's where G-G-Georgie disappeared. There's the ironworks and the black spot. Everywhere IT happens it's.. it's all connected by the sewers. And they all meet up at the-"
"The wellhouse!" Ben cut him off quickly, sitting up."
"The house on Niebolt street." Stan said, looking at Bill. Maya shivered, she had always hated that house. It made her feel uneasy and unsafe.
"You mean that creepy ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?" Richie questioned, as Eddie took a puff of his inhaler.
"I'm sure hobos use it as a hotspot to fuck." Maya whispered to Richie, being thankful no one else had heard.
"I hate that place. Always feels like it's watching me" Beverly said, rubbing her knee nervously.
"Me too, gives me the creeps." Maya agreed, pulling at the hairties on her wrist.
"That's where I saw it, that's where I saw the clown." Eddie managed out, in between his shallow breaths.
"T-t-t-that's where IT lives" Bill concluded, causing Eddie to take another puff of his inhaler and Maya to grab onto Beverly's hand.
"I can't imagine anything ever wanting to live there." Stan said, as Eddie got up and stood in front of the map.
"Can we stop talking about this? I-I-I can barely breathe. This is summer! We're kids! I can barely breathe! I'm having a fucking asthma attack! I'm not doing this!" Eddie rambled, quickly spinning and ripping the map off of the wall.
"Eddie-" Maya began, being quickly cut off by Bill's anger.
"What the hell? Put the map back!" Bill commanded.
"Mmhmm!" Eddie shook his head, as the projector flipping through slides. Maya's blood started to run cold as she squeezed Beverly's hand tighter. Pictures of Georgie with the family started to appear on screen
"What happened?" Bill whispered, looking down at the projector.
"What's going on?" Eddie started to back away quickly as Maya stood to do the same. She quickly moved to the other side of the room, closer to Richie and Eddie instead of Beverly and Ben.
Mike tried to stop it, but the pictures kept flashing quickly, until it stopped on one. A picture of the whole family Bill's mom's red hair was covering her face due to the wind and Georgie wore a bright grin on his face. The projector started flipping through the slides again, but this time it started to zoom in on the picture.
"Bill turn it off! What the fuck.." With each slide Maya's heartbeat sped up and her breathing quickened. The picture zoomed into his mom, and her hair started moving quickly out of her face. When it finally stopped, it revealed the clown.
Maya's blood ran cold as she searched around the room for something to cling to. This so happened to be Stan, as he was closest to her. She gripped his arm tightly as the two backed away.
"What the fuck is that?" Richie shouted "what the fuck is that?" He turned to Eddie and shook him.
Maya's grip increased as she felt his hand wrap around hers as they backed into the wall.
"Turn it off! Turn it off!" Beverly screamed, the rest of the loser's all yelling something that Maya couldn't understand. Mike quickly pushed forward through the group and kicked over the projector over. Maya and Stan turned to the wall.
The clown was still there. Each slide showed it closer and closer. Until, it was gone. Maya breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't dare let go of the boy beside her.
Maya let out a blood curdling scream as the clown popped out of the screen. She took fast paced steps back, pulling Stan with her. The projector was flashing, and Maya couldn't see what was happening.
She didn't want to see what was happening. Maya felt her foot hit something and her body collided with the floor, Stan right next to her. She sat up and scrambled backwards until she hit the wall. She covered her face and screwed her eyes closed as she tried to tune out the screams.
She dared to peek out of her fingers to see the clown right in front of her. Her heart stopped as she tried to press herself into the wall as much as she could.
The clown gave a sinister smile as it turned and lunged towards Beverly. Maya stuck her hand out for her when the room flooded with light. Maya shakily stood up as she tried to calm her breathing. She put her hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat. She felt faint, as if she could collapse at any moment. She looked towards Beverly to calm her down, but Beverly had her arms wrapped tightly around Bill.
Maya looked around the room again for something to calm her down when she felt arms wrap around her.
She expected it to be Richie, but when she moved to wrap hers around him, it felt different. He was taller. After a moment, he pulled away.
"Stan?" She mumbled "I'm sorry about your arm." He shrugged and glanced down at it.
"It's okay," He whispered, lifting it up and shrugging.
"IT saw us! IT saw us and IT knows where we are!" Eddie rambled, taking a puff of his inhaler.
"IT always did. S-s-so let's go" Bill said, marching out of his garage and picking up his bike.
"Go? Go where?" Ben asked, his voice cracking.
"To Niebolt. That's where G-G-Georgie is." Bill confirmed.
"After that? Look at Maya! She almost had a panic attack!" Stan argued, glaring at Bill.
"Almost? Look at her! She's fucking shaking, Stan!" Richie rambled, "this was absolute bullshit!"
"Well, maybe
"Yeah! It's summer! We should be outside" Richie huffed, walking over to the scared girl and putting an arm around her shoulders. Maya felt calmer at the gesture, not by a lot, of course. But she felt her body begin to warm up again. She had always been a physical person. Things like simple touches meant a lot to her and could easily help calm her down.
"If you say summer one more f-f-f-fucking time." He glared, but quickly turned his bike around and mounted it.
"Bill! Wait!" Beverly called, rushing out and picking up Maya's bike. "Come on, Maya."
"W-What?" She stuttered out, squinting her eyes at her.
"We're going to Niebolt." Beverly replied as if it were obvious, "To help Bill."
"Oh.. Okay.." She nodded shortly, and slowly walked towards the bike. She mounted it and waited for Beverly to climb on and wrap her arms around her.
"Maya! Are you insane?" Richie shouted, earning noises of agreement from the other losers.
Once she did, she started to ride in the direction of Bill with only one thought in her mind: "Shit, I'm really gonna regret this."
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{ Word count: 2812 }
{ A/n: None }
{ Edited [✔] 8-17-19 }