.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
xiv. held back giggles
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AFTER HOURS OF SPLASHING ONE ANOTHER IN THE WATER, the group found themselves on the rocks of a clearing. Beverly laid down on a towel, sunbathing and basking in the sun. April sat cross-legged, looking away from the boys — leaving the sight of her back.
The boom box that sat to the side blasting 'Bust A Move', April hummed the lyrics as she toyed with the strings in her hand. She had already made Ben one, they had been on the rocks long enough for her to finish it. She was just about done finishing Beverly's, pale blue and green winded together in a pretty design.
She clicked her tongue in satisfaction, finishing the end of the bracelet and knotting it tightly in lieu of burning the ends. Placing it onto her towel next to Ben's, she looks to her backpack which sat next to her and plucked through it for the three other bracelets she had tucked it there safely before placing them alongside the other two.
"I did it!" She exclaims happily, turning her head towards the boys — too excited with her creations to notice that they had been staring and were now wide-eyes and bridging each other to stop.
Beverly looks to her curiously, sitting up and putting her hands under chin and looking to April. "Did what?" She asks as the boys attempt to act casually. She knew that they were watching them, she just chose not to embarrass them.
"I made you guys a bracelet, here, this is yours," April rambles, picking up Beverly's and offering it to her as Beverly sits up and looks down at it in awe.
She smiles, looking up to April with a look of gratitude. "It's beautiful," She says as she extends her wrists, April tying it with a pretty ribbon tie.
"Thank you! I've never really had any friends before so, I wasn't really sure if it was weird... But, I'm glad you like it. Anyway, I... Uh, I'm rambling, aren't I?" April looks to Beverly with a pout and a shake if the head, the other girl laughing.
"I've never really had friends either," Beverly says, playing with the end of the bracelet gently. "I'm glad we're friends now though," She says just as Richie shouts.
"Who sent you this?!" He holds a postcard in his hand, attempting to turn it over before Ben snatches it from his hands and hides it.
Shaking his head in a panic, Ben responds. "No one!".
April tilts her head curiously, furrowing her eyebrows at the sudden outburst. He must've been hiding a secret. A secret secret, if he was acting so jumpy about a plain old postcard.
Standing up and walking over to the boys, April notices Bill move over on the rock and gesture for her to sit next to him. She smiles, hurrying over and sitting down with a jump in her step.
"W-What d-did you do?" He asks once she's seated, referring to the excited about she had uttered our a few moment prior.
Watching as Richie pulls out a duotang and flip through the pages, April nods her head side to side. "Just finished the rest of the bracelets for you guys," She responds, looking to Bill with a gleam.
"S-S-So, I'm not the o-o-only one getting one? You've h-hurt me, Sunshine," He jokes, poking her arm with a joking grin as she rolls her eyes playfully.
"Don't worry, Billy. You're probably my best friend so far in life," She says in a joking voice, however, it was true. Bill Denbrough was the closest thing she had to a best friend.
He smiles at her, poking her thigh before his attention is cut short and Eddie speaks up. "What's with the history project?" He asks, looking down at the pages of the duotang.
"When I first moved here, I didn't really have any friends. So, I just started going to the library," Ben shrugs, explaining the contents as everyone's interest begins to pique.
Richie scoffs. "You went to the library? On purpose?" He asks, rolling his eyes.
Ben looking down at his hands shyly as April flashes a smile to him. "Rich, leave him be. The library isn't so bad!" She defends as Richie passes the folder to Bill to sift through.
"The library isn't fun, Ambie!" Richie shakes his head in disbelief. April is too occupied in the discussion to look down at the pages in Bill's hands.
April nods her head. "Yes, it can be! I go with Holly whenever she needs a new biology textbook. I always hang out in the fairytale section and read about princesses! That's fun!" She rambles as Beverly, Stan, Eddie, and Ben softly laugh at her innocent choice of books.
"Maybe, that's because you didn't have any friends but you're apart of our club now and we don't like the lame-ass library!" Richie responds with a grin causing April to roll her eyes.
"Ben and I think the library is cool. Maybe, you're just lame," She sticks her tongue out. "Do you think it's cool, Eddie? Bev? Stan? What do you think?" She asks curiously.
Eddie shrugging, Richie taking as an agreement that it's lame and cheering.
Stan rolls his eyes at the question. "It's alright, April. Not the coolest place ever," He laughs in between a straight face as Beverly nods in agreement.
Pouting, she sticks her tongue out. "Ben and I agree and that's all that matters. What about you, Billy?" She asks, looking to the boy to her side with a satisfied smile.
He looks up from the duotang to April, his focused eyes suddenly turning soft at her face and nodding. "It's c-c-cool," He responds, shrugging.
April looking to Richie and sticking her tongue out. "See, I was right!" She laughs, running a hand through her knotted, wavy hair.
Before Richie could retaliate, Stan cut in — looking to Ben curiously. "What's the Black Spot?" He asks, seeing the same in one of Ben's news articles.
"The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult," Eddie responds, shrugging, April beginning to peer over Bill's shoulder as Beverly walks over, curiously to see what the commotion was about.
At this point, April had her chin pressed against Bill's bare shoulder as the group of three scan the pages with wide eyes, reading the articles headlines. They were all so engrossed in the topic that they hadn't even noticed Ben leaning closer. "Your hair is beautiful, Beverly," He says, gesturing to the new haircut she donned.
April felt something in the air, she felt the way Ben's eyes followed after Beverly and the adoring gaze they held. It was much like how her parents looked at one another and it had her wondering if anyone would look at her the same. Ben felt something for Beverly, for sure!
"Yeah, it looks amazing, Bev," April adds on, her chin still on Bill's shoulder as she flashes a sweet smile to Beverly who tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear with a sheepish smile.
"Oh, right. Thanks," Beverly smiles back, her eyes landing on April for a split moment before quickly darting to Ben and staying there for more than a few seconds.
Richie butts into the conversation now, extending his hand towards Bill. "Here, pass it," He orders, Bill sighing and placing the duotang into the loud-mouthed boys outstretched hand. "Why is it all murders and missing kids?" He asks, flipping through the pages rapidly — not even slow enough to read the headlines.
"Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before," Ben starts, pausing as April begins to shift uncomfortably at the words, leaning towards Bill's body nervously.
She breathes in shakily, feeling suddenly very irked. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asks, furrowing her eyebrows as she turns her head towards Ben.
"They did a study once, and it turns out people die or disappear six times the national average," He responds, looking between the group and how their expressions shifted from their once carefree attitudes to fright.
Beverly looks to him, fiddling with her sunglasses. "You read that?" She presses.
Ben nods. "And that's just grownups. Kids are worse. Way, way worse," He goes on.
April pinching at a piece of skin on her thigh as if to wake her up from this frightful thought before opening her mouth. "But, there's got to be an... Explanation? Stuff like that doesn't just happen. Maybe, something in the... I don't know, air? Water? Maybe, the pipes are contaminated and it causes people to die," She rambles, feeling unsafe with the lack of answers of the unexplained mysteries.
"I haven't found anything," Ben shrugs before silence falls over the group for a moment. "I've got more stuff if you wanna see it," He breaks the lull, Eddie beginning to shake his head quickly while sputtering our quietly, 'no!'.
♧
The bike ride was incredibly bleak, April pressed up against Bill's back tightly as they dip down street corners and bumps. It was only a matter of time before they made it, the group all discarding their bikes onto the the front lawn with a clatter of metal gears.
Entering the house, the group following after Ben apprehensively through the hall before they watch as he disappears through a door they assumed leads to his room.
Beverly entered first, followed by Stan, then Eddie and Richie, and lastly April and Bill who trailed slowly behind. Her hand every now and then brushing against his as she leans closer, feeling uneasy about learning about all the bloody details of her hometowns dark history she wasn't even aware of.
As they were dispersed around the room, they all took notice of the newspaper clippings that littered across the walls. "Woah, woah, woah! Wow!" Riches speaks up, his eyes widened in amusement at the decorated walls.
"Cool, huh?" Ben asks, a cheeky smile on his face as Bill begins to walk to the desk in front of the window — April trailing behind him, lost. Not sure whether she really wanted to know details or if she'd be better left in the dark.
"No! No! Nothing cool, there's nothing cool," Richie shakes his head. "Oh, this is cool! Right here. Wait, no. That's not cool," He goes, pointing to a photo before laughing.
April rolls his eyes at his behaviour. "Rich, that's not exactly nice," She speaks up, stood next to Bill as she does a turn around the room to take in the atmosphere. Despite the, odd, uneasy, type of articles and books that were scattered around — she couldn't help but think that the room held a very calming and peaceful type aura.
"Put a sock in it, Ambie. You're too soft," Richie responds, Stan pointing to a photo on the wall and asking a question that she couldn't quite make out.
Ignoring Richie's comment, April brushes passed Bill as he holds up a projector slide up to the light. She doesn't bother to look at it, instead opting to look at the other side of the room, turning just in time for Beverly to shut the door lightly and look behind it. Revealing a New Kids On The Block poster.
Holding in a laugh, April and Beverly make eye contact, stifling their laughs with the back of their hands as Ben turns around and his eyes widen. Shaking his head rapidly, begging for Beverly to open the door once again and gesturing to April with a 'hush' hand gesture.
Nodding, April brings her hand to her mouth. Locking it shut and throwing away the key as Beverly opens the door to hide the poster once again before she wanders over to April, their eyes crinkling with smiles and trying to keep giggles at bay.
"W-where was the well house?" Bill asks suddenly, looking to Ben while holding the projector slide still in his hand. April gazing towards it before lightly walking across the floor and towards him once again, tilting her head to see what he found so interesting about it.
"I-I don't know. Somewhere in town, I guess. Why?" Ben responds, shrugging as Bill nods — looking away and holding the slide up to the light so she can see.
"Nothing," Bill brushes it off, April furrowing her eyebrows, attempting to understand what was so interesting about it for him to inquire about it.
Nothing exactly stuck out, her eyes squinting against the light before she looks away, giving up. "You sure it's nothing, Billy?" She asks, tilting her head at him curiously. Feeling that there was more to what he was trying to say but didn't know how to say it, after all, the others had brushed it off completely.
He nods, putting the slide down and slinging as arm around her shoulder and messing her hair up with his hand with a false smile. "Yeah, Sunshine. It's nothing," He assures her as they walk over to the rest of the group crowded around the longest walks which had the most articles.
And, for the first time of their incredibly short friendship, April wasn't sure if she believed him.
Authors Note: I feel like this is so bad. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.