BAD DREAM, bill denbrough

iii. NEW KID

The group was riding their bikes along a trail with Ben on the back of Billy's bike. "You doing okay back there, new kid?" Sabrina shouted to him, seeing as she was riding in front of Bill. "Yeah." He yelled in response.

"I think it's great that we're helping the new kid, but also we need to think of our own safety. I mean, he's bleeding all over and you guys know that there's an AIDS epidemic happening right now as we speak, right? My mom's friend in New York City got it by touching a dirty pole on the subway. And a drop of AIDS blood got into his system through a hangnail. A hangnail! And you can amputate legs and arms." Sabrina could hear Eddie ranting the whole time they were riding their bikes.

"But how do- how do you amputate a waist!? You guys do know that alleys are known for dirty needles that have AIDS, right? You guys do know that?" Eddie continued to rant as they parked their bicycles in the alley.

"R-Richie, wait here. Come on." Bill instructed the group and Sabrina, Stanley, and Eddie quickly followed after him, running into the store.

They all rushed over to the medicine isle and Sabrina watched as Eddie grabbed a bunch of things off the shelf. "Can we afford all of that?" Billy asked and Stanley began counting his money before holding it up, "This is all we got."

"Are you kidding me?" Eddie gave a defeated face and Sabrina began looking at the stuff in his hands. "Ed, put that back, it's useless." She grabbed one of the small boxes out of his hand and put it back on the shelf. "We still won't have enough money, but there's no point in grabbing items we don't need."

"W-wait, you have an account here, don't you?" Bill asked Eddie and the shorter boy grew stern, "If my mom finds out I bought all this stuff for myself...I'm spending the whole rest of the weekend in the emergency room getting X-rayed."

"That's true, she's crazy." Sabrina ran a stressed hand through her hair, "But honestly Ed, new kid needs help, it would be worth it. Ya know, helping oth-" Sabrina cut herself off when she heard a noise and turned her head, spotting Beverly Marsh at the end of the isle.

The boys all stood there in shock as Beverly quickly hid something behind her back. "Hey, Beverly." Sabrina shot the girl a sweet smile.

"You okay?" Stanley asked her. "I'm fine, what's wrong with you?" She looked mainly towards Eddie, who happened to be holding a bunch of medical supplies.

"None of your business." Stanley spoke fast, but Eddie disregard his statement as he said, "There's a kid outside. Looks like someone killed him."

"We need some s-s-su-supplies, but we don't have enough money." Billy shrugged and Beverly looked towards the ground, "Okay, here's the plan." Beverly paused and walked closer to them, "I'll distract Mr.Keene and get him to look away from the door and you make a run for it, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Beverly." Sabrina smiled at the girl. "Don't mention it." The red-head walked forwards and to the counter to begin distracting the owner.

As Beverly was talking to Mr.Keene, Eddie turned to his sister. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Sabrina? We're stealing." He whispered.

"It's to help somebody, Ed. Now hush and wait for the que."

The group began watching the girl once more and watched as she pushed over a display. She looked back at the group and they took that as their sign to get out, rushing so much that Bill accidentally pushed Eddie into one of the shelves.

Sabrina reached back and grabbed Bill's arm, tugging him along so they could get out of the store as quickly as possible.

The group successfully made it out and Sabrina let out a small cheer as they made their way into the alley. "Successful trip, boys." She said as she grinned.

Sabrina began walking down the alley way with Eddie and Stanley and turned around once she realized Bill wasn't following. "You coming, Bill?"

"U-uh, I'm gonna w-wait s-so I can t-th-thank-" Sabrina cut him off, knowing what he was going to say, "Okay."

She smiled and gave him a thumbs up, which he returned.

They finally arrived to the new kid's side and Eddie immediately got to work on his wound.

"So what's your name, new kid?" Sabrina asked him as she sat down, her back against the brick wall behind her.

"Ben, yours?"

"Sabrina." She smiled before turning her head to where Bill was, watching him freeze as Beverly walked up to him.

She stared at them, watching their interaction as she tuned out the blabbering of the boys in the background. She quickly stood up as she saw Beverly making her way down the alley alongside Bill. "Are you okay? That looks like it hurts." Beverly questioned Ben.

"Oh. No, I'm good. I just fell." Ben responded and Richie immediately called him out, "Yeah, into Henry Bowers!"

"Shut it, R-Ri-Ri-Richie." Bill said, sticking up for Ben so he wouldn't be embarrassed.

"Why? It's the truth!" Richie spurted out in response.

"You sure they got the right stuff to fix you up?" Beverly grinned at him, then winked. Sabrina rolled her eyes at the Beverly's actions before her eyes found the ground once more.

"You know, w-w-we'll take care of him. Uh, thanks again, Beverly." Bill thanked and the ginger nodded, "Sure! Maybe I'll see you around."

"Yeah, w-we were thinking about going to the q-q-quarry tomorrow, if you- if you wanna come." The boy invited the girl.

Sabrina's eyes shot up to Bill as her mouth opened in shock and disapproval. She didn't know why she felt this way, but she did.

"Good to know. Thanks." Beverly smiled at them then walked away, waving as she left.

"Nice going bringing up Bowers in front of her." Stanley scolded Richie. "Yeah, dude, you heard what she did." Eddie added.

"What'd she do?"  Ben asked, and boy, he sure was clueless.

"More like "Who'd she do?" From what I hear, the list is longer than my wang." Richie responded and Sabrina rolled her eyes, a laugh coming out of her when Stanley said, "That's not saying much."

"They're j-j-just r-rumors." Billy told him.

"Anyway, Bill had her back in third grade. They kissed in the school play. The reviews said you can't fake that sort of passion. Now, pip-pip and tally-ho, my good fellows, I do believe this chap requires our utmost attention. Get in there, Dr. K. Come on, fix him up." Richie began speaking in an accent after he was done talking about Billy.

"Why don't you shut the fuck up, Einstein, because I know what I'm doing and I don't want you doing the British guy with me right now." Eddie snarked back and Sabrina laughed, "You tell him, Ed!" She said in a British accent, just to get on his nerves.

And when Eddie gave her a look of disapproval, she took that as her que to leave.

"I'm gonna head out." Sabrina told the boys and walked over to her bike as a chorus of 'byes!' were yelled her way.

She turned her head when she felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Billy standing there. "Hey." She smiled.

"H-hey. Are you s-st-still coming to the q-q-quarry tomorrow?" He asked her, in which she shook her head.

"Nah, I don't want to sit there and watch you guys give googly eyes to Beverly while she's in her undergarments." Sabrina responded, slightly annoyed, but she played it off with a laugh.

"W-we wouldn't be d-doing t-that, p-please come." He grabbed her hand as he spoke and Sabrina quickly looked down at their hands, making the decision to pull hers away as she hopped on her bike.

"We'll see." And with that, she rode off.

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CHAPTER THREE - NEW KID