𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙗𝙞𝙖 ➹ 𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙯𝙞𝙚𝙧

3.

THREE.

❝DO YOU USE THE SAME
BATHROOM AS YOUR MOTHER?❞

AS I STARTED TO WAKE UP, I was greeted with the sound of my alarm clock buzzing rapidly. Ugh, shut up, I groaned in my head. 12:07 was displayed on my clock, flashing every two seconds and my plans to hang with Stanley and his friends popped up in my head. Oh shit! I'm gonna be late if I don't head out now.

As quickly as possible, I got ready and raced through my hall. "Y/n, would you like some breakfast?" Asked my mother. "No thanks!" I shouted as I was halfway out the door with a pop tart between my teeth.

LUCKILY, I WAS NOW AT THE BARRENS and I seemed to be early. My pop tart was devoured long before I got here but basically half of it was littered down the roads in the form of crumbs.

My head was placed between my hands that lay upon my knees as I waited for the four boys.. I was sitting on a rock by the river and my bike was thrown beside me. They were taking so long. Maybe they won't even show,

Ruffling was coming from somewhere behind me and I heard voices. The voices became more clear as Stanley, Richie, Eddie and Bill came into view. They placed their bikes beside mine and walked over to me as I stood from my spot.

"Hey, Y/n. We have decided to go to the sewers instead of staying here to look for Georgie," Stanley informed me. "Yeah, alright. That's cool," I replied to the boy. "I thought you guys weren't going to show up."
"We wouldn't d-ditch you," said Bill. "Thanks Bill."

We started to walk over the grey rocks along the river. Stanley wouldn't stop pointing out every single plant in the way, claiming them all to be 'poison ivy'. In all honesty, it was getting pretty irritating.

"That's poison ivy. And that's poison ivy," he continued saying while pointing to plants. "And that's poison ivy."
"Where? Where's the poison ivy?" Eddie asked, getting slightly concerned now. Richie shut Stanley up then, "Nowhere. Not every fucking plant is poison ivy Stanley." Finally someone said it. "Sorry Stan but he's right."

We reached the entrance of the sewer tunnel. Not a thing could be seen inside from the pitch black darkness consuming it. Richie pointed the flashlight through the tunnel as it lit it up. Then, Richie and Bill started to head inside. Stanley, Eddie and I stood outside peering in.

"Okay. I'm starting to get itchy now," said Eddie till he was interrupted by Richie. "And I'm pretty sure this is not good for my-"
"Do you use the same bathroom as your mother?" He asked bluntly.
"Sometimes, yeah."
"Then you probably have crabs."
"That is so not funny."

Bill was looking around the water and tunnel when Richie turned back to face us. "Aren't you guys coming in?" He questioned. "I think I'll pass," I replied. "Nuh-uh. It's greywater," Eddie also replied. Stanley just shook his head. "What the hell is greywater?" Richie said, confused by Eddie's stupid terms.
"It's basically piss and shit. So, I'm just telling you, you guys are splashing around in millions of gallons of Derry pee. So. ." He explained.

Richie picked up a stick from the murky water while Bill was still searching for anything that could be related to Georgie's disappearance. Eddie cringed whip questioning Richie's actions, "Are you serious? What are you-" The boy with glasses then sniffed the stick as he put on one of his impressions, saying back, "Doesn't smell like caca to me, señor." His impression earned a laugh from me which made him turn to look at me and smile, happy someone laughed at his joke.

Eddie was still sick from his actions, "Okay, I can smell that from here."
"It's probably just your breath wafting back into your face." Richie motioned his hand back at his face to annoy the shorter boy. Rolling his eyes and huffing, it was obvious Richie got what he wanted. "Okay, have you ever heard of a staph infection?"
"Oh, I'll show you a staff infection."
I looked over to Stanley and he was rolling his eyes. "Are they always like this?" I laughed.
"Yeah.

"This is so unsanitary," Eddie complained behind Stan and I's small talk. He continued talking all about his hygiene till he let out a mortified shriek. My head whipped over to his direction and it turned out that Richie threw something from the dirty water at Eddie.

"Are you stupid? I mean—You're the reason why we're in this position right now." The two boys' bickering was interrupted by Bill's discovery. "Guys!" He shouted. We all looked over to Bill. Bright light from the flashlight revealed a small white-cream colored shoe. Everyone either gulped or gasped at the sight. Oh no, that probably belongs to Georgie, I thought.

"Shit. Don't tell me th-that's . . ." Stanley shivered. "No," Bill said sternly, "Georgie wore galoshes." He made his way to Richie and the light was flashed on it. They were looking for the shoe owner's name. "Who's sneaker is it?" Eddie asked.
"It's Betty Rimpson's," Richie answered.
"Betty Rimpson's?" I gulped.

A line of panicked curses erupted from Eddie's speech. "I don't like this." Of course, Richie—with his big mouth—had to step in. "How do you think Betty feels? Running around these tunnels with only one frickin' shoe." A grin was painted on his face as he hopped on one leg, imitating Betty. He looked around and we caught eyes; I just shook my head telling him 'not the time' without words.

"What if she's still here?" Stanley's voice quivered as he spoke. I could sense the fear in him. The rest of the group ignored him while I placed my hand upon his shoulder. "I'm sure she's gonna be alright," I reassured.

"Eddie, come on." Richie called as they trudged further into the tunnels. "My mom will have an aneurysm, if she finds out that we're playing down here. I'm serious." Bill stopped in his tracks and Eddie spoke again. "Bill?"
"If I was Betty Rimpson, I would want us to find me." His voice shook. "G-Georgie too."

"Shit, you're right." I'm gonna help look too after realising Bill's words were true. If I was missing, I would desperately want someone to find me, or at least try. "You're coming in?" Asked Richie as he held his hand out for me to hold while venturing into the shadowy sewer.

I took hold of his hand and cringed as I felt the grimy water fill my shoes and wet my socks. His hand was soft and warm and he walked forward, bringing me deeper into the tunnel.

"What if I don't want to find them," Eddie voiced. We turned over to face Eddie's complaints once again. "I mean, no offence, Bill. But I don't want to end up like . . . I don't want to go missing either."
Stanley looked down to his feet before agreeing. "He has a point."
"You too?"
"It's summer. We're supposed to be having fun. This isn't fun . . . This is scary and disgusting, It was evident that Stanley was as scared as Eddie. But he wasn't scared of bacteria or infections or whatever. He was scared to go missing, which I don't blame him for.