Cynophobia I Stanley Uris

chapter two

When the initial shock slowly subsided and she began to think clearly again, the built-up adrenaline dissipated in a shaking spasm that ran through her body.

She simply could not understand what had just happened. Had she only imagined the dog (and clown)? She didn't think so, but why hadn't Mr. Cox seen anything? The old curmudgeon was often extremely rude, but even he wouldn't do something that cruel to her.

By the time she leaned her bike against the garage of her house, she had calmed down enough to face her parents without looking nervous. She didn't want to tell her parents about this incident, so that nothing would come between her meeting with the boys.

DJ knocked on the door and when her mother opened the door, she already had a good excuse ready in case Claudia asked her why her pants were dirty. However, this was not necessary, because after her mother gave her a smile and greeted her, she turned around and went straight back to the kitchen. There she continued her conversation with DJ's father, Derek, while DJ hurried up the stairs to change.

As soon as she had changed, she walked down the stairs and moved into the kitchen, where her parents were sat eating together.

"Hey DJ," her father grinned at her, causing her to smile automatically. "How was your last day of school?"

She didn't like admitting it, but she got along slightly better with her dad, alone for the fact that he called her DJ and never raised his voice at her. Her mother was good as well, but DJ and Claudia often goaded each other on.

"Much better than I expected," she replied, grabbing a bowl and quickly making herself a serving of cereal. "My friends and I want to go out in, like, half an hour, is that all right?"

"Yeah, yeah," waved Claudia her daughter off, speaking up for the first time. "You have fun with Gretta and the girls."

DJ's shoulders dropped as she heard these words, remembering that she'd mentioned how hard the whole falling out with Gretta had been for her a few times over the last few weeks. That proved once again that her parents didn't listen to her truly and they didn't care much either. Usually, she would've called her mother out for this, but the day had been weird enough already and the least she needed was getting grounded for being disrespectful.

Nodding, DJ conjured up a convincing smile, "Thanks, mom! I'll see just finish eating and leave then."

The rest of the meal was finished in silence. Each of her dad's questions or statements for a conversation starter were quickly shut-down by either her mother or herself. The tension was thick, but as soon as DJ had finished the cereal, put it into the dishwasher, and jumped up to leave, her good mood returned and she was practically skipping.

She quickly walked over to the garage, getting her bike, as the quartet drove down the street. Smiling brightly, she pedaled towards them.

"So, how's it going?" she called, going faster so she could keep up with the guys.

"It's not going, it's driving." Richie corrected jokingly, causing the group to chuckle at his bad joke.

When they passed the library Richie, who was the closest to Bill, yelled at him to slow down, since he was by far the fastest.

"Hey-Ho!" Bill yelled excitedly. "Silver away!"

Silver was apparently how the Denbrough boy had named his bike and DJ found it adorable, as it gave the bike persona and that was really nice.

"Your old lady bike is too fast for us." Richie complained, when Bill began to pedal even faster, causing DJ to laugh loudly.

A few minutes later DJ, Bill, Eddie, Richie, and Stan had arrived at the Barrens. The sewer exit was rusty brown and dark, quite creepy in fact. It stank pathetically, which didn't make things any better.