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Even though Alice was happy from the moment Bill said he'd hangout with her until the moment she went to bed, Alice couldn't sleep that night. Every time she shut her eyes she thought of the clown. Of it repeatedly saying her name over and over again, telling her to follow it, to float with it.
She'd gotten maybe one hour of sleep before she woke up from a horrible nightmare. The thing was in her head, and scared her till she woke up. Thinking about calling Bill she'd stopped, remembering she had no idea what his number is, and that it's really late, she didn't want to get him in trouble for calling.
Slipping on some white shoes she walked over to her window, thinking. There were two places she could go- Stan's, who lives down the street. She remembered that's where he saw her helping the hurt puppy, it was right by his house. He'd watched from his bedroom window.
Or Bill's, she knew which area Bill lived in, but didn't know which house. She finally decided Stan's because she actually knew where it was and opened her curtains, jumping to see a figure already there.
It was Stan, a worried look on his face. Alice took no time in throwing her window up, letting him in.
"How did you know where I lived?" Alice asked. "And what are you doing out so late?"
"I uh- I needed someone. And you were the only one that would understand, and you're closest so I thought I'd come to you. And after school or sometimes I always ride past here, the only reason you didn't notice earlier was because I took Ben home." Stan said, breathing heavily.
His curly hair was a mess, and he had giant bags under his eyes. Alice shut her window, closing the curtains before turning to Stanley.
"What happened?"
"What happened with you? You're wearing shoes this late and I didn't even need to knock before you opened the window." Stan changed the subject. his eyes glancing around nervously.
"I was about to come to your house, actually." Alice admitted, rubbing her arm lightly.
"Why?" Stan asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
"I already answered one of your questions, now you answer mine. What happened?"
"I saw the-the clown you were talking about. He had this huge forehead and bright reddish orange hair. A creepy smile, all of that." Stan nervously said, rubbing his hands together.
"That's why I was going to come to your house. I can't stop thinking and I stopped for a while but I couldn't stop dreaming about it and it was bugging me." Alice replied, her eyes widening slightly.
Stan took a look around Alice's room. It was a light pink, a bunch of band posters all over the walls. Not filling the walls completely, but there were enough bands, some of them Stanley hadn't even heard of.
He'd noticed her paintings scattered along her desk and walked over, studying them. "These are good. This one's Bill and I?" He picked up the portrait, Alice blushing lightly.
"I have one of Richie and Eddie also, but I haven't finished it yet," Alice said. "I love drawing and painting."
"You're really good." Stan said again, setting the photo of him and Bill down. "Can I stay here tonight? I'll have to leave really early and I can sleep on the floor I just- I can't go home right now."
"Of course," Alice said. "But there's no need for you to sleep on the floor, my bed's clearly big enough for more than two people." She pointed at her bed. Stan looked at it, smiling as he saw one of the pink princess canopies hanging over it.
"Thanks. You don't think Bill would get mad do you?" Stan asked. "I mean, I'm his best friend and I know how much he really likes you."
"I think it'll be fine, there's nothing going on between you and I," Alice said, ignoring the fact he'd pretty much outed Bill about his crush on her. "We should probably get a little bit of sleep. Bill's going to be here early tomorrow before we go to the quarry so him and I can hangout."
Stan nodded and the two slipped their shoes off getting into bed, just the feeling of having someone next to them making each other feel better. No, they weren't touching, and no they didn't have feelings for each other. It was just a friendly gesture, they both knew what each other was going through and knew they could be there for each other- even if they hadn't known each other very long.
****
The next day when Alice woke up, Stanley had left. He tried to shut her window as best as he could but it's hard to shut a window when you're high off the ground. He'd left her a note, saying thanks for letting him stay and that if she ever needs him then he's there, even though she already knew that.
She took a quick shower and got into the outfit she'd chosen for the day, a light pink dress and her white shoes she'd slipped on the night before. She'd brushed through her hair, leaving it down since she didn't feel like going through the struggle of getting it up neatly.
By the time she'd gotten done and downstairs, she looked out of her living room window to see Bill ride up on his bike.
"I'm going out with some friends mom, I'll be back by curfew!" She'd yelled to her mother who was cleaning the kitchen. Her mom just nodded and she walked out, smiling at Bill.
"Hey Bill!" She greeted him, and he smiled as he saw the cute girl in front of him.
"H-hey Alice. I was th-thinking you could j-just ride on my bike instead of r-riding your own." He told her, his cheeks a tint of red.
"I'm okay with that, shall we go?" She asked, looking at her watch and noticing it was a couple minutes after noon. Bill was right on time.
He nodded and she hopped on the back of his bike on the pegs, and he slowly made his way out of her yard and down the street. Bill had thought all night about what they could do until the quarry, so he finally decided to take her to get a milkshake at the restaurant a couple blocks away from the both of their houses.
After he got there they both hopped off, getting inside and ordering a strawberry and chocolate shake. They got their shakes and sat down, Bill noticing the dark circles underneath the girls eyes.
"A-are you doing okay?" He asked, and Alice couldn't help but smile lightly at his concern.
"I'm alright I guess. Couldn't sleep well last night because of the clown, but I'm okay now. I really looked forward to hanging out with you." Alice took a sip of her milkshake.
"The clown won't hurt you, you know." Bill said, not even realizing he hadn't stuttered.
"I know, I think. It just felt so real. I'm not the only one to see it either. Stan saw it too. He came to my house."
"H-he did?" Bill asked, feeling slightly jealous.
"Yes, but I promise it's nothing like that. It's just nobody had seen the clown except for me, and it's funny because I was going to go to his house last night because I wanted to come to yours but I don't know where you live so I couldn't," Alice explained. "And as I was leaving he showed up. He stayed over but left hours before I even woke up and we never cuddled or anything."
Bill stayed quiet, not knowing what to say.
"He said he didn't want you mad, because he knows how much you like me and-"
"H-he told you th-that?" Bill cut the small girl off, and she nodded. He felt his face heat up as he took a long sip of his milkshake.
"I mean, I think that's cute. I think you're a pretty cool guy too, Bill." She smiled, as if a way of telling him she sort of liked him back.
She may have only sort of liked him back now, but who knew moments from now, days she'd risk her entire life for the boy with the stutter, sitting across from her.
