Anaphylaxis [IT 2017]

11

For nearly five weeks, Wren has been driving the losers around Derry. A different place every time, and a different date with Bill in return. However, Bill is no longer her reason for sticking around.

She loves spending time with Eddie although he always acts annoyed. Wren can tell it's fake because more than a few times, she's kissed his cheek, and he never asks her to stop.

She loves Stan with all her heart, and always drives him home last just so she can have more time with him. She's proud that he's not even nervous around her— he talks about his anxieties and how he just wants to make his father proud.

Richie always has something nice to say about her— even if it's super vulgar. Sometimes when he's having a tough time with his parents she'll pick him up and drive around.

Ben is the sweetest boy he's ever met, and he always tells her about his crush on Bev. Wren insists that one day he'll receive all his desires.

Bev and her aren't that close. In fact, she feels a weird tension between them— like Bev is always trying to hide something from her. Wren doesn't care enough to find out what it might be, it's none of her business anyway.

Today, she agreed to meet them all at the park, but nearly 30 minutes has past and there isn't a sign of a single one of them.

"Where the hell are those losers?" She grumbles, rolling her eyes.

When another ten minutes pass, she begins to wonder if they ditched her.

However, she's proved wrong when they all roll up on their bikes. She raises an eyebrow at the new friend they've brought along— Mike Hanlon. She recalls Henry talking dirt on him plenty of times.

However, she's met Mike.

In fact, they're great friends! Remember that dinner party she had to go to? It was his! Mike's grandpa always had a sweet spot for Nona Hutsbee, so they have weekly dinners.

As they all hop off their bikes, she giggles at Stan who insists on putting it on it's stand.

"Mikey? Is that you?" She calls, smiling as they all walk towards her. The losers look at her with surprise, certainly not expecting her to be acquainted with him.

"W-Wren?" He mutters.

"Bee," she corrects.

"Right, sorry! What're you doing here?" He laughs, pulling her into a hug.

"Meeting up with my part time boyfriend and his loser friends! I see your acquainted," she winks. Richie rolls his eyes at her choice of words, quickly coming to defense.

"You're a loser too, ya know?" He scoffs.

"Oh, that so?" Wren raises an eyebrow.

"You're not a loser, I don't think so," Eddie cuts in. Wren throws him a sweet smile, causing him to blush. Richie punches his shoulder.

"I'm kidding though," she laughs. "I don't think you guys are losers. Not at all. Especially not my favorite person in the world— Stan the man!" Stan smiles brightly at her words, and isn't even phased when she wraps him in a hug.

"Which, by the way, are you okay?" She whispers softly. "You've been looking kind of sick."

He wishes he could tell her that the real reason he's getting sick is because of how guilty he feels. He's so damn guilty that he literally looks and feels like crap.

"I'm fine," he insists. She kisses his cheek, and lets go of him to move onto the next person.

Likes always, she goes through her normal greetings— giving each individual a second of her appreciation.

"Hey, Kaspbrak. How're you today?" She giggles as she finally gets to Eddie. By now, everyone is talking about different things. Mostly about some "rock war" whatever that means.

"I-I'm good. My mom got me new meds— so I'm nervous about how my body will react to the change," he responds nervously.

He can't really pin whether he's nervous about the meds, or if he's nervous about talking to her.

"Change is usually a good thing," Wren reassures. "I think you'll be just fine. And if not, I'll always take you straight home. Okay?"

Eddie smiles.

Out of all the losers, Wren is the only person to ever truly respect his choices. She doesn't complain about his fears, and she doesn't judge him. She always supports him, and is always willing to help.

"Okay, thanks, Bee. How are you?"

Wren sighs, "I'm actually pretty great. I ran into Chastity Wilkins the other day! She invited me to a party, but pfffft, I'll never go to one of those."

"Why not?" He questions. "It seems like everyone always wants you to go these parties, but you never wanna go to a single one."

"I just don't really like them. It's just a whole bunch of idiots getting wasted."

Eddie nods.

"A-Am I the only o-one who w-wants to play on th-the playground?" Bill suddenly questions, earning everyone's attention.

"Already ahead of you," Richie shouts, racing towards the playground. Everyone looks between each other before breaking into a sprint towards the play set. For once this summer, they all feel like kids.

They all run around like idiots until the sun starts to go down.

Finally, they all begin to walk towards their bikes/car.

"That was unfair! You can't fucking flirt to distract me in tag, Bee," Richie complains. Wren snorts in response.

"Get bent!"

Bill chuckles at the two and shakes his head. He watches as everyone around him is laughing and enjoying each other.

"Shit, I'll never make it home in time for dinner," Stan mumbles as he picks up his bike.

"Want a ride?" Wren offers. "We could put your bike in my trunk."

"Please," Stan smiles. Wren quickly helps the boy put the bike into her trunk, doing her best not to damage it. As she noticed he's bit of a perfectionist.

Stan smiles, "thanks, Bee."

"No problem. You can get in the car if you want, I'm gonna properly say goodbye to everyone," she tells him. Stan complies and waits in her vehicle.

He watches anxiously as Bee says goodbye to everyone. She kissed Bill. She hugs Mike, Ben, and Richie. She kisses Eddies cheek, and she waves at Bev. He knows the real reason Bev avoids getting closer to her is because she knows that what her and Bill are doing is wrong.

With a smile, Wren climbs into her car and begins to drive off.