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JOIN THE CIRCUS!
Veronica and Eddie walked home from Ben's house that afternoon. The sun had lowered in the sky significantly as it neared evening. Eddie had begun to whistle as they turned onto Neilbot Street.
"Oh my gosh, Eddie, what are you whistling. I keep thinking you're trying to play the Star Spangled Banner." The girl told him, swatting his hands.
"Hey!" He said, hitting her back.
Beep beep beep.
Eddie's watch had begun to beep, signaling it was time to take one of his various pills. The boy quickly became flustered by Veronica's presence. The fact that they had stopped right in front of a creepy house that had once been painted black. The building was falling apart, and the windows were boarded up, making it worse.
"Eds do whatever you need to do," Veronica told him softly. He nodded. The loomed over them, casting its weary shadow. Small creaks came from the house, calling the boy. This made him even more flustered. His fingers numbly thumbed through this fanny pack. He went to grab the blue container, but instead, he knocked it to the ground, causing the pills to scatter. He groaned as they rolled down the street.
"Oh shit!" He whined as he bent down to pick them up. Knowing if he didn't collect them, his mom would have his head. Veronica didn't like the house at all, so she bent down to help him. She wanted to get away fast. The air on the street was suffocating. Two had almost finished picking up the pills when a third hand picked one up. Veronica froze, her throat drying almost instantly.
"What the hell?!"
"Do you think this will help me, Eddie?" a man had said, but this man wasn't normal. Scars littered his face, snot and pus pooled from existing wounds. The bony fingers shook as it held the pill. The leper's head was bound in bandages, its eyes bulged from its skull.
Eddie's eyes widened in horror, his chest rising rapidly. He was so freaked out, he began screaming as he grabbed Ronnie's hand and dragged her with him. The leper charged after them, making Eddie scream for help. The street was desolate, so his cries were for nothing.
The two had run all the way to the fence. They were trapped. They frantically looked for a way out. Soon, noticing there was no sound coming from the leper, they stopped. Turing around, there was a pyramid of red balloons. The balloons carefully floated upwards, revealing a clown. It smiled sickly, its white painted face decorated with bright red lips. Orange tuffs of hair revealed a wide forehead.
"Where are you going, Eds? You really should be home by now," the clown told him. Eddie gripped Veronica's arm. "Aw, Ronnie, nice to see you again!" Veronica's heartbeat beat loudly in her ears, realizing it was the same haunting voice from the closet.
"You...you locked me in my closet," she spoke, her voice trembling. Eddie glanced at the girl, his eyes widening. Why didn't she tell him?
"Why yes, I did, claustrophobia, not a favorite, but it will do," the clown shrugged like it was no big deal.
"You two should come join the circus. You'll float down here. We'll all float down here," the clown laughed. Eddie and Veronica let out screams, stumbling backwards. Eddie shoved Veronica behind him as she fell through a tiny hole in the fence.
"Eddie!" She cried. He turned back at her and proceeded through the hole. The duo looked back to where the clown stood. It was nowhere to be seen, only the reminiscence of the balloons reminding them that it was real.
"You okay?" The boy immediately asked the girl to helping her to her feet.
"Me? Eds, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Veronica cried, pulling Eddie into a hug. Eddie inhaled her vanilla scent as she pulled away.
The two proceeded on their journey home.
"You never told me about the clown," Eddie began. Veronica sighed, already knowing where this conversation was going.
"Eddie, listen, I didn't see the clown, only its eyes."
"Ronnie, why didn't you say anything?" He was puzzled. Could she not trust him?
"I thought it sounded crazy," She sighed.
"Oh, okay. Are you okay, though? What happened?" The girl smiled at his concerned ramblings.
"Nothing. You know the usual! A killer clown trapping you in your closet, feeding on your fear," The girl responded with a sarcastic smile. The boy frowned and stopped. Veronica sighed once more, looking at the ground. Eddie took his finger and moved it to Veronica's face, forcing her to face him. Eddie then cupped her face with his hands. His brown eyes pooled with emotion.
"Don't act like you're fine, Veronica. Nothing about this is normal or fine. I need you to be okay, I need you," Veronica felt her heart stop. Eddie was so caring, much more than anyone present in her life currently. Slowly but surely, even though she didn't know it yet, she was falling in love with Eddie Kaspbrak.
"Hey Eds, can we, um, maybe talk about something else?"
"Yeah sure, but I'm not letting this go."
"Yeah, okay, Kaspbrak," she smiled before splitting paths. "See you tommorow Eddiekins."
