Just So You Know

Chapter two: Summer

Back at the school, as soon as the last bell rang The Losers group grouped together in the hallways.

"So you guys wanna go to the quarry?" Eddie asked, "We should play loogie."

"I don't know-" Billy remembered the last time he wore nothing other than his underwear but he was cut off by Richie.

"Maybe I'll win again." Richie chuckled.

"Or not." Stan mumbled under his breath. Eddie scoffed.
"Please, I clearly won last time." Eddie said.
"Um no fucking way, Eds."
"Uh, yes fucking way, Rich!"

Bill ignored the other members of the club and continued on next to them in silence. But someone noticed. Someone always noticed.
"Hey, Billy. You alright?" Ben asked, sneaking up next to Billy scaring him out of his skin.
"H-huh? Ye-yeah. I'm f-f-fine."
"You sure?" Ben asked.

"You look a little embarrassed about something." Richie shoved him with his shoulder.
"I'm f-fine, Richie." Billy protested. Richie shared a glance with the other four members present. They all knew something was different but they weren't sure what.
"You know lets just go. Maybe we can pick Mike up on the way." Stan suggested, pausing as he noticed Bill's shoulders tense for a second. Stan glanced around hoping he wasn't the only one that noticed. Turns out he wasn't. Ben met his gaze and nodded slightly.
"Come on let's get out of this hell-hole." Richie chuckled and ran outside of the doors of the school. The others followed quickly.
Once they were outside they did their normal routine and dumped the contents of their backpacks in the trash cans before hopping on their bicycles.
"Anyone else think it's a little strange, not being terrorized by Bowers?" Richie asked before they pulled away from the school.

"A little but I like it and we have Mike to thank for that. Let's go get him boys!"

Without another word the Loser's rode off to the Hanlon farms, in hopes of finding Mike. According to Mike's grandfather, Mike had been gone already for at least an hour.
"Where do you think he went?" Stanley asked kicking his kick stand up to get on his bike.
"Who knows he could be anywhere! Let's just go it's fucking hot as hell!" Richie yelled, riding away without waiting for the others, assuming they'd follow him.

"Guys he does live on a disgusting farm, do you think he could be sick? Maybe he got some sort of farm sickness and is currently dying as we speak!" Eddie spat out.

"Shut the hell up Eddie. He's not dying and there is no such thing as farm sickness, asshole." Ben said.

"There might be, you don't live on a farm, you don't know that!"
"I do. I'm a book nerd, remember? There's no such thing as farm sickness. There are sicknesses you can get from the animals and stuff but 'farm sickness' is-"

"A new sickness I just invented!" Eddie cut Ben off, Ben rolled his eyes but decided to let it go then rode off after Richie without another word. Eddie followed still jabbering on about his new sickness.
Stanley turned to face Billy, who was watching the house as if it would come alive and eat them. Which, was possible considering what they had been through.
"You sure you're alright, Bill? You're acting strange today." He said, nudging Billy with his shoulder.

"Uhh, ye-yeah, I- I-I'm f-f-fine." Billy stuttered.

"You sure? You stuttered a lot in that sentence and I thought it was getting better." Stan cautiously asked.
"I-it can't just g-g-get better S-s-stan."
"Well, whatever. What's going on with you? It's like everytime one of us mention Mike you get all awkward and embarrassed. Did something happen between the two of you or what?"
"Uhh...-"
"Look, Billy, if your go-"

Mike was sitting on the very edge of the cliff, staring of into the distance, lost in thought when someone scared him half out of his wits.
"Fuck you Richie!" Mike exclaimed, gasping for a breath. Richie was rolling around on the ground cracking up. Mike got to his feet and backed away from the edge of the cliff. He was half tempted to kick Richie in the side while the other half of him wanted to shove him off the cliff.
"Dude, you should have seen your face!" Richie cackled.
"Richie, what the hell did you do?" Eddie asked upon leaping off his bike. He and Ben had been right behind Richie but Richie had sped ahead. They hadn't seen him scare Mike.
"I scared the absolute fucking shit out of him and it was hilarious." Richie choked out. Mike just stood there and glared at him. Ben and Eddie rolled their eyes. They felt bad for Mike but sometimes there really was no stopping Richie and his shenanigans.
"Yo, where's Bill and Stan?" Richie asked, now completely serious. Mike's shoulders tensed and Ben narrowed his gaze on Mike. Something weird must have happened between Mike and Bill. Both of them seemed to get tense whenever the others name was mentioned. Ben decided not to bring it up until the both of them were around, or if he managed to be alone with one of them.
"They were right behind us. At least I thought they were." Eddie said, kicking Richie just because he could.
"Hey, asshole! Watch it!" Richie complained.
"I thought we were going swimming, why are you lounging on the ground?"
"Because I was waiting for you. So, I could beat you in, of course." Richie jumped to his feet in a mere second and whipped his clothes off even faster before running and jumping right off the cliff before Eddie even had a chance.
"Hey!" Eddie called, quickly following suit. "We didn't play loogie!" He called as he fell through the air. Mike gaped, surprised at what he'd just seen. He stared off the edge of the cliff trying to wrap his mind around it. He hadn't expected to see anyone in their underwear and definitely wasn't expecting them to jump off a cliff. Ben suddenly realized this was his chance.
"Mike." He said, once more scaring Mike Hanlon out of his wits. Mike turned and slowly met Ben's gaze.
"Ben?" He asked, in question. Ben took that as an opportunity to jump into his interrogation.
"What happened between you and Billy? Everytime we mention one of you the other one gets all awkward and embarrassed." Ben blurted without a second thought. Mike opened his mouth to answer, but found no sound came out of his mouth.
"HEY ASSHOLES. ARE YOU COMING IN?" Came Richie's voice from below. Mike closed his eyes and bit his lip. Ben sighed. He wasn't going to get an answer from him, at least not yet.
"YEAH, WE'RE COMING!" Ben called, without another word, he as well stripped and then ran to join them in the water below. A bike skidded to stop from behind Mike and he turned to see none other than Bill Denbrough getting off of his bike. Bill hadn't even noticed him yet, as his foot had gotten caught on his pedal and he slipped. Mike cursed and leaped forward to catch him, only he himself slipped on a rock and he fell to the ground as well. Though, he had managed to give Billy a soft landing.
The sound of yet another bike skidding to a stop was heard. Stanley hopped off his bike and using the kickstand. Watching the two of them silently.
Bill jumped to his feet, rather quickly and offered Mike his hand.
"Th-thanks, Mike." He stuttered, not making eye contact. Mike nodded but didn't accept Bill's hand. He just pulled himself to his feet.
"Yeah, uh it's no problem." Mike answered.
"Okay, what the hell is with you two?" Stan asked a moment later. "Something is definitely up. Bill, you are acting weird- weirder than normal and every time someone mentions Mike, you like freak out, your face goes all red and you become silent. And when Richie mentioned the quarry, but with Mike this time, where we were nothing but underwear, you got all weird again. Like what the hell is going on?"
"N-nothing is going on S-s-Stan-"