monster ; it.

XII

Boys were hollering and shouting, and no teacher was noticing. All of them were still in their towels from their showers before, and some of them in their undergarments. They had huge smiles on their wet faces, and annoyingly, they were laughing.

Stan, Richie, Eddie and I marched to the circle, as we broke the small gathering to only have more attention caught on to us. And just as we got inside, all of the attention was brought to us. Our attention was focused on Henry Bowers on top of our best friend, Bill Denbrough.

He was punching, just as hard as I had ever attempted. Unlike the others, Henry was fully-dressed. And unlike Henry, Bill was still in a towel like the rest of the athletes.

I charged at Henry and my best friend, watching as they quickly got him off of Bill. And just as quickly, Henry responded to their actions.

"What? You think I won't kill you guys too!" Henry screamed. At his sides, a sharp noise was heard that echoed through the room. In his hand was a switchblade. At one point I needed to think quick. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, not as bad as he did to Bill.

I tapped on his shoulder, only having him turn around with his eyes squinted at whoever was trying to disrupt him from his fight.
"What the he—" and I punched him.

Everyone in the room stood back in shock and some whistling. My best friends were shocked, but I couldn't care less. Bill was lying on the floor as his gaze on me tightened. I quickly leaned down to him, taking his face in my hands and looking closely at what Henry had done.

"Are you okay?" I asked, watching as he hissed. His eyes wandered off to his leg, as I followed them. He was holding it in a light grip. Blood drizzled down, and his leg seemed out of place.

"It hurts," Bill whispered, as a small tear came rolling down his cheek. The boys kneeled, looking at the wound as Henry continued to lay on the ground, too shocked to do anything more.

"We have to take him to the nurse," Eddie said, a look of disgust spreading all over his face. "Help me pick him up."

I draped his arm over my shoulder. The boys helped as well, grabbing his legs.
"Ariana." Bill looked at me. "Don't."

I looked at him with confusion. Everyone in the locker room was watching us, and yet no one decided to help. "Please," Bill whispered, looking around the room to show half of the school looking at us. I understood, maybe even a little more than I should have. But I insisted I held his hand. And with that, the boys and I carried him out of the locker room, and down the hall. Once we made it to the nurse, she didn't do quite much. She told us to leave and for Bill to stay, but I continued to sit.

It took about an hour of the nurse trying to pop his leg back into place. I held his hand and let him squeeze it, even though he tried not to. He didn't scream, and he hardly made a noise. He kept in all in.