GIRLS LIKE GIRLS

chapter twenty-eighty.

august 5, 1989. monday.

"STANLEY!" EDDIE CALLED OUT. "stanley!"

the losers sludged through the dirty water, wincing every time their shoes touched something foreign.

cass was extremely glad she wore tennis shoes instead of flip flops.

a loud scream echoed through the tunnels, followed by a louder one. and cass jumped, and felt fear fill hee
stomach.

"stan!" cass called, and took off towards where the sound was coming from. "stanley!" she was running by now, trying not to think of the gross water getting splashed onto her legs. she tripped over her own feet, and fell face first into the murky water. she stood up, ignoring the rancid smell, and took off running blindly again.

she exited the tunnel into a largish circular room, and eyed a large cylinder in the middle that had water running into it from a pipe.

"stanley?" eddie called out, his voice shrill.

"stan!" cass screamed, tears running down her face. she wiped away the tears and the water, cringing.

"stan! wh-where are yuh-you?" the others emerged from the tunnel after her, and took in their surroundings as she did.

she took off towards another tunnel, and rounded the corner. bill came after her and shone his flashlight straight onto stan. cass screamed wen she saw what was happening.

It had attached Its mouth to stanleys face, and was digging its teeth into his cheeks. stan struggled beneath It, yet he was unconscious. It slowly unlatched its mouth from stans face and creeped back into the shadows, screeching. it rounded a corner, but peeked its head out moments after as pennywise. the losers screamed, letting out curses and cries.

cass didn't waste any time in running towards stan and dropping down next to him. she shook his shoulders, screaming his name. he sat up quickly, and immediately started screaming. the others dropped down next to him, all reaching their hands towards the screaming boy. cass reached for him, and he met her eyes, sobbing.

"you left me! you're not my friends!" stan cried, and cass tried to grab him again. "don't touch me!"

"stan, i-"

"no!" he screamed, and she backed away. "you made me come in here! you made me come in here!" stanley sobbed, not tearing his eyes away from cass. she stayed silent and let the tears run down her face as the boys all comforted him.

besides bill. cass watched as bill looked down a tunnel, and saw a small shadow towards the end of it. the shadow ran away, and bill grabbed mikes gun off the floor and took off after it.

"bill!" cass called after him. "bill!" she got up after him and started running the same way he went. "bill! what the fuck are you doing?"

"cass!" she heard eddie call from behind her, but she didn't stop. she just kept following the sound of bills footsteps. she followed him all the way to a large open space, and her eyes widened. she walked up to bill, breathing heavy, and together they stared at the large mound of childrens' toys and belongings and felt her eyes water. she craned her neck backwards, and felt her mouth go dry.

"bill?"

"yuh-yeah?"

"look." cass pointed up and bill followed her gaze.

"are those the m-m-m-"

"the missing kids. i think so." cass tore her eyes away, and looked towards bill. bill didn't meet her gaze, and she followed his eyes to a certain person floating.