we arrived, got flashlights out of out backpacks, and headed towards the entrance. "That's poison ivy, and that's poison ivy. and that's poison ivy-" Stan said pointing at every plant near Eddie.
"Where? Where??" Eddie panicked while jumping over every plant in sight.
"Shut the fuck up, Stanley. Not every plant is poison ivy," Richie snapped.
"Okay, well, I'm starting to get itchy, so-"
"Do you use the same bathroom as your mom?" Richie cut Eddie off with his question. "Yeah, sometimes," Eddie nonchalantly answered.
"Then you probably have crabs," Richie responded as him, Bill, and I started to splash into the water. Eddie got annoyed and said, "That is so not funny."
"Well," my voice echoed off the walls, as I turned towards the entrance of the sewers, where Eddie stood next to Stan. "I thought it was funny." Bill and I kept walking but Richie turned back to the boys staying put.
"Aren't you coming?"
Eddie scrunched his nose. "Nuh-uh, that's grey water."
"What the hell is grey water?" Richie asked squinting his eyes behind his glasses.
"It's basically just piss and shit, so i'm just telling you. You guys are splashing around in millions of gallons of Derry pee." Richie picked up a stick out of the water and brought it to his nose. "What are y- are you serious right now?" Eddie said in disgust.
"Doesn't smell like caca to me, senor." Richie replied in a racist spanish accent.
"Oh okay, I can smell that from here."
"Probably just your breath blowing back into your face," Richie said as they continued to bicker.
Eddie took an angered breath and said, "Have you ever heard of a staph infection?"
"Oh, i'll show you a staph infection," Richie teased as he held the large stick he'd found to his crotch. Stan stayed quiet and just rolled his eyes. I hit his arm to get him to cut it off, but it was unsuccessful. He used it to pick up a random article of clothing from the water and flung it towards Eddie. He wailed and yelled, "That's disgusting! Are you retarded? You're retarded! I mean, you're the reason we're in this position right now!" Richie continued to fling water at him.
"Richie! Cut the shit!" I yelled at the same time Bill was trying to get our attention to show us what he'd found. We all became quiet as he came towards us with a white sneaker.
"ShIT, don't tell me that's..." Stan's voice cracked then trailed off.
"G-g-georgie wore galoshes," He said starting to shine his flashlight into it.
"Oh my god," I managed to get out. Richie read the "B. RIPSOM" written on the inside in permanent marker.
"It's Betty Ripsom's."
Eddie looked horrified then panicked. "Oh, shit, oh god. Oh, fuck! I don't like this."
"How do you think Betty feels walking around these tunnels with only one friggin' shoe?" Richie chuckled and hopped on one foot then stopped after receiving a cold look from Bill and a look of pure 'what the fuck?' from Eddie.
"Shut the fuck up," I mumbled, pinching his slide.
"What if she's still here?" Stan spoke. The three of us inside started heading back into the tunnel.
"Eddie, c'mon."
"My mom will have an aneurysm, okay? if she finds out we're playing down here. I'm serious." Eddie said. "Bill?"
"If-if I was Betty Ripsom, I'd want us to find me," He answered turning towards the entrance. Stan and Eddie scrunched their faces up in annoyance. "G-g-georgie, too."
"What if i don't want to find them?" Eddie questioned. We all looked at him with puzzled looks on our faces, except Bill. He just looked like he was in shock. "I mean, no offence Bill, but I don't wanna end up like G-" He stopped speaking before he said something he would regret. "I don't wanna go missing either."
"He has a point," Stan spoke up.
"Y- you, too?" Bill looked hurt, and I felt bad but didn't know what to do.
"It's summer! We're supposed to be having fun. This isn't fun," Stan said, eyeing the water. Bill turned to Richie and me. He just shrugged, while I gave him an empathetic look. "This is scary and disgusting-" He was cut short by a very noticeable splashing sound from outside. It was the new kid from my history class on his hands and knees in a bloody shirt. I rushed to help him while the boys just stared in disbelief.
"Holy shit! What happened to you?"
