Strange as IT Seems

Chapter 42: Potential

"Pick anything you want, guys," Mia says as she, Bill, and Georgie step into Scoops Ahoy. In celebration of receiving her first pay from her tutoring job, the eldest of the cousins offered to take them to the mall and buy them ice cream. After convincing her aunt to let her borrow the car, the trio drove up to Starcourt Mall on the far side of Hawkins. Georgie could barely contain his excitement. He practically jumps from the vehicle while it's still in motion. He had yet to set foot in this mall and was so excited to see what was inside. It stood as if it were a castle on a hill, with all the greatest treasures to seek inside.

"C-Calm down, Georgie," Bill had said in annoyance. His little brother's energy was the last thing he wanted to deal with... in fact, he was going to turn down Mia's offer for ice cream. That changed when Will cancelled their comic book session, which left him beyond disappointed. So he figured he had nothing better to do. The comic book was the only thing that he looked forward to anymore. He barely saw Beverly or Ben anymore, the only two Losers who could tolerate his presence at this point. He did see Richie a lot, riding his bike in the park, but the moment they made eye contact, Trash-Mouth flipped him the bird before bolting away. It was similar for Eddie and Stan. Stan hung out downtown a lot, and he avoided any eye contact with Bill if they crossed paths. Eddie was basically a ghost now... hardly ever seen except to the pharmacy to pick up his medication, and of course, his mother accompanied him everywhere now. The one time Bill had seen his hypochondriac former friend, he'd heard Eddie's mother lecture him about how if he wanted to go anywhere in this town, it had to be with someone. What if some stranger (or various other colourful titles for predatory individuals) came and snatched him off the street? What if he got hurt and no one could find him because they didn't know Hawkins very well? It all sounded like it was blown way out of proportion to Bill; Hawkins was not that much bigger than Derry, and it took only a weekend for the leader of the Losers' Club to navigate it. He knew it was Eddie's mom's way of controlling her son... maybe even happy that he no longer had that many friends that made him independent and like himself. At least, at the mall, there was less of a chance he'd run into someone he knew and darken his mood further.

"WOW!" Georgie had shouted when he entered the mall. Several people looked over at them and laughed.

It took both teenagers to keep the six-year-old from running off in a random direction.

"Georgie s-stay here," Bill said.

"But Bill, look!" he said, pointing at a window display.

"Yeah, I know, Squirt," Mia nodded. "It's all really cool, but you need to stay with us. It's so easy to get lost in here."

"R-Right, Mom would k-kill us if you got lost."

"We'll see it all, Squirt, but you need to hold one of our hands..."

"I don't want to hold your hands," Georgie snapped angrily, crossing his arms. "I'm not a baby."

"S-So don't go running off," Bill says.

"Right," Mia agreed. "You don't need to hold our hands, but you need to stay close. If you get lost, we're not bringing you here again. If you do get separated from Bill or me by accident, we'll always meet here by the bookstore, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed.

"And if you're ever not sure, look for a security guard to help you."

"Can we get ice cream now?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, rolling her eyes.

The walk to the food court took much longer due to Georgie wanting to see everything in the stores. Even the bribe of ice cream did not speed up their pace.