Strange as IT Seems

Chapter 9: Arcade Battle

"So, when your cousin's coming to town?" Stan asks.

The Losers Club, minus Georgie, are walking their bikes along the streets of Hawkins, towards the arcade at Richie's much annoying insistence. Thankfully, Mrs. Denbrough took Bill's younger brother to the town pool, likely one of the last chances to do so before the cold weather set in. The video game nerd of the group had to see what kind of cool games were there and if they were worth the change in his pocket that rattles continuously as he rides in loops around his friends.

"She's more like my a-adopted cousin," Bill clarifies. "Her mom and my mom are not really sisters."

"Is your cousin hot?" Richie asks, riding around in front of the group again.

"How the hell should I know?" Bill says. "I only met her like once. And that was b-before Georgie was born."

"Okay, but if she does turn out to be a total babe, I call dibs," the trash-mouth says.

"How sexist can you be?" Beverly asks, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah Dweebus, you can't call dibs on a person," Eddie adds.

"Hey, you guys are just jealous that I had the decency to call dibs on her," the nerd says.

"There's nothing decent about claiming a girl like she's the last seat on the bus," Beverly insists.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, save the equal rights talk for your political campaign," Richie mutters, wishing his friends would just ride their bikes instead of walking through town, which took ten times longer.

"Why would she go for you anyway if you act like a douchebag all the time?" Eddie asks.

"Chicks dig the bad boys," he says gleefully.

Everyone rolls their eyes.

"Why are we going to the arcade anyway?" Ben asks, wanting to change the subject. "There's an awesome library in Hawkins that I want to check out."

"Because some people actually like goof off and kill brain cells on the weekend Pointdexter," Richie says.

"What about Starcourt Mall?" Bev asks. "A lot of kids in school were talking about it. It seems like the place to hang out."

None of the kids from Derry had been to a mall before since their town was so small and local that modern "luxuries" from the 1980s had not been constructed. However, they had seen what malls were for on TV and in movies.

"Yeah, come on Richie, let's do something other than play Street Fighter," Eddie whines.

"P-Plus it will more likely be air-conditioned too," Stan adds, wiping sweat from his brow. Despite it being September, the weather in Indiana was still fairly warm. There had yet to be a hint of cool autumn air in the tiny town.

"Look, we'll go thereafter, but I'd much rather spend my money on stuff that's fun, rather than buy something, wear it once, and then forget about it in the back of my closet."

The friends sigh and follow their trash-mouth friend down the streets.

Eventually, they come to the parking lot with the neon signs above the lot flickering while advertising the Palace Arcade. The building has windows with flickering lights and odd sounds coming from within it but doesn't look like anything particularly special, it's like their arcade in Derry, just bigger. However, before any of the other Losers could say anything, Richie dumps his bike down and hurries inside.

Just as the others are approaching, a blue Camero comes careening around the corner, blasting loud heavy rock music, and disregarding any other people or vehicles on the road. The car practically floors it into the parking lot and nearly mows down the group as it pulls up in front of the arcade.