𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐋𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 [R.Tozier]

VIII. Ben's House

All the kids decide to make their way back to their bikes. As they arrive, they notice that one bike has been completely beaten with a note written on it.

Sorry we broke your bike, we tripped over it during soccer.

"You have got to be kidding me! I don't have the kind of money to fix my bike!" Alisa whines, bending down to take a closer look. While the others grab their bikes and wait on the road just a few feet ahead, Richie waits beside Alisa, laughing at her disappointment.

"Guess you'll have to ride with me, and then maybe you could ride m-" Alisa places a finger on his lip, which sends a rush into Richie as he finds himself speechless at her touch. "Thanks, Glasses, but I think I'll take the first offer." She takes her finger off, then starts walking towards the boy's bike.

Richie watches as she approaches his bike, not moving, frozen in time. "You coming?" Alisa smiles, motioning her head towards the bike. "Oh! Right, yeah."

••••

The seven teenagers arrive at Ben's house. Ben runs inside before everyone else, much to their confusion. Ben didn't want the group to judge him for whatever things he had in his room and all the clothes he had simply thrown onto the ground. Another thing, he is terrified of the bullying that would occur if they found his New Kids on the Block poster.

When Eddie drops his bike, he trips over it, causing Alisa and Richie to walk over and help him. "You okay?" Alisa chuckles, putting out her hand for him, which he undoubtedly takes, smiling widely.

Alisa zooms past the boys and into the house, catching up with Bill, leaving Richie and Eddie behind. "Dude, do you like Alisa or something?" Richie asks with a curious tone. "No, were just friends. Why, do you?" Eddie's lips curve into a smirk as he nudges the four eyed boy. "I do not! Dumb fuck." Richie argues, rolling his eyes. He knew he was lying, but he would never admit it.

••••

Ben runs into his room, grabbing all the things he had thrown around and stuffs them into his closet, then quickly slamming it and leaning on the door as the rest enter.

"Yeah, I heard he has a roller coaster and a pet chimp and an old guy's fucking bones. Yeah!" Richie and Eddie exclaim, talking about something that the others weren't quite sure of. "Woah. Woah. woah." Richie says, amazed at all the articles plastered all over the boy's walls.

It was quite obsessive, and Richie found it stupid and a waste of time. On the other hand, Alisa found it fascinating and interesting that this town is quite the mystery. "Wow." Alisa smiles.

"Cool, huh?" Ben asks, proud of his work that he had spent so much time and research on. "No. No, nothing cool." Richie responds, walking over to the far wall where Alisa had been standing. "There's nothing cool."

"This is cool, right here." Alisa argues, pointing to an old news article with an interesting comic strip at the bottom. "Wait, no. No , it's not cool." Richie responds, grabbing her arm and putting it down so she would stop pointing at it.

"What's that?" Stanley asks, pointing to  a page taped onto the patterned wallpaper. The paper seemed to be an official document with a ton of signatures. "Oh, that? That's the charter for Derry Township." Ben replies, earning a nod from Stanley. "Nerd alert." Richie jokes and looks over to Alisa, who was examining all the articles with an interested expression.

"No, actually, it's really interesting." Ben says, not even phased by Richie's ignorant comments and continuing on with the information. "Derry started as a beaver trapping camp."

"Still is am I right, boys?" Richie asks, holding his hand up for a high five, yet no one gives it to him. "You are a douchebag." Alisa says, rolling her eyes and walking over to join Beverly by the entrance.

"Hey, Bev." She smiles, then continues to look around at the black and white papers. "Ninety-one people signed the charter that made Derry. But later that winter, they all disappeared without a trace."

"The entire camp?" Alisa turns around, facing the new boy once again. "There were rumors of Indians, but no sign of an attack." As Ben continues to explain, Alisa hears a slight creak from the door behind her as Beverly begins closing it, slowly revealing a New Kids on the Block poster. "New kids on th-" Beverly places a hand on Alisa's mouth, then shushes her as she turns to Ben with a smirk.

Ben turns around at the slam of the door, watching as the girls smile to him. "Please" he mouths, his face glowing with red. Beverly smiles, re-opening the door, earning a relieved look from the chubby boy.

"Where was the well house?" Bill asks, speaking up after a while of pretty much not saying anything. "I don't know. Somewhere in town, I guess. Why?" Ben shrugs.

"Nothing."