circinus ( criss )

welcome to the club

the rest of the kids threw their bikes down as they rushed into the woods. addie hurried behind them, hoping she could get bowers off the kid.

addie and the rest of the losers reached the creek where the bowers had mike just as henry was about to smash a rock into mike, the home school kid's, skull.

"henry!" addie exclaimed in shock.

she knew that her requests for them to stop bullying only extended to stan and his friends, but she was hoping they wouldn't be doing any crazy violent things anymore. addie supposed she was wrong to assume.

henry turned to look at addie, just as a rock went flying at his face. addie turned to see that bev had thrown it and she felt conflicted. if this turned into a full on fight, she would obviously want to side with stan and their friends, but she couldn't just watch henry, vic and belch get pummeled with rocks.

in the confusion, mike crawled over to the loser's side of the creek and addie immediately bent down to look at him.

"are you okay?" she asked quietly as she scanned his face.

there was a small cut on his forehead, but he seemed alright. addie stood back up in sync with henry and the rest of his gang.

"you losers are trying too hard. she'll do ya. you just gotta ask nicely, like i did," henry said referring to beverly.

addie scrunched up her nose and pushed her way in front of the losers. ben roared from the back of the group and threw another rock that belch dodged easily.

"henry! what the fuck!" she yelled. "and guys, don't throw anything else unless i say so," she added with a small smile at ben.

henry's face softened a bit and he glanced over at mike who was standing with the losers. he noticed all the losers had rocks in their hands and his shoulder's tensed.

"you said none of your brothers friends addie." henry reminded her.

"well i'm adopting him. don't touch him henry." addie snapped back.

henry huffed and kicked the rocks by his feet.

"we wren't even doing anything!" henry yelled back in defense.

addie looked at mike and raised her eyebrows as she looked back at henry.

"tell that to the cut on his forehead! i'm serious henry, back off of them!" addie responded.

"just tell 'em to fuck off will ya?" henry replied, gesturing for the kids to leave.

addie sighed and gave her brother's friends a look. they quickly scrambled off, bill and bev clutching mike's arms to help him walk off. addie watched them leave and once they were out of eye sight she crossed the creek.

"really henry?" addie asked as she crossed her arms.

henry shrugged, "i didn't think you'd be down here."

"uh uh, that's not okay henry. whether i caught you or not you can't do shit like that. i'm not gonna associate with someone that beats kids senseless." addie argued, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"i'm sorry ads," henry said with a sigh.

addie looked at the rest of the boys, who all nodded in agreement with henry.

it was beyond upsetting for the girl. she was derry's sweetheart, known as the nicest girl in derry. she really wanted to stay friends with the gang, but she just couldn't stand for them bullying kids that bad. she knew they were dickheads, but she hated seeing the kids all bruised and scared because of henry.

"i swear, if i even hear about anything like this again i'm leaving you guys. i can't be around that stuff, it makes me sick," addie continued, her voice firm and final.

"you won't, i promise. i can't speak for them, but i'll stop if it makes you happy," victor said as he stepped towards addie.

she smiled thankfully at him and belch made a similar statement. although he stayed in his spot. henry just shrugged, slightly shamefully and walked a bit closer to addie. she looked up at him and saw a cut on his face.

"oh shit hen, was that from the rock?" addie asked she she reached up to touch the cut.

henry winced and backed up a bit.

"i'm sorry," addie said quickly.

"it's fine. i didn't;t think she threw that so hard," he commented.

addie laughed lightly, "that's my bev. she's tough."

henry rolled his eyes and reached up to touch the cut himself. he hissed in pain again and cursed under his breath.

"we should get that cleaned up. but first, we gotta clean this up," addie said gesturing to the raw meat scattered all over the rocks on the ground.

henry huffed, sounding like he might argue, but he bent down to start gathering up the meat. addie, vic and belch all joined in to gather it up. once they group had rewrapped all of the spoiled meat, addie walked with them back to their car. addie noticed mike's bike was gone, so she assumed he'd ran back with the losers to grab it. at least she wouldn't run into them then.

they all tossed the meat in belch's trunk and climbed into the car so they could go throw it away in the main street dumpsters. addie got in her usual seat by vic and leaned her head against his shoulder in exhaustion.

"you tired?" vic asked softly.

addie mumbled a yes and closed her eyes after buckling in.

the more she hung out with the boys, the more comfortable she'd gotten being soft around them. she'd even gotten belch to carry around some of her pop music tapes to play when they drove around sometimes. it sure must've been a strange sight to the people of derry. the bowers gang cruising around town while madonna played.

"i've had a long day," addie added.

the ride to main street was quick, and thankfully the boys let her and vic stay in the car while they threw the meat away. once henry and belch got back in the car, addie sat back up and opened her eyes.

"so, do you wanna go do something?" henry asked from the front seat.

addie nodded, "sure, let's get some food or something.