- Chapter Eighteen - "We're all afraid of something."
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"OKAY, SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT..."
Amanda Bowers was sat on a park bench. The wooden panels behind her and below her made for a slightly uncomfortable resting place - but it was better than resting on Princess Sparkles or being sat on the floor where the grass would tickle her skin in an off-putting way. Though the firmness of the wood helped her keep her posture.
The sun that loomed threateningly high in the sky lasered beams down to her which made her eyes squint and her arms to become increasingly warm from under her jacket. But she didn't take it off.
A part of her thought that she should've worn sunscreen as she could feel the heat on her bare legs under the dress that Andrea had given her but she hadn't had time...they also didn't own any sunscreen.
Beside her, Beverly sat with one leg down on the ground and the other resting upon the bench as she looked towards Eddie who had started speaking. On Amanda's other side, there was Mike whom they had saved at the Rock War.
Amanda hadn't had much time to talk to him considering her hasty exit from that incident but when she had arrived that day, he had given her a kind smile.
Ben sat next to Mike, on the edge of the bench as he also eyed Eddie when the boy spoke. Eddie was sat opposite the bench, resting upon his bike next to Bill who was resting next to Richie.
The group of 8 sat in a small, secluded circle in front of the large Paul Bunyan statue. Amanda was cross-legged and quiet which was her favourite thing to be as her friends spoke to one another and she mindlessly listened.
"It comes out from wherever to eat kids for, like, a year and then what?" Eddie continued, his eyes squinted from the sun just like Amanda's as he spoke. The day of festivities Amanda had thought this would be had turned into dark conversations about the missing children. "It just goes back into hibernation?"
"Maybe it's like...what do you call them?" Stanley clicked his fingers a few times, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He was sat on the back of the bench, his feet upon the seat. Mike and Amanda were either side of him. "Cicadas! You know...the bugs that come out every 17 years."
"Good analogy." Amanda mumbled, glancing up at him through the hair that fell down the sides of her face. Stanley glanced down at her from where he sat, smiling just a little as she turned back around to look at whoever else decided to speak.
"My grandfather thinks this town is cursed." Mike mumbled and Amanda looked to him; he had his arms crossed over his chest and he was looking down at his feet upon the ground that dug into the grass and muddied his beat-up sneakers. "He says that every bad thing that happens in this town is because of one thing."
Amanda tilted her head at Mike in interest. As far as she knew, Mike worked on the Hanlon farm which produced meat that goes to the butchers - what happened on the farm, Amanda didn't want to think about but that was one of the places she had applied to for a job as a last resort.
