**Say What You Mean Out Loud**

~ S I X ~

The New Kid on the Block

Greyson Elliot whipped her head around, to listen to the scream she swears she heard, echoing through the woods.
She held Stan tighter, and tried to ignore it, while still glancing back at the new kid.

He was riding on the back of Bill's bike, bleeding like a stuck pig.
They rode through the woods, on the way to the pharmacy in town.

"Are you okay?" Stan asked.
"Me?"

He nodded and Grey smiled.
"Yah, why wouldn't I be?"
He shrugged.

Honestly she had a look on her face that did not convey okayness, despite how she smiled.
Stan didn't like it.
It's too hard to tell how she was feeling.

The finally got to the pharmacy, and dropped their bikes in the alleyway, desperately ignoring Eddie's AIDS rant.

"Richie, stay here."
The three boys ran off, and Grey sat down beside the new kid, sticking her hand out for him to shake.

"Glad we got to meet you before you died." Richie nodded.
"He's not dying Richie, shut up."
"You don't know that. Didn't you hear Eddie's super interesting, factual talk of AIDS and modern viruses?"

She rolled her eyes but laughed, peering down at the boy's wounds.
"I'm Grey Elliot." She pointed up at the trashmouth. "That's Richie Tozier, you can go ahead and tune out whenever he starts talking."

"Ben Hanscom." The boy nodded with a melancholy smile.
"Not with all that blood you're not. Maybe get a haircut, you'll look handsome enough." Richie commented.

"See what I mean?"
Ben laughed and sat up, keeping his hand over his bleeding stomach.

"Oh." Grey pulled off her sweater and handed it to him to put pressure on his stomach.
"Wow Grey," Richie pointed at her King Randor: Eternia shirt. "I don't think I've ever seen you without a sweater on."

After that, they sat sat in a comfortable silence, with the occasional comment from Richie. Most of which were followed closely by a: "Beep beep Richie," from Grey.

The boys got back outside soon enough, and got to work fixing Ben.
"Suck the wound." Richie pointed.

"I need to focus right now."
"You need to focus?"
"Yah, can you go get me something?"
"What do you need?"
"Go get my bifocals."

Grey tried not to laugh, standing next to Stan who also has a smile creeping on his face.
"They're in my second fanny pack."
"Why do you have two fanny packs?" Stan asked.
Grey started laughing hard, and looked at him.
It made him smile more.

Eddie kept on ranting about trying to focus, while Richie used his british character to coax him on.

"You have to suck the wound before you apply the bandaids, this is 101!"
Ben pulled his shirt down abruptly and Grey turned around.

Beverly Marsh.
The girl with the crazy red hair, and all the obscene rumors.

Grey always envied her.
She was basically Grey, but 20 times more confident and not a complete freak. Even if people hated her.

"Are you okay, that looks like it hurts." She asked him.
"Oh, no I'm good...  just, fell."

Pfftt, liar  she thought.
"Yah right into Henry Bowers."

"Shut up Ri-Ri-Richie."
"Why? It's the truth!"

"You sure they got the, right stuff.. to fix you up?" She barely winked, flashing her confident grin.
See, that's what Grey envied. She just exudes confidence.
Grey can't even get scared without having a nosebleed.