"I have to go,too," I spoke up, my voice barely above a whisper. "My mom's waiting for me." It was only half the truth.
I went around the circle, giving each of my friends a tight hug, saving Ben for last. I tried desperately to keep the tears from...
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•°Corinne's POV°•
The grim procession to Eddie's house was silent. The adrenaline from the fight had worn off, leaving behind only the throbbing pain in my side and a cold, hollow dread. We delivered a pale, trembling Eddie to his doorstep, and it ended exactly as badly as I'd feared.
Mrs. Kaspbrak's shriek of fury could probably be heard all over Derry. She yanked Eddie inside as if we’d contaminated him, grabbing her purse and locking her door in a frantic hurry.
"You. You did this," she spat, glaring at us with pure venom before pulling a protesting Eddie toward her car. "You know how delicate he is!" She wrenched the passenger door open and all but shoved him inside.
"We were attacked, Mrs. K," Bill spoke up, his voice strained as he tried to explain. "No.Don't. Don't you try and blame anyone else," she snapped, fumbling with her keys. They clattered to the ground.
Beverly, ever the kind soul, moved to help. "Let me help!" "Get back!"the woman shrieked, snatching the keys away. When she straightened up, her glare was focused solely on Bev. "Oh, I've heard of you, Miss Marsh," she hissed, her voice dripping with contempt. "And I don't want a dirty girl like you touching my son."
Rage, white-hot and immediate, flared in my chest. I took a step forward, ready to give this woman a piece of my mind she wouldn't soon forget. But I caught Eddie's eye through the car window. He was shaking his head, his eyes wide with a silent, desperate plea. Don't. Swallowing my anger like acid, I stayed rooted by Ben's side, my fists clenched.
"Mrs. K, I—" Bill tried again. "No!"she cut him off. "You are all monsters. All of you! And Eddie is done with you. Do you hear? Done!" She hurled the words at us like stones before scrambling into the driver's seat and speeding away. We stood in the middle of the road, watching the taillights disappear, leaving us in a cloud of dust and despair.
Bill turned to face us, his jaw set. "I saw the well. W-w-we know where it is. And next time we'll be better prepared."
Disappointment washed over me, cold and bitter. Even now, after all this, his mind was only on the fight. On Georgie.
"No! No 'next time,' Bill. You're insane," Stanley said, his voice cracking with a mixture of anger and raw fear. He was terrified. We all were.
"Why?" Beverly asked, and her question shocked me. I never expected our opinions to diverge so drastically, especially not now. "We all know no one else is going to do anything."
"Eddie was nearly killed! And look at these two fuckers," Richie yelled, pointing a trembling finger at the bloody gashes on Ben's stomach and my side. "They're leaking Hamburger Helper!"
"We can't pretend it's gonna go away. Ben, Corinne, you guys said it yourselves—It comes back every 27 years," Beverly argued, her eyes pleading with me specifically.
"Bev, I can't!" I shot back, the pain and fear making my voice sharp. "I'll be 40 in 27 years and far away from this town! Weren't you the one who said you wanted to get out, too?"
"Because I wanna run toward something, Cori. Not away from something," she fired back, her gaze intense.
"I'm sorry, who invited Molly Ringwald into the group?" Richie interjected, his anger misdirected at Beverly.
"Richie..." Stanley trailed off, trying to calm him. "I'm just saying,let's face facts. Real world. Georgie is dead. Stop trying to get us killed, too," Richie said, directing all his fury and fear at Bill.
"Georgie's not dead," Bill stated, his voice low and dangerous. He stepped in front of Richie, blocking his path.
"You couldn't save him, but you can still save yourself," Richie retorted, trying to push past him.
Bill didn't budge. "No, t-t-take it back. You're scared and we all are, but take it back!" He shoved Richie backward.
Richie shoved back hard. "Fuck you!" Then Bill threw the first punch.It connected with Richie's jaw with a sickening crack.
A gasp tore from my throat. "Bill!" Beverly cried out in shock.
Mike and Stanley rushed to pull a dazed Richie off the ground. Ben left my side to grab Bill, holding him back as he struggled.
"You're just a bunch of losers!" Richie yelled, spitting blood onto the pavement as he tried to break free from Mike and Stanley's hold. "Fuck off!" "Richie,stop!"
"You're just a bunch of losers and you'll get yourselves killed trying to catch a fucking stupid clown!"
"Stop!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice raw. The sound echoed down the empty street. I just wanted the fighting to end.
"This is what It wants!" Beverly cried, her voice breaking. "It wants to divide us! We were all together when we hurt it. That's why we're still alive!"
"Yeah? Well, I plan to keep it that way," Richie snarled. He finally shook off Mike and Stanley, deliberately bumping Bill's shoulder as he stormed away.
The fight was over. The group was broken.
Ben wordlessly took my hand, his grip tight. He pulled me gently toward our bikes. "Cori..."I heard Beverly whisper, her voice full of hurt and confusion.
I couldn't look at her. I couldn't look at any of them. I just got on my bike and pedaled away, leaving the shattered remains of the Losers' Club behind me. The only thing louder than the pain in my side was the ache of something precious breaking apart.
