"ready?"

pt. two

- chapter energy -
hey (pixies)

"you guys wanna go to the clubhouse?" asked ben.

"yeah, we should probably go get mike first though," stan responded.

"good idea," ben replied.

they all peddled across derry for about half an hour before they arrived at mike's house, throwing their bikes onto his lawn. all except stan of course.

ben, stan, and bev all go up to the door and knock. richie and eddie lay down on the grass and cloud watch while waiting for mike to come out.

"i see a dick," richie says casually.
"that's pretty gay dude," eddie laughs.
"is not," richie responds,"you're just immature."
"yeah right- says the one who still reads x-men comics at 17," eddie spits.
"oh you wanna play that," richie tries to stifle his laughter,"you're the one who still calls your mom, 'mommy'."
"now that is too goddamn far!" eddie shouts, tackling richie and yelling,"TAKE IT BACK."
richie laughs loudly, trying to wrestle eddie away from him,"ITS THE TRUTH HAHA, CANT TAKE THAT BACK EDS."

they wrestled around screaming all sorts of profanities at one-another until mike came out and stan yelled to,"get the hell off each other." they both separated- richie laughing while eddie just stood there staring at him through his eyebrows.

"alright let's make our way to the clubhouse before another lover's quarrel breaks out," bev laughs.

"agreed," stan says smiling.

"shut up, my god," eddie retorts, climbing onto his bike along with the others.

richie just rolls his eyes and follows after the other losers. he thinks about how strange it is to no longer hear bill yelling "hi-ho silver away!" when they'd take off on their adventures. even though he left a year ago, things still feel out of place.

"i'm glad he finally escaped this shithole," richie thought to himself,"just wish he'd send a postcard or give me a ring every once in a while."

xxx

after a long ride through downtown derry, they finally made it to the barrens. spilling their bikes across the leaf-covered forest floor (except stanley), ben scanned the ground for the trap door with his foot.

eventually, he cleared a patch of red leaves away to reveal the worn wood of the club house roof. he found the door and opened it, climbing down with his bag slung over his right shoulder.

the rest of the losers followed shortly after: bev, mike, stan, eddie, and finally richie. as he descends the rickety ladder, his eyes shoot over to the hammock to see eddie already propped up with his bag laying on the floor beside him. he groaned and sat on the floor against the opposite post of the hammock.

"you know the rules," richie said slyly.

"I dOnT sEe AnY sIgN," eddie mocked.

richie just sighed and accepted his fate.
"thanks karma"

"do you have any idea who he could've been?" bev asked furiously.

"not a clue," ben replied,"sure wish i did, but then again i don't know what good it'd do."

"it's probably just another one of henry's secret admirers," beverly shook her head,"he may be gone but he sure as hell left a mark on derry."

"that's true," he responded,"almost looked like his spitting image."

"oh well," bev said putting a hand on ben's shoulder, causing him to turn bright red,"ignore those assholes they probably just didn't get enough attention as kids."

"y-yeah," ben murmured.

xxx

about an hour later

"hey guys it's starting to get dark," stan said,"we should probably get going now."

"yeah, that's true," mike agreed,"there is still a curfew too."

"my fellow losers, do i have a proposal for you," richie announced loudly.

"and what would that be," bev questioned.

"my parents are away for the weekend and have entrusted me as man of the house," he smirked.

"oh no," stan said, leaning his head against his hand.

"oh yes," richie said in response,"would you all be interested in a little soirée at the tozier residence?"

"FUCK YES WE WOULD," bev responded enthusiastically.

"woah, woah, woah," eddie said holding his hand up in protest,"what exactly would this 'soirée' entail?"

"oh ya knoww," richie said looking away,"the usual, chocolate milk and cookies- fuck no i've got some great ideas eduardo, trust me."

"i don't think i'm capable of that," eddie said with a sigh,"i swear to god tozier- if this gets out to anyone we are all dead and you know it.

"ahh would you like to take another blood oath to ensure our safety then?" richie teased,"come on guys it's not every weekend we get this sort of golden opportunity."

they all agreed, eddie quite reluctantly along with stan, but they all agreed nonetheless. within 15 minutes they were out of the barrens and on their way to the tozier residence.