GHOST - IT [1]

FOUR.

After Ben had been cared for, the group slowly parted, ending with Stan volunteering to take Ben home. They left together, then it was just Jaime and Bill, gathering the stray trash remaining from the medical supplies.

"You didn't have to invite me, you know." She spoke. It had been relatively silent the whole time they were in the same presence. Neither of them wanted to say the wrong thing.

"I d-didn't." Bill agreed, leaning down and picking up a cotton ball that had been previously soaked with hydrogen peroxide. "But like I s-said, you deserve it." He smiled with a closed mouth.

Jaime sighed. "Richie hates me."

"Richie d-doesn't know how to deal w-with feelings. E-especially anger." He explained, dumping all of the used supplies in a nearby trashcan.

"I do know that." Jaime nodded. "Look, Bill, I just wanna apologize for-"

"F-for d-doing nothing? E-even if you had, it was f-four years ago."

She leaned against the alley wall and rubbed her temples with her index fingers. "No, Bill. I wanna apologize for Georgie."

He stopped in his tracks and looked over at her, eyebrows furrowed in an indistinguishable look. He stared, his blue eyes beginning to cloud with tears.

"I wanted so desperately to help. It's just- you don't know what to say when something like that happens." She shook her head. It still was hard to grasp the concept of not having Georgie around. When she was last friends with Bill, Georgie was only a few years old, but so bright and intelligent. He played with toy boats in puddles of water and drew pictures of ships. Sometimes, Jaime would play with him when Bill had chores to attend to.

"No one d-does." He sniffed and sighed. "You d-don't have to walk on e-eggshells around me. I'm n-not a ticking time b-b-bomb."

She walked forward and rubbed his shoulder. "I know. You're so strong, Bill. Always have been." Jaime chuckled. "In second grade, you fell off the playset at the playground and hit your head, and you barely even cried."

Bill laughed through his tears. "I remember. I mean, barely. I think I have amnesia for that day."

"You fell really damn hard." She laughed with him. "Stan screamed, 'holy shit' and Mrs. Evans had a panic attack. She didn't know whether to discipline him or help you."

Bill threw his head back and laughed. It was a blissful feeling; sharing old memories with someone you once called a best friend. Bittersweet, but blissful.

Once the laughter died down, the two noticed the sun threatening to slip behind the trees, a sign darkness was to come. The curfew was now 7pm, after all of the kids disappearances, but Jaime's father wasn't around to care. Though, she knew Bill needed to get home, or his mother would probably panic.

"We better get going." Jaime stated. He nodded.

"Yeah. Hey, where's your bike? I f-f-forgot you rode with Stan on the way here." He asked.

"Shoot. It's at the library." She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulders. "Guess I better get going." She waved before turning and beginning to walk out the alley.

"I c-can take you." He offered after a moment. She slowly turned around.

"Really?"

He nodded, motioning to his own bike. Jaime didn't want to turn down a free ride, so she allowed him to hoist onto the bike and then she followed his actions, sitting behind him and awkwardly putting her hands on his hips.

"Is this- uh, is this okay?" She questioned. He merely nodded before speeding out of the alleyway and to the Derry Public Library.

-

One short bicycle ride and five minutes of awkwardness later, the pair arrived at the now closed Derry Library. Jaime carefully got off the bike after Bill slowed it to a stop. She tucked her messy brown hair behind her ear and smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you, Bill, really. It means so much."

"D-don't mention it. I'll s-see you tomorrow."

"See you."

They parted with a wave of the hand and Bill sped down the street, legs pumping his bike faster than before. Jaime checked her watch. Ten minutes until seven. That explained his rush.

She found her bike and straddled it before zooming in the direction of her own home. Her stomach growled unpleasantly. If it weren't for the lack of food in her system, she wouldn't be rushing. Either Henry would be at her house or her brother would be at his place, and she could only hope it was the latter.

However, as she turned down her street, she instantly saw the blue vehicle parked in her driveway. This caused her to slow down and take her precious time, rather than rushing. Avoiding Henry could be easy. She could just go inside, grab food, and then go upstairs. No one would even notice.

Her bike now parked outside her home, she slipped through the front door as quiet as possible. She could hear cheering and laughing coming from the living room. Cocking her head, she peeked in the room and noticed only three of the boys had made it back. Patrick was missing. The last time she saw him, he had been chasing Ben. Maybe he went home.

Jaime tiptoed into the kitchen and rummaged quietly through the pantries, pausing every time the teenage boys speech and laughter stopped. Unfortunately, her parent's hadn't bought much, so she decided to check the refrigerator. What she did see in there, however, was a very appealing bag of red grapes.

She snatched the bag and slammed the refrigerator door shut, eager to get upstairs. However, just as she turned, her body slammed into another. Dear God, no. Henry Bowers peered down at her cockily, his dark eyes narrowed at her. His lips slowly curled into a menacing smirk.

"You know," he began, voice hushed to a whisper, "your older brother doesn't have to know."

She gulped audibly in fear. "Know what?"

He reached out and stroked her long, curly hair. His opposite hand slowly trailed down to rest on her hipbone. Jaime felt like she could cry, she trembled so violently that the bag of grapes threatened to slip from her hand. He leaned in, so close she could smell sweat and dirt on his skin.

"That I could treat you like a real princess." He bit his lip and winked at her before pulling away and striding off to the living room.

Jaime stood, frozen in a mixture of fear and shock. Henry had flirted with her before- as he did every girl who was over the age of twelve. But never had it gone so far. Never had he laid a hand on her or- imply such perverted things. A tear slipped out of the corner of her hazel eyes and travelled down her cheek. The girl had a sickening feeling that worse things were to come.

A/N: i really am new to writing about such heavy subjects, so cut me some slack? and NEXT CHAPTER SCARY STUFF HAPPENS!!! woo i'm super pumped. again, thanks for reading!!