blackbird • stanley uris

four.

Summer is Hell

It did not take long for us to cycle down to the sewer opening. The ride there was easy, especially the hill we went down that I'm dreading to go up.

We parked our bikes next to the opening for the sewer and I stretched my legs.

"That's poison ivy." Stanley pointed at a random green plant that looked nothing like poison ivy. "And that's poison ivy." He once again pointed at another random plant. "And that's poison ivy."

"Where?" I asked raising an eyebrow while wearing a smirk.

"Where's the poison ivy?" Eddie asked, believing that Stanley really was pointing out poison ivy.

"No where, not every fucking plant is poison ivy, Stanley." Richie snapped.

"Okay, well I'm starting to get itchy now and I'm pretty sure this is not good for me." Eddie complained as we walked towards the sewer opening.

"Do you use the same bathroom as your mother?" A smirk was evident on his face. I knew exactly where this was going.

"Sometimes, yeah." Eddie replied, clearly not knowing where this was going.

"Then you probably have crabs." I tried to contain my laughter, especially after seeing Eddie's face, but an unflattering snort escaped my lips.

"Yes! I made her snort again!" Richie held his hand up for a high five but I grabbed his arm and pulled it down.

"That's not funny." Eddie whined as Richie and I playfully glared at each other. Richie followed after Bill who had already started walking into the sewer. I took one look at the filthy sewer water and shook my head. There was no way I was walking in that. Eddie and Stanley must of had the same idea as me as they stopped at the opening of the sewer.

"Aren't you guys coming in?" Richie asked as he tnoticed we didn't follow him in.

"Nuhuh that's gray water." Eddie pointed at the ground in disgust.

"What the hell is gray water?" My face twisted into confusion.

"It's basically piss and shit, so I'm just telling you, you guys are splashing around in millions of gallons of Derry pee." While Eddie ranted I watched as Richie picked up a stick and smelled it.

"Are, are you serious? That is so gross Rich!" I yelled as took a step back to try and get away from Richie. My back hit against a soft surface and I whipped my head around. Hands gripped my hips to steady me and I looked up to see Stanley. I smiled at him thankfully and looked back at Richie, Stanley's hands never left my hips.

"Doesn't smell like caca to me, Señor." Richie said in a strange Spanish accent. I laughed at the horrible impression. Stanley pinched my sides which caused me to twist around in his hold and face him. Our faces were inches apart, I could feel his hot breath on my lips.

"O-o-okay I can smell it from here." Eddie's voice caused us to break apart from each other and awkwardly look anywhere but each other. A bright blush tinted my cheeks.

"It's probably just your breath wafting back into your face." Richie joked digging around in the sewer water with his stick.

"Have you ever heard of a staph infection?" Eddie became dead serious, his his face neutral but tough.

"I'll show you a 'staff' infection." Richie pointed his stick immaturely at Eddie knowing he was hating every moment. I stood off to the side not wanting to get in the way of the two boys. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stanley roll his at their childishness.

"That's so unsanitary. These... You guys are like swimming in a toilet bowl right now. Have you ever heard of Listeria?" Richie picked a rag off the ground with his stick and threw it at Eddie. I gagged at the sight.

"Are you retarded?" Eddie screeched. "You're the reason we're in this situation."

"Guys!" Bill yelled gaining all of our attentions. In one hand he held his torch and shined it on the object in his other hand, a shoe.

"Shit. Don't tell me that's..." Stanley trailed off, in too much shock to finish his sentence.

"No. Georgie was wearing galoshes." Bill stated confidently, trying to convince himself that Georgie was safe. Stanley filled me in with how Bills younger brother Georgie went missing down the sewer drain. After that I started seeing Bill in a new light, his bravery and confidence.

"Who's sneaker is it?" Eddie asked as Richie walked towards Bill and took the shoe from him. I eagerly inched forwards grabbing Stanley's hand. Bill held the torch above the shoe as Richie read the name written in the inside.

"It's Betty Ripsom's." Richie stated.

"Shit! Shit, oh god, oh fuck. I don't like this!" Eddie freaked out. I rushed over to him and rubbed his shoulders in hope to calm him down.

"How do you think Betty feels? Going around these tunnels with only one fucking shoe." Richie made an inappropriate joke at the worst time. Richie lifted one leg and hopped around playfully. Everyone glared at him.

"What if she is still here?" Stanley asked hesitantly. Bill ignored him and continued walking further into the sewer.

"Eddie, come on!" Richie said, forgetting about Stanley and I. He followed after Bill.

"My mom will have an aneurysm if she finds out we were playing down here." Eddie ranted. "I'm serious. Bill?"

"If I were Betty Ripsom I would want us to find me. G-g-Georgie too." Bill stuttered. We all looked down with sympathy.

"What if I don't want to find them? I mean, no offense Bill, but I don't want to end up like... I don't want to go missing either." Eddie mumbled, looking everywhere but at us. I migrated my way back over to Stanley and held his hand, giving him a small smile.

"He has a point." I could clearly see how scared Stanley was.

"Y-y-you too?" Bill looked betrayed. If there wasn't any sewer water I would have went straight up to Bill and hugged him.

"It's summer. Were supposed to be having fun. This isn't funny." Richie and Bill glanced at each other before focusing their attention back on Stanley. "This is scary and disgusting." I went to go say something but a crash sounded behind us all. We all whipped around and stared at the boy in the water who was bleeding out of his stomach.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?" Richie shouted. Stanley and Eddie ran into the water to go save the poor boy.

"Ben?" I asked once I saw his face. First day of summer has officially become Hell.

A/N Sorry about the late update! My WiFi is currently acting up so I'll try to update as much as I can. I know this goes against what I said last chapter and I'm really sorry 😊

Til next time,
-I x