City Fool [Mike Hanlon]

𝖾 𝗂 𝗀 𝗁 𝗍

CHAPTER EIGHT: I ALMOST CRIED

     Once Ginny was sure the clown wasn't following her, she slowed down to a walk, trying to catch her breath. She looked over her shoulder once more to check to make sure the footsteps she heard was just her mind playing tricks on her. That was when she bumped into Mike.

"Woah hey angel. Are you okay?" Mike smiled before noticing that her face was pink and there were tears running down her face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just really tired," Ginny shrugged it off as she fiddled with her bag.

The girl didn't plan on telling anyone about what she had just witnessed. They'd think she was going through some sort of psychosis and she didn't need that right now. She just wanted a normal summer with her friends and her crush.

Not believing the girl, Mike gave her a look. Ginny sighed before shutting her eyes.

"Do you think I'm a failure?"

Mike furrowed his eyebrows as his mouth slightly opened. He hadn't expected that to be what was swimming around her head.

"You are not a failure. That's not an opinion, it's a fact. You're so amazing and you're too good for this world, Ginny. You're so special and I wish you could see that," Mike pulled the girl into a hug.

Ginny hid her face in Mike's neck, sniffling as she smiled at his words. The boy ran his hand through her hand, smiling. Ginny pulled back a bit to look at Mike. The two looked into each other's eyes, the girl blushing slightly.  

Ginny began to lean in slightly causing Mike to do the same. The girl's hands made their way to hold the boy's face. Both of Mike's hands found their way to Ginny's waist as their lips pressed against each other. The two stood there kissing for a few moments before Ginny pulled away with a smile on her face.

"I like you a lot Gin," Mike whispered as he pushed a strand of hair behind the girl's ear.

"Wanna be my boyfriend then?"

Mike nodded his head before pressing a kiss to Ginny's forehead.

"You're my girl and I won't let anyone hurt you."

"And you're my boy. I won't let anyone hurt you," Ginny smiled at the boy, pulling him into another hug.

Mike rested his chin on the girl's head causing her to let out a laugh. Realising that the sun was setting, Ginny sighed telling Mike she had to get home.

"Yeah I'll see you later. Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?" Mike asked, holding onto the girl's hands.

"I'm positive. You need to get home. I'll be fine. It's just one block. See you later," Ginny smiled as she pressed a swift kiss to Mike's cheek.

"Okay. I'll see you later. And next time, I'm walking you home," Mike told the girl as she began walking away.

As soon as she had turned the corner to her street, Ginny dropped her smile a bit. Sure she was happy that Mike was now her boyfriend but she also still felt extremely uneasy about the creepy clown situation. Her thoughts were all about the clown. Why had it looked like Richie? How did it know so much about her? Why today of all days did the fucking clown show up?

When the girl reached her front door, she took a deep breath. She had to remind herself that whoever she saw earlier in that alley was not Richie. It was not her brother who had eaten so many cherries with the pits that he threw up out of his nose. The real Richie loved her and would never dream of saying those awful things to her. Most importantly the real Richie didn't view her as a failure.

Unlocking the door, Ginny walked into the house and quietly closed the door. She headed up the stairs to grab a change of clothes from her room before walking into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

The next morning the brunette woke up to Richie shaking her awake. He informed his sister that Bill had called saying that the two needed to get to Beverly's apartment as soon as they could. The girl rolled out of her bed and made her way to brush her hair and teeth. She walked back to her room to change into a black and white striped tank-top tucked into a pair of black shorts with a belt. She added one of her jean button ups, leaving it unbuttoned as she walked to her vanity. She felt like being fancy and slipped on a necklace that her cousin's Mike and Nancy had gotten her a few years back along with a few rings that Richie had gifted her.

Inspecting her cheek and her neck that had a faint mark on it from the clown the day before, the girl pulled out her makeup. She knew Stan and Eddie would know something was up as she was wearing makeup when she normally didn't. Shrugging the thought away, the girl applied foundation and set it before adding mascara before grabbing some socks. She slipped the socks and a pair of converse on as she ran down the stairs to grab two granola bars, stuffing them in her shirt pocket and running out of the door.

Ginny grabbed her bike as Richie did the same, both of them making their way to Beverly's apartment building. As the two pulled up at the complex, they met up with the other four and they dropped their bikes, with the exception of Stan. Beverly ran down the stairs and stood in front of the group.

"You made it! I-i need to show you something," Beverly looked nervous as she spoke to the group. 

When Eddie asked what she needed to show the group, Richie asked if it was more than what they saw at the quarry the day before. Ginny smacked her brother upside the head and groaned. Eddie yelled at the boy to shut up before turning his attention back to the redheaded girl.

"My dad will kill me if he finds out, I had boys in the apartment," Beverly told her friends as she fidgeted with her hands.

"Then w-we'll leave lookouts. Ginz, Richie s-stay here," Bill instructed the siblings as him and the other five began following Beverly up the stairs.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! What if her dad comes back?" Richie yelled.

Ginny pointed to her best friend as he looked back at Richie.

"Do what you always do! Start talking!"

"It is a gift," Richie pouted as he went to sit against the wall.

Ginny patted Richie on the back and sat next to him. She pulled out the granola bars from her shirt pocket, handing one to her brother before opening her own. The two sat in silence for about fifteen minutes until it was broken by Ginny.

"I saw something last night," the girl accidentally blurted out.

She clenched her eyes closed as she realized what she had said. She didn't want it to be silent anymore so the thoughts of the previous night would her mind.

"Wait what?" Richie looked over at the girl with a confused facial expression.

"There was a clown and it was really creepy. I almost cried so I ran away," Ginny kept her answer short.

"God I hate clowns."

"It was super weird because the clown's eyes were brown but then I watched then turn orange. I literally watched as this clown's eyes changed colors. Oh my god," Ginny's eyes went wide.

The girl hadn't thought about how weird the whole experience was until she spoke about it out loud. She obviously wasn't going to tell Richie the full story. She didn't need him to be more worried about her then she already was. He would think she's gone crazy and was having some form of psychosis.

"Ginz I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Richie whispered, wrapping his arm around the girl's shoulders.

"It's fine. I'm fine," the girl assured as she began to stand up.

She began snapping her hair band against her wrist as she looked anywhere but Richie. She hated worrying him.

"Ginny it's not fine. I know you. You're not fine," Richie said as he also stood.

He gestured to the girl's wrist but before he could speak again, Stan and Eddie joined the two.