I took my regular seat in the art classroom, noticing I was one of the first people there.

Good. That meant I had some time to myself before I'd have to deal with Bill and Patrick's constant bickering. I placed the assignment face down on the desk and took out my sketchbook. The leather covering of the book was old and starting to discolour, three small scratches running down the back. I didn't mind it, though, because the scratches were arranged in a way that they created a word. Only a small word, but a word nonetheless.

The classroom door opened and Bill walked in. I smiled as he crossed the room and took a seat at the desk next to me.

"Hey Big Bill." I said with a grin. Whenever I was around Bill, I felt myself become happier. He had this effect on me and I didn't know why. I liked Bill, a lot. Whether it was in a friendly way or a more than friendly way, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that we were friends. I just knew that this was the way we were supposed to be. I felt the same with the other members of the Losers club; we were all meant to be a group. But I was conscious of this nagging feeling at the back of my mind, as if something was missing. Like we weren't complete.

"Hey Lara. How d-did the project go?" he asked. I picked up the piece of paper on my desk and showed him with a grin. I expected him to smile and tell me how great it was, but he didn't. Instead his mouth turned into a slight frown and I noticed the hint of unease in his eyes. I felt myself dishearten and I placed the picture back down on the table, face up.

"Is there something wrong with it? Do you not like it?" I asked, but he didn't reply. His gaze was stuck on the piece of paper like his mind was somewhere else. "I can change it if you want, I mean I guess it is kind of creepy. Wait no, it's due today. I won't have time to change it! Shit, I'm so sorry Bill, I don't know what I was thinking." I groaned and placed my head in my hands.

"Ooo, is this our art project? A bit dark for you, but I'm digging it." I looked up to see Patrick standing over my desk, examining the picture with a smirk.

"God. If you like it, it must be terrible." I groaned and flipped it over so it was face down again.

"Well I'm offended." Patrick said, but I ignored him. I looked over at Bill who had seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in and was staring at me with unreadable eyes.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"I th-th-think you d-did a really g-g-good job." Bill replied, his stutter worse than usual.

"Are you sure? You didn't seem as if you liked it very much a minute ago." I said, biting my lip.

"No!" he said quickly, making me jump. Bill coughed and straightened up, his face slightly red. "No, I luh-luh-like it. It just reminded m-me of suh-something for a second."

"Okay, that's good then." I replied, still a bit unsure. I could see the teacher approaching our table and I tried to signal to Patrick with my eyes that he needed to take his seat, but he didn't catch the hint.

"Now why aren't you in your seat, Mr Hockstetter?" the teacher asked. Patrick rolled his eyes at me and turned around slowly.

"Just making sure Lara has our project to give to you, sir. You know me, I can't stand submitting things in late." Patrick said. I could see his smirk through the back of his head.

"Is that right? Well, let's see it then." The teacher said. I placed the artwork in his outstretched hand. He examined it for a few moments, his eyebrows raised. After what felt like a lifetime, he nodded his head in approval.

"I've got to say, I'm impressed." he said. "I like what you did with the spider. Painting it's head red and turning it into a clown. Very inventive."

"Clown?" I asked, the blood draining out of my face.

"Yeah, it is a clown right? With the red nose and mouth?" he pointed to the picture and I felt myself nodding hastily.

"Yeah, right." I said, my eyes glued to the picture until he turned away and I couldn't see it anymore. Patrick took his seat behind me and I heard his chair scrape obnoxiously loud. How could I not notice it was a clown? Now that the teacher had pointed it out, it became so obvious I couldn't even remember what I had seen before.

Clown... Clown... Why did that seem so familiar? My eyes fell on my sketchbook and memories flooded back into me. I had seen a clown in the picture I had drawn of the house on Neibolt street. I snatched the sketchbook and opened it, flipping pages hell for leather until I found it. The dark, gloomy house stared up at me, the half-shaded bird looking into it.

There was something weird about the picture, though. The part where the door had been, where I had seen the clown, was blank and the paper was peeling. I did remember using a rubber over it, but I also remembered that the rubber didn't do anything. The picture wouldn't go away.

My head started to hurt and I closed the sketchbook with a loud snap. Everyone in the class turned to look at me and I mumbled a quick apology. Something was happening that I couldn't understand. Was I going crazy? I hoped not. But I couldn't think of any other possible explanation for what I had seen.

- - -

The bell rang and students rushed out of their classes like a flock of sheep. Finally, it was the end of school and now summer. This meant no more waking up at 7am and no more homework. I spotted Richie, Bill and Eddie and I pushed my way through the crowd towards them.

"But, how does it work?" Bill asked as I caught up to them.

"They slice the tip of his dick off." Eddie replied, making a face.

"But then Stan will have nothing left!" Richie exclaimed and I choked.

"Okay, I really came into this conversation at the wrong time." I said.

"Wait up guys!" Stan yelled and placed himself between Bill and Eddie.

"Hey Stan, w-what happens at the Bar Mitzvah anyways? Ed says they slice the tip of your d-d-dick off." Bill asked.

"Yeah, and I think the Rabbi's gonna pull down your pants. He'll look at the crowd and say, where's the beef?" I choked again, trying to hold back my laughter at the boys' ridiculousness.

"At the Bar Mitzvah, I read from the Torah and then I made a speech and suddenly I became a man." Stan replied, seemingly unhappy about the whole ordeal.

"I can think of more funner ways to become a man." Richie said.

"More fun, you mean." Stan corrected as we walked in the direction of the Bowers gang who were leaning against the lockers. As we passed them, Patrick looked at me with a grin, licking his lips. I rolled my eyes. Henry, Belch and Victor, however, gave us death stares as we passed and I felt the Losers club tense.

"You think they'll sign my yearbook?" Richie asked once we were out of earshot, pushing up his glasses. "Dear Richie, sorry for taking a hot, steaming dump in your backpack last month. Have a good summer!"

We turned into the stairwell and someone bumped my shoulder, knocking me into Stan and almost tripping me over. I looked up to see Greta pass, looking over her shoulder at me with a smirk before turning away.

"Fuck you!" I shouted as she walked into the girls bathroom, but she didn't look back.

"You alright, Lara?" Stan asked and I gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm all good." I replied as we walked down the stairs.

We pushed through the front doors of Derry High School and down the steps, chatting happily about how relieved we were that it was finally Summer. We made our way to one of the bins and started emptying the contents of our bag.

"Best feeling ever." Stan said.

"Yeah? Try tickling your pickle for the first time." Richie replied and we all rolled our eyes.

"Beep beep, Richie." I said with a laugh.

"Hey what do you guys want to do tomorrow?" Eddie asked as he hoisted his empty bag onto his back.

"Start my training." Richie said, adjusting his glasses.

"Wha-what training?" Eddie asked.

"Street fighting." Richie replied seriously.

"Is that how you want to spend your summer? In front of an arcade?" Eddie asked, bewildered.

"Beats spending it inside of your mother." Richie replied and held his hand up for a high-five. He was left hanging.

"Again, beep beep Richie." I said and shook my head. Stan pushed Richie's hand down.

"What if we go to the Quarry?" Stan suggested.

"Guys, we have the b-b-barrens. We can still make the dam." Bill replied.

"Right, but I don't think we should make the dam. Not really into the idea anymore, after what you said happened last time." Stan said.

"Betty Ripsom's mum." Eddie said suddenly, looking behind us. We all turned to see a lady watching the front doors of the school worriedly. There were police and a cop car behind her.

"Is she really expecting to see her coming out of school?" I ask, feeling sad for the mother's loss.

"I don't know." Eddie replied. "As if Betty Ripsom's been hiding in Home Ec. for the last few weeks"

"Do you think they'll actually find her?" Stan asked. I had a feeling that the answer was most likely a no.

"Sure. In a ditch, all decomposed and covered in worms and maggots, smelling like Eddie's mum's underwear!" Richie replied.

"Shut up." Eddie shook his head. "That's friggen disgusting."

"Sh-sh-she's not dead, she's m-missing." Bill looked at Richie seriously. Richie looked away awkwardly and pushed up his glasses.

"Sorry Bill, she's missing." he said. I felt Stan and Eddie tense up as well. Bill turned to walk away and we all followed him.

"You know, the Barrens aren't that bad. Who doesn't love splashing around in shitty water." Richie said. Suddenly, he was pulled backwards by his backpack and pushed into Stanley, knocking them both to the ground. I looked up to see Henry sneering at them, along with Patrick who had picked up Stanley's kippah that had fallen off his head.

"Nice frisbee, flamer." he said and threw it through the window of a passing school bus, laughing. "Fucking losers."

A loud burp sounded from behind me and I saw Eddie lurching away from Belch in disgust. Henry walked past Bill and shoulder-checked him as he passed.

"You s-s-suck Bowers!" Bill managed to spit out.

"Shut up, Bill." Eddie murmured, but it was too late. Henry and his friends froze and slowly turned around. I glared at Patrick, but he wasn't looking at me.

"Did you suh-suh-suh-say something, Buh-buh-buh-Billy?" Henry taunted and approached him. I grabbed Bill's shoulder and tried to pull him away, but he rubbed me off. "You got a free ride this year because of your little brother. Ride's over, Denbrough."

Henry was standing right in front of Bill now, his eyes burning, but he looked up for a moment and faltered. He looked away and back down at Billy, unnerved. "This summer's gonna be a hurt train, for you and your faggot friends." Henry licked his hand and placed it on Bill's face, making his friends laugh. They turned and walked away, leaving me glaring at their retreating backs.

I stood still for a couple of moments before starting forward after them. I wasn't going to let them leave without a scratch of their own.