I heard what seemed to be the hundredth footstep walk behind me and by now I had given up on checking if it was Patrick. I listened to the soft thuds as they walked further and further away from me and I stared angrily at my feet.

It was quarter to eight and Patrick was a no-show. I shouldn't have expected anything else, but nevertheless I had gotten my hopes up. There were scattered across the ground, now.

Another set of footsteps sounded behind me, this time there being more than one pair. I waited for whoever they were to walk away but they stopped right behind me. I stiffened, my mind immediately going to Patrick and his friends.

Great, he probably told the Bowers gang his plan to make a fool of me and they all decided to come and see if I was still here. I remained sitting on the curb and stared at the ground, refusing to look at them. I heard a cough from behind me but I remained unmoving.

God, didn't they have anything better to do than pick on a teenage girl who was too gullible for her own good?

There was still no sign of them leaving and I groaned.

"Piss off, will you? Go fuck with somebody else, I'm not in the mood." I snapped. I was answered with silence and I was about to open my mouth again when a voice spoke.

"Gee, you on your period or something?"

I span around quickly. The voice sounded nothing like any of the Bowers gang and more like a certain loudmouthed friend.

"Richie?" I asked with astonishment. He was standing behind me and looking at me weirdly, clutching a few small pieces of paper in his hand. My eyes moved next to him where Beverly and Ben stood, also wearing matching expressions. "Beverly? Ben?"

"Yeah, who did you think it was?" Beverly asked, brushing her bright hair behind her ear.

"Shit, sorry guys. I thought you were Henry and his friends." I muttered, standing up hastily and brushing dirt off my backside.

"I heard I could be pretty scary, but what gave you that impression?" Richie asked. I thought of Patrick and the Losers' dislike towards him, and I deliberated over whether I should tell them of our date or not. Especially since Patrick had beaten up Ben the other day.

"I don't really know to be honest." I lied as I scratched the back of my head. "I guess your footsteps kind of sound like them."

"I can't say I've ever known someone who can distinguish a group of people by their footsteps, but I'm offended that you think my feet sound so big-headed and arrogant." Richie replied.

"What are you doing out here? And what happened to your face?" Ben asked.

"Oh, uh, I was going on a walk. Henry's dad is kind of in my house at the moment and that's not somewhere I'd like to be right now." I said, ignoring his last question.

"Henry's dad is in your house? Why?" Ben asked incredulously.

"Well, uh, he and my mum were kind of together last night and I guess he still hasn't left." I replied awkwardly, trying to ignore their expressions as they processed what I had just said. I had already received enough crap from other people about my mum and I wasn't about to get any from my friends.

"Okay then! Well, we're running a bit late... Catch you later?" Richie said hurriedly, plastering a fake smile on his face. I frowned at his reaction.

"Uh, okay. See you." I said weakly as he and Ben turned to walk away. Beverly looked at me with wide eyes before stopping them.

"Hey, wait up guys! Lara, we're going to see I Was A Teenage Werewolf at the Aladdin Theatre. The movie has probably already started, but we've got an extra ticket if you want to come? Stan bailed on us." Beverly offered with a smile and I returned it unsurely.

"You don't have to do that. I don't want to intrude." I replied, looking at Richie and Ben who had seemed so eager to get away from me just seconds ago. If they had wanted me to come, wouldn't they have invited me in the first place?

"No, come! We want you to, don't we guys?" Beverly turned to the two boys and looked at them expectantly.

"Oh, yeah, for sure! Just make sure you don't get too scared, I don't want to have to deal with you peeing yourself." Richie joked and turned to walk up the street, the rest of us following.

"Sure you're not talking about yourself, Richie?"

We were about to reach the cinema when I remembered my argument with the box office lady.

"Shit guys, I don't think I'm allowed in." I said, stopping in the middle of the footpath.

"What? Why?" Richie asked.

"I got into a bit of an argument with the ticket lady, who I think ended up being the manager. I might have to sneak in."

"Wow, you're badass. Getting into arguments with old ladies. I love it." Richie snorted. "But she couldn't have been the manager anyway, Foxy is."

"Foxy?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's the old guy who checks your ticket before you go in. Bit grumpy, but has a nice heart."

"Alright, well how about I distract her and you guys go on in with Lara? She can walk behind you two so if the lady does end up looking, she won't see her." Beverly suggested. We all nodded.

The three of us hid in the alley adjacent to the theatre and watched as Beverly made her way up to the box office.

"Alright, go!" Richie whispered once the lady's attention was on Beverly. We speed-walked to the front of the theatre, Ben and Richie blocking me from view. Ben pushed through the doors and we rushed in, trying our best not to burst out laughing. After awhile Beverly came in too, looking flustered.

"I can understand why you'd get into an argument with old Liver Lips, Lara. She's a witch." Beverly huffed.

I looked around the inside of the theatre, noticing the emptiness of it. A thin, glum-looking man came into view from around the corner and Richie waved. "Hey Foxy!"

"Oh, hello Richie." Foxy said, looking up in surprise. "What are you doing here? The movies have already started."

"Yeah, we were running a bit late. We've got tickets for I Was A Teenage Werewolf."

"Ah, of course. Our most popular screening at the moment. Well, you three are in luck, because there were a couple of issues with the projector so the movie only started about twenty minutes ago. A lot of people left, too, so I'm sure you can get front row seats if you wanted."

"Fantastic! You guys want any popcorn?" Richie asked us and I nodded.

"I can pay, you guys bought the tickets so." I said. We walked over to the empty candy bar where the popcorn machine was still running. Foxy followed us to the counter and filled two large boxes.

"Alright now, kids. I'm going to gives these to you for free, but only if you do something for me in return." Foxy said seriously. I saw Ben shuffle uncomfortably in my peripheral vision.

"That Bowers kid and his friends are watching the movie as well and I want you four to keep an eye on them and let me know of any trouble they cause. I tried kicking them out last week, but you know those kids. They won't listen to an old man like me."

My heart stopped. The Bowers gang was here? That meant Patrick was here too. A wave of anger surged through me and I saw red.

"Bowers is here?" Ben asked, shaking his head. "No way am I going in guys. Did you see how they cut me up yesterday?"

"We'll do it, Foxy." Richie said, patting Ben on the shoulder. "No need to worry, Haystack. They usually sit up the front on the lower level. We'll just keep right away from them."

Ben, still looking unsure, was about to open his mouth to say more but Beverly and I grabbed the popcorn quickly and made our way over to the cinema door, forcing the two boys to follow.

"Thanks Foxy!" Richie called from over his shoulder as we entered the cinema. I heard the old man reply with a loud shhhh.

We followed Richie through the cinema and took our seats at the front of the upper level, where we could look down at everyone seated below us. I spotted the Bowers gang in the second row, their feet kicked up on the seats in front of them.

But Patrick was nowhere to be seen. I stayed looking at them for a few moments longer, even scanning the very few people around them in hopes to spot him there. After a while, I gave up and leaned back in my seat.

Maybe Patrick did get caught up doing something. If he wasn't with his friends, where could he be?

I placed the popcorn in between Richie and I's seats, Beverly and Ben sharing the other box to my left. I could feel Ben tense every time Beverly reached into his lap to grab a handful. Richie and I exchanged amused glances.

The movie was pretty good. The Teenage Werewolf was relatively scary and I jumped more than a few times. However, not as much as I felt Richie jolt and Beverly squeal from next to Ben. At one point she pressed her face against the boy's shirt in fear and I heard Ben's gasp of surprise, even over the screams of all the kids around us. That was probably the reason he didn't seem at all affected by the gruesomeness of the movie. He was too distracted by the girl sitting next to him.

Every so often, Foxy would come in the theatre and tell Henry and his friends to put their feet down. They would, but as soon as Foxy left their feet went back up.

Sometimes small handfuls of popcorn would be thrown at the screen when it got scary and I could hear their yells and laughter from below. Nobody had the guts to tell them off, though.

Loud music started playing when the werewolf came into view and I jumped. Beverly squealed and I heard Ben gasp again when she grabbed onto his arm. Richie almost leapt out of his seat in fright, knocking over the half-empty box of popcorn which I had placed on the balcony barrier in front of us down onto the level below.

I heard deep yells from whoever the popcorn had landed on and Richie looked down with a sheepish. After he saw who it was, his expression soon turned into fright.

"Shit! We've got to leave." Richie whispered, falling backwards into his seat.

"Why? What happened?" Beverly asked from Ben's arm.

"I may or may not have accidentally tipped a box of popcorn onto Henry Bowers." he muttered, looking downwards fearfully.

"Please tell me that's a jo-" I was cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps running up the stairs.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, Losers!"