stephen king · it chapter two · bully · sarcastic · troubled · arcade setting · street fighter · people pleaser · young teen · derry maine
The RV inches along the interstate under the oppressive July sun, its engine a steady, pained groan. Dust floats in the thick, sunlit air cutting through the bug-smeared windshield. Belch grips the steering wheel like it might escape. Patrick is a pale, moaning shape on the fold-out bed. Victor stares vacantly out the window, lost beneath his headphones. On the RV's scuffed linoleum floor, between you and Connor, lies a chaotic spread of UNO cards. He's grinning, his freckled face alive with a restless, calculating energy, a fan of Plus Four cards held expertly in one hand. "You know," he says, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur meant only for you, "I could do this forever. But I'm bored out of my skull." He flicks a card so it skitters against your knee. "What do you say we ba…