The bell rung, signaling the end of the school year. Arizona picked up her backpack off the floor and slowly made her way through the halls until her eyes met those of Henry Bowers, who simply smiled and waved her over. Arizona brought out the best in Henry, seeing as they had been best friends for 8 years.

"Hey Ari," Victor greeted, and Arizona smiled in response. Arizona had become close with everyone in Henry's gang, and spent most of her time with the group. This caused people to believe she was one of them, but in actuality, Arizona couldn't do some of the awful things they did.

Before Arizona could open her mouth to speak, Henry's face went stone cold, as did everyone else within the group. Arizona turned around to see a group of four boys. One of them being Bill Denbrough, who she had begged Henry to leave alone because he had lost his brother. Henry reluctantly agreed, but only gave a year of relief to the boy.

"You're not so tough Hen," Arizona laughed, as the boys nervously walked away. Henry rolled his eyes at her, his friends laughing with her.

"Hey, I need to meet with Mr. Wilson about my math grade so I'll meet you outside in ten," Arizona said after the laughing died down. Henry nodded, and he walked out the doors.

When Arizona finally exited the school, she saw Henry standing in front of Bill, while the rest of the gang were surrounding Bill's friends. She groaned in frustration, until she saw Henry's dad looking at the scene. Instantly, she ran to Henry and pulled him away from the boy.

"What the fuck Ari?" Henry questioned, and Arizona nodded her head to his dad in response. Henry's face went pale, and he called his friends back to his car.

"You coming Ari?" Patrick questioned.

"No, I'm just going to walk home. See you later guys," Arizona said in response, smiling at the boys. They shrugged their shoulders in response and drove away. Arizona took this chance to approach the boys her friends were terrorizing.

"Aye, how'd you get ol' Henry off our backs," the boy with glasses asked in a terrible British accent. Arizona shrugged her shoulders, seeing as she didn't stop Henry from tormenting the boys for the sake of the group, it was for the sake of Henry being safe. She didn't know what would happen if Butch saw Henry bullying the group.

"I need to be getting home," Arizona said, her tone indifferent. Being around Henry for so many years has caused her to lose a lot of the kindness she retained as a child.

"T-t-thanks, uh-" Bill stopped because he didn't know her name.

"Arizona."

"Oh y-y-yeah, thanks A-arizona," Bill managed to stutter out.

Arizona nodded her head and walked away, thinking about the boys.

-

Arizona stepped into her house, placing her bag on the floor.

"Mom?" She called into the home, receiving no answer. Arizona sighed heavily, realizing her mom was most likely working late. The note she found on the counter confirmed her suspicions. Lately, Arizona's mother has been working many late night shifts, and Arizona hated it. The only times she saw her mother were when the hospital told her she couldn't work anymore overtime hours. Adeline Colburn usually forced Arizona to stay home on those days, and the auburn haired beauty has the scars to prove it. Arizona hated those days because the awkward silence in the house was worse than being in an empty home.

"Guess I'm going over to Henry's...again," She stated to the empty house. Almost immediately, Arizona was on her way to the Bowers' household.

Before she knew it, she stood at the end of the driveway leading to Henry's house, and she saw her friends standing at the other end.

"Hey Arizona," Patrick greeted.

"Mom not home again?" Henry guessed, and Arizona rolled her eyes. Henry nodded sadly, picking up on her answer.

"Want to go driving?" Victor inquired and the group nodded, everyone piling into the blue car sitting out in the front yard.

Arizona zoned out as they drove along the streets of Derry, and it wasn't until she noticed the clown that she snapped back into reality. Although she only saw him for a split second, her heart stopped and her blood ran cold. She knew it wasn't just any old clown that was currently in town for the parade/carnival. She knew it was something sinister.

The boys must have noticed her change in expression because Victor suddenly asked, "Ari, you look like you just saw a ghost, you okay?" Arizona could only nod in response. The group must've been satisfied by this answer because they continued whatever conversation they were having.

All of a sudden, Belch jerked the car into a nearby alley and sped up. Arizona was confused as to what they were doing, until she saw the boy standing in the middle of the alleyway. Her heart stopped once again as she realized that the group was attempting to hit the boy who seemed to be unaware of the car racing towards him, until he jumped out of the way at the last second.

Arizona's childhood best friend leaned out of the window once the car stopped and yelled "Get the fuck out of my town," and the entire group laughed, except Arizona. She stared at the boy, catching a glimpse of his terrified eyes. Usually, she never felt bad for the people her friends tormented, but this time she did. The car only sped halfway down the road before she yelled for them to stop and let her out.

"Why Ari?" Henry asked, a smirk still on his face from the encounter that happened only moments ago.

"Uh, I just remembered my mom told me she'd be home around this time," Arizona replied, hoping she was believable, and she was. Henry knew about her home situation, and she knew about his, so whenever something could poke the hornet's nest that was their parents, they listened to one another.

Arizona quickly hopped out of the car, waved goodbye to her friends, and waited until the car drove out of sight. Then, she was briskly making her way towards the terrified boy still standing in the alleyway.

"Dude, you alright?" She asked, laughing slightly. The boy just stared at her, probably wondering whether or not this was a joke. Arizona understood his concern, seeing as he just witnessed her be in the same car as his bullies.

"Sorry about them," she said, trying to offer him some sort of comfort that she wasn't like them. Please don't think I'm like them, she thought to herself. At least she thought it was to herself.

"Don't worry, I don't," the boy replied and that's when Arizona mentally face palmed. Her face flushed red with embarrassment and the boy laughed in response.

"So uh I need to go finish these deliveries, but will I see you around?" the boy questioned, a hint of a smile gracing his beautiful face.

Arizona stared at him for a moment before returning a smile, "Of course."

The boy turned to pick up his bike before turning around, "I'm Mike Hanlon, by the way."

"Arizona Colburn, at your service," she exclaimed with a terrible British accent, similar to the one the boy from earlier in the day used.

Mike just laughed, and began pedaling away, but not before saying "Til we meet again, Miss Arizona Colburn."

"See you around Mike Hanlon," she smiled to herself, the blush from before never leaving her face.

-

word count: 1273

okay i love mike and this fanfic is to appreciate him for all that he is

thanks to ris, liz, and alia for reading and critiquing :)