The night was creeping up on Derry. Sneaking, walking quietly, a faint whisper. Really, it seemed to be like that every night. Everyone went to bed at virtually the same time, every single day. Like a rehearsal, a well planned show...
Eddie and Richie were sat on a pile of damp rocks, a few messy backpacks strewn around them. Richie was scraping, with no purpose, at a twig as Eddie glared at him. "Jesus Rich. Slow down maybe?" The caution was apparent in his eyes. "You're gonna cut off your finger…" He warned Richie, staring at the repetitive motion nervously. Richie stared back at him, pretending to have the knife slip. "Oh my god! Eddie! My finger...It's gone!" Richie joked, but Eddie glared at him, far from amused. "That's not funny…" He said quickly, glancing at the knife. Richie picked it up again and resumed his pathetic widdling.
Bill and Stanley showed up a few minutes later. "I've g-gotta be home soon." Bill announced as he joined the group. Richie stopped carving the stick to look up at him. "Why? The sun's barely down…' he said, slightly irritated. Bill looked at them rolling his eyes. "S-sorry, my m-mom said-" Richie quickly cut him off. "Don't be such a pussy B-b-bill!" Richie joked, standing up and punching his arm. Bill didn't seem amused, but rubbed his arm, a pathetic look on his face.
Beverly showed up soon after that, Ben by her side. They were laughing about something...A strange inside joke, no doubt. Bill glanced at her quickly, a warm smile on his lips. Richie leaned over to him, smacking him in the back of the head. "Keep it in your pants Billy!" He shouted with a chuckle. Bill blushed and looked away from her. Stanley and Eddie weren't amused by Richies comment as usual. Beverly approached them. "Hey guys" she said softly with a smile, the small fragments of a laugh still lingering in her tone of voice. "Hey Bev." Bill said eagerly, he noticed the others turning a bit red and sat back down quickly. Beverly smiled and sat down with the boys.
The group was a bit older now...The boys were all sixteen, except for Ben who was convinced that he would be fifteen for an eternity. Beverly had just turned seventeen a few weeks prior, and through all that time the group hadn't grown apart. Not even a little bit.
Richie went back to carving his stick, as conversation was bland and typical. "Can we do something tomorrow?" he asked as he scraped at the wood. Bill looked at Beverly and then back to Richie. "What do you w-wanna d-do?" he asked. "How about the quary? It's been a while-" Stanley suggested, quietly, as he picked at his nails. Beverly nodded. "Yeah it's been forever, we should go…" She said, tucking a piece of red hair behind her ear. Bill nodded instantly. "Yeah we should." He agreed, smiling at Beverly.
The group agreed. "Okay t-tomorrow after s-school?" Bill repeated, making sure they all were aware of the plans. Everyone nodded. The group departed quickly, Eddie had to get home to his mother, as did Bill. Beverly was tired and hadn't slept in days. Stanly didn't have much interest in socializing, and Richie and Ben just had nothing to do. Mike hadn't been around the group much anyways, rarely coming to there little meetings in the woods.
They were all fairly excited to go to the quary. It had been weeks since they'd been down there. Beverly was up late that night, glad that she had a reason to leave her house. Everyone was asleep when Beverly was sketching in her bed. She knew that she should probably go to sleep, 'If i'm over tired I might fall asleep in the water and drown…' she thought to herself. She giggled at this thought and stuffed her sketch book under her bed. She lied down, pulling the covers up over herself, closing her eyes.
The next morning all the kids got dressed and ready for school. They all met by Bill's house and started to walk to school. During school, they were all unfocused. They couldn't pay attention. Towards the end of the day they just wanted to leave. The end of day bell finally rang it's sweet sound and they all raced to Beverly's locker where they usually met for after school plans. "Ready?" Beverly asked, looking at the boys with a smile. They all nodded as they walked out of the school. Beverly led them, close to Bill as they walked toward the familiar quary. When they got there, they all threw there backpacks on the ground. "I fucking hate that place." Richie said, sitting down on a big rock. The group easily agreed. "Yeah, but we only have a week left." Ben said happily. Richie rolled his eyes. "Longest week of my life." he said scoffing. They all sat down, and Beverly pulled some food out of her backpack, which the boys quickly snatched.
Beverly glanced over into the woods. "Hey who's bookbag is that?" She asked. She was pointing to a dark blue bag leaned up against the tree. The boys looked, shaking there heads. "I don't know. Not mine." Eddie said, munching on some stale crackers. Suddenly a girl walked out from the woods, coughing. She had blood on her clean tan skin that showed under her ripped jeans. The girl stared at the group, wiping her face and not looking away. "Hi." She said casually, throwing the bag over her shoulder. "Sorry, I can leave…" She said quietly. Beverly smile and stood up. "No, you're fine, you can hang with us." The girl smiled and set the bag down again, pulling her thick dark brown hair into a ponytail. "Thanks. I'm Tally…" She said sitting down. "I'm Beverly, that's Eddie, Ben, Stan, Richie and Bill." She smiled at the girl and sipped her water. "Are you okay?" Eddie asked looking at the blood on her leg. She nodded. "Yeah I'm fine." She pulled some water out of her bag and started to dump it on the cut.
The group stared at her. She was beautiful, unusually pretty. She had full lips and dark hair and tan skin. Her eyes were such a light blue that the sun reflected off them constantly. She was nice enough, and seemed like she could be a good friend. Bill stared at her and smiled. "We're t-the l-losers…" He said quietly. Richie rolled his eyes. "Great first impression huh?" he joked. Tally smiled and chuckled softly. "Well, I think i'll fit in just fine, losers." She said with a smirk. Tally definitely wasn't popular at her old school. And now in Derry she hoped that today she'd made new friends. They seemed like a good fit. And that day they sat there, talking with her like she was some kind of old friend.
Like they knew her.
[To be continued]