All things in time…

Written by: SadEyedLadyoftheLowlands

Chapter 1

Jane Myers sat on the bleachers of Castle Rock High School. Her mind drifted off as she watched the football team practice. This time, without Denny. It was so strange now. The way life kept on going—rushing forward—and Denny remained in her mind as he was when he died—he would always be the same now she realized, he was frozen in time.

She didn't cry much anymore. The first couple months she didn't know how she could live anymore. Denny and her hadn't dated that long before the accident—never said I love you, but it still hurt more than anything had hurt before.

She still remembered the day she found out Denny liked her. She'd crushed on him for months, mooning over him in the hallway, and going to every football game. One day her best friend Susan Jones , a beautiful cheerleader, had approached her at half-time explaining how Denny LaChance had just told her he liked Jane, a girl who'd previously considered herself mousy and ordinary with brown hair and brown eyes.

Denny would pick her up for dates in his boss car, and take her to the diner, and they'd hold hands and make eyes at each other. One night, they even went to make out point! Denny had made Jane feel like she was somebody, and then as quick as that feeling had filled her heart, Denny was gone.

The wind chilled her. It was a cool October afternoon and it was getting late. Jane had to get home to take care of her little brother. She tightened her sweater around her body, shivering slightly. As she walked away, she could hear the sounds of football getting further in the distance, until like Denny, the sounds had drifted away.

--

Ace Merrill stood leaning against his car, puffing coolly on a cigarette. The scowl on his face seemed permanently etched as he waited for Billy and Eyeball to as he put it it "Hurry the fuck up and get out here".

The tight corners of his mouth softened a bit as he saw Jane Myers walk by across the street. She'd sure let herself go, he thought. But then again, she always was a little plain.

There was a time, in both their childhoods, when Ace and Jane used to chase each other around in the yard, and push each other in the mud. They'd play cops and robbers and sneak into Milo Pressman's junkyard and leave little presents for him (cough Dog Poop cough). Ace was always a little asshole, but he used to be a good friend. Of course, Jane used to be cool. She used to be a tomboy and a rebel…but that was ages ago, when they were 10 and naïve, and boys and girls didn't like each other that way. This was before Ace noticed girls and girls noticed Ace. And most of all, this was before Jane became a stuffy, plain Jane, and… before she grew boobs. You see now there was a barrier between them, and their childhood adventures were like past lives or something.

As Ace noticed Jane, she glanced in his direction, lingering a bit longer than with anyone else, and Ace shifted his weight. Denny LaChance was a bastard, he thought. How dare he be who he was and die so young, so that those who already praised his every bowel movement would worship him for all eternity? He knew Jane would build him up in her mind as the be all and end all of human existence—that their cheesy high school romance was an epic romantic tragedy. It was a pity he thought, because she wasn't that bad. She could still be someone else's piece of ass.

"Jane!" Ace called slowly and deliberately, sneering at her. She turned towards him, and looked as if she was examining him. He walked towards her, arms above his head as if surrendering.

"Where you going, Jane?" he asked in a sing-songy voice, one which made her spine tingle with some feeling that was either dread or excitement.

"Home." She said flatly, frowning at Ace.

"Want a ride?" He asked, seemingly innocently, but Jane looked at him suspiciously.

"What the hell do you want, Ace?" She asked disinterestedly, pulling her sweater tightly around her frame again. He gave her a "Who me?" look and she sighed.

"Come on or I'll push you in the mud, Jane." He taunted, looking her up and down, smirking in the trademark Ace way. She looked at him strangely and then proceeded to pull a small bit of leaf off of his leather jacket

"Why are you talking to me?" She asked impatiently, shivering even more.

"Because you have breasts…" he said, unsure if joking or not. Jane pushed him lightly and Ace snickered turning on his heels jumping into his car, and with a screech pulling up next to Jane.

"Get in." He commanded, as Jane pursed her lips in annoyance.

"Get in." He ordered once again, and this time she did because Ace has a way of making people do what he wants.

--

Billy and Eyeball stumbled out of the Billiard Hall a couple seconds later, just in time to see Ace's tires squeal as the car drove into the distance.

"You asshole!" Eyeball bellowed at Billy. "Now we gotta walk home."