Chapter Two: August 16th 1988


Eyes.

Yellow eyes.

That's all she could see in the darkness. Lily walked towards them, noticing she was barefoot and still in her pajamas. As she walked further into the darkness, her feet touched cold water. She jumped, a jolt of fear running through her.

Lily stopped when the eyes flickered. Did they blink? There was something not right about them. They watched her like a predator. She remained still when they focused on a little paper boy floating across the thin black water. Suddenly, a giant monstrous claw came out from the darkness and snatched the tiny boat. It nearly tore in half as the claw dragged it away towards the yellow eyes.

Lily ran in the other direction but she didn't feel herself moving, her bare feet were just gliding on the surface of the water. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a primal roar. This wasn't like a tiger or a bear. This roar was malevolent, ancient, intelligent. It was letting Lily know that it was there. Whatever it was, it was watching.

Her eyes shot open, seeing the morning sun peeking through her curtains. The young teen felt sweat dripping off her skin, dampening her sheets. Her breath was shallow, held for a few seconds. Lily had nightmares before but this felt too real...


The early morning before school was quiet— the hysteria of the first day was gone and students made their way to class. Yet, Lily still had some time before the first bell rang so she walked to her locker. She held her literature book close to her chest as her mind ran one-hundred miles an hour. She was going to speak to Victor. As she walked up the steps to the school, Lily felt the weight of her doubt bringing her down.

Even if she planned everything in advance, she still knew things could change. For one, Bowers and his friends were known to skip school a lot. It was usually a peaceful day when they decided not to show up. Second, they could be all hanging around Victor when Lily scrounged up enough courage to talk to him. She knew that it would be impossible to get a word with them. Victor would probably ignore her.

While Lily made a turn down the hall, she spotted the familiar group of bullies loitering near a few lockers. She saw Victor standing between Belch and Patrick who were in the midst of their own conversation. He had his eyes narrowed at the floor with his arms crossed over his chest. He seemed to be deep in thought. Henry Bowers was nowhere to be seen. That put Lily at ease— the other boys usually didn't bother her unless instructed by Henry. As she came closer, she saw that Victor had looked up at her. The brown-haired girl gave Victor a quick glance before hurrying past them.

"So, you're not in last period with us anymore?" She heard Belch ask Patrick.

"Nah, got my entire schedule changed." He answered while holding up a folded paper. The skinny teen smirked as if he was proud of his statement. Belch took it from him and took a look inside. Victor kept his eyes on Lily before she disappeared around the corner, his heart thumping against his chest.

"I'm gonna head to my locker really quick," Victor mentioned before leaving. The two other boys just nodded while they remained in their spot.

As Lily opened her locker, she heard footsteps coming towards her. Her nerves began to rattle. It was now or never. She slightly closed the door to see who was coming and she saw the blond teen. He had his hands in his pockets and he was constantly looking over his shoulder. Lily knew he was probably making sure his friends didn't follow him. When he was sure he was alone with her, Victor leaned against the lockers.

"You really don't know how to take a warning, do you?" He smirked. She knew he was referring to seeing her in the diner last night. Lily couldn't help but chuckle.

"My mom dragged me there." She replied as she closed her locker. "Why did you warn me anyway?" Victor shrugged, dropping his head. Great, now Lily had to start with something else if she wanted to keep the conversation going. "So," she started. Her eyes drifted down to the faded t-shirt he was wearing. "Metallica has their new album coming out in a few weeks."

"Oh, yeah. Belch was talking about that earlier." Victor said, looking back up at her. The change in conversation definitely brought him back— he was even smiling. Lily had to remember that for the next time they spoke. "He has a cassette player in Amy so he's pretty excited."

"Amy?"

"Vic," A voice said from behind the blond teen. Lily froze as she saw Belch walking from around the corner, his eyes looking for Victor. When he spotted his friend, the larger teen walked over. It took him a moment to notice Lily standing there. He looked between her and his shorter friend, a mischievous grin growing on his round face. Belch chuckled, "What's going on?"

"We're talking about Metallica." He replied.

"Oh, sweet. You like them?" Belch asked Lily.

"Yeah, I have all their records on vinyl and cassette. Ride The Lightning is my favorite."

"Dude, mine too!" The taller boy lifted his hand for a high five, grinning widely. This was so surreal. These boys were certainly different without Henry around. Lily gave Belch's palm a hard smack, making him laugh.

"You should hang out with us after school," Victor said.

After school? After school?! Lily was taken back by his suggestion. He couldn't be serious but the look on his face said otherwise. She looked up at Belch who was nodded with him. This was something she never thought would happen. Victor Criss was asking her to hang out with him after school. Even Belch wasn't objecting. It seemed all in good fun but...

"Is Henry going to be there too?"

"Nah, he's sick." Belch shrugged as he leaned over towards Victor, "I went over this morning to pick him up and… Butch." The shorter blond just nodded.

"Gotcha," He replied. His eyes looked back over at Lily who was still clutching her book to her chest, "I think Hockstetter has detention too. Dumbass thinks he's invincible or something… It'll just be us three."

"Sounds like fun," she smiled at him. The bell rang throughout the halls, turning the heartfelt moment off.

"Cool, meet us out front after school." Belch said before he walked off. Now, it was only Lily standing alone with Victor. Her brown eyes focused on him, seeing that he was grinning.

"Do you want to walk to class together?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah." Lily blushed.

She followed him as he took the first step. He matched his pace with hers while they parted through a group of kids crowding the hallway. As they approached, the other students became quiet when they noticed Lily walking alongside Victor Criss. The brown-haired girl heard a few murmurs but she kept her mind off of it. She turned slightly, noticing that Victor was looking directly at her.

This was starting out to be a strange day….


Liliana had gone through the whole day floating on air. It seemed cloudy but her clouds were made of cotton candy and silky blond hair. She just couldn't get Victor Criss off her mind. Lily had even caught herself smiling out of the blue. She had never felt this fluttering butterflies in her stomach but she didn't want to dismiss them. She grew to like the feeling.

All Lily had to do was survive her last class and then she was free.

She turned into the doorway, biting her lip to hold in a girlish giggle. The young girl made her way to the back of the class to see someone sitting at her table and she nearly gasped. Her biology class had long tables with two chairs at each for students to easily pair up. Unfortunately for Lily, yesterday there was an odd number of kids so she was left without a partner… until now.

Sitting there with an uninterested face was Patrick Hockstetter. As she came closer to her seat, he noticed her and he immediately changed expressions. He grinned mischievously at her while she sat next to him.

"Well, well, kitten. Nice to see a familiar face is this boring class." He said as tried to get a look at her face. Lily ignored him by turning away to open her backpack. Patrick licked his lips, definitely liking this lack of attention— or at least he liked that she was trying to ignore him. He yanked on the strap of her backpack, pulling her to face him. Lily's face came dangerously close to his.

"Quit it, Hockstetter." She warned.

"Make me." He teased. Patrick chuckled when Lily rolled her eyes. He grabbed his pencil from his pocket and used the eraser end to poke her in the arm. "So, you're hanging out with the boys after class, eh? Too bad I won't be there to join in on the blowbang." His green eyes twinkled as Lily groaned, "I'm sure Henry would like to join too but his dad nearly punched his head off last night."

Butch.

Lily glared at Patrick from the corner of her eye before continuing to pull out her schoolwork. She could feel him just staring at her. This was really irritating. Lily was always able to ignore the advances of the unusual teen but now she was stuck next to him. She took a quick glance at him, seeing him eyeing her body. The teen girl crossed her arms over her chest and turned away slightly.

"You a virgin?" He asked, his voice loud and uncaring of who hears. A few students in front of them shifted at the question, turning to see who he was asking. Lily growled while looking for an empty seat to steal. Unfortunately, with the students still walking around the tightly compacted classroom, she couldn't see one. Patrick poked her again, this time with his finger. "Sorry, kitten. You're stuck with me."

"What are you even doing here?"

"Uh, trying to get an education." He joked.

"Wasn't your old schedule good enough? Why are you infesting my last class, huh?" Lily was obviously annoyed and Patrick loved it. He leaned forward towards her.

"There were a few… complaints of me bothering girls."

"Gee, I would have never guessed…" Lily sighed. She was happy to see the teacher stand up to start the class. The older man grabbed a single piece of chalk and wrote on the board. There was still a low murmur of conversations still going on in the classroom but the ancient teacher didn't seem to notice… or even care. Whichever it was, Patrick was taking advantage of it.

"Hey, kitten." He whispered to her.

"What do you want, Hockstetter?" She growled back.

"This is what we should do." Patrick said as he lifted up his biology book for her to see. Lily reluctantly looked over and saw he had flipped through the pages to the Reproduction chapter. His finger pointed to an anatomical illustration of heterosexual intercourse. The twisted and disgusted look on her face made him grin.

"Oh, Jesus…" Lily groaned as she rubbed the temples of her head.

"You are a virgin," Patrick snickered.

He leaned in closer to her ear. Lily didn't back away, thinking if she held her ground he wouldn't push any further. She was wrong. The taller teen reached down under the desk and grabbed her knee. She had torn jeans so his surprisingly cold hands directly touched her skin. Lily jumped but Patrick roughly pulled her back. Invigorating. He let out a little scoff, his warm breath blowing over the nape of her neck.

"I can help you with that…"

"Stop," Lily tried to push his hand away as it creeped up her leg.

Patrick grabbed her fingers and held tightly. He grinned down at her as she still attempted to keep him away. Even if she was trying to separate herself from him, she was still looking down at their hands. She never noticed the rings he wore on his long, thin fingers. Lily glanced back up at him, seeing his green eyes looking directly at her. With an experimental squeeze on her hand, Lily felt herself blush which made Patrick scoff again. He was done playing now. The dark-haired boy removed his hand from her leg and returned to flipping through his biology book. Lily stared at him, unable to process what she was feeling. Her hand rubbed over neck where she felt his warm breath.


Lily felt her stomach doing somersaults as she saw Belch and Victor standing outside the blue Trans Am. They were talking to each other, not noticing her hesitation while she stood on the other side of the street. This was her last chance to just bail. She could go straight home and do her homework like she always did. She could sit in her room, listening to her sad rock vinyls, while eating leftovers. She could be alone... again.

Or she could surround herself with the boy who occupied her thoughts for the last twenty-four hours. She didn't even have remaining homework for the evening. Her second day of school was boring— up until her last period— so she finished all the work she had and left her backpack in her locker. She felt so light but there was a heaviness in her chest while she stared at Victor. She watched him carry on his conversation with Belch. Lily never noticed how he covered his mouth when he laughed or how he flipped his hair out of his face.

As she remained on the opposite end of the sidewalk, she saw Victor look over. He said something to Belch who also turned to look at her. Belch waved her over with a big grin while Victor leaned against the Trans Am. Lily sheepishly waved back at them before she stepped onto the asphalt. Her dirty sneakers jumped over rainwater creeping towards the sewer drains.

"Hey," she greeted while standing beside Victor.

"Hey," he smiled back.

Lily looked up at Belch, who was eagerly looking between the two of them. With a laugh, he pulled his car keys from his pocket and unlocked the driver's side door. It was quiet besides Belch's grunting. Victor turned to her, taking a moment before speaking.

"How were your classes?" Victor asked Lily while Belch adjusted some things in the front seat.

"They were good up until I saw Hockstetter in my biology class."

"Oh, yeah. He got his schedule changed yesterday before the day was over." Belch mentioned as he pulled up the front seat to allow Lily to climb inside. He gestured for her to enter and she complied. It was a tight squeeze between the door and the driver's seat but she managed to slip in. The backseat smelled like new leather and was oddly clean. She expected it to be messy considering who usually occupied the vehicle but it was spotless.

As she adjusted herself in the soft leather, she saw Victor enter the backseat. She blushed seeing him nearly touch her hand as he settled. Lily noticed their knees touching in the small space but she didn't pull away. It was definitely a spot for only two people.

"Sorry. We're gonna go check on Henry," Victor explained as he crossed his arms.

Belch set his seat back up again before hopping in. He turned the key in the ignition and the harsh guitars of Anthrax blared through the speakers. Tires screeched before barreling down the road. As he turned a hard corner, Lily slid across the leather seat right into Victor. Her hand caught his forearm while her cheek laid across his shoulder. She quickly sat upright and saw herself blushing in the rear view mirror.

"Sorry, Pontiac isn't known for having seatbelts!" Belch laughed over the loud music.


As they continued down a single dirt road, Lily saw a single house at the end. An old farm. There weren't any animals aside from a few clucking chickens roaming near the front porch. The house was worn, paint fading and showing the brown wood underneath. She then saw the mesh screen door fling open and slam against the wall, scaring the chickens. Lily shrunk in her seat when she saw that it was Henry who seemed very upset.

"What took you so long?!" She heard him shout as he came closer to the car. Belch lowered the loud metal music to barely a rumble.

"Sorry, Henry." Belched apologized as his friend opened the passenger side door. The sandy-haired teen plopped down in the seat. He flipped down the sun visor and fixed a bandage he had underneath his eye. He paused when he saw an unfamiliar frame hiding behind his seat.

"Hockstetter, did you put your hair in a pony—" Henry asked while he looked around the leather chair. He froze when he saw Lily slouched in the seat. She couldn't tell what he was thinking as he looked between Victor and Belch. His icy-blue eyes narrowed at the girl. He reached over and grabbed Victor by his shirt collar. "What is she doing here?!"

"We asked her to hang out, Henry!" Belch explained, trying to loosen his friend's grip off the blond teen. Lily noticed that Victor let Henry just grab at him, leaning his face away to spare himself of punches he knew were to come.

"Why the fuck would you ask the wetback to hang out?!" He roared.

"She's cool! Lily likes Metallica." Belch lowered his voice in an attempt to calm Henry.

"I don't give a shit if she likes Metallica!" The sandy-haired teen let Victor go and turned to lash out at Belch.

Lily felt herself tense up. She had to do something. Henry only seemed to bother her because she was Mexican. He had this burning hatred just because of that one fact her new about her. But what if… she claimed it wasn't true. As she looked over at Victor, who was still adjusting his shirt collar and then to Belch letting Henry punch his thick shoulder. Lily groaned while she shot herself in between them. She held tightly onto his wrist, and that startled him. Henry looked disgusted that she was even touching him. He yanked his hands away while leaning away from the girl.

"I'm not even Mexican, Henry!" She said. Lily grabbed his arm again and held it against her own, showing her fair skin nearly matched his. The teen girl tossed his arm away while she settled back in her seat. "I'm as white as you." She explained. He tilted his head in confusion.

"No, you're not. Your last name is Martinez."

"Heard of adoption, idiot? My real last name is..." Lily quirky glanced down at her shirt of The Cure. She looked up again with a cool smirk, "Smith. Lily Smith. Didn't you ever wonder why I don't look like my dark-skinned mother?"

Of course she didn't look like her mother. Lily had a lot of her father's features as she grew. Soft brown eyes with matching brown hair and fair skin that glistened like beach sand. Lily knew that Henry didn't know that. No one had ever seen a photo of her deceased father.

It hurt to lie but if this what got Henry to shut up then it would have to be this way. She was enjoying her short time with Victor and Belch— she hopped this would continue even with Henry around. Lily looked over at Victor, who stared back at her in disbelief.

Did he know she was lying?

"O-Oh… good." Henry relaxed. He looked between his two friends while they stared back at him. Their leader patted Belch on his shoulder where he was wailing on him. Bowers sighed, "Fine. She can hang out." His angered expression suddenly changed into something mischievous, "But now I gotta find a new nickname for you since you're not a filthy wetback." He glanced down at her unfortunatly well-developed chest, "Can't call ya Tits. That's what we call the new porky kid."

Great. Lily missed the racial hate now that she had a different kind of attention from Henry. Yet, he couldn't be as bad as Patrick. Her reached up to lightly touch that soft spot on her neck. She swore she heard Hockstetter's scoff come from behind her.

"Where'd ya wanna go, Henry?" Belch asked while he started to backout of the dirt driveway.

"Bassey Park," Henry ordered while he sat in his seat correctly. He clenched his fist, "Those losers having been hanging around there the past few days…"


"So, what did Hockstetter get detention for this time?" Henry asked while Belch cruised down the street surround Bassey Park. He kept his eyes out towards the old Paul Bunyan statue, his fingers tapping along with the metal music.

"The usual…" Belch sighed.

"Can't keep his hands to himself," Victor added.

Hands. Lily's memory flashed to Patrick's hand on her leg. Her fingers felt over the frayed hole in her knee, remembering his cold touch. She shivered, catching Victor's attention. He looked over at her, his eyes scanning her. Lily gave him a half-grin which he returned.

"There they are!" Henry shouted while he pointed out.

The three other teens all glanced to the left side of the road, seeing four younger kids just peacefully walking down the sidewalk towards the park. Lily sunk in her seat, she recognized that little group. They were one of Henry's favorites to tease. Belch's tires slowed and cruised down the street like a predator stalking its prey. He parked in an empty space along the sidewalk before shutting off his beloved car. Lily could see Henry just bouncing in his seat, itching to get out. They all watched as the group of younger teens settled at an old picnic table near the Paul Bunyan statue.

Henry practically leapt out of his door, slamming it behind him. Belch soon followed, leaving his door open for Lily and Victor exit. Victor lingered behind for a moment to help Lily out of the car. She walked over to the sidewalk, hesitant to follow Henry. Victor stood beside her, making her look up at him. His eyes gestured to his friends which made her stomach churn. He walked ahead of her, letting her choose if she wanted to follow. She watched from a good distance while the four boys sat at the wooden table. Lily sighed while she hurried to catch up with them. She stood behind Victor while him and Belch circled the table.

"Hey, Losers." Henry taunted, scaring the younger teens.

Lily frowned, seeing that a few of the boys already had bandages and bruises most likely from Henry. A taller, curly-haired boy began to shove things back into his bag, knowing he was going to need to run soon. Lily recognized him as Stanley Uris. She knew that Henry liked to pick on him because he was Jewish and soft spoken. His shorter friend next to him started to shake his inhaler. He was Eddie Kaspbrak, a neurotic kid almost everyone pities. Lily had heard that Henry liked seeing him gasp for air after behind punched.

"Sorry, Bowers. This table is taken. You gotta go find another place to make out with your boyfriends." A kid with thick glasses snorted. Richie "Trashmouth" Toizer. Lily knew him too. Who didn't? He was the loudest kid in the entire city of Derry. The three older teens saw Henry tense up and stomp forward towards Richie. However, another boy stepped in between them.

"Le-Leave us al-al-lone, Bowers." He stuttered.

Henry and his friends all scoffed at the boy's stammering. Lily knew Bill Denbrough not only for his infamous stutter but he was also her neighbor. He would ride past her on his silver bike on their way to school, occasionally giving her a soft hello. Lily jumped slightly when Henry shoved Bill into Richie. They tumbled backward onto each other, groaning and cursing coming from Richie's side. Lily saw Stan and Eddie retreat backwards but Belch grabbed Stan by his backpack and flung him into the smaller boy. He hovered over them laying in the grass and burped loudly. Eddie gagged, making Belch laugh loudly. Lily was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable the longer this torment of the Losers continued. She crossed her arms and tried to look away but then Henry yanked Bill off the grass by his shirt collar.

"Get Tozier, Vic." He ordered the blond.

Without another word, Victor lunged for Richie who was trying to get off the ground. He pulled him up by the back of his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt and folded it over Richie's head. As he flailed to get his shirt down, Victor swiftly kicked him on the seat of his jeans. The blond chuckled but abruptly stopped when he saw Lily frowning in his direction. Her brown eyes shot over to Bill when she heard the unmistakable sound of a fist meeting skin. She stared as Henry relentlessly punched Bill across the face. It was a few long and agonizing seconds before Henry dropped him. He stood over the younger teen, panting.

"S-S-See you la-la-later, Billy boy." Bowers smirked and made his way back towards the Trans Am. Belch hurried after him, jogging to catch up with his pace. Lily waited until Henry was far away before she walked over to Bill. She held out her hand, offering to lift him off the grass. He was hesitant but grabbed her hand. She wanted so badly to apologize for what Henry did but it wasn't her place. The teen girl saw blood dripping from his nose and Bill quickly place his wrist under his nostrils.

"Lily, are you coming?" Victor asked behind her. She looked over her shoulder, seeing him slowly backing to the Trans Am. The girl turned back to Bill who had walked back to his friends. She saw Eddie unzip his fanny pack and retrieve some cotton balls for Bill to shove in his bleeding nose. Lily left them to their own healing process to join Victor. She slowly walked over, making him tilt his head in confusion. "You okay?" He asked her.

"I... don't know." She dropped her head. Lily jumped at the sound of the Trans Am honking. Victor waved back at Belch, wordlessly asking for them to wait. Her eyes looked back up at Victor, seeing him facing the car waiting for them. She felt awful about what had just happened. She knew Henry was a bully but this attack on the so-called Losers was unwarranted. She wanted so badly to rejoin Victor in the Trans Am but... she couldn't. Not with Henry there. She didn't want to surround herself with him. She mumbled, making Victor look to her. Lily sighed, "I'm going to walk home. I forgot I had some chore that need to be done."

"Oh? Do you want a ride?" Victor asked.

"No, no. It's just a few blocks away."

"Okay..." He frowned, "I'll see you at school then."

"Y-Yeah." Lily faked a smile, "Bye, Vic."