The New Group // Fem Losers Club

Chapter 3

Beverly was watching a 'The Burbs' with Peggy at around 8 o' clock when the phone started ringing.

"Are you expecting a call?" She asked her aunt.

"No, are you?"

"Um... no."

"Maybe it's one of your new friends. You should go see."

"Okay... but what if it isn't?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if it's... my dad?"

"Darling, you better hurry and answer it. If it's your father, you just hang up now, y'hear?"

"Okay," Beverly confirmed as she walked over to get the phone. She finally put it to her ear and muttered a quick "hello?"

"B-B-B-Beverly?"

"Bill," she let out a sigh of relief and smiled, even though he couldn't see her.

"Hey," he said, smiling all the way back in Derry, even though she couldn't see him.

"Miss me already?" She said.

"T-teh-terribly," he responded. "How's P-Portland?"

"Not as bad as I thought it would be," she answered.

"O-oh?" He questioned. "Have you s-s-started school y-yet?"

"Yeah, today actually."

"H-how was it? D-did you m-make any new f-f-f-fer-friends?"

"Yeah, I did. Six of them."

"Oh, w-well th-that's great, B-B-Beh-Beh-Beverly."

"So, how is it back in Derry?"

"N-not so hot. I-I-It's not the s-s-same without y-you, Bev."

"Yeah, I miss you guys. How's everyone? Any news I should know about?"

"W-well, B-B-Ben is deh-devastated. E-everybody else is h-holding up f-f-fine. B-but w-w-we all m-miss y-you. E-e-even R-Richie admitted that he m-misses y-y-you."

"Trashmouth said he missed me? What a world we live in."

"Y-yeah, I g-g-guess he actually w-was glad that I invited M-M-Molly R-Ringwald into the g-group."

This made them both laugh. They both paused for a moment afterwards, leaving a 10 second moment of silence. Then Bill finally spoke again.

"S-so, w-what are your n-n-new f-f-friends like?"

"Oh, they're great! They remind me a lot of you guys, now that I think about it. I think you would like them. I don't know them very well, but I already fit right in! And no need to be jealous Big Bill, they're all girls," she said with a giggle.

"Y-y-you're not r-r-replacing us, a-are you?" He said like it was supposed to be taken as a joke, but really wasn't.

"Well, as of right now, there are no killer clowns in Portland, so nothing in my life could never even come close to the experiences I had with you all."

"F-fair enough."

~~~

Beverly laid in her bed just staring at the ceiling that night for hours. She was thinking about what Bill had said. "Y-y-you're not r-r-replacing us, a-are you?"

In all honesty, she probably was replacing them. But Beverly had never had female friends before, and she wasn't going to just pass up the chance to join this group of pretty girls that remind her of safety and security. They reminded her just enough of the Losers to make her feel at home, but they were just different enough to help her move on and start fresh in Portland.

Audra's leadership and friendliness reminded her of Bill. Of course, Audra didn't have a stutter, she just had an accent.

Pattie's shy nature made her think of Stan. Also, she was Jewish, so...

Susie's ever-present anger and determination to act annoyed at Leslie all the time reminded Beverly of Eddie. Eddie was also a lot nicer than Susie, though, but that wasn't important.

Leslie's big mouth and whipped attitude towards Susie made Beverly think of Richie. Minus the giant-sized glasses though. Leslie would never be caught dead in those.

Kay's gentle but strong personality reminded Beverly of Mike. Of course, Beverly didn't feel the same around Mike as she did with Kay. There had to be something different about her, because Beverly thought more about Kay in one evening than she had thought about Ben and Bill that whole summer; more than she had thought about anyone at all.

And finally, Myra Baines' lonely nature and hopeless-romantic energy made Beverly think of none other than Ben Hanscom, the original 'new kid.'

After thinking about it, Beverly had decided that subconsciously, she was replacing the Losers with them. But what other choice did she have? Should she have become friends with a bunch of gross, popular kids? Or just stayed a loner for the rest of her life?

~~~

The next day, once the school day was over, they had all planned on hanging out. Even though they had no money, they figured walking the boardwalk would be a fun way to spend a September afternoon.

Mrs. Philpott and the others were all outside waiting for her. They had stopped by Beverly's house to allow her to drop off her bag, scrape up any loose change she could gather, and leave a note for her aunt. However, the first thing she noticed when she walked in was a postcard from Derry sitting on the kitchen counter. Her aunt must've found it when she brought in the mail at her break. She quickly stuffed the card in her back pocket and went to put her bag away.

Once she was in the car and uncomfortably smushed against Kay and the left side door, she finally took out the post card and read it.

Dear Beverly,
I thought it'd be better to write to you rather than call, because this letter will last a lot longer than any phone call could. I know I'll probably never get the chance to see you again for a long time, but it doesn't matter. I'm just going to tell you how I feel here on paper because I never had the courage to do so when you were here. I guess it's a lot easier when it's not to the face, huh? I know that you loved Bill, and maybe you still do. But I will love you forever. I have since the day I first saw you, not so long ago. Just let me have that, okay? I don't need you to love me, but I need you to let me love you. And if that's the farthest I ever get, I'm okay with that. Because just to be able to feel that way about somebody, especially about you, makes me feel like it's worth it.

Don't you forget about me,
Ben from Soc

"Who's Ben from Soc?" Kay asked from beside her.

"Jesus, ever learn about a little thing we humans like to have called 'privacy' ?"

"It's not my fault you made it so easy for me to read. Now spill."

"He's somebody," she paused. "He's nobody."