forever winter-beverly marsh x fem! oc

chapter three

"We should go shopping tomorrow, for the first day of summer," Jo suggested as she flopped down on her bed. Beverly shrugged.

"Where? You and I both know there isn't much in town," she replied. Jo groaned.

"I hate Derry. Why can't we be like New York or something?"

"Because there can only be one New York and one Derry."

"Still. Derry is a shittown. Literally," Jo said. Bev snorted at her comment. It seemed to be one she made daily.

"Well, I have an idea. We could go to the woods and read," Beverly suggested. Jo shot her a confused look.

"You're kidding, right? There is absolutely no way in hell I would read on the day after school. You're delusional, Beverly Marsh," she claimed. Beverly walked over to Jo's bed and lay down next to her.

"What do you want to do, then?" Beverly asked.

"I said."

"But is that really realistic? Think about it. We are both poor and there isn't much to buy, anyway. It'll be miserable," Beverly fought. Jo turned to face her.

"You know what would be even more miserable?" Jo taunted.

"What?" Bev asked.

"Staying at home doing nothing," Jo stated. Bev rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on," she scoffed.

"I'm serious! It would be boring!" Jo defended.

"Okay, then why don't you spend your day with your Trashmouth boyfriend," Bev suggested. Jo's jaw dropped in shock and disgust.

"Richie is not my boyfriend!" she exclaimed.

"Sure seems like it," Beverly replied bitterly. Jo snapped in her face when she wouldn't look at her.

"Hey. He's my friend. That's all. I promise you," Jo reassured her.

"Okay." But she didn't seem so convinced. And Jo hated it when Beverly was in a bad mood. Because when Beverly was in a bad mood, so was Jo. It almost seemed as if their feelings were shared.

"And besides, I'm 95% sure he and Eddie Kaspbrak have the hots for each other," Jo claimed. Bev's face broke into a smile.

"You're kidding?" she exclaimed. There was the happy Bev she wanted back.

"Nope. Not even a little bit," Jo said. Bev flipped over to look at the ceiling and Jo followed.

"Shit. They're probably terrified," she breathed. Jo furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Why would they be terrified?" she asked.

"Can't you see? They both might be gay. How terrified would you be if you were gay in a town like this? So many people hate people that are gay. It's...scary. If people found out, Richie and Eddie would be terrorized. Even more than us, Jo," Bev explained.

"Wow...yeah. That sounds horrible. I could never do that," Jo said.

"Yeah," Bev whispered.

"Well, then promise me this. We're never gonna let those people be right about us. They can think what they want, but they won't be right," Jo suggested, holding out her pinky.

For some reason, Beverly stared at Jo's pinky for what seemed like hours with a sorrowful expression on her face. Almost as if...she didn't want to. Like something was holding her back.

Like maybe...she knew. Deep down, she knew. She knew they were right. And she couldn't possibly vow to never let them be right. Because what if they were? What if they were right? But Beverly didn't want to know the answer to that.

So, she hooked her pinky with Jo's and put on the best smile she could. Even if that smile was the fakest one she had made in her entire life.