Stephanie and Beverly were always picked on. Since they came as a packaged bundle, boys would whistle, and girls would stare. There was no doubt the two girls were beautiful, but in a small town in 1980, being beautiful meant you were a whore. Steph and Bev never paid much attention to the rude remarks and glares, though. On the last day of eighth grade, to no avail, the group of popular girls dumped trash on Beverly.
"Bev, I still can't believe they did that!" Steph rambled, as they walked the dreadful trudge to Steph's house. Steph had never been to Beverlys house, but from what she said about her father, that was perfectly fine with her. The two girls daydreamed about moving out of Derry one day, and living in a pretty apartment in NYC. But for now, they're fourteen in a hot, humid town full of no good boys and bitchy girls.
"It's fine Steph, as I said before, I covered myself with my bookbag. Girls will be girls."
"Girls will be girls." Steph responded, sighing to herself. After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence, Bev nudged Steph.
"Hey, lets go to the quarry tomorrow! Nobody ever goes until like, August, we could just chill!" A wide grin formed on Steph's face as she heard the red haired girl plan.
"Yes! Also, I heard Bill and his loser friends go there sometimes. Maybe I could see him!" Steph daydreamed. Bill Denbrough was in two of her classes during the eighth grade year, and there was no doubt she had a little crush on him. Beverly thought he was the ugliest boy ever, and always teased her for her love struck ways.
"Well, I hope not. His friend Richie is such a creep!" Beverly uttered, thinking about all the instances of him shamelessly flirting with her. Steph giggled, before getting lost in thought. She never had a crush before Bill, every boy either disgusted her or was not her type in the slightest. She loved an awkward, quiet guy who could make her laugh. And the three short conversations she had with Bill proved he definitely could make her laugh. She snapped back into reality, realizing they had arrived at her house.
"Hi girls!" Stephanies mother, Kimberly, called out as the two entered the house.
"Hi mom, can Bev sleep over?"
"Of course she can, how was your last day?"
"Same old, Gretchen poured trash on me" Beverly grumbled as she dropped her bookbag on a chair.
"God, that bitch deserves a real slap." Kim remarked as her face twisted into an angry look. Bev and Steph giggled at that before making their way to Stephs room. Steph took great pride in her clean, neat room. With her queen bed in the corner, it gave lots of room to be messy, but Steph couldn't deal with that. Bev flopped onto her bed with an exasperated sigh.
"Hey, were basically highschoolers now!" Steph piped up, a smile wide across her face, showcasing her light-pink brackets.
"Gah, thats scary," Bev grumbled into the pillow her face was shoved into "I still feel like I'm 12."
The night went on as the girls gossiped, laughed, and shared memories over pizza. They felt their childhood coming to a close, so they soaked up the last drops of girlhood before it became teenhood. Neither of them had kissed a boy before, let alone liked one (other than Steph's crush on Bill, of course). So this step into adulthood seemed endearing and frightful for the two, but they knew they had each other during it. Steph danced around the room, her blonde wavy hair following her swiftly as she sang along to her favorite song. Beverly watched, laying on her stomach, with a soft smile on her face. The two girls loved each other, and had a pure unbreakable bond.
