𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫

𝟎𝟏 ~ 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫!

[chapter one - the storm]

THUNDER RAGED outside of the [Last Name] home, the darkening sky punctured by spikes of lightning that danced and crackled in the wet air of the storm. The wind blew violently through the small town of Derry, making the sturdy trees surrounding the lumber town creak and sway with the gusts. Leaves of fiery colors danced, airborne for a moment, before being shot down by pellets of rain. The drops sprayed the windows of each home like miniature jackhammers, providing a rhythm that kept some awake and made others lull into sleep. The sky swirled angrily, black and blue with clouds that bruised its usually clear visual, a threat from nature against the innocent town folk. Of course, as most rural towns tend to be, the city itself was not so innocent.

A glowing window on the second floor of the [Last Name]'s small white farmhouse cast a yellow beam into the darkness of the storm, the steely gray droplets of rain pelting it like bullets. The source of the warm light was a lamp perched on the top of [Full Name]'s desk, the lampshade tinted slightly orange to bring life to the small room. She chatted warmly with her seven friends, a group of losers that had been tossed together in the tornado of middle school, connecting and growing together into the friends they were now. Here they sat, struggling to come to terms with their new doom of high school hallways and classrooms, basking in the warmth of each other's glowing laughs and shining smiles.

[Name] sat on her bed, knees propped up like a tent, and a mostly empty notebook stared back at her. The blank page provided nothing but frustration for the freshman girl. Her best friend, Beverly Marsh, sat on the opposite end, mimicking her position but instead reading a teen magazine about the latest rom-com flick starring Molly Ringwald. On the carpeted floor, Bill Denbrough, Richie Tozier, and Eddie Kaspbrak played a game of cards, clutching their slips close to their noses and peeking at the others slyly. Stanley Uris, Ben Hanscom, and Mike Hanlon peacefully read comics that overflowed from a plastic bin shoved beneath [Name]'s bed.

[Name] sighed in frustration, puffing on her bright red respirator and then tapping on her lips with the end of her pencil. Eyes still trained on her paper, [Name] asked, "Beverly, can you help me with this list?"

The red-haired girl let out a sigh of her own and folded the corner of the magazine, crawling up next to [Name] on the bed. "Yeah. What's it for?"

"My birthday party," [Name] answered, touching her pencil to her paper only for it to rest in place, the idea dying as quickly as it was formed. "I know it's not until January, and it's only gonna be you guys, but . . . What if I make new friends in high school and I need to invite them?"

"I doubt that'll happen," Richie piped up from behind his cards with a playful scoff, prompting Eddie to throw one of the cards not in use at his head.

Beverly ignored Richie's comment and continued to look over her shoulder. "Well, what do you have so far?" When [Name] only gestured to the empty paper with her hand, Beverly cringed and bit her lip. Even she had only a fraction of a good idea about what to say, eyes darting from one end of the paper to the next.

"What do you look forward to the most about your party?" Beverly asked, hoping this would simply prompt her friend to begin spitting ideas at rapid speeds.

"Obviously cake," she began, and the pair of girls continued to talk about the kind of cake, the frosting, the design— anything at all about cake, really— in hopes that it would jumpstart more ideas.

"Could you two p-please stop talking about c-cake already? It's making me h-hungry," Bill groaned, throwing his cards down and leaning his head back on the bed. As if on cue, his stomach softly growled, provoking a small snicker from those who heard it.