one!

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ONE

The beginning of the summer of 1989 announced itself the same way every summer before it had done ever since Levi Johnston could remember - the loud, shrill school bell ringing through the halls and the mass of students racing out of the building, eager to make the most out of the next two months.

Levi Johnston slammed her science book closed, not even bothering to close her backpack as she pushed through the crowd trying to claw their way out of the lab.

"Watch it, freak!" Levi heard Greta growl as she accidentally elbowed the blonde girl.

Levi blanched for a second, every part of her body on high alert and frozen in fear.

"So-" Levi stopped herself. Was she really going to give Greta what she wanted? Was she really going to show her how scared she was? "Actually, bite me, Greta!"

As soon as those words left her mouth, Levi pushed past the people in front of her with all her might and sprinted off, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth as she heard Greta scream at people to move aside.

Forcing herself into a stop, Levi fell into step with a tan, chocolate haired girl, trying her hardest to even out her erratic breathing.

"Hey, Hannah," Levi sputtered once she had reincorporated herself, bumping her shoulder into Hannah Jameson's playfully.

"The hell are you running from, Lev?" Hannah asked her friend, looking over her shoulder for any sign of danger.

"Greta," Levi chuckled, "Told her to bite me."

"Jesus Christ," Hannah let out a loud laugh, looking at her friend and rolling her eyes, "You're going to get yourself killed one of these days!"

"Eh, if I go down telling Greta to suck my nonexistent dick, then it'll be worth it," Levi shrugged, hiking her backpack higher up her shoulder.

As they neared the double doors, Hannah tapped Levi's shoulder and excused herself, nodding towards the bathroom and then giving her friend a pointed look.

"Ah," Levi breathed out in realization, "I'll wait for you outside."

Hannah hurried off into the girl's bathroom and Levi went the opposite direction, her heart beating fast in excitement as she finally walked past the double doors, turning to face the school building and raising both her middle fingers.

Little ways away from the Johnston girl, a group of boys turned their heads as they heard a loud laugh to see a familiar-looking girl raising her middle fingers at the school building.

"Isn't that the Johnston girl?" Eddie Kaspbrak asked, looking around at his friends with lifted brows.

"Yeah, I think so," Stanley Uris shook his backpack over the trashcan one more time before placing it on his shoulders again.

"Her name's Luh-luh-Levi," Bill Densbrough spoke up, looking at his friends then back at the girl, "S-she's in my e-english class."

"She's my hero," Richie Tozier chuckled, nodding his head in appreciation.

Back at the school entrance, Levi fished a pack of strawberry-flavored gum out of her back pocket, offering a piece to Hannah once the girl joined her outside.

Levi turned her back toward the school, scanning the campus. Her eyes fell on a group of boys who averted their gaze away from her as soon as they saw her look in their direction.

"Come on, let's go dump this shit," Levi nudged Hannah, nodding toward the trash can where all the boys were gathered.

"Evening, boys," Levi faked a curtsy, overturning her unzipped backpack and dumping all of its' contents. As she looked up, she studied each boys' face, her eyes widening slightly as they locked with a pair of familiar grey-green eyes.

"Aren't you in my English class?" Levi asked bluntly, "Bill, right?"

"Thu-thu-that's me," Bill chuckled, shrugging his shoulders casually.

"Cool," Levi nodded, worrying at her bottom lip and looking at Hannah out of the corner of her eye, "I'm Levi...And this is Hannah."

"We know," A boy who both Levi and Hannah recognized as Richie Tozier spoke, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Name's Richie, hot stuff. Remember it."

"Shut up, Richie," A smaller boy spit out, adjusting his fanny pack before looking up at the girls, "I'm Eddie Kaspbrak."

"You're in my Social Studies class," Hannah chirped, pointing at the curly haired boy.

"Yeah," Stan shoved his hands into his pockets, slightly rocking back and forth on his heels, deciding to introduce himself when he saw both girls looking at him blankly, "Stanley."

"What are y'all going to do this summer?" Levi asked, taking out her gum packet once more and offering it to the boys, who all, except for Richie, declined.

"I'm gonna start training," Richie smirked proudly.

"Training? For what?" Eddie asked, throwing his backpack over his shoulders.

"Street Fighter," Richie stated simply.

"Really? You're going to spend your summer inside an arcade?" Eddie shook his head, disappointed at his friend's answer.

"Eddie's right, Richie," Levi nodded, agreeing with the smaller boy. She couldn't imagine spending the sunny summer days inside of a stuffy, stinky arcade.

"Well, it beats spending it inside your mother," Richie shot back, turning to face Stan and extending his hand for a high-five.

The curly haired boy refused and slapped Richie's hand down, rolling his eyes with a tired expression.

"We should get going, Lev." Hannah nudged her best friend after looking down at her watch, nodding her head at the bike rack.

"Uh, yeah," Levi nodded, beginning to walk backward and waving at the boys, "Bye, guys. See ya 'round."

The boys chorused a mix of "bye"s and "see you"s as the two girls grabbed their bikes and mounted them, racing past them and giving them all one last wave.

"Levi is so cool," Richie blurted out once the girls were out of sight.

"Didn't she puh-puh-punch Greta o-o-once?" Bill asked, looking at his friends for some confirmation.

"That's not the only thing she's done!" Richie exclaimed, flailing his arms wildly, "She's told Henry Bowers to suck her dick and set her pitbull on him once! And-and she spray painted Victor Criss's car! She's my hero, dude!"

"Shut up, Richie," Stan rolled his eyes, "She's just a normal girl who has more balls than you do."

Eddie and Bill let out a choked laugh at Stan's comment.

"Yeah, well, at least I have balls," Richie retorted, starting to walk.

( AUTHOR'S NOTE )
i went to see IT yesterday and
it was sososososo good

dusk till dawn ( stan uris ) ✔︎Where stories live. Discover now