Clowns, Losers and Placebos [ It 2017 - Eddie Kaspbrak ]

Chapter One - Initialise

5th September, 1988

If there was one thing Max had been both expecting and dreading, it was being made a spectacle of on the first day of school.

Max had hoped that he'd be able to quietly slip into the classroom and sit down at any random desk, with maybe a minor acknowledgement of his existence from the teacher. His homeroom teacher, Mr Michaelson, had instead pulled him up to the front of the class the moment he'd walked in and practically forced Max to shake his hand, informing him of how nice it was to have a fresh face amongst the crowd.

"If I can have your attention, please!" Michaelson raised his voice to overlap the concurrent conversations that were taking place between several packs of students. Once the noise had died down, he cleared his throat. "The more observant among you may have noticed that we have a new student."

If any eyes in the room weren't on him, they most certainly were now. Max wanted nothing more than to take a seat and shrink down into his chair so far that no one could see him anymore.

"I'll let him do the honours." Michaelson prompted the nervous boy.

Max's eyes darted from person to person, evaluating them as they were no doubt evaluating him. Already he could see the familiar looks of disapproval, followed by disinterest and dismissal. Max thought he looked perfectly normal, but the far too geeky bowlcut that ended halfway down his ears and shy posture spoke differently to some of the other students.

"I'm Max." He said with a small wave that he instantly regretted. "I just moved here from Pennsylvania, and that's basically all there is to know."

Back in elementary school, there probably would have been a round of applause enforced by the teacher. In middle school, perhaps some scattered applause would have risen. In Derry High School, however, the students who were still the least bit interested disregarded his attempt at humour and turned back to their own conversations.

"Well, Max, why don't you go grab a seat next to Bill there?" Michaelson pointed toward a desk in the second row from the front before continuing. "Now, I hope you all had an enjoyable summer vacation..."

Max eyed the desk that he'd been assigned, and the occupant of the desk to his left. 'Bill' was a lean boy that despite his scrawny appearance looked quite full of life, which was surprising for the first day back at school. He eyed Max with a little interest, even giving him a small reassuring smile, before returning his attention to Mr Michaelson.

By the time Max had unpacked his things and arranged them neatly, he'd missed most of the introduction Mr Michaelson was giving. He was fairly certain, though, that the basic gist was a welcome back and some announcements. In fact, most of the kids were talking to each other again, and Michaelson had sat down at his desk to read a hefty looking novel. Max sighed as he put his belongings away, seeing no use for them in the casual setting.

"Hey." A quiet, slightly nervous voice came from his left, and Max almost didn't hear it above all the ruckus of some kids just behind him. He turned his head to find Bill looking at him, with the same smile on his features.

Max smiled back, lips quivering a little. "Hi. You're Bill, right?"

"Yeah. Max from P-P-Pe-Pennsylvania, right?"

"Yeah." Max thought little of the stutter, putting it down to the nervousness of talking to new people.

"How long have you been in D-Derry?" Bill inquired, and Max began to wonder if Michaelson had put this poor kid up to this before he'd come in.

"About two weeks." Max said, turning in his chair to properly face Bill. On the chance that this boy was actually willingly making conversation with the new kid, which was notoriously a dangerous move, Max felt he might as well give him a chance. "You always lived here?"