" LIPSTICK " + STENBROUGH

[5]

sorry i update this sm!! i have a bunch prewritten and i just kind of want to get it updated, so i hope you guys are cool w that

(( warnings : homophobic slurs, bullying, swearing ))

it has been two weeks since georgie disappeared. two weeks and people cannot stop looking at bill.

his stutter gets worse by the day, sometimes it's so bad he's started to write down some things in a notebook and just show it to people instead of talking to them.

his friends don't mind. they don't show him pity. but it still doesn't mean bill is healed, because his very best friend is gone and not even eddie can replace georgie. no offense, eddie.

it's just before first block and bill is going to school. he rides to school on his trusty bike, named silver after the horse of the lone ranger. it's much too big for bill, but he rides it regardless, partially because he feels like it, and partially because his parents have spent more time looking for georgie than they have worrying about the other son they have and he has no other way to get to school.

he stands on the bike pedals, using all of his force as he bends over the handles and pedals faster than usual to school, wanting the day to be over already.

today is a particularly crappy day. the sun is covered by clouds, darker than usual. the sky is the kind of blinding sky you see in the middle of the winter, only it's november. the air is numbingly cold, leaves so dry they are cracking just from the wind. bill is dressed in jeans that are cuffed at the ankles—his mother never broke the habit of cuffing his jeans as she folded them, and bill never told her it wasn't necessary, even though he's even a bit too tall for his jeans now—as well as a navy sweatshirt that reads 'derry middle school' in bold white letters.

he pulls into school, parking silver beside the familiar bike of richie tozier. bill chains his bike to the bike rack before walking in.

he keeps his head down, but it's no use; everyone just stares. everyone knows and wonders, where is george denbrough? bill would love to know, too.

his locker isn't that far of a walk to the entrance—lockers are by grade, and then from there they are alphabetical. denbrough is so close to the beginning of the alphabet that his locker is on the second floor near the entrance stairwell. standing there, waiting for him, is stanley uris.

stan is usually the first of their friend group at school. his father is the rabbi at the synagogue down the road, and drops him off early on his way to work. richie and bill arrive around the same time, usually riding together. today, bill slept in longer than usual.

"hey, stuh-stan the man," bill says, flashing him a smile.

"hey, bill."

"wuh-where's richie? i suh-saw his b-b-bike?" bill asks. "or the others? are they h-here?" stan shrugs.

"haven't seen any of 'em." he loops a finger through his collar, which is buttoned nearly to his adam's apple, and pulls it away from his neck a bit, like it's choking him. bill never understood why stan won't just unbutton it a little. stan says his ocd goes crazy if he does. besides, the collar tug is usually a sign of anxiety for stanley. right now, bill sees this and follows his friend's eye to see what is making him so anxious.

terror floods bill as he sees henry bowers walk down the hallway.

henry is a bully. a bully who should actually be in eighth grade, but got held back, and torments bill for his stutter—as well, stan for being the only jewish kid in the school; eddie for being, honestly, a fucking mess; mike for being black; richie for being a motormouth; ben for being overweight. he scares the shit out of bill.

henry smirks, his friends victor criss and belch huggins just behind him, as he sees bill and stan and approaches them.

"well, if it isn't buh-buh-bill denbrough and stanley uranus. how are my two favorite fags?" bill gulps as henry gets closer to the two. his voice is loud, and attracts attention from other students in the hallway. even passing eighth graders do nothing, because henry bowers is fucking scary.

henry laughs, as bill nearly shrinks. but bill doesn't, because henry looming over them isn't as intimidating as his words; he's the same height as the two taller-than-average twelve-year-olds.

"bunch of pussies," henry says, taking another step forward. bill can smell the juicy fruit gum henry chews. "you know, i've been going easy on you, stuttering bill. since your brother's dead an' all."

"he-he's not duh-dead!" bill retorts. henry's eyes widen, surprised bill says anything. he leans back a bit.

"you're louder than i expected," henry says. bill usually mumbles when he speaks. scratch that, if he speaks.

"your mom was saying the same thing last night. what a damn coincidence."

bill swears richie tozier is asking to be killed.

the boy, just a few inches shorter than bill, saunters over, a smirk on his lips. bill can see he's slipping a box of cigarettes into his back pocket. recently, he's started smoking. bill thinks it's dumb. maybe he does have a death wish, come to think of it.

henry turns and looks at richie with a face of pure incredulous. nobody speaks to henry bowers that way.

"what did you just say, trashmouth?"

"i said i did your mom last night. and she was loud, too. surprised you didn't hear her moaning my name," richie says.

"i swear to fucking god, tozier, i will snap those glasses right in half," bowers threatens. belch and criss are getting ready to tackle richie. stan watches the scene unfold with pure panic in his eyes.

"at least then i won't be able to see that ugly cat you call hair. honestly, who invented mullets? i'd love to know so i can have them arrested imm-"

this sets bowers over the edge and he tackles richie, just as mr. johanson, the marine science teacher, walks out of his classroom.

"boys!" he scolds. "bowers, up, now! off of mr. tozier at once." bowers scrambles to his feet. the tape holding one side of richie's glasses is skewed, meaning he'll need to reapply tape, but other than that he's managed to get out of whatever "fight" that had been unscathed. richie tozier is a lucky guy. the easiest anyone has ever gotten off ended with a severe bloody nose.

stan helps richie to his feet.

"you're a fucking idiot," stanley tells him. richie just grins at stan and bill, as henry and his goons are escorted to the main office.

"that's me."

——

i feel like writing richie is lowkey hard bc i can never do his dialogue any justice sigh

also, i think i used semi colons really wrong sorry i'm literally a sophomore and i am terrible w them whoops sorry about that

- m