GIRLS LIKE GIRLS

chapter one.

january 12, 1989. monday.

  ONLY ONE THOUGHT SWAM THROUGH cassandras head as she walked to her second class at her new school.

  'boys are stupid.'

she had just met henry bowers and his friends. they were just lovely.
henry had let out a long whistle, calling out, "come on over here, ill show you what a good time in derry feels like." his friends sniggered and cassandra shook her head, rolling her eyes.

she could picture what her mother would say. 'boys will be boys.'

with her books clutched to her chest with one hand, she held up the schedule the lady in the office had handed her.
 
first hour, science. room 203
  second hour, ela. room 124
  third hour,math. room 127
  fourth hour, art. room 217
  fifth hour, study hall. room 111
  lunch. cafeteria
  sixth hour science. room 224
  seventh hour, social studies. room 145
 
her eyes searched the hall, finally landing on room 203. she slowly entered the class, her bangs brushing against her forehead. the room was filled with boys and girls of her age, and a short female teacher writing something on the board. cassandra walked over to her hesitantly, tapping her shoulder. the woman spun, eyeing her.

  "are you the new student?" her eyebrows lowered and the class quieted, and she felt pairs of eyes on her. her cheeks reddened and she looked down.

   "yes m'am." she spoke, shaking off her reddened cheeks.

  "sit next to richie tozier, richie raise your hand!"

cassandras eyes wandered over to a boy with large glasses and freckles. he was wearing a hawaian shirt and jeans.

"right here, sweet cheeks." he winked, and her cheeks reddened, once again. she walked over to him quickly, setting her stuff down.

  "b-beep beep richie." a boy with light brown hair and blue eyes said, sending an apologetic smile her way. she smiled back and shook her head. the two boys began arguing, and she fiddled with her fingers.

  "sorry about richie, he doesn't know any better. he's hopeless." a boy next to her spoke. he had curly blonde hair and brown eyes. "i'm stanley uris. my friends call me stan." he held out his hand for her to shake it, and she did.

  "i'm cassandra, my friends call me cass." she spoke, and he smiled, his dimples popping out of his cheeks.

the boy sitting in front of her turned around, worry shining on his face.
  "i'm eddie, eddie kasbrak." she smiled and held out her hand. he stared down at it, horrified. she drew her hand back, embarrassed.

  "cass." she muttered. eddie looked at her and saw the embarrassed look on her face.

  "it's not your fault he didn't take your hand, he's a germaphobe. don't take it offensively." stan spoke, sending a harsh glare at eddie. eddie looked down for a moment before glancing back up.

  "yeah, sorry." cassandra shook her head with a smile, as if to say it was fine. she looked back down at her hands resting on her desk, and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath.

  "yuh-you okay? i'm bill by the way." bill questioned, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. cassandra nodded and smiled softly, looking up at the board. richie was about to speak when he was cut off by the teacher.

  "alright class, pull out a piece of paper, and flip to page 171 in the textbook." she called, thus ending their conversation.

  COINCEDENTALLY, AT LEAST ONE of the four boys she had met earlier were in all of her classes besides art. she had gotten to know them all a lot better, and they weren't that bad.

during art, she had sat next to a short chunky boy who's name was ben. he was a complete sweetheart. she had chosen to sit by him because he was sitting alone, not able to talk to anyone.

  "you don't wanna sit by me!" he whispered, eyes widening, glancing around the room.

  "well why not? i'm cassandra, but the way." she smiled sweetly, grabbing a piece of paper from the middle of the table and starting on the assignment. they were to draw nature, and she immediately started drawing trees.

  "because i'm a loser. you'll get made fun of."

  "well guess what? i'm a loser too. and if people make fun of me, i'll call my cousin in to beat their asses." her cousin was a year ahead of them. he was in ninth grade.

  "it's your funeral, i'm ben hanscom." he started, and glanced down at what she was drawing. "hey that's really good!"

she blushed red and smiled down at her hands. "thank you, i used to live near a state park. i would walk there every single day after school and study the trees. then i had to move to the city because of... never mind." she stopped quickly, her eyes filling with tears. she blinked them back quickly, not wanting to cry in front of her new friend.

ben wanted to question why she was so upset, but he decided against it.

  "hey i'm a new kid too, we can just be the new kids on the block." she looked up at him and smiled widely.

  "do you listen to new kids on the block?" his ears reddened and he shook his head quickly.

  "n-no!" he stuttered, causing her to laugh and wink over at him.

  "don't worry new kid, your secrets safe with me."

  CASSANDRA WAS WALKING TO lunch with richie, stan, eddie and bill when it happened. someone had grabbed her waist from behind, and she stiffened. she felt warm breath on her ear, and a voice began to whisper.

"a pretty girl like yourself shouldn't be hanging around with these losers. you aren't a freak." henry.

  "let her go, bowers." richie demanded, and cassandra tried to pull away, causing henry to tighten his grip.

"no i think i wanna keep this one, show her a good time." patrick, one of henry's goons, came around and got down in her face, smiling wickedly.

  "you'll share, won't you henry?" he purred, caressing her face. she turned her cheek, trying desperately to hide her tears. she pushed them back, and a new wave of confidence rolled over her.

  "come closer." she whispered, and he happily obliged. their lips were centimeters apart, and she smiled. "go. to. hell." she growled, and kneed him straight in the groin. he fell to his knees and henry let go of her in shock. the losers started laughing, and she smiled.

"you'll pay for this! you little bitch!" henry spat the last word at her and she shot him the middle finger.

  "next time you come near me, i'll tell my cousin. his name is danny frayser! ring a bell?" she called, before turning on her heel and walking away, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

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