Shy Love | Stanley Uris

ONE.

ONE.
( DELICATE DAISY )

❛ LIKE A PORCELAIN DOLL ❜

VERA NOLES—

"I'm headed for the library Gran!" Vera called out to her grandmother. "Okay doll, remember our rules!" Pulling on her pale yellow converse Vera replied, "Yes, of course, be home by 8, don't talk to strangers, and if anything bad happens to call you right away!"

"Good girl, Have fun." Carol walked out from the kitchen placing a sweet kiss on the side of Vera's head. As the young girl hopped out the door she heard a faint 'stay safe'. It was almost summer vacation and the weather was relatively warm. Vera had on her usual striped sweatshirt tucked into her jeans. Her hair in one long french braid. She hopped on her yellow bike, pedalling quickly towards the library.

She skipped into the familiar building and over to her usual table. "H-hey, Vera." The boy who usually sat with her smiled, raising his hand to wave. "Hello, Ben! Good to see you." She sat two seats down from the boy. Ben was also the new kid in town so they automatically bonded over it.

"What're you reading?" Vera leaned over to examine the dozen of books arrayed in front of him. He shuffled his chair closer to the girl whilst responding, "I've been reading up on Derry history. It's really interesting." He babbled on about Derry and how it was originally a Beaver Camp until 91 people signed a contract creating the Derry they new today. Vera listened intently having an interest in what the boy was saying.

They were interrupted by the librarian who walked over to the two teenagers. "It's 7 o'clock in the morning, today is the last day of school. Shouldn't you two be celebrating like the rest of the kids in Derry?" She smiled at the two kids.

"Just because school is ending for two months doesn't mean the learning needs to end," Vera said in her soft angelic voice. The librarian chuckled shaking her head. "Well, you two have fun then. Remember school begins soon."

The two friends sat in silence for the rest of the time, Vera reading a fictional novel, Ben reading up about Derry. Vera parted ways with Ben when she realised school was starting in less than 10 minutes.

—

The final bell rang in Vera's ears as she packed her books into her bag. She walked out of her class colliding bodies with someone in front of her. She fell stiff, scared to see who she'd hit. Her eyes slowly met with a soft pair of brown eyes. "I-i'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She was cut off by the cracking voice of the boy in front of her. "It's alright."

Vera looked down at her feet, she felt a smile try and creep onto her face. She muttered out a quick 'goodbye' and scurried out of the school, pushing between a line of three boys walking in the hallway. "Yo, what the fuck?!" She heard call after her. She ignored the curse and continued out of the school.

"Look what we have here, the bookworm." The insult caused Vera to stop in her path. She closed her eyes tightly knowing whose voice was speaking down to her. Henry Bowers. Ever since she'd moved here and refused to do anything sexual with him he'd been spreading rumours and calling her names. She was yet another victim of his bullying.

Vera was always very shy, she never stood up for herself. She never needed to. In her old town, she was popular, had friends, had a social life. All that got flushed down the drain when her parents went missing. Whether they'd left her and run away, or they were abducted, Vera had become desensitized to it. It no longer bother her when people would tease her and call her names.

Henry pushed her up against a tree, holding her by her shirt. She groaned at the pain that rushed through her back. "L-leave me alone B-bowers." Vera stuttered out sounding as unintimidating as a flower petal. "You're starting to sound just like that Denbrough kid." He clenched his fist tighter pulling her closer to his face. "Speaking of..."

Henry released the girl and walked over to the 'Losers Gang'. He pulled on the bag of a kid with glasses making his eyes bug out. The boy went flying backwards into another boy. The boy had longish brown hair and tight curls. They both ended up on the ground.

Groaning, Vera walked over to the scene in front of her, knowing she would regret what she was about to do. She saw Patrick take the kippah off of the curly kids head tossing it into the moving bus like a frisbee. "Henry, leave them alone!" The words slipping out of Vera's mouth in which she quickly regretted.

He walked up to the girl, moving so close their noses were almost touching. "What did you say to me, bookworm?" Vera stood frozen. Her shyness took over her entire body and she couldn't move, think, or speak. She just stood there, wide-eyed, with the look of regret on her face. "That's what I thought." Henry spat at the girl, pushing her so she landed on top of the boy with the glasses.

Their groaned were in sync as she hit him. The boy with the curls helped the two up off of the ground. She was about to run away when she heard another boy say something. "You ss-suck Bowers!" The boy spat, struggling to get his words out.

Vera followed the two boys whom she'd previously shared the ground with over to hear the conversation. "You s-s-say something, B-b-billy?" Henry mocked Bill's stutter in his previous sentence. "You got a free ride this year cause of your brother, Ride's over Denbrough." Henry walked closer to the boy but stopped in his tracks when he saw his father staring at him from afar.

"This summer's gonna be a hurt train. For you and your (f-slur..) friends." Henry threatened Bill, licking his hand and wiping it across the boy's cheek. As he walked away he called out, not turning around. "Don't think I'm forgetting about you slut!" He and his idiotic friends chuckled.

Vera's face went red and she quickly turned to walk away. "Wait! Don't go." The blonde girl heard someone calling after her. She slowed down turning to face the group. She didn't speak, she just stared at the boy who called her. "Thanks, for trying to save us." The curly headed boy smiled slightly, not knowing exactly what to say.

The boy with the glasses walked up to the girl. "So you're who bumped into little Stanley over here, and nearly knocked Eddie off his feet." Vera looked at her shoes, tightening her grip oh her backpack. She didn't respond. "Never thought you'd be so hot."

"Richie-" The girl blushed as his friends groaned hitting him on his shoulder. "What?!" He exclaimed to them. "N-no problem." She mumbled out barely above a whisper. She went to walk away again but was stopped.. Again.

"You're V-VVera right?" The boy who'd previously tried to stand up to Henry stuttered out. "The n-new girl?" She nodded, her eyes remaining at her shoes. "I-i'm Bill." The girl looked up at the boy who had his hand out for the girl to shake. Hesitantly she held it, shaking the boy's hand.

"I-I know who you are. I heard about your brot-" She stopped herself from finishing her sentence. "You're in my English class." She quickly finished what she was saying, not wanting to offend the boy.

"I'm Stanley, the boy you bumped into." Vera nodded, a smile creeping up on her face. "In my History class? Yeah, sorry about that." She scratched her head. Vera was proud of herself for keeping a conversation with a bunch of kids she didn't know. She could feel her hands begin to get clammy the more she stood and talked.

"I'm Richie, but you can call me anytime." He winked taking the girls hand and placing a kiss on the back of it, only to get shoved by the small boy next to him.

"I'm." The boy gripped Vera's hand, which was out for him to shake, with a finger. Quickly he pulled his hand back rubbing it on his pant leg. "Eddie." He finished.

"Nice to meet you, I better get going." Vera scrambled to the bike rack, picking up her yellow bike and started to pedal. She didn't listen this time to the group's calls after her. That was enough socializing for today.