loser (stenbrough)

One

"billy's got a new message! what is it, a nude?"

i look over to see that richie had stolen my phone and was now staring down at my notifications. "give me th-thuh-that," i snap. reaching over to grab my phone back from him, i realize that it wasn't a chat that was sent to me, but instead someone adding me on snapchat named stanley. i added them back without thinking.

richie turned to eddie and snickered. eddie hadn't paid attention. instead he was staring off into space. rather, at henry's house. henry bowers' place was a little run down, not surprising considering nobody took care of it. his dad was an alcoholic and henry wasn't going to do extra work. maybe that's why he was so angry, his dad drank and he lived in a shithole. "you think henry's in there?" richie asked, nudging eddie. "if he is, we better head home fast. next time we need to bring our bikes."

i wished i had brought silver today, but it was the first day of school, so richie and i decided not to. the walk home was boring, and i could only assume as we progressed through the school year that it wouldn't get much more interesting than this.

eddie finally turned to look at us. "bye guys. pray for me, i have to visit my aunt this saturday." i felt a little bad for him. his aunts were mostly just decoys of his own mother- way too protective of eddie, and way too touchy.. but then again, we all had to deal with relatives. i had to deal with my racist uncles sometimes.

"the hot one?" richie teased, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. eddie didn't have any hot aunts as far as i remembered. they were eddie's mom's sisters, for god's sake. "tell her i said hi." eddie groaned and walked down his street, leaving us standing on the sidewalk.

conversation died down a little between us, until we passed that old house on neibolt street. "hey, maybe if we cleaned that place out and got rid of all the crackwhores, it could be a nice little hideout. you, me, eds, beverly, your little snapchat boyfriend-" i elbowed him in the side. hard. richie was surprisingly accepting of me being gay, but he couldn't help making jokes here and there. not that i told him i was gay or anything, it was more like he got it out of me. he always had a way of finding everything out. sometimes it scared me.

"i don't even know anyone named suh-st-stan. do you?" i asked. derry was small, so i knew all of the people in my grade. richie, eddie, ben, beverly and i were just starting off our sophomore year. it wasn't as exciting as my freshman year, to be honest.

richie shrugged, glancing down at my phone. "show me his profile, maybe i'll recognize something." he held out his hand, and like a total idiot, i unlocked my phone and gave it to him. a rookie mistake. richie grinned for a split second before turning his back to me and typing something in the chat for stanley.

"no- rich! dude, shit, give it-" i panicked, trying to grab hold of my phone again. i managed to get his forearm, but it wasn't enough. "seriously, i don't even k-know him!" it was too late though. richie turned back around, his message now complete. he held my phone out so i could take it back. i hesitated, looking at my phone for a few seconds before hastily grabbing it back and reading the text he sent.

me: hyey sexy , my nam e is

me: bill

me: we should hang out somtethme

richie erupted with laughter after seeing my expression. i was not amused. who knew? this random snapchat guy could be crazy and track me down or something. i started to walk away, not caring to look back and check to see if richie was catching up.

before i knew it, my phone buzzed in my hand. i looked back down, seeing a new message and the guy's bitmoji lurking at the bottom of the chat.

stan uris: you drunk?

richie was waving me goodbye. i hadn't even realized it, but we had passed his house. i waved back and stared back down at my phone, wondering if i should explain.

me: ha

me: i wish

me: sorry though

me: that was my friend

me: he grabbed my phone and decided to text a random person

me: sorry if it weirded you out

i made it to my house after sending the last message, climbing up on my front porch and unlocking the front door. as my backpack slid off of my shoulder onto my kitchen floor, i searched the fridge and freezer for something to throw in the microwave. my parents were having a "date night" tonight, so they wouldn't be home for a long time.

this stanley guy typed fast.

stan uris: it's fine. so, i'm assuming we go to the same school?

me: why do you assume that

me: i go to derry but i dont know you

way to go, telling people the name of my high school. when my food was done i took it and went upstairs, lighting a candle and digging in with my fork.

stan uris: oh, i found you on snapmap. i moved here last year but i haven't heard of you either.

i stared at this guy's messages, a little spooked. sure, maybe i turned my location on for snapmaps, but i didn't expect him to mention it.

me: so you add someone on snap and your first thought is to check where they live

me: im not very popular so im not surprised you havent heard of me

me: are you a freshman

i took this time to stare at his bitmoji. it had light brown curly hair and a polo shirt for his outfit. i wondered what kind of freshman wore polos to high school. stanley, apparently.

stan uris: do you want to be popular?

stan uris: i'm a junior, by the way.

i ignored the first question, holding my phone in one hand and my fork in the other. he hadn't even seen me, all he knows is that i go to the high school, so why did he want to talk to me? i figured he didn't have many friends.

that was actually kind of sad. maybe i'd be his friend.

me: im a sophomore

i grabbed my journal and hopped up in my windowsill to write, thinking about the benefits. stanley seemed like the nerd type, or maybe even the sporty type. but he was a junior. and henry bowers was a junior too. which meant more protection in the form of numbers if his gang ever surrounded me again. bowers picked on me. bad. luckily he got suspended on the last day of school the year before, meaning he wasn't allowed to come back until next monday. today was wednesday.

or, maybe there was another benefit. maybe the stanley uris guy wouldn't make fun of my stutter and mock georgie's death every time he sees me. maybe we would become good friends.

or maybe i was just hoping too much.