City Girl | IT Fanfiction

Untitled Part 6

During the bike ride home, Stanley suggested to her on going to his upcoming Bar Mitzvah. "I've never really been to one", she said. "Well, basically, I read from the Torah, give a speech, and I somehow become a man", Stanley explained. "Even though I think there are other ways to become a man", Richie commented. 

"Of course you would", replied Stanley. 

Chris agreed to go. Despite not being sure how long their friendship was going to last, She started to become fond with Stanley. She often saw him as quite reserved. They talked about the different birds from the places Chris have lived in and Richie jokingly called them "nerds". After Stanley went home, it was just Chris and Richie walking down the street. 

"So, I'll meet you at the quarry tomorrow?," he asked her. "Yeah", she nodded. He continued to look at her. "You're always staring at me like that", Chris said.

"Like what?"

"Like I have fucking maggots crawling out of my face, or like I'm wearing a wire, I don't know"

"Geez, Sherlock", he brushed off the question.

"Just asking"

"Why would I look at you like you have maggots crawling out of your face?"

"I don't know"

"That's probably better than looking like I saw Eddie's mom shave her beaver"

Chris laughed. "You're a mess", she said. "What can I say?", replied Richie. "Being a mess is my specialty".  

~~~~~~~~~

Chris rode her bike to the quarry only to see the boys already in their underwear, standing over a cliff. "What are you girls waiting for?", Chris jokingly asked as she put her bike on its kick stand.  "We're just seeing who can make the biggest loogie", replied Richie. "Grody", she muttered, starting to strip down to her training bra and underwear.

"Who's going first?", Bill asked.

"I'll go", a familiar voice called out. She turned and saw Beverly drop her bike and take off her dress. Chris noticed something different about her. Her long red hair that's often tidied up in a ponytail is now cut to a wavy pixie cut. "Care to join?", she asked Chris. "Sure", she replied. She watched as Beverly leaped off of the cliff.

"We just got shown off by a girl", exclaimed Richie. Then, she started to run towards the cliff. "Make that two", Stanley added, signaling the boys to move out of the way. She leaped off of the cliff and plunged in to the lake. 

Soon, all of them dedicated that time to swimming and playing around with each other. Chris played chicken with Beverly while she was on Richie's shoulders and Beverly was on Bill's. Chris and Richie were horseplaying and splashing each other. She used her camera to take some pictures, including one of Beverly sitting on one of rocks, staring out to the water. 

There were no bullies. no weird adults. It was just a group of kids being themselves. It was rare for Chris to have those kind of moments. She never really had a group of friends that she hung out and had fun with. She thought that maybe this is what it was like to actually be included in a group. 

Later that day, when everyone took a break from swimming and sat by the water, Chris laid next to Beverly under the sun, both of them wearing their sunglasses, tapping her foot to "Bust a Move" by Young MC blasting from the boombox. All of the boys stared at the two girls, but it was mostly Richie who kept his eyes on Chris. He was struck by how beautiful she was. He couldn't tell whether it was the way she was laying there gracefully with her long raven hair(that was slightly blowing in the wind) spilled over her shoulders, or if it took him this long to notice how beautiful she actually was. Both girls turned over to the boys who all quickly turned away, pretending that they weren't looking. Chris and Beverly turned to each other and shook their heads. 

Richie pulled out papers from Ben's backpack. "Newsflash, Ben. School's out for summer!", he said, using an Australian accent. "It's not for school", Ben said. Richie pulled out a postcard from Ben's bag. "Who sent you this?"

"Nobody", Ben said nervously, quickly snatched it from him. Chris got up and sat next to Richie and Beverly sat next to Bill. She lifted her sunglasses up to her head and noticed the bag of books that Ben had sitting beside him. "What's with the history project?", asked Eddie. "Well, when I first moved here, I didn't really have anyone to hang out with, so I just spend time at the library", explained Ben.

"You went to the library on purpose?", Richie asked. 

"Nothing wrong with that", Chris shrugged, knowing what it's like to be a loner and making the best of it. Beverly joined the rest of the group in curiosity. "Y-your hair", Bill gazed at Beverly. "I-It's-"

"Your hair is beautiful, Beverly", Ben spoke up. There was almost an awkward silence between the two boys that was only sensible by the looks that they give each other. "Yeah, it's pretty bitchin'", added Chris, attempting to break the awkward silence. "Thanks", she smiled, putting a strain of her hair behind her ear. 

"Why's it all murdered and missing kids?", asked Richie. 

"Derry's not like any other town I've ever lived in", Ben explained in a more serious tone. From the way his tone of voice started to change, Chris could tell that there was something dangerously peculiar about Derry. "They did a study once and it turns out, people die or disappear six times the national average". Chris had heard about children going mission in Derry because she would notice missing posters around town and Lizzie would tell her to take precaution when going out. It was the only time she'd even heard someone talk about the issue since none of the other adults seemed to never mention it like it never happened. "You read that?", asked Beverly. "And it's not just grownups, kids are worse", he replied. "Way, way worse".