IT: Chapter I - It Begins

History of Derry

Meg's Pov
The boys and I were at the Quarry today. Ben was here too. I already considered him part of the group. He was a really smart and nice kid. Fit right in with our group. I was the first one who stripped out of their clothes. You should've seen the faces of the boys. It was hilarious! I laughed so hard! And now, we were standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down. Yes, I respected heights which was why I didn't jump as the first one.

,,Lay it out.",Eddie meant, after the boys cleared their throats. Seriously? I rolled my eyes and just watched them. Richie spit down first. Wasn't that impressive. Next one was Stan which, in my opinion, was better. The boys chuckled a little.,,You know what? Fuck it.",I thought and spit at the same time as Bill did. The boys were talking as Ben spit and then Eddie.,,Ouh... Eddie.",I said, taking a breath.,,That was terrible. I win.",Richie meant.,,You won?",Eddie asked and Richie nodded.,,Bullshit!",I exclaimed. There was no way that Richie would've won!,,Did you see my loogie?",Eddie inquired, pointing at his.,,That went the farthest! It's by distance!",Richie said, gesturing to his. I rolled my eyes again.,,Boys.",I thought.,,Mass. It's always been mass.",Eddie argued. Oh boy...,,What is mass?",Richie stuttered. Oh my God! Couldn't they just jump already?,,Who cares how far it goes?",I interfered, looking at my friends.,,It matters how cool it looks, like it's green or it's white or juicy and fat.",Eddie still went on.,,Alright.",Bill said and thanks to him their argument stopped. Eddie thanked Bill.,,Who's first?",he inquired and everyone looked down.

,,Hey guys.",we heard someone saying and a small smile made its way onto my face. Beverly came! We all turned around and saw her and...,,Bowers? What the fuck is she doing here?",I asked, looking at Beverly.,,I asked her if she wanted to join us.",Beverly answered. Why in the fucking world would she do that?,,Don't you know who she is?",Richie said, clearly agreeing with me.,,I think I should go.",Bowers meant, getting ready to turn around.,,Yeah, run back to your psychotic brother and hurt kids like us!",Richie called.,,Guys, she's not like that.",Beverly began. I let out a dry laugh. Yeah, right...,,You know what? I admire you guys.",Bowers said and it came so unexpected that Richie and I didn't reply right away. Bowers turned around and looked at us. Her gaze lingered a little longer on Ben but that wasn't important.,,You speak for yourself and stand up for each other. No one would dare to talk to me because of who I'm related to.",she told us and I was just shocked. Was she fucking with us?,,I'm so, so sorry for everything my brother put you through. But I can't change him or how you feel about me.",she continued and I turned to look at the boys. Bill looked as if he wanted to say something..,,Don't you dare...",I thought because I still couldn't believe anything that happened.,,Well, I hope you have fun.",Bowers sniffed and turned around again.,,W-wait... I-i think that w-we need to apologize.",Bill meant. Why we?,,What?",I asked.,,Bill's right. We don't know you and judged you for your brother.",Stan said quietly. What the heck? I sighed. Great! Now, I had to be nice to her.,,You don't have to say it. It's ok, I get it.",Bowers replied.,,You're Beverly's friend and she is ours.",Ben mumbled loud enough for her to hear. FUCK!,,I think what the boys are trying to say is, we're sorry and please stay. Hang out with us.",I stated, not that happy about it. A few minutes had gone by in silent. What now?

,,Who's going first then?",Eddie inquired. Oh right... The guys and I turned back around to look down. Forgot about that.,,We'll go.",Beverly meant and of course the eyes of the boys went wide when they saw that Beverly and Lia, I guess I had to call her that now, stripped out of their dresses and shoes. They held hands and ran towards the edge of the cliff.,,Sissies!",they both called before jumping down.,,What the fuck!",Richie exclaimed as we saw them hit the water.,,Oh holy shit.",he added.,,You just got showed up by girls!",I meant laughing and jumped down myself. I hit the water. It wasn't that cold but not that warm, you know?,,Come on!",Beverly shouted up. Her and Lia were laughing and I hated to say it. But she seemed nice. Ok, so what? Maybe I was wrong to judge her before knowing her! I just knew how her brother was! The boys jumped down one by one after that and the fun began. We were swimming around, splashing each other with water. I even talked with Lia for real this time. No bad words, just a conversation I would have with my friends.,,Hey, look. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have acted the way I did.",I apologized, looking at her.,,No, I get it. Really. If I were you, I probably would've done the same.",she replied, showing me a small smile.,,But still, I feel bad. Everything everyone, including us, said about you or did to you...",I went on and heard her sighing.,,Yeah, you know what. Fuck you.",she said, laughing a little and pushed me underwater. I got back up and looked around.,,Oh just wait till I get to you!",I shouted, laughing as well. Maybe this wasn't a bad idea to have her here after all.

Some time later
We were sitting at the shore, Beverly was lying on the ground with her sunglasses on. Lia, on the other hand, had a cigarette in her hand.,,Jesus. She was a year younger than us... Well, Bev's doing it too.",I thought to myself, sitting next to the Bowers girl. All the boys were staring at us. Never seen a girl at the pool in a bikini before? I shook my head a little. Lia exhaled and a small cloud of smoke escaped her lips.,,Quit staring.",I meant annoyed and all the boys gasped a little, clearing their throats. It made Bev, Lia and I laugh. Idiots!

,,News flash, Ben. School's out for summa!",Richie informed Ben, rummaging in Ben's backpack.,,Oh that? That's not school stuff.",Ben replied. I furrowed my brows. What was in his backpack?,,Who sent you this?",Richie asked, after he had pulled out a post card.,,Richie, leave it.",I said at the same time as Ben had said:,,No on. Give it... No one." Richie pulled out his tongue at me.,,Asshole.",I mumbled as I saw him pulling out a folder out of Ben's backpack.,,What's with the history project?",Richie inquired, looking at the papers.,,Oh.. When I first moved here, I didn't have anyone to hang out with, so I just started spending time in the library.",Ben told us and I felt sorry for the kid. However, I noticed that Ben looked at Lia when he was saying that. What was that about?,,You went to the library? On purpose?",Richie asked, not quite buying it.,,Yeah, Tozier. There are people who like to read.",Lia said in a voice you would use for a baby.,,Fuck off, Bowers.",Richie meant. I giggled a little. Typical Richie...,,Oh, I wanna see.",Beverly mumbled, standing up and walking over to Bill who held the folder in his hands.,,What's the Black Spot?",Stanley inquired.,,The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult.",Eddie explained.,,The what?",Lia and Stan asked at the same time.,,Don't you watch Geraldo?",Eddie meant, looking at the two. I stood up and walked over to Richie, sitting down next to him and looking at the papers which were given to him.,,Why is it all murders and missing kids?",I inquired, looking at Ben.,,Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before.",Ben started, grabbing everybody's attention.,They did a study once, and it turns out people die or disappear six times the national average.",he informed us. What the fuck? How...,,You read that?",Beverly said, looking at him.,,And that's just grown-ups. Kids are worse. Way, way worse. I've got more stuff if you wanna see.",he added and I had to gulp. Kids were worse? What was that supposed to mean? And so, one by one we all got dressed again and followed Ben, on our bikes, to his home....

At Ben's house
We had just arrived in front of Ben's house and got off of our bikes.,,Nice house.",I thought as I followed the others inside. All of us went upstairs, after Ben and then entered his room.

,,Holy moly..",I breathed out, seeing all the articles and pictures on his walls.,,Cool, huh?",Ben meant as we were walking around and reading a few things.,,No. No, nothing cool. There's nothing cool.",Richie said.,,Don't listen to him. This is impressive.",I told Ben who showed me a small smile.,,What's that?",Stan asked, pointing to an article.,,Oh that? That's the charter for Derry Township.",Ben answered.,,Nerd alert.",Richie mumbled.,,Shut up, Trashmouth!",I said. Yes, I wanted to know more about this.,,No, actually, it's really interesting. Derry started as a beaver trapping camp.",Ben started. Did know that.,,Still is, am I right, boys?",Richie asked, waiting for a high five from either Stan or Eddie. Stan shook his head and I was just done with this shit.,,91 people signed the charter that made Derry. But later that winter, they all disappeared without a trace.",Ben continued as if Richie hadn't said anything.,,The entire camp?",Eddie inquired. Ben nodded.,,There were rumors of Indians, but no sign of attack. Everybody thought it was a plague or something. But it's like one day everybody woke up and just left.",he told us and a shiver went down my spine. Ok, I like the little history talk but this? This was just creepy.,,Why is the history of Derry so creepy and scary?";I asked myself, still listening to what Ben was saying....