𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐉𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐀𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃

four

FOUR.—
( jump fearlessly )
❝ THE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT YOUNG LOVE IS THE TRUTH IN OUR HEARTS THAT IT WILL LAST FOREVER. ❞

—

Jane and Beverly felt the knot of nervousness that resided in their stomachs as they rode Beverly's bike up to the Quarry. Jane had her arms wrapped around Beverly's waist, her chin resting on her best friend's shoulders. "Bev," Jane hummed softly, "what do you think of Stanley?" Beverly looked back at her, the bike wobbling as she took her eyes away.

"I suppose he seems nice. Why do you ask?"

"And Bill?" Jane continued, ignoring Beverly's question. Beverly moved her eyes back to the trail, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks.

"Bill is..." she paused, unable to formulate a sentence, "he's lovely, don't you think?" Jane held back a sigh, knowing that Beverly had the beginnings of a crush on him. Shame, Jane thought, I guess I'll have to step away from him. Jane simply nodded against Beverly's shoulder in agreement, too scared to say what she really thought about Bill. "You never answered my question, Janey—what do you think about Stanley?"

Jane's head rushed with possible answers—he's sweet; he's cute; he makes my stomach fill up with butterflies that are all dying to crawl up my throat and out of my mouth—instead, she opted to say: "Oh, he's a good kid." Beverly rolled her eyes, unsatisfied with Jane's restrained answer.

"Oh come on, Jane," Beverly groaned, "just 'a good kid'? You wouldn't have said anything if that was going to be your answer."

"I don't know what to say," Jane admitted bashfully, "I'm not amazing with expressing my thoughts. It always comes out as an uncomfortable jumble of words." She tightened her grip around Beverly's waste. Jane had always spoke like that; her thoughts were always too extreme, borderline insane. She always believed herself to be too obsessive: whenever she truly said what she was thinking, in the way she was thinking it, it sounded like she belonged in an asylum.

"Just say how you feel, Jane," Beverly cooed, "you know I won't think any less of you. I lov—"

"We're here," Jane cut her off, looking over at the boys standing by the cliff.

"You go first!" Eddie shouted at Richie, who laughed at him.

"I'm not going first. You go first, Stan," Richie deflected, which made Stan tense up. The girls stepped of the bike, and before Stanley could reply Beverly cut in.

"I'll go," she stated excitedly, unbuttoning her dress. She wore a white bra alongside her white underwear, and all the boys stared at her as she undressed. Jane blushed by proxy, nervously playing with the button of her jean shorts. She was built a little differently than Beverly. Beverly was a bit more hourglass-shaped, and fuller figured in comparison to Jane, who was scrawny and box-shaped. That wasn't to say she had no figure, but it was something that Jane had struggled with for some time. She worried that she was too boyish and unattractive—something Marie told her she was too young to be concerned about.