𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 (𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐙𝐈𝐄𝐑)

i.

♡

Stan had just moved into his house in the small town of Derry just about a week ago. Right before the start of school. Just before the start of his junior year. It seemed a little weird to him to just up and leave Seattle to come to a way lesser known town smack dab in the middle of his high school career, but he decided not to question it. He just hoped he could actually make friends here.

The first day wasn't seeming so hot, however, because he got sidetracked seeing a bird on the way to school and he tripped and fell in a mud puddle. He noticed already that Derry seemed to always be cold and rainy. When he arrived at school he tried to sneak into his first period class without being noticed, but it's kind of hard to be unnoticed when you're covered in mud.

"I'm glad you finally decided to join us, Mr. Uris. Please take a seat and please try not to be late and covered in guck tomorrow." His teacher, an elderly lady who looked like she should have died a few decades ago, said in a bored tone before she went back to reading the passage. Stan heard a few titters while he was on his way to his seat and he decided to take a seat next to a boy with black curly hair and glasses that were comedically thick hanging right on the edge of his nose. He looked like he was too old to be in the class.

He pushed his glasses up and looked up from his book as if he'd just now noticed the figure next to him. Stan noticed that there was actually a comic hidden between the pages that the boy was reading instead of what the teacher was reading. A grin slowly appeared on his face. "Hey, you're covered in mud! And definitely new because I've never seen you before." The boy said before he stuck a hand out in Stan's direction. "I'm Richie. And you are...?"

"Uh, Stan. Stanley Uris." He replied sort of unsurely as he grabbed Richie's hand, shaking it once before slowly letting go. "Well nice to meet you 'uh, Stan'." Richie replied mockingly, waving his hand a bit afterwards to get some of the mud from Stan's hand off of hit. He opened his mouth to say something, but the bell rang and cut him off. Jeez, was Stan really THAT late? "It sucks we're not in the same grade. I'd love to see you more often." Richie said sorrowfully as he stood up and grabbed his things. Stan did the same.

"Not in the same grade? But this is 11th grade English." Stan uttered in confusion. Richie chuckled a little bit. "I'm a senior. I failed English last year because I got..." He started to explain before he shut himself up. He was trying to think of the best way to put it. "Distracted. But don't let that fool you, I'm actually very smart." He finished, looking around them to see the empty classroom.

"Well I gotta go. See you around, Staniel." Richie said right before he pat Stan on the back and headed toward the room's exit. Leaving Stan there a bit confused.

"My name's Stanley!"

♡

Stan was currently walking down the street to get to know the town, huffing just to see his breath since it was that cold outside. He was aware it was a but on the later side, but he thought it was the perfect time for this because he didn't have to worry about bumping into people. Well, he thought he wouldn't at least.

"Woah, watch it, dumbass!" A voice, feminine, spat out at him. He was on the ground from bumping into a group of people, the cold concrete scraping his palms a little from the fall. He finally looked up at them, noticing that same boy from earlier. "No fucking way, Stanley?" Richie beamed as he put a hand out to Stan so he could help him up. "Holy shit dude, you're pretty cute when you're not all covered in mud." Richie said boldly with a smirk. He took the opportunity to wrap his arm around Stan, making the dirty blonde haired boy blush. Hopefully he can just pass it off for being cold.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" Another voice asked. Stan could tell the speaker was a boy, but that was it. "This is my buddy, Stan the man. I met him in English class."

Stan hurried a chorus of 'oh's after that, but he noticed a red haired girl scoff. "Rich, we don't have time for this, you're gonna be late! Do you know how unprofessional it is to be late when YOU'RE the star?" She criticized, impatiently crossing her arms and tapping her foot. Stan's eyebrows knitted in befuddlement. "Oh right, um, we really gotta go, Stan... you should come with us." Richie suggested, but Stan shook his head unsurely.

"I don't even know what you guys are talking about so..." Stan began, but just before he could say anything else he was being pulled along with Richie and multiple other people he didn't know to the only theater in town. This definitely was going to get interesting.

A/N First chapter, yay!!