lisp [e. kaspbrak]

four

start song— gives you hell by all american rejects

the eight misfits sat swinging from the old willow, sharing stories and laughs. beverly told of the time when greta keene poured garbage water on her, making kole roll her eyes at the thought of it.

"she's a bitch, man i wanna give her a taste of her own medicine," kole had her back againist the tree truck, with her legs on either side of the branch.

"why haven't you? being completely honest kole, you're scary," ben admitted, as he climbed down onto a lower branch.

"ye-yeah, why haven't you?" bill asked, fixing the buttons of his flannel. staring across the trunk at her.

"haven't found the right time yet," kole laughed deeply, nudging eddie with her foot. the boy had been staring off into space, though still listening to the sound of koles voice. is was like listening to the river flow as humming birds sung their morning song. or the song on his mixtape that he played on repeat. he could listen to kole speak all day.  he lifted his head and smiled at her.

the losers continued to laugh and tell tales until their story telling was interrupted. husky taunts from below the branches caught their attention.

"hey losers!" the voice belonged to the one and only henry bowers. kole watched the color drain from eddies face. his breathing seemed to shut down. his hands were tucked into his sleeves as he became stiff. kole gazed up towards the rest of the group, most had a similar expression as eddie.

she took it upon herself to fix the situation. eddie shook his head, for he knew what she was going to do. kole jumped out of the tree, her boots landing firmly in the dirt. her doc martens seemed to have an affair with the dirt below the willow. they met everyday at noon.

henry stood next to his best friend patrick. "look what we have here," patrick smirked, walking closer to kole.

"sup sweetheart," henry poked fun at something the girl couldn't control. her blonde brow raised, as she walked dangerously close to him. kole was dancing with fire. maybe she wanted to get burned. she wanted to feel the warmth of arson. she wanted to strike and uncover the match that had created the fire that was henry bowers.

"what the fuck do you want," she cocked her hip, standing on one leg. her arms folded.

"where are they?" patrick grew impatient. henry nudged the boy in the rip cage with his elbow. earning a growl from patrick. he ran a hand through his raven locks, tapping his foot to the beat of anger.

"i'll ask again, the fuck do you want?"

kole's voice threaten deeply, stepping closer to the older boys. she could smell the slight fear that lingered off of them, though they held their bad boy façades.

"calm down baby, we're just looking for people," henry smiled, his mullet shining in the daylight. kole gaged at the length of the grease filled hair do. he pulled her in by the waist. his finger prints imprinting into her waist as they crawled past the band of her skirt. kole swatted his hands away.

"if you ever call me baby again, ill cut you," kole rolled her eyes. henrys smiled dropped.

"listen here bitch, i was trying to be nice," henry snapped his fingers at patrick. his smile grew sinisterly wide. he knew he was done waiting. he walked behind her, grabbing her biceps tightly. "seems like you want to play the hard way."

kole knew the boys were looking for eddie and her new friends. she wouldn't let them get hurt too. they were all far too fragile. some being already cracked and broken.

twisting her head towards the tree, she noticed the losers club couldn't be seen. they had tucked their swinging legs up into the branches and had stayed silent.

looking up to henry, kole pressed her lips into a smile. her feet kissed the grass, as her knees bounced with excitement.

"bring it bitch."