𝕕𝕒𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕖𝕤 // 𝕤.𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕤

01 | last day of school

      Sage exited her classroom, passing by a group of boys and hearing a snippet of their conversation.

"So, there's this church full of Jews, right? And Stan has to take a super Jewy test," a boy wearing a pink colored polo and a fanny pack stated.

"But how's it work?" a second boy wearing a green and white shirt questioned.

"They slice the tip of his dick off," the boy from before answered.

Sage giggled, and tried her best to rush past them. She had almost made it all the way past them, when she bumped into Stanley Uris, the Rabbi's son.

"Oh shit, sorry," He says before he rushes off to catch up with his friends.

Sage watched him curiously for a moment, before moving around the group of boys and making her way outside. She noticed Betty Ripsom's mom standing with Sheriff Bowers. Sage felt immensely bad for her and her family, she had known Betty personally and considered them to have been close friends before she disappeared. After Betty had been presumed missing, Sage had been brought into questioning to make sure Betty hadn't run away. If Betty had indeed run away, Sage had no idea about it.

When she finally made it home, she noticed the flowers outside her house needed to be watered and she made a mental note to water them after she made herself a snack. She stepped inside the house and hung her bag on the wall after closing the front door. She originally set course for the kitchen, but noticed her parents in the den and decided to make her way there.

"Welcome home, sweetie. Why don't you have a seat?" Her mother asked with a warm smile on her face. Sage sat on the chair across from her mother, and noticed Stanley Uris and his father sat on the couch next to her own father. She smiled at Stanley and he smiled back, seemingly just as confused as to what was happening as herself.

"Now I'm sure you know Donald Uris, and this is his son Stanley. Donald, Stanley, this is my beloved daughter Sage," Her father stated, introducing them to each other. Sage smiled politely at Mr. Uris, still confused as to why the Rabbi and his son were over at her house. "Donald and I think it's a good idea that you and Stan become friends, so why don't you two go out to the backyard and get to know each other while us grown-ups talk about a few things."

Although she was now much more confused, Sage nodded and stood from her chair and bid the adults goodbye. Stanley followed her to the kitchen and watched curiously as she picked up the watering can next to the backdoor and opened the door. She motioned for Stanley to go outside, and so he did, Sage following closely behind. Sage made her way to the flowerbeds and got started with watering the plants. Stanley sat on the porch swing nearby and watched her, she was pretty; he'd admit that much. The two had been in the same science class, but they had never been more than mere classmates and had only spoken a few times. Sage was so focused on watering the plants the perfect amount that she hadn't noticed his staring, she had almost completely forgotten about him until he decided to speak up.

"So," He started, not quite sure how to talk to her. "I take it you like plants?" He questioned, hoping it'll be enough to start a conversation.

She smiled, a smile he deemed bright enough to light up the whole of Derry, "Oh I love plants, I know just about everything about them and I have so many more plants up in my room. Without my plants my life would be so much more boring, taking care of them and watching them grow is just so fulfilling, don't you think?" She moved to sit next to him on the porch swing as she ranted about her love for plants, and he listened to every word. Taking in the information, Stanley realized that he probably spoke like this when someone asked him about birds, and then decided that it was fine listening to her because of the look of excitement she wore. She must've realized she was rambling because she stopped suddenly and her cheeks grew warm. "Oh dear, I'm sorry for that. Now, tell me about yourself Stanley." She said, once again smiling brightly.

He blushed, slightly taken aback. "Well, for starters you can call me Stan, no one really calls me Stanley. I guess my favorite thing to do is bird watching. I think they're majestic creatures." He started to ramble about birds just as Sage had rambled about plants, and Sage listened just like he listened to her. That was one thing the pair were starting to enjoy about the other's company, the other listened to them without interruption. None of Stan's friends had shown any interest in bird watching and Sage's friends usually told her to shut up when she even so much as mentioned plants. Stan finished talking and his eyes widened. "Shit, uh sorry for talking so much." He apologized, half expecting her to not want to talk to him anymore.

"It's alright, Stanley. Judging on the way you talk about it, bird watching sounds fun. Would you mind if I joined you the next time you go bird watching?" She asked, actually interested in Stan's hobby.

Stan nodded quickly and stated, "Actually tomorrow my friends and I are gonna go to the Barrens, if you want to join us?"

"Oh I'd love to hang out with you and friends, Stanley."

Just as Sage said that, Mr. Uris called Stanley from inside saying that it was time for them to go.

Stan nodded, "Great. I'll come by tomorrow and we can head over to the Barrens together,"

Sage smiled once more, "I'll be looking forward to it. Bye Stanley!"

He waved, "See you tomorrow," Before heading inside and leaving with his father. Sage sat on the porch swing a while longer, before picking up the watering can and going upstairs to water the plants in her bedroom. Once she reached her bedroom, she looked over to the clock on her wall and noticed it was almost 7 pm. She watered the plants quickly enough to be finished by the time her mother called her downstairs for dinner.

After she had sat down at the dinner table and they had said a blessing, her mother spoke up, "So dear, what do you think about Stanley?"

Sage swallowed her food and answered, "He seems like a nice person and I enjoyed his company today. He invited me to hang out with him and his friends tomorrow, if that's alright?"

Her mother answered, obviously excited, "Yes, of course it is. Your father and I are glad you two are getting along," She said this with such a warm smile, any other child might have suspected something. Sage, on the other hand, was used to this smile, and didn't think anything of it.

After dinner, Sage took a shower and went to bed, excited to hang out with Stan the next day.