Dear Anonymous |Stozier|

17

Bill Denbrough

Bill Denbrough
Stan
Come over after school today,
last day to work on our project
Around 4:30 would be great
I texted Richie about it already btw. sleepover if you want idc

You
Okay.
*read 7:56am*

That message couldn't have been sent seven hours ago already. The school days which were normally abnormally long sped by. It forced Stan to have to go to his friends house. Socializing gross.

The sun over Derry was too warm. Not a nice comforting warm like a fireplace during the winter, not like the sun that would reflect across the water when you were at the beach. All this towns sun did was burn and create awful heat waves at awkward moments within the year.

Heat waves. That didn't help Stan as he walked out of his house already missing the air conditioning. There was nothing to keep the curly haired teens mind of the heat. Not a slight breeze, no cool draft to temporarily reduce the temperature. It was either concentrate on the awful heat or his own thoughts. With that in mind heat didn't appear as bad anymore.

Children stayed inside, the playground was mostly empty as he passed it. The mental slide would probably burn you if you had slide down it. Stan mentally cursed himself for wearing a dark shirt, how could he have been so stupid.

The walk from neighbourhood to neighbourhood was getting too long. It should only take around 10 minutes so why did it feel as if it had been hours. His phone buzzed in his pocket and Stan froze, his hand automatically going to grab it but stopped halfway.

It took him a second too long to realize that the other number was blocked and the only person it could possibly be was Bill. An audible sigh of relief came forth as he checked the message.

Just him telling me to hurry up, Stan mentally rolled his eyes. He thought of it pointless to worry about someone- a situation that was already dealt with. Perhaps not dealt with, Stan didn't really respond. The constant dread he felt when he walked into the school everyday knowing that he had blocked all contact with one of these classmates. Knowing one wanted to know him more. The weight of knowing he lost someone who may have been considered an almost friend. Obviously they weren't just associates. Late night texts that Stan still read though, conversations that had strayed from homework. All of that, just when they were at a comfortable spot in the weird relationship the two had, anonymous pushed the boundaries too far. It had been too much for Stan, he hadn't been prepared. It was out of nowhere. It was like a jump scare in a horror movie. You can hear the build up as everything goes quiet and you can feel the tension though the screen. Yet when it finally pops up you still jump and are surprised. Stan hated jump scares.

Richie on the other hand loved them. He knew when to expect them in movies and even in real life. The silence before it happened in a movie gave it away. He never jumped or screamed at them, it was easy in a movie. Scream on the inside and as long as he didn't show it on the outside he was considered brave. He could watch horror movies for fun and laugh as others cried or screamed. Real life was slightly different. A friend jumps out from around the corner that could be surprising but not scary. Teacher asking you to answer a question when you weren't paying attention was surprising and anxiety inducing but not scary.

Having someone block you after you crossed a boundary was scary, not surprising. It felt awful. Wondering what he did wrong but also secretly knowing was awful. It's like loosing a friend, hell he did loose a friend. Even if they didn't know each other in real life they had gotten close. Then Richie wanted more. That more pushed anonymous away and now Richie will probably never speak to them again. That hurt, and it still does. The glasses wearing teenager knew he could get passed it, it would be hard though. For someone who was a constant in his life for a while, to being nothing and just disappearing was a strange change. Something Richie knew he would have to get used to. It's not like anonymous will just show up at his door.