Work Text
chapter 1
this podunk ass town
You were currently riding the bus into a small town you had never even heard of. This town was so small and isolated you weren’t sure you’d ever even seen it on a fucking map. Coming from a big town in Texas, this “Derry” place seemed so untouched to you. It was miles of trees, grass planes and old people. You hadn’t seen a major chain food place or clothes store since you entered. Oo scratch that, you just passed a McDonald’s that looks straight from a vintage photo.This bus was disgusting. Old torn up cloth seats with mysterious stains of no conceivable origin. The man the rows ahead of you and to the left smelt like hookers and cigarettes. The woman on the parallel row to you on the right was out like a light and snoring like an old steam engine. The lights in the bus flickered. giving you a headache. You hoped you were getting off soon. All the sounds, smells, lights, as well as the gross sticky/wet feeling of the seat beneath you was making you feel sick.It’s overcast today. It smells like rain. You loved that smell. The amazing scent of petrichor in your nostrils always soothed you. It looks as if it just rained. You hoped it will rain again today. That would make a bad day good. Even if just for a few minutes. You don’t know how long you sat on there, eyes closed inhaling the heavenly zephyr of wet air, but it must have been a while; because before you knew it the bus driver called out your stop number. Before slowing to a crawling pace.As he started to slow the bus you gathered your things. The bus stopped and you made your way to the front. You smiled gently at the old male driver and asked him to help you get your bags out of the compartment on the outside of the bus. He happily stood and assisted you gathering all your bags. 5 to be exact. 2 were big with wheels while the other three were able to be stacked atop the wheely ones.“You sure you can take all that to where you’re going little miss?” The old driver kindly asked.“I’m sure. Thanks for the concern, mister. Have a good day.” You waved to the old man. And just like that. You were on your way. Your friend had texted you directions from the bus stop to his work. All you had to do was walk. Given being on what seemed to be the outer part of town, there was a very noticeable lack of sidewalks making your journey just that much harder. 20 minutes later you hit the part of town with sidewalks. No one was really out today. Which made sense. It was just raining. A total of 45 minutes of walking and you were finally at the record store.You push the door open with a huff. You hear the bell above the door jingle with a direct succession of a man yelling,“HOLD ON I’M IN THE BACK!”You giggle, and set your bags to the side of the door so no one will trip over them if they come in. Once all your bags are settled you follow where you heard the voice come from. From the open doorway you see your old friend, Kevin, hunched over a box under a table, rummaging through the contents. You lean against the door frame and knock gently on it. Surprised. Kevin jumps and hits his head on the underside of the table with a loud “OW! FUCK!” Before turning to the culprit of the incident. You.His eyes widen and he gets up and runs to hug you, you jump up and hug him. Wrapping your legs around him. He doesn't let you go for a long while.You missed Kevin. You’d known him since you were little (about five years old). He was a good 20 years older than you. The story goes that you met his little brother Issac when their family still lived in Texas. You and Isaac had Been enrolled into the same kindergarten class and were inseparable ever since. You’d become close with Isaac’s family. It was just him, Kevin and their mom. Who you only ever knew as Momma.Momma loved you so much she let you make the spare room in their house yours for when you spent time over there. And given your family life, that was often.When you were 12 Issac was diagnosed with leukemia.He died shortly after he was diagnosed. You loved him so much. He was your best friend, and you were so close to Kevin and Momma, they were your family. After Isaac’s death Momma couldn’t take being in a town that reminded her so much of her son. So they moved to a different state. Even though Kevin was 32 at the time he saw you as a little sister and gave you his number so you could keep contact. With a tear filled goodby and one last kiss on the cheek from Momma they left and never came back to visit you. Kevin told you momma died 2 years ago from a brain aneurysm. It broke your heart. But you knew Kevin was suffering more. So as much as you needed to come to Derry, he needed it too. He needed his last bit of family back.He set you down from the hug and ruffled your hair as tears dripped from your eyes. You missed him far more than words could ever describe.“Don’t cry. I’m here. I’m not going away ever again.” He hugged you again this time not lifting you off the ground.You laughed and punched him in the arm. “You better fuckin not loser, I’ll have’ta hunt you down and kill you”You both laughed. He motioned out the door and you stepped aside so he could show you around. He’s owned this record store since he moved here. The previous owner was this ancient man who was pretty much giving it away. The building itself was paid off so Kevin never had to pay rent. All the furniture and merchandise from the last owner stayed so Kevin took over the very next day. Business was good. He sold record players, vinyls, cds, guitars and posters. It looked exactly like how your rooms looked in Momma's house. When Kevin told you to come to Derry he offered you a job here so you didn’t have to feel like you were only relying on him for money. He would pay you just above minimum wage and let you use your money on whatever you wanted and he would pay for your food.You agreed and he sent you a plane ticket from Texas to Derry, then a bus ticket to get into town because the nearest airport was about 3 towns and 5 hours away. Just shows you how redneck this place is.He looked at your bags and grabbed his keys.“My truck is outside. Get your bags and toss em’ in the tailgate while I lock up for the day.” He said“You got it dude.” With a quick salute you picked up the bags and walked outside. It was definitely going to rain again. You walked to the alley next to the shop and saw his beat up old red truck. Thankfully he had a tailgate cover so none of your stuff was gonna get wet. You lugged all the bags in before shutting it. Just on time Kevin came out and told you to “hop in”. You looked out the window the whole 30 minutes from the shop to his house. Occasionally looking at something special when he pointed it out. The school is a 10 minute drive and 30 minute walk to the record store. Maybe if Kev had a spare bike it could be a 20 minute ride. You drive down a dirt road where the homes are few and far between. As if Kevin could hear you wondering, he piped up.“This is all personal farmland. That’s why there aren’t many people over here.”
You pass a specific house with a police cruiser out front.
“That there is officer Bowers land. I’m not one to tell you what to do, but I’d be smart and stay away from there. That pig is bad news.”You nod in understanding. If Kevin warned you of anything. He meant it. It started to rain as You finally pulled up to an old gate, and Kevin tossed some keys at you and told you to get out and unlock the gate so he could drive in. Once the truck was in enough you shut the gate and locked it behind you running up to the truck and getting in again. You drove in a little before pulling up and parking in front of a smaller gate just surrounding the house.“It’s just so no animals get in the house” Kevin grumbled,He unlocked the tailgate then the house gate and helped you get all your things in the house quickly before shutting and locking his truck and the gate. Once inside you took off your muddy boots and looked around. It was a nice home. Kevin picked up both of your heaviest bags and nodded upstairs for you to follow him with the three smaller bags. He beats you to your room and sets your things down. As you are entering he flops down on your bed. He took care of all your furniture. You have a bed with black and purple bed sheets. 2 dressers in black and a desk with a tv. You walk up to some floor length curtains and open them only to find that you have a small balcony. He left everything else in the room pretty bare with a lot of extra room for you to decorate and make yours, you appreciate it.He gives a loud, ugly groan that reminds you of growing up. Life is almost exactly how it used to be. With Kevin you picked up where you left off. You take off your coat and flop down on the bed beside him and give that same ugly, over dramatic groan, then you look at each other. You want to cry again. You didn’t think you’d see him again. But a series of unfortunate events led you to a better living situation with a man you loved too much. Your only friend. The almost 38 year old that still acts 19. You think that’s why y’all get along so well. He moves his eyes to your arm. The arm where a tattoo from the back of your shoulder to just above your wrist sits. It is a tattoo of Thorny vines cascading down your flesh. They aren’t big or obnoxious. The reference was a photo you took of you holding real thorn vines onto your arm. Its beautifully realistic and that’s just what you wanted. It would be much easier to hide here than in Texas. You could wear long sleeves because of the colder weather. Whereas in Texas if you wore anything other that a tee shirt you would overheat and die. The last feeling you ever want to experience again is being gross and sweaty in a long sleeve. Feeling the moist fabric against your arms would make you want to cut and peel your own skin off with the dullest rustiest spoon you could find in a prison cell.“When did you get that?” He points to the tattoo.“After Momma died. I felt like I needed something for her.” You replied.“What’s it mean?”“It means how I saw her. She was beautiful like vines crawling up a building but scary as thorns. I wanted to be just like her. I thought that if I get thorns on me I wouldn’t feel so scared.” You looked up at the ceiling as you spoke.“I bet you and I are the only people alive to call that fuckin women beautiful” he chuckled.He was right. Momma was not an objectively attractive woman… well at least not after Kevin was about 2. She had given birth to him when she was like.. 17 or so. She died in her early to mid 50’s. The boy that got her pregnant bailed after he found out, Leaving her alone to raise Kevin. After it got out around town that she was knocked up her parents kicked her out. She was a good student. All A’s with a scholarship to her dream school. She was working at a hotel where the manager was letting her live in one of the rooms, and she finished her last year of high school. A few days into summer that year she gave birth. Only 2 months into having Kevin the hotel fired her because of all the noise complaints of the baby crying. She had nowhere else to go and showed up at her parents' doorstep. She stayed with them for a year after all the begging she did. Near the end of that year she heard her parents talk about taking custody of the baby and she fled. Walking alone in the streets that night with a one year old baby it began to rain. In a panic to keep her baby warm she ran into the nearest building.A bar.All eyes were on her. A young girl with brown hair and bright blue eyes holding a baby had just walked into the roughest bar in town. Her makeup was smeared from crying and she was soaked to the bone from trying to keep her baby dry. She walked past all the men and sat down at the bar. The old kind bartender looked at her with wide eyes. Partly because she was wet and looked like she was crying, but mostly because who the fuck brings baby into a bar like this?She and the bartender had got to talking and he gave her a job and told her she could stay in the room above the bar. He’d help her sound proof it and she would be allowed to keep a baby monitor while she works so she can go up anytime she wants. After a year of working there. Kevin turned 2 and Momma realized she was done looking like her parents' daughter. She shaved her head into a bright purple Mohawk and got tattooed anywhere that was possible. Growing up Kevin got to see his Momma as a rough at tough, tattoo having, fight winning, bar maid, who took no one’s shit. She had more muscles than most men at that bar did. And she worked there for as long as she could. Including All throughout her pregnancy with Issac and all the way up until they moved. They eventually moved out of that above bar room when Kevin was about 12. But that’s pretty much the story.Momma was a wild woman who was tough as nails and scarier than any man. You’d never seen any other woman who looked as wild as her and you loved it. No one could beat Momma. Not even after she died.You and Kev would always only see that woman as beautiful and tough. And no matter how unconventional their upbringing was. They all agreed that theirs was perfect compared to yours.While you were deep in thought Kev stood up from the bed. He said your name shaking you from your thoughts.“Immm booreddd.” He whined. “How about we order some pizza and watch some nasty ass gore movie while we talk about which characters we’d smash?”You smiled so big your eyes squinted.“UHH FUCK YEAH DUDE!!” You yelled and jumped up from the bed. You’d unpack and explore the town tomorrow. It was only Friday night. Why not relax with your best friend in the world? Forget about your parents, forget about school, forget about being the new kid. Who the fuck cares? Not you. Especially not when you were about to slam down a whole pizza.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You are woken up from your peaceful dreams by an abhorrent feeling of something wet and rough on your face. You open your disgusted eyes only to find a huge scary Pitbull smiling at you with his tongue out. You put 2 and 2 together to realize he had licked your face. Where the fuck did this dog come from? He wasn’t around yesterday. You get up from the couch you and Kevin had fallen asleep on yesterday and see that he isn’t there anymore. “KEVY?” You shout into the house. “YEAH?” He shouts back from somewhere in the house. “WHERE DID THE DOG COME FROM?” You ask. He jogs into the living room shirtless with a toothbrush in his mouth. “Oh him?” He muffled out. “Yeah, him” “That’s killer. I got him for you almost a year ago, he was just outside on the property yesterday” ‘It’s crazy to think all that bullshit went if for a year!’ You think to yourself. “He was only a year old when I got him. He’s a guard dog with a heart of gold. Unless you tell him to attack someone he’s nicer than a winter mornings air. He’s fully grown too.” “Killer?” You ask him. “Hey you told me when you were 8 that if you had ‘scary dog privileges’” he puts finger quotes around the words. “You would name the dog killer because to you it’s a cute name but to everyone else it’s ‘scaaawwyyy’” he mocks you on the last word. “God I hate you sometimes” you laugh. “How the hell do you even remember that bro?” “I remember everything, now you have an hour to get ready. I’m taking you into town with me.” Without a protest he turns around and heads back into the ground floor bathroom. You look killer in the eyes and sigh before petting him. “C’mon boy” you usher as you stand up and walk to the stairs. Killer willingly follows you with a big doggy smile. You get to your room and open one of your bags. It’s a bit colder today so maybe a long white long sleeve undershirt with a tweed jumper dress? Maybe some black pantyhose? You ponder that outfit before ultimately deciding on it. You walk to the bathroom right next door to your room and close the door. You stand there for a few seconds before you hear killer whimpering and scratching at the door. You open the door and look at his scruncly face. “Go to Kevin, killer. Go on boy.” He looks to where you point and you shut the door once again. It took about 2 seconds before he was back at the door. You sigh and open it again. His big puppy eyes looking at you and wagging his tail. You could see how he would be intimidating if angry but to you he just looked stupid and cute. Realizing he won’t leave you alone you let him in the bathroom with you. He quickly jumps up onto the toilet seat and sits without moving. Like he’s guarding the bathroom. You snort and turn on the shower. Killer lets you shower in peace and doesn't move from his spot on the toilet. Once you finish you wrap yourself in a towel and move the curtain aside. You look at yourself in the mirror for a few moments before opening the door and wandering into your room, with killer of course. You pick up one of your smaller bags and pick out a small black makeup bag. You don’t need a lot of makeup but it makes you feel put together, controlled, like no one can really see the you, you don’t want them to see. After some quick concealer, eyeliner and mascara you finished your makeup with 30 minutes to spare. Drying your hair was the worst feeling. Hot air getting into your face was the grossest feeling. You also feel like you just went for a run Every Time you do it, but it’s too chilly right now to not. It is raining season in the little town of Derry after all. After some frantic drying and getting dressed you grab your brown cloth messenger bag and head to the door, killer hot on your tail. You get down the stairs to see Kevin, looking like he was just about to call you down. “Are you ready, loser?” He asks sarcastically. “Yes, your royal highness” you mock. He rolls his eyes at you and opens the door to let you out. You look behind you to see him holding the door open for the dog, unattached leash in hand. “Is he coming with us?” You ask “Hell yeah! His owner that he’s been training for a year just got here. He needs all that training to be put in practice” you open the door to the truck and killer hops in before you sitting in the middle seat between you and the driver seat. Kevin locks both gates and y’all are on your way to town. “How did you even train him for me if I wasn’t here?” You wonder. “I just showed him pictures of you and momma kept some stuff from your room that still totally smelled like you. No one ever touched it.” You giggled because of course she did. “Why did you train him just for me?” You questioned your best friend. Kevin’s face falls and you think you struck a nerve. “Ther’ea some kids at the high school that ain’t take to kindly to strangers. Especially ones that just came into their town. I know you ain’t a bad kid and you ain’t lookin for trouble, but that doesn't mean they aren’t. I want to feel safe here.” He ruffles your hair. “You deserve it.” You didn’t see Kevin as a father or a guardian. He was a friend. He’d never yell at you for a bad grade and he didn’t look at you funny when you swore in front of company. You were family- no better than family. You were friends. You two were the absolute closest 2 people could be. You were all each other had. And that’s why it made sense he was so protective over you. The two of you listen to the music in the car in a comfortable silence the whole ride to the shop. The two of you step out of the truck and Kevin looks at you and killer. “Ya’know, it’s only” he checks his phone. “9:40, why don’t you and killer walk down to the coffee shop while I do some errands. Yeah?” You nod. “Yeah that sounds good.” You smile down at your massive dog like he’s a much smaller pup. “Keep your phone on ya okay? Feel free to explore this part of town but don’t get too close to the red bridge. This is the main part of town. The school is just on the other side but don’t be crossing it today, ya’hear?” You nod an affirmation before sprinting off with killer. You saw no point in interrogating him on the bridge. Why not just listen to him. Just this once. After a little bit of jogging and seeing a few more people you decide to leash killer and let him walk beside you. It doesn’t take you long to wander to what you can only assume is the town square. God this place is like a storybook hell. It’s only 9 in the morning and children are fucking everywhere. You can’t even walk a straight line without having to dodge some screaming and giggling tyke. There are kids dancing in the square all of which have the lightest skin you’ve ever seen and platinum blonde hair. Have these kids never even seen the sun? This town is like an old racist man’s dream. Everywhere you look you see people. All of which are smiling, and all of which talking like they’ve known each other since birth. They probably have. This town is so small you wouldn’t doubt it. Your hometown was nothing like this. You can only assume once school starts how many people will be all up in your business. You walk and out of nowhere someone runs into you. “¿¡Que La chingada!?” (What the fuck) you yell as the person hit you with so much force you think you got the wind knocked out of you. Killer starts to growl as the boy backs up. You look at the boy to see big square glasses and shaggy hair. People about his age turn the corner. You assume them to be his friends. You were short for your age so they must have been at least a couple years younger. Killers growling becomes more viscous at the boy and you whistle at him. “Killer” you say sternly. “Down boy.” The tallest boy of the group comes up to you. “I-I-I-I’m so s-s-sorry w-w—“ he’s cut off by the shortest boy wearing a Fanny pack. “What he means to say is ‘sorry we didn’t mean to run into you, we were in a rush’” “It’s no problem. You just scared my dog” you nod down to your weirdly muscular, furry accomplice “I thought that fuckin thing was gonna eat me.” The glasses boy says loudly. “Oh killer? No no no he’s a good dog. Just protective” “See! Even his name is Killer!” He shouts. You roll your eyes. “I-I-I haven’t seen you a-a-around here b-b-b-b-before. You new?” The stuttering boy says. “Yeah actually. I just got in yesterday. I’m ____” They all introduced themselves to you kindly. They seem nice enough. The one you come to find as Richie asks you what school you are enrolling to. You try to remember then name. Then feel stupid remembering it as the name of the town. “Derry high” you finally spit out. “YOO!” Richie yelps. “Us too!” Beverly steps forward. “We have to be going but At least you’ll know some people at school right? You should hang with us when school starts” “Definitely” you reply. You walk past the group into the “Derry Dairy Diner” ‘shoot me now’ you think as you read the name in your head. Kevin had texted you his order and what he thinks you would enjoy, so you get in line and wait your turn. Your wandering had already taken you 45 minutes. It will have been over an hour by the time you reach the record store again. You hope this diner allows dogs. After 20 mind numbing minutes of waiting it’s your turn to order. You speak your peace and within five minutes a bag of food and bottled drinks is placed before you. You pay and wish the waiter a good day before heading back. The walk to the store was uneventful. That was until some assholes in a blue sports car tried splashing you with gutter water. You knew it was on purpose. None of the water hit you but it did sour your mood quite a bit. You finally reached the store and went inside. “KEVY! I got your nasty ass order from the DeRrY, DaIrY, DiNeR” you mocked the name again. You could hear his laugh from the back as he walked toward your location in the front of the store by the counter. “Well gorgeous, what has you in such a good mood?” He teases. “This place is my hell. Like my own personal ring of hell that Satan made just for me. Laughing children and waaaaayyyy too many people smiling for me to feel safe. No one’s that happy” “Oh well I’m sorry to hear that” he laughs out. “And some assholes in a blue car tried spraying me with street water.” You snort. He stiffs. “What kind of car?” “No sé dude, a sporty one?” (I don’t know dude) “Did the people in the car see you?” “Oh mierda. What now?” (Oh god) you roll your eyes. “The boys in that car are only bad news. They are the ones you stay away from you hear? If they give you problems this year, you tell me. got it?” He opens his box of food and begins to eat. “No way I have to go to school with those assholes?” He didn’t answer, he just grunted at you to eat. And you did. The food from that weird ass diner was actually pretty good. For the rest of the day he helped you understand how to run the shop. All records are sectioned by alphabet and genre of music. You can usually tell by the cover what type of music they are but if you don’t know ask Kevin. If Kevin isn’t there or busy, set them in the crate in the back and he’ll put them up or tell you where that band usually goes. During the days you work you are allowed full control over aux just don’t play anything that would scare away new customers or grandparents coming in to buy their grandkid a present. The guitars on the wall are free to play but if someone comes in to look at guitars you have to put the one you are playing back on display so they can see it. Decorating is your job now (SCORE) so feel free to do whatever you want but the conditions about aux apply here too. Other than that you are pretty set. Everything is pretty easy. “By the way” Kev looked at you. “Hmm” you locked eyes with him. “You can’t look like that” he said nonchalantly. “Ugh! What do you mean ‘like that’” “You look like you’ve never heard a song outside a youth group. Don’t get me wrong, you look cute, you just don’t look like you work here. I’d never come up and ask you questions about which bass is better.” He had a point. “I dress like this to hide my tattoos!” You had more than just the arm one. All the others were small and not easily visible but you still wanted to hide them. Along with your legs and back. “But you don’t need to here. I almost never see kids from your school here. After school just throw on a band tee and some shorts over those pantyhose and you are set. You just can’t come in here looking like you’re handing out pamphlets on how we are fucking the earth sideways with global warming.” Another good point. “Fine, I'll change on the way here.” You huffed. “Thank you.” He smiled that stupid smile of his. Today in the store was restock day. As kids, parents and just younger adults were getting ready for the next school year to start, no one really came in. You did some routine cleaning of the store while killer was right at your side. He hadn’t left you all day. You wondered why he was like that. As the day was beginning to pass Kevin decided to call it a day and announced he had a gift for you. You had no idea what it could be. Kevin took you out to the alley next to the store and walked past his truck deeper into the dark area. “You stay here and close your eyes. I’ll bring it out” he hollered. You close your eyes and you hear the sound of his keys jingle. His keys hit some metal and unlock something before you hear something rolling toward you. “Open,” he says excitedly. As you open your eyes you are met with the most beautiful red motorcycle you’d ever seen. You pretty much completely cut out everything Kevin was saying as you stared, the only part you caught was “Honda cbr 650”. You step forward and touch it and your hearing comes back. “It’s my motorcycle and it’s in my name but I don’t see why you can’t ride it sometimes. You got your motorcycle license a while back.” He said. His voice dripped with the fact that he was trying to sound like he wasn’t super excited. You look up at him with hope. “Can I” you almost beg. He smiles and reaches to get something from the tailgate of his truck. He pulls out a black leather riding jacket with crash padding and a black helmet with a tinted visor. Oh this fucker planned. You knew he would only let you ride it once in a while but you were still over the moon. You jumped up and down. Giddy from excitement. He helped you put on the jacket and helmet before telling you, “Follow me home and be careful on the dirt roads. I’ll take killer with me” You squeal and hop on the red bike, kicking the kickstand up. You put the key in the ignition and flip the on switch before reving the bike. Kevin’s truck pulls out and you follow behind him. God you missed this. The soothing feeling of the wind. The gorgeous freedom you feel in your chest. You are flying. That is the only word. Flying. You twist a turn through lanes to pull up to lights then speed off at the first flash of green. You can see Kevin laugh as killer hangs out the window with his tongue out. God you don’t want this to end. But it has to eventually. You have to get off at some point. You pull down the dirt road of your “neighborhood” only to see the pig standing at his fence eyeing your shiny new toy. You pull off past him and into the property. God that was perfect. You demount the bike and make your way inside with Kevin and killer. What a great day. You know you didn’t always have the most positive view of things but that was just your upbringing. You learned to have a hatred for the naturally happy because you yourself had to fight for your happiness. And that is okay. It just means you deserve it more You, Kevin and killer lay atop the couch once more and again turned on some dumbass movie and ate some day old pizza until you drifted. You’d never felt as safe as you did right now. And that was worth something.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Bam! You felt the sting of a fist across your face. Bam! Another. Bam! And then another. The hits stopped about when you almost passed out. They never stopped when you cried. Or when you said please. You watched your mother get off of you. Glancing at the blood on your knuckles as she stood, you couldn’t tell if it was hers or yours. You waited until you heard the door to her and your fathers room lock before you crawled to the door and opened it. Using the door handle as leverage to stand. You wobbled to the mirror to look at yourself. You find yourself bloody and bruised with a black eye already swollen shut and blood coming out of every part of your face. The phone on your bed rang! You woke up with a jolt! Heavily panting and breathing. As you tried to figure out where the fuck you were. You were home. Killer was asleep at your feet and Kevin was just downstairs. You were home. You jump out of bed and rush to the closest mirror. You examine your face. It’s fine. Perfectly fine. Not a cut, not a bruise, not even a pimple. You sighed. You look at the clock by the mirror on your desk to find that it’s only 20 minutes before you were planning on waking up. School starts today. Yippie. Yesterday Kev didn’t take you into town because there was no reason to. The town was dead. Everyone was focused on getting ready. So you and Kevy sat at home and relaxed. You didn’t need new clothes because no one knew these clothes were actually like 2 years old. You didn’t need to go supply shopping because the teachers would tell you what you needed the first few days of school. When it was starting to get late Kevin suggested you sleep in your own bed with killer to get as much rest as possible. Much to your discomfort. You agreed. You open the blinds to your balcony and sit in your robe against the railing. Soon killer woke up and nudged you with his head. You kissed his stupid face and started to get ready. You showered the night before so you were clean. You quickly did your makeup and got dressed in some Jeans and a baby blue knitted sweater. You put your hair up into a loose clip and stuffed you work clothes (pantyhose, shorts and a loose band tee with cut neckline so it hung off your shoulder. Along with a cardigan sweater in case you got cold.) into your cloth messenger bag and went downstairs with killer. You quickly fed him and got yourself some juice before going to Kev's room. “Kevy, I gotta go now” you said quietly. “There's an old bike with a basket in the farm shed so you don’t have to walk. Don’t let killer out” he grumbled and the turned over to face away from you. The thought of everything, you smiled to yourself. You locked up the house with killer scratching at the door, before wandering to the farm shed. You found a perfect light blue bike with a wicker basket attached to the front. You wheeled it out, Checked the tires, and once you deemed them good you set your bag in the basket and rode off making sure to lock the property gate. As you rode down the main dirt road you noticed that the pigs police cruiser wasn’t there. But that asshole's blue car was. You didn’t stop and continued riding until you got to the main entrance of Derry high school. You rode your way to the farthest most hidden bike rack and locked up your bike. This rack was more hidden because of how far it was from a usable entrance. There was a door here but it looks to have been blocked off for some reason. As you are walking back to the main entrance the bell rings. “Ah fuck” you mumble to yourself before you start jogging to the entrance. You have no fucking idea where your classes are and you don’t know who to ask for help. You get through the front main doors and almost instantly feel eyes on you. You look too old to be a freshman but no one has ever seen you. You stick out. Hell, even the freshmen are looking at you. You are new in town and everyone knows it. You keep your head high and walk around trying to find your first period. You eventually figure out all core classes are coded by hundreds. So your first hour. Chemistry is in the 600 hall. By the time you figure that out, the bell has rung and you are the last person in the halls. How the fuck is that possible? How do the freshman know where their fucking classes are? You groan and walk to your class. When you go to open the door to room 605 it’s locked. With another groan you knock loudly. You hear the woman’s loud voice inside halt and you hear footsteps stomping over to you. ‘This should be good’ you think to yourself sourly. The door opens and an old large woman greets you. “Your late” she spits as she gestures you inside, closing the door behind you. “I know” you reply. “Why?” “Excuse me?” You question. What does she mean why? It’s the frist day of school. “Why were you late?” She repeated bitterly. “It’s the first day of school” you state and a couple of the kids at the lab benches snort. You are becoming increasingly aware that you and the teacher are standing in front of the class, basically arguing. “That is no excuse. The class tours were 2 weeks ago. you should have attended” she spits at you once again. You are getting so frustrated and annoyed with this conversation you want to hit something. You didn’t want to put the spotlight on being the new kid today but it looks like you’ll have to. “Listen miss. I wasn’t even fully packed to move here 2 weeks ago. I was officially enrolled 5 days ago and just got my schedule 3 days ago. I got lost. May I please sit down?” You snap at her. She looked surprised at your tone and hurried over to her desk to find a clipboard. “Ah I’ve found you. It appears the only free seat is with mr Bowers in the back” All the students tensed. Oh how bad could it be? You walk down the rows to see an empty Seat in the aisle. Shame. You would have loved the window seat to look outside. As you pass the last few students you see the boy sitting in the window seat. He’s really cute. You look at him for a second, scanning him. Brown mullet. Tall. Sleeveless shirt. His arms are crossed and he looks pissed. You sit down before he can notice your staring. Maybe if you get here early next time you can take the window seat. Though he doesn't exactly look nice enough to be beat to a seat. The large woman talks about nothing for about an hour and then the bell rings. That annoying ass conversation happened with every teacher for the first three periods. You didn’t know where the fuck anything was. This school was weirdly bigger than your last one. Finally it was lunch and all the students were allowed off campus to eat. You hadn’t seen any of those really nice kids from next to the diner yet so you decided to wander around outside. Strangely enough that’s where you saw them. By the bike rack. They saw you too. The girl you remember as Beverly waved you down with a big smile. You jogged over to them and greeted them. “W-w-we were just ab-b-b-bout to go get some food. Wan-n-n-a come with?” Billy asked. “Sure!” you replied and they all hopped on their bikes. Mike was the one to notice you didn’t have one. “Do you need a ride?” He asked sweetly. “Oh no I have a bike I just have to go get it. Is that okay with y’all?” They all nod and you smile and lightly jog away to the hidden bike rack. As you are coming back you hear a commotion. You duck behind a pillar and peek out to look at those kids being picked on. They are being pushed and shoved by a really tall guy, with longish hair, a chubby guy with a hat, a skinny guy with dyed blonde hair, and that cute guy from chem class. You watch as that bowers guy goes up to Bill and licks his palm before smearing it on Bill's face. The boys laugh and get into that blue sports car. Of fucking course. The boys drive off and you run to the others with your bike. “Are y’all okay? I saw a little of what happened!¿Estás herido?” (Are you hurt?) Stanley turned to you looking sad. “That was just Bowers and his goons” Richie chimed in “they fuck with us all the time. Look what they did to Ben here” Richie grabbed the bottom of Ben’s shirt and lifted it up revealing an almost healed cut in the letter H. Ben quickly shoved his shirt back down and glared at Richie. Obviously embarrassed that you saw his stomach less than a day of knowing him. Eddie pipes up “who cares, they aren’t here anymore and I need to take my meds with food. can we please just fucking leave?” You wonder if Eddie always seemed this on edge. All of you bike to a nearby food truck and enjoy some bullshit tacos and burgers. “What class you got next, new kid?” Beverly nudges you with a smile. “Oh I actually don’t know yet” you pull out your phone to check. “Remedial math 2 in room 108… where the fuck is 108?? I ain’t seen a 100 hall in this fucken school.” You grumble to yourself and Beverly laughs. “Yeah the map of this place is pretty hard to Learn. I have that class too. So does Richie. We can help you get there.” “Thank god. All day I’ve had to announce to asshole teachers and their classrooms ‘IM NEW’. Might as well just write on my forehead and call myself the constitution with how I got people lookin’ at me.”you sigh. “Where are you from? You have an accent.” Stanly asks. “Oh it pains me that you noticed I have that.” You whine dramatically. “Don’t worry,” he laughs. “It’s not bad. you can just hear it on certain words” “I’m from Texas” you answer. “Oh that totally makes sense” Ben says “I beg your pardon” you raise your eyebrow at him not sure if you should be offended. He immediately gets flustered at the thought of making you offended “I don’t mean anything by it I just mean you seem like someone from Texas you know. Kind of intimidating but really really kind…” he trails off. “He means you have a resting bitch face” Richie proclaimed then took a fat bite of his greasy burger. Ben immediately tried to defend himself but you started laughing so hard you snorted, making everyone else laugh. you knew you had a resting bitch face. It was just funny to hear how hard Ben tried to dodge saying it. The group finished their food and you all rode off back to the school. They locked their bikes up then walked you to lock yours. Then Beverly and Richie walked you to class. The teacher gives you an assigned seat in the second to last row all the way to the right. To your displeasure that Bowers guy walked in as you sat down and walked to the seat right behind you with his chubby friend a row ahead and to the left of you and 2 seats to the right of Richie. Thank god Beverly was at the front row and on the complete other side of these assholes. The class continued again with no real topic. The end of class came and as Richie stood to get up the chubby asshole and Bowers made their way to him. grabbing him and pulling him aside. You looked at Beverly and she nodded at you to leave while she took care of it. You felt bad but you did as she said. The rest of the day flew by and before you knew it school was over. You walked out of school to find some of the group at your secluded little bike rack by the blocked off door. It was Mike , Ben, Beverly and Stanley. you all talked as you waited for the others to meet up there. I guess this was the new spot to dodge the group of dicks running through the school. Eventually the others come out and give you a quick goodbye as you run back into the school and into a bathroom stall. You take off your jeans and put on your pantyhose then your jeans over them. Just so you aren’t caught naked from the waist down on the way to work. You loved your pantyhose because they had built in shorts. No one would be catching you ass out. You thought to yourself. You walked out of the bathroom and back to your bike. You rode off the way to work and stopped at the bridge. You had to cross it anyway to get to work and no one was around. why not get changed here? You shed your sweater quickly and get the band tee out of your basket and put it on. Next you took off your shoes and jeans and as fast as you could, slid on your shorts. You slipped on your light black cardigan sweater. Then You threw your shoes in the basket, and rode to the shop without them. There was one thing you were wrong about. You weren’t alone. There was a blue Trans Am parked just to the side of the bridge in a parking lot you didn’t see. All the other boys were inside stealing some smokes while Henry Bowers sat in the front seat and watched you. New girl with a tattoo? How interesting. ~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~ You hop off your bike and grab your bag. Quickly locking it in the bike rack in front of the store before heading inside. “Honey I’m home!” You playfully yell. You can almost hear his eye roll from the isle he’s in. “I’m organizing. Can you manage the front?” He shouts back. You run to where you hear his voice. “Only if I can play one of the guitars, I need to relax before I invent my own saw trap out of these vinyls. Make a saw from records and lower myself onto it just to get away from the hick town.” You groan. “Well aren’t you just a ray of fuckin’ sunshine” He laughs at your dramatics. You always did have a way with words. “Sure, no one is in right now so go crazy.” You jump with excitement and sprint to the guitars. You find a beautiful pink custom fender electric and take it off the wall. You run over to the front desk, plug it into the amp and begin to play whatever comes to mind. You missed this. You know it may seem redundant to think about but you feel so relaxed around Kevin. You feel home. Even if this town sucks and you can’t stand more than a few people. It’s home because he is here. You are playing guitar while he organizes like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Like he never left. Like momma is sitting at home waiting for y’all to barge in and distract her from her rewatch of Jersey shore. Like Issac is sitting in his room playing video games. You know they aren’t though. That burns deep in your chest. But you and Kevin have each other. That’s all y’all need for now. “I love that song” Kevin quips at you from the floor of aisle 2. You hadn’t realized but you began playing some dumbass dad Rock song. It was the rock version of Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Hill. You continue to play with a smile. That was before some people came in and immediately started roughhousing around record players. Kevin got up and walked to you with an empty crate in hand. “You deal with these freaks. You don’t know how to sort yet and I really gotta get this done.” You nod and continue strumming to the song in your head. He smiles and walks to the back room where killer is sleeping. You turn down the volume of the amp to see the boys, Who you only now recognize as the Bowers gang, huddled together by the CD’s. ‘Oh fuck’ you internally groan. This is gonna fucking suck.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The 4 teenage boys fuck around in the back CD section and it is so disgustingly obvious that they are stealing shit. After they pocket whatever they find interesting, they wander around the store aimlessly for 5 minutes. Only stopping to look at any album with a half naked girl on it. You quickly push the little red button under the counter and continue strumming. You were glad you had put on your cardigan to hide your tattoo before you came to work. You can hear killer and Kevin in the back playing. That made you smile. The boys finally decide they are done and try to head out the door. The tall one with longer black hair reached for the door only to find that it’s been locked. “What the fuck? It’s locked?” He looks back at the other boys before they all look to you. “Open the fucking door” the tall boy grits. “Empty your pockets.” You calmly state without even looking up from where your fingers are meeting the strings. “What the fuck did you just say you little shit?” Bowers spits at you. You wonder what his first name was. Surely it can’t be Bowers. That’s a dumb fucking first name. You roll your eyes and set the guitar in a stand beside you before rising from your seat. “I said empty your pockets. And I’d be quieter if I was you, boss is really cracking down on stealing these days. Last thing we all want is the cops here. But ya’know if y’all wanna try the cops nerves be my guest. I’m tryna help you.” They all look to Bowers and with an angry grunt he puts 2 CD’s on the counter. The rest of the boys follow suit and drop a total of 6 CD’s. You look at the price labels. The total came to about $56. “There.” He fumed at you. “Unlock the fucking door” he demanded. “Not just yet.” You pull out the scanner and scan all the CDs. you could see the chubby and blonde boys grow pale. You knew that they didn’t have the money. They thought you were charging them. You were right, the total came to $56 and a couple cents. You bag up all 6 of the disks and put the bag on the counter. Bowers and the tall kid were glaring at you, looking about ready to leap over the counter and kill you. You pull out your wallet and put the money into the cash register before unlocking the doors. “Enjoy the CD’s!” You smiled nastily at them. The chubby kid snatched the bag from the counter and they all stomped away. You giggle. God those boys were just nasty with the way they behaved. You sat back in your spinning chair Kevin came out again with a new filled crate. “Those fuckers give you any issues?” He prodded. “Nope,” you smiled. “Did they steal anything?” “Nope I made sure” Kevin watches the boys argue through the front window. They yell at each other then pile into that sporty blue car. “What kinda car is that?” You ask “Issa Trans Am. Really nice car.” Kevin’s answers quickly. “What’s that Bowers kids name? Everyone calls him Bowers but that’s a dumb ass name I refuse to believe that’s it.” You snort. “Henry” Kevin answers while going back to re-stocking. Hm. Henry Bowers. He’s cute. Just your type. Kinda an asshole. But that doesn't make him less attractive. “How’s about you help me with all these so we can finish before 9 and go to the store. I need some real food.” “Bet” you hop up and go to him. The two of you listen to music, laugh and giggle and play with killer while you work. You had gotten done about an hour early and the sun had already set. Kevin locks up, tosses your bike into the back and y’all head to the nearest grocery store. The adventure in the store wasn’t very long. The pair of you got a lot of looks from workers about how much fun you were having. Kevin would try on a maternity dress and continue to shop in it. You would take a stab at juggling some metal cans. At one point Kevin hopped in the cart with killer and you ran with the cart down a straight shot before hopping up to ride the cart with them. You quickly crashed into a barrel of watermelons. Before security could kick y’all out you grabbed the last of what y’all needed and paid. It was raining. The sun was gone and it was raining. It was beautiful. Kev's truck was the only one in the middle of the almost completely vacant parking lot. A few campers were parked here and there and a few cars were hidden in the shadows of the very edges of the lot. You ran to the truck with Kev and laughed. As soon as you reached the truck and he unlocked the tailgate he threw you the keys to start her up. You turned the key in the ignition and the truck bounced to life. The radio started playing “she's out of her mind” by Blink-182. You turn it all the way up and jump out of the truck and appear in front of your friend who had just finished putting up the groceries. You grab his hand and take him and killer a little bit away from the truck and start dancing to the music with him. You couldn’t dance. You knew you weren’t good at it. But for now you don't have to be good at it. You had to be you. Just you Kevin and killer, dancing in the rain. Kevin spun you and dipped you to the upbeat lyrics.
I’m in deep with this girl but she’s out of her mind!
You jumped and squealed with laughter while Kevin picked you up above I his head and spun.
She said babe I’m sorry but I’m crazy tonight!
He set you down for just a moment before he pointed at you and shimmied for the next set of words.
She’s got a black shirt, black skirt, and Bauhaus stuck in her head!
You laughed and twirled like the song was about you He took killer by the paws and began to pretend to waltz with him.
I’m in deep with this girl but she’s out of her mind!
All of you, including killer , began to do that funny kind of dancing where you just jump. You and Kevin yelled with the remaining part of the lyrics and then the song ended. You and Kevin couldn’t stop laughing. You close your eyes for a breather and without warning Kevin picked you up and hauled you over his shoulder. You began to twist and cackle while he took you and killer back to the truck. You all take a breath and Kev drives out of the lot. You sit, laughing, heaving breathing, and shivering from the rain On the ride home you were really able to get a good look at your best friend. You hadn’t really looked at him since you’ve been here. He’s taller. You remember him being tall but he's really tall, maybe 6’2? 6 '4 even? His skin is darker. You knew he had a lot of work to do on his property but you didn’t think it would give him the tan nor the muscle it did. He wore glasses and had tattoos. Some new. Some old. They were so distinctly him. You could never imagine him without his tattoos. He had longer hair but not shoulder length. It was shaggy on top and in the back but well kept around the ears. You knew it was because he fucking hated the feeling of hair on his ears. His hair, your hair, his moms hair. Anyone’s fucking hair touched this dudes ears and he would go on a rampage. You get home and put up all the groceries before showering and getting ready for bed. You usher killer onto the bed to shut off the light. Today was pretty okay. You were glad you got Kev to relax. You both needed some slack. You hoped tomorrow would be good too. Little did you know tomorrow would only be the start of a living hell. What was it with you and not seeing people that ought to be seen in darkness? ~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~ Your morning was uneventful and repetitive as you got ready and rode to school. You made your way to your Chem class 2 minutes early and took the window seat. It was due to rain again within the hour. You wanted to see it. Henry be damned. You look out the open classroom window before closing your eyes with a deep inhale. You were wearing another sweater but you still felt a chill as the wind gently caressed your body. Maybe you should have brought an umbrella. You hear someone beside you sit before knocking into your chair. The only logical answer was Henry. You open your eyes and turn to make contact with the one and only Henry Bowers. He looked mad. Whether about the store or the seat you didn’t know, but you tried your best to ignore him. That task proved difficult as he kicked your chair and knocked your shit off your desk all class. What a childish asshole! This would be a long fuckin day. You carried on about the next 2 periods with little to no problem, but you were the last to exit your third period classroom. Even the teacher had fled out as the lunch bell rang. As you get up to leave and find the group someone came up behind you, grabbed your arm and yanked you back. “¡Ayee!¿¡Qué La chingada!? Bro! What the fuck?!”You yelled, turning around to see none other than Henry bowers. Oh fuck. You think to yourself. You are in a completely empty class with a fucking crazy person and no one is going to be coming back for at least another 45 minutes. “What do you want, Bowers?” You asked indignantly, holding your head up. “I know what you are~” he says to you in a crazy almost singsong way. “What the fuck are you talking about” you are getting increasingly annoyed with his hand on you. His face grows angry as he pushes you into a wall before getting in your face. “You’re A fucking whore.” He spits. You can feel the heat of his face lapping at yours from how close he is , but you don’t flinch. You won't cower. “I should have known from the fucking second you came into my town, that you were a fucking prostitute!” You pushed him away and tried to walk out. “I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about!” You shout as you try to pass him. “Don’t fucking walk away from me!” He shouts, grabbing you roughly by the arm. It hurt so bad it felt like his skin was made of fire, burning your flesh. “DONT FUCKING TOUCH ME!” You scream and turn to smack him across the face. He stumbles back and you take the opportunity to flee. You don’t look back as you leave Henry in the classroom and run to your bike rack where the rest of the group is waiting for you. “Woah! what the fuck happened to you?” Richie asks loudly. Making everyone look at you. You had tears down your face and you were panting from running. “A-a-a-are you ok?” Billy asked you, stepping closer. You haven’t been this panicked since your mother… “He-“ you huffed and gulped trying to get the word out. “Henry” you finally said. Everyone looks at each other and Beverly steps forward. “Did he hurt you?” She asks worriedly. You look away from her eyes and move your arm, telling her all she needs to know. “Can I see?” She gently takes your hand and tries to get your eyes' attention. You didn’t want this. What if they told people about your tattoos? You just got here! This place is so old fashioned in its views you haven’t even seen any adult other than Kev with tattoos. You’ll be ground into mud. “Please.” You sob to her. “Don’t tell anyone.” She nods at you and you want to believe her. “We won’t tell anyone” she looks at the others. “Right boys?” They all nod and try to lean in to get a closer look. Beverly pulls up the sleeve of your sweater to reveal the green vines that have been stained into your gentle skin. Her eyes crawl over every scar the tattoo has covered. From small circular ones to deeper older ones. She eventually pulls your sleeve up to your elbow to reveal that at the top of your forearm is the shape of a hand that’s already starting to bruise. “It’s just a bruise. It doesn't appear to be broken” she smiles gently at you. “W-w-w-woah. That’s beautiful” Billy says in regards to the vines. You smile. “You guys can’t tell anyone?” you repeat. “We won’t.” Beverly states. “Good idea though.” Eddie pipes up. “Ya know. Hiding them. People here don’t like that kinda stuff.” “Yeah I noticed” you huffed a laugh. “L-l-l-looks like you are finally a part of the losers club.” Billy smiles wide. “Losers club?” “You’ve become a target for Bowers. That makes you one of us now! Welcome to the club of losers! Where no one really likes us and we don’t really like anyone else!” Richie announces like a game show host. You snort. “Yeah. That sounds good” you pause. “By the way… how fuckin old are y’all? I been meaning to ask and legit can not figure it out.” You all laugh. Beverly answers you sweetly. “We are all sophomores. You?” “Oh shit, I’m a senior.” They all nod and laugh. All of you continue talking until lunch is over. “I think I’m gonna head home early today. I ain’t want another run in with that asshole.” You take your bike off the rack as the end of lunch bell rings. They all wave you goodbye as you ride away. You get to the shop early and greet Kevin as usual. “Honey I’m home!” You shout. The customers shopping look at you funny. Kevin runs out and looks at you. “Hey why are you here? School isn’t out for like another 4 hours?” He scratched his head in confusion. “Bad day. I didn’t wanna deal. Plus it’s only the second day. They usually don’t start teaching till the 4th day or so.” You hugged super quick and you changed into your work clothes in the back room and sat with killer because technically you weren’t supposed to be working right now and all the restocking was done yesterday. After about an hour Kevin came into the back room to talk to you. “Hey I- woah, who gave you the print?” He pointed at your arm. You didn’t usually like lying to Kevin but you felt like now was the time. “Some bitch in calc grabbed me thinking I was someone else. That’s the problem when everyone here dresses like women in the 50’s who were finally permitted to wear pants” at this he snorted. “I gotta head out for a sec, come watch the front with killer till I get back.” He tossed you the keys and left. The store was as quiet and slow as it usually is so you sat on your phone and listened to some music. You were relaxed and found euphoria in being alone and having time to yourself. That was until someone came in. He grabbed you by your hair over the counter to make you look at him. Henry fucking Bowers. Killer started going crazy and took Henry’s pant leg before Henry kicked him. “Calm down your bitch before I fucking kill it!!” He screamed at you. You sobbed and agreed. “Killer!” The dog immediately stilled. “Down boy!” The dog calmed down, whimpering, and pawed into the back room. You swear sometimes that dog was a little too well trained. “What the FUCK do you want Henry?!” You gritted out. He gets up in your ear. “I want you to know that I know everything.” “Oh my god! What the fuck are you talking about, you redneck asshole!?” His grip on your hair tightens. “I know that you are whoring yourself out to the owner of this shop” he laughs. “WHAT?!” You yell. So caught off guard you aren’t even focused on the pain anymore. “I fucking saw you In the parking lot last night and the creepy fuck drives you to his house every day. You're telling me a 40 year old man comes to my town, lives alone for years and then suddenly the only girl he ever has is a freshly 18 piece of ass?!” “IM NOT FUCKING KEVIN!” “BULLSHIT!” “It’s not bullshit!! He was my best friend's brother!! His tattoos are fucking older than me!!! I had no where else to go so he offered that I stay with him, now for fucks sake let me go!” You punch Henry in his stomach and he stumbles back into a shelf making all the CD’s fall on him. “Oh fuck” you gasp, running from behind the counter and over to him. “Shoot, I didn't mean to hit you that hard. ¿Estás herido?”(are you hurt?) You try to touch his shoulder to see if he’s okay and he punches you square in the face. “Agh! FUCK” you hold your hand over your eye. “What the hell is your damage you dick!?” You yell at him as you back away. Henry stands and goes to walk out of the store. “You are so fucking dead new kid. I’m gonna fuckin ruin you.” He says “calmly” as he walks out the door. You go to the bathroom and look at your eye in the old mirror. Fuck. There was already a shiner starting to form. You look at the clock to see that it’s only fifth period in school right now. No way this mother fucker ditched just to fuck with you. You hurry back out onto the floor and try to get the CD’s back on the display. Bad thing is that some of the disks came out of the case from all the commotion, leaving the disks scratched and damaged. As you were trying to pick up Kevin came back with some food in hand only to see you on the floor cleaning with a bruise on your face.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“¡Ayee chiChita! Are you okay?(shorty)” he puts the food on the table and runs to kneel in front of you. “Who the fuck hit you?” You could see he was fuming. But you couldn’t speak. You hadn’t felt this helpless since you were back home with your parents. All possible words caught in your throat as you leaned forward into him and began to sob. You sat there crying in his arms for god knows how long. Before you knew it you had cried yourself to sleep in his arms. He knew who gave you the black eye. He just didn’t want to do anything just yet. He picked you up and gently got the attention of killer who was whimpering in the back room. What the fuck happened here? He put you and killer in the truck along with the food and locked up the store for the day. He drove you home and carried you up the stairs. Checking his watch he saw that school wasn’t out for another 20 minutes. He left killer with you and walked off the property, back down the dirt road to the Bowers ranch. He saw that Butch’s cruiser wasn’t there but that little shitbrick Henry was. Henry was walking over to the farm with no one else in sight. Kevin hopped the gate and hauled ass to Henry before grabbing him by the shirt roughly and turning him around. Kevin could swear on his life that he saw fear in Henry’s eyes before Henry’s face flattened at seeing Kevin. “What do you want?” Henry spit. Kevin smacked Henry across the face. Hard. Before taking the front of Henry’s shirt and lifting him up. “Listen here you little shit.” Kevin’s said calmly. “If you ever fucking come into my store and hit my sister again I’ll fucking kill you. I’ll beat you worse then you have ever experienced. I’ll make you fucking wish for your fathers hand. I will kill you and mount your head on a fucking stake. Do you understand me?” Henry stays silent and nods. No doubt still feeling the sting of being hit. Kevin nods back and puts Henry down before walking back over to the fence and hopping it again. He takes a nice easy walk home. Like it never happened. Meanwhile Henry was in his head. He doesn't know what it is about you he finds so interesting. What is it that pulls him in? You make him so indescribably angry by doing nothing. He was so fascinated by you but holy fuck did he want to punch you Everytime you spoke. No one he’d ever fucked with had hit him and then came back to see if he was ok. He needed to know more. He wanted to know about the kind tattooed girl. He was gonna know about you. Whether you liked it or not. ~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~You woke up the next morning confused. You face hurt and you felt dehydrated. Like a wave of realization, it all hit you. God, what an awful day. You turn to your alarm clock to find a little note written by kevin. “Called you outta school today. Try to relax, here’s some cash, have a good day <3 You smiled at the handwriting of the note. It almost looks frantic. You decided to get dressed and go outside. If Henry was gonna ruin your life here why not explore a little before. Killer is laid peacefully asleep on your bed. Poor thing must have been so stressed yesterday. You get up gently and go to the closet. You pick out a white summer dress and some fleece lined beige stockings. You pair that with a pink sweater cardigan. You slip into some sneakers and grab your messenger bag, phone, cash and keys, you sneak past killer to nlet him sleep and make your way out to the shed to retrieve your bike. Putting all of your belongings into the basket you lock up the property and head on your way. Your venture into town is long and peaceful. The wind smelled fresh. You never got air like this back home… Home. That wasn’t home. This is home. You make your way into town and stop by a store. People gave you real funny looks about your eye. But you only ever greeted them with a smile. With some of the cash you had, you bought dog treats and 2 toys for killer. Along with ordering a custom tag for him. You drop the toys and treats In the basket and continue down your journey. You had just hit the red bridge. You don’t wanna go near the store today. You don’t know who's there and Kevin might be upset you came to work. Instead you rode down into the wooded area surrounding the red bridge. You found a small little water bank surrounded by smooth rocks and trees. You decided here would be a good place to relax. You parked yourself on the rocky area beside the crystal clear water. You put on some headphones and turned on music. You laid there in the shade for what could have been hours. You weren’t sure. After a bit you heard some people. Sitting up and looking to the source of the sound. To your surprise, it was the losers. They notice you on the rocks and run over to you. “Hey y’all!” You shout with a wave. “What’re y’all doin out? Isn’t school still in?” You question. “It’s lunch and we wanted to hang out here since it isn’t too far from the school” Mike answers. You liked Mike he was smart. Kind. You liked all the losers. They treated you like a human. “What happened to your eye?” Eddie asked skeptically. “Had a run in with the corner of a shelf while I was working. My dog tripped me. No big deal.” You could tell that Billie, Beverly and Mike didn’t believe you, but everyone else took your lie, no problem. “What is this place?” You finally ask. “I-I-it’s the b-b-barrens. We hang out here somet-t-t-times.” Interesting. The group of you sit around for a minute and talk about life. It was peaceful. That was. Until you heard Henry and his goons, coming your way. “Scatter!” Eddie whisper yells and all of you run in different directions. You run the same way as Beverly. She takes a hold of your hand as you both run through the woods in the direction of the school. As you and Beverly run Henry Bowers jumps out in front of you. You and Beverly jump from surprise and fear. You position her a little behind you and glower at Henry. He’s alone. You won’t let him hurt your friend. “Nice shiner” he points to his own eye. “How’d you get it?” He mocks. “None of your fucking BUISNESS” you grit your teeth on the last word. He knew how you got it. The fucker gave it to you. But on your life, no one else would know. He stands and looks between you and Beverly for a Moment before running at you. “BEVERLY RUN!” You yell and push her as you dodge Henry. Beverly takes off in the direction of the road and you focus back on Henry, who’s staring at you like an animal. You both watch each other like the other one will kill you at any time. You weren’t gonna fucking sit and play obedient to this crazy fuck. “You know,” Henry speaks. “That dirty old fucker came over yesterday. Yeah. He told me all about how he and you are-“ he reaches down and grabs his crotch through his pants. “Shaking the sheets. Every-“ a thrust of his hips. “Night.” You laugh in his face. “Are you fuckin’ slow kid? Was it all those years of hick inbreeding or do you really just that stupid?” you laugh at him. You can tell you struck just the right nerve. “FUCK YOU” he yells and lunges at you. “¡CHINGA TU MADRE!” ( fuck your nother) you yell back at him as he knocks you over and pins you to the rocks. You knee him in the stomach hard enough to make him wheeze and flip over so you are on top of him. He loosens his hands from your pin and punches you in the sternum so you pick up a handful of dirt and toss it in his face, effectively blinding him. He headbuts you so hard you become momentarily dizzy. He flips you over again and takes you by your shoulders, pinning you to the rocks. He picks up the closest rock and positions his arm, ready to hit you. At this you kick him as hard as you can in the balls and once again flip on top of him. He’s so focused on the pain in his balls that you don’t even need to pin him as you punch him in the chest 5 or 6 times. Before you get off him you flip him over and shove his face into the water that, just a few moments ago, was so beautiful, clear, and still. You jump off him and get your things you dropped before running the same way Beverly did. You can hear him hacking and choking on the water as you run. You meet her at the bridge and all the others come running. Ben tells you that his friends are still hot on their tail and you tell them to follow you. As fast as all of you could. You run to the center of town. They can fuck with you all they want. But they wouldn’t dare in broad daylight. Not with the cops patrolling the square like they were. “Fuck” Eddie gasps. “What about our bikes?” “Don’t worry, they were too worried about finding us to take our shit.” You try to calm him. “What do we do?” Ben worries. “The school bell rings in 15 minutes, my mom will kill me if she gets a call saying I ditched 4th period.” He whines. God you really don’t wanna do this. But they all look so worried and you don’t want them to get in trouble with their parents….fuck. You pull out your phone and dial Kevin. He picks up on the first ring. “Wussup!” He yells goofily over the phone. “I was just about to call to-“ you cut him off. “No time, Kevy, I need your help. My friends were having lunch while I was in town and they were attacked. We are at the town square. Please help us out.” You beg. The other side of the line goes quiet for a bit. Just as you were about to start begging you hear a shout from the other line. “Everyone out, we are closed! Come back in 2 hours for a discount! Family emergency! I’ll be there in 3.” With that he hangs up. The members of the group stare at you before hugging you in thanks. Just as he said he was there in 3 minutes with his truck. You all piled into the tailgate and Kenny rushed off to the school. Kenny may have broken some minor traffic laws but he got your friends there with 3 minutes to spare. “Don’t y’all worry about the bikes. I’ll take care of it” you smiled again and waved to your friends as you got into the passenger side seat. You knew Kevin wanted to ask questions but he knew you wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted. You direct him back to the bridge and the pair of you hop out and scale down the steep hill of trees and leaves retrieving a bike each then going back down again 4 times until everyone’s bike is in the tailgate of the truck. That took like an hour. It was exhausting. Your white dress was covered in mud from the fight with Henry. What the fuck was that dudes problem? He’s gotta be majorly fucked in the head. You and Kevin drove back to the school and put all the bikes except yours in the hidden bike rack. You texted Bev where they were with a photo and Kevin drove you home. He dropped you off and made you promise to keep killer by you for the rest of the day. You agreed. You went upstairs and stripped of all your nasty ass clothes before putting on a huge shirt and some shorts. You flopped down on the couch with some snacks and watched shitty cable for a few hours before you got a call from Beverly. “Whassup?” you mumbled through a mouth full of chips. “The boys wanted to say thanks for getting back the bikes. We all really appreciate it.” “No problem. Did anything happen after you got back?” “Not really? Henry and his goons didn’t come back to school for the day so we just assumed they ditched.” You could hear her shrug. Interesting. You could only imagine where they had gone. Nir that it was any of your business. “I didn’t have time to check. Is everyone ok?” You ask. “For the most part. We think they followed us from the school when lunch got out. Eddie had a panic attack because he wasn’t allowed to wash the mud off himself. Stanley and Ben have been jumpy all day, and Mike has a fractured wrist from Vic grabbing him.” “Vic?” “The skinny blonde one. The fat one who always wears a hat is Belch, and the tall one with long hair was Patrick.” “Oh. Who the fuck names their kid Belch?” You say, thinking out loud. Beverly giggles. “His real name is Reginald but everyone calls him belch because he… well, belches” she laughs. You give a nose laugh and thank her for letting you know everyone was okay. The 2 of you hung up, and within minutes of the call ending Kevin came in with a little bag from the pharmacy. Tossing the bag to you he wanders over to his room and flops on the bed. You walk to the doorway and look at him. “Ya want any food?” You gingerly ask. “No thanks I just need to fuckin sleep.” He mumbles. “Roger. Love you man, sleep tight” you holler behind you as you shut the door to his room. You walk upstairs with killer and empty the pharmacy bag onto the bed. Oh hell yeah. He got you a new tube of Arnica bruise cream because yours was half out, as well as some Bactine, cotton pads and bandages. Everything you needed to clean yourself up. You take the Arnica and rub it onto your black eye and the bruises on your arms and sternum. Then you spray the little cuts you have with bactine, then let them dry out. The cuts were so small you didn’t really need bandages. You lift the back of your giant shirt up to your shoulders to see if you had any bruises back there. You didn’t. Looking at your back in the mirror, you looked at your scars. Every scar your parents could inflict on you never faded. You run your finger across a particularly long scar and cringe. It was fully healed and didn’t hurt. But Every Time you touch it you remember how bad it did hurt. You pull your shirt back down and get into bed. As you settle in you look at the clock. 8:00pm. The perfect time. To get the rest you needed to go back tomorrow. You snuggle up to killer and let yourself be gently lulled to slumber. ~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~↯~~~~ You are woken up by the sound of killer growling at something making noise outside. You groan and look to the clock. 10:49 pm. Not too late but sure as fuck not when you wanted to wake up. You get out of bed and put on your fluffy robe to go out to the balcony and check out the noise. You tell killer to calm down, and as usual he does but he continues to stare outside. You shut the balcony door behind you and just try to listen. In the distance you hear someone, a man, screaming his head off, he’s yellin and someone. “Some crazy ole man is drunk and wakin up my dog for nothin.” You mumble to no one. As you turn to head back inside you see something from the corner of your eye run across part of the property yard and into the farm shed. Well shit. You slip on your shoes and ready yourself with a bat and a flashlight. You tell killer to stay and then you sneak out the front door. What the fuck were you doing? This is fucking scary! Anything could be in that shed and you’re fuckin “checkin it out”? This is how every hot white girl dies in the movies. You try to calm your thoughts as you sprint to the shed. Holy fuck it’s freezing out here. You sneak up to the shed and hide your flashlight against the skin of your tummy while you mentally countdown to opening the door. Bat in hand you count. 1 2 3 Boom! You swing the door open and point the light and bar at the inside of the shed. But no animal comes running out.In the corner you see a boy. A boy in a familiar red sleeveless tee you saw earlier today. “Holy shit. Henry?” He looks up at you with anger. “Get the fuck away from me you fucking freak!” He screams at you. You drop the bat and rush to his side with the flash light. “Are you okay?” You begin to scan him. His elbow goes into the side of your face as you try to look at him. The force of it sends you back. Hitting your back and head on the wall. “Ah fuck.” You spit blood onto the floor from your busted lip before getting closer to him once more. As you approach him again he begins trying to hit you with both arms. His arms are flailing and hitting you so hard it’s difficult to think. Eventually you are able to get his arms and look at him, “Fuck! Henry! Stop it!” You yell at him. “Let me make sure you’re okay. Then you can beat my ass all you want” you say in an unamused and seriously annoyed tone. He calms down a little. You pick up the light he knocked out of your hands and you shine it on him. His face is bleeding and he has some serious bruises on his upper arms. A cut goes from his exposed shoulder into the back of his top. He has a small circular burn on the side of his neck almost covered by his hair. He’s shaking. You can’t tell if that’s because he’s cold or whoever just beat the tar outta him. You take off your fluffy robe and put it around his shoulders. His eyes move from the ground to you. He looks fucking pissed. Not that you care. He can be mad at you when you are done cleaning him up. You stand up and reach out a hand for him. “Yeah” he scoffs “like I’m fucking going with you.” He looks at the ground. You huff. “It’s either you come with me to get cleaned up or I call the cops” His head shoots to your directionz his eyes wide with fear. He quickly stands up and looks to the door as a sign he’s choosing to go with you. You wouldn’t have actually called the cops. You don’t really like cops. You just needed him up. You gently take his hand and lead him to the house. He doesn't exactly seem to enjoy your hand on his wrist given his frigid state. But he lets you drag him anyway.