𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 | ꜱᴛᴀɴʟᴇʏ ᴜʀɪꜱ ¹

𝐓𝐖𝐎

VERONICA WALKED THROUGH THE PAVEMENT INTERSPERSED AMONG BUILDINGS DRAPED WITH GRAFFITI.

From the outside, Derry looked like a city that had lost its battle with nature and been swallowed by dense rule-breaking. But though it was a bit run-down, Derry was a proud town maintained by its people.

The defining characteristic of their town was the abundance of stories that doted the air like brightly colored fruit. 'They were every where you stayed, living in happy companionship with whoever decided to spread its history.

Veronica pushed through the crowd as she crossed a pedestrian crossway that went over one of the many canals where merchants hawked their goods from boats and canoes. As she passed the laundromat, Veronica held her backpack over her head to protect herself from the homeless people dive-bombing passerby who got too close to their streetlamp.

With school officially out, the streets were filled with even more excitement than usual. Signs reading "Spend Your Summer Here!" hung in the windows of bars and restaurants along pictures of clown-themed desserts and drinks inspired by the local town legends.

A large group of people loitered outside the electronics store, watching the TVs on display. Clips of kids playing in an arcade flashed across the screens. Veronica tried to sneak past without being spotted, but almost immediately, a hand caught her backpack.

"Ronnie!" A round-faced girl grinned, dragging her into the group.

"What are you gonna do this summer?" Greta Keene asked, gesturing to one of the displays.

Some kids posed and smiled in their crisp uniforms alongside clips of the comic characters saving people from various disasters. Their stats were listed in the corner of the screen.

"Ill be home a lot, I guess," Veronica replied, trying to sound polite through a mouthful of resentment. Luckily, everyone present was too busy theorizing to notice.

"You should spend it with us, for sure," Lacey Snyder replied, scraping the lavender colored hair and on her wrist. "We'd love to have you!"

"We love getting our hair done after schools over!"

"Oh, wont you join us, Won-Won?"

Veronica rolled her eyes, and used their arguing as a chance to slip away.

The light changed and Veronica crossed the street, dodging a man pushing his Doritos cart and a woman carrying a stack of crates. A bodega sat on the corner, nestled between a bird supply store and a spice shop. It was a short, clementine orange building with windows plastered with flyers and advertisements. Above the front door, the words THE BIRD were written in black letters next to a delicately painted mural of a parrot.

Managing to go through the alleyway, Veronica slipped on her headphones just as her mixtape began playing. Through the alley, a boy struggled to open a fanny pack from around his waist.

"Woah, why do you have two fanny packs?" Veronica said, sprinting forward to easily help this poor kid open his fannypack.

The boy leaned back in surprise. "Veronica!"

When Veronica shifted the pack out of her hand, the boys eyes took her in. A wide face of surprise split his face immediately.

"I told you not to come down here!" he greeted nervously, spreading his arms out at his sides,

"And I warned you that I'd be coming down anyways." Veronica grinned. "Need a hand?"

Richie chuckled. "Yeah, like we need help from you. Not after that stunt Henry pulled today," he confessed, slapping the new kid on the shoulder on the shoulder. His shirt was cobalt blue and covered in blood.

"Hey, Veronica."

Before Veronica could answer, Richie's face scrunched up in confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be on your way to torture someone else?"

Veronica shifted another stack of mixtapes into her other hand. "Just swinging by to say hi to some old friends first."

"Well, looks like you've already done that!" Richie said, ushering her toward the other end of the alleyway. "Your Chief of Police Daddy isn't gonna be too happy with you," he said with an amused look.

Veronica snorted. "What else is new?"

Late was late, and her approximate amount of lateness didn't matter. She'd be getting a lecture either way.

A noise chimed as Beverly pushed through the group.

"Are you okay? That looks like it hurts," the familiar voice chirped.

"No, I'm fine. I just... fell," Ben said as he leaned against the brick wall.

Richie, the tiny glasses boy, swooped down and stood by Eddie on the concrete.

"Yeah! Right into Henry Bowers!" he said, dipping his head to look at Veronica.

"What's got him all worked up?" Bill asked as Veronica went behind the group.

"Don't mind Richie," Stanley said. "He's just mad that his boyfriends yelling at him again."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Richie shouted, his Hawaiian shirt ruffling as he hopped angrily across the pavement. "Stop calling him that!"

Beverly pulled out a large paper bag that was so packed, it'd had to be stapled shut. "You sure they got the right stuff... to fix you up?"

"You know... we-we'll take care of it," Bill said. "Uh, thanks-thanks again, Beverly."

"Sure," Beverly said as she nodded towards the group. "Maybe I'll see you around."

Bill grinned. "Yea, we were thinking about going to the q-quarry tomorrow if you wanted to come."

"Good to know. Thanks." Beverly grinned.

"Is that just a Beverly thing or is this open to Veronica's too?" Veronica asked him, fishing out her mixtape from her backpack. "It would be awfully rude to offer her and leave your dear friend out, wouldn't it Bill?"

"Oh, what I wouldn't give to spend another day with the girl who betrayed us." Richie said wistfully as he stroked his glasses. "I adore Veronica Bowers oh so much."

Veronica couldnt blame Richie for being mad at the things she did; especially since Henry after took a go at them. They were some of the only people that Veronica hung out with when she was younger—before Henry went batshit crazy.

"Is that a yes?" Veronica felt a small grin tug at her mouth.

"It's a yes."