easy to hate u, better to love u 》 bill denbrough

o n e

i looked over the cafeteria to find my boyfriend: henry bowers. i examined the entire room, and couldn't see him anywhere. the tables where the older kids in henry's grade sit are usually full. henry's the one who makes room for me. since he isn't here for some reason, there's no room for me to sit by the group of people i usually attempt to hang out with. it's incredibly awkward though, as i'm a few years younger than henry and most of his friends. i looked around again to find a place to sit. one of the only open spots was with a small group of boys in my grade. unfortunately, this particular group was one that henry despised. he tormented them whenever he got the chance. but the only other option was to sit on the floor, so i took a deep breath, and walked up to them.

"do you think i could sit here?" i asked.

"no way!" shouted richie tozier, staring at me looking both angry and confused.

"aren't you dating bowers?" asked eddie kaspbrak.

"yeah but-"

"but what?" richie interrupted.

"there's nowhere else to sit." i shrugged.

"there's the floor," richie said.

"r-richie c'mon. she c-c-can sit with u-us," said stuttering denbrough.

"no! does she fucking expect us to feel bad for her? she can sit somewhere else."

"richie s-s-stop-"

"no, denbrough, it's fine. fuck you trashmouth," i said. "you're not the king of the goddamn school, so quit acting like it."

he flipped me off. i sat down at the table anyway. he seemed surprised. "i decided i didn't need your permission."

"go sit with your douchebag boyfriend."

"shut it trashmouth. he's getting better-"

"not really," said eddie. stanley uris nodded his head in agreement. i rolled my eyes.

"whatever. fuck all of you then," i said, standing up.

"w-wait-"

"i'll go sit on the floor, but only 'cause it's better than being around you guys." i went to walk away, but found myself face-to-face with henry.

"hey babe. are these losers giving you trouble?"

"yeah. they were being total dicks."

"it's alright, i'll take care of them."

"no, it's fine. remember what i said?" i reminded him about the most recurring conversation and argument in our relationship.

"fine. i'll let them off this time. but if they fuck with you again-"

"i know. let's go eat."

"fine." he put his arm around my shoulders and gave the losers one final stare before guiding me to the table where our friends and him were sitting. i guess i couldn't see him through the jumble of people, but it's lucky he noticed me when he did.

"what did those losers have to say anyway?" greta asked when we sat down. she was another one of the slightly younger kids who were allowed to sit with the older ones. still, she was a year older than i was. 

"they were shit talking henry basically."

"what douchebags," she said, rolling her eyes.

"they were shit talking me?" henry asked, getting increasingly angry.

"yeah but nothing too bad."

"what the hell did they say?"

"trashmouth called you a douchebag and when i tried to defend you the other losers agreed."