forever winter-beverly marsh x fem! oc

chapter one

Nothing compares to the last day of summer. Absolutely nothing. That was what Jo Abrams thought the entirety of June 9th. She urged the clock to tick and tock faster, but just as she expected, nothing changed. She sat through math first period with Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak (whom she was sure were dating), language arts second with Bill Denbrough, social studies third with Stanley Uris, science fourth with the new kid, Ben Hanscom, tech ed fifth, and phys ed sixth with her very best friend, Beverly Marsh.

In 3rd grade, when both girls were declared outcasts, they found their way to each other. And ever since Beverly asked Jo to sit next to her during lunch, they became inseparable. Best friends. Kindred spirits were what they liked to call themselves. Just like Anne and Diana from Anne of Green Gables.

The only thing getting her through the sixth period was Beverly. Despite their phys ed teacher being the vilest and cruelest person to step foot on planet Earth, she let the students have a free day. Which meant they could do whatever sport they wanted. Sports. Jo scoffed in her mind. As if.

It would be an understatement if Jo and Bev said they weren't athletic. Because when they said that, they meant it. At the beginning of the year, they were determined to get a better grade than last year. They tried to live up to their teacher's expectations, so they participated and attempted to be good. Not even halfway through the first quarter, they failed. Their teacher got so sick of them trying, she just let them do their thing. Not as if that was an excuse for free A's, though. Both girls had F's in the class.

What better way to end the school year than to escape to the bathroom and smoke when they had the chance? There weren't many better ways. And even though Ms. Whitlock strictly stated that no students were to leave the gym until the bell, Jo and Bev did it anyway. What was the worst punishment they could get? It was the last day of school. They might as well have taken some advantage of that.

The plan was simple. Beverly would ask to go to the bathroom first, Ms. Whitlock would say yes, and she would run off to change in the locker room. Five minutes after, Jo would do the same. And technically they weren't lying. Because they were going to the bathroom. There was no fib in that.

And so, the two girls went along with their very meticulous plan. Jo wasn't sure she had ever met a teacher more gullible than Ms. Whitlock. There were no malfunctions whatsoever.

"May I use the restroom?" Jo asked. She lifted herself on her heels so she would look more confident and prideful. The tall teacher above her looked down, eyeing her.

"Whatever," Ms. Whitlock replied. Jo walked to the door of the locker room, trying not to be obvious about anything. When she opened the door, it creaked.

"Jo!" Beverly shouted quietly through the empty room. Jo tiptoed over to the row where their lockers were. Coincidentally they were side by side. Beverly was putting her beat-up converse on. Quickly, Jo put in the code combination for her locker, grabbed her clothes, and got changed. It wasn't weird to her, no, not at all. Changing in front of Beverly was normal. And besides, she was sort of obligated to considering their lockers were right next to each other.

"You excited for break?" Jo asked. Bev nodded. She was standing up because she successfully put on her shoes. Jo, on the other hand, was still struggling.

"Super excited. This place is a living hell," Bev responded. Jo snorted and pulled on her shoes a little more.

"You're telling me," she agreed. Beverly had her hands placed on her hips as she watched Jo struggle.

"Oh, forget it," she said before leaning down to yank Jo's shoes on.

"Ow! What was that for?" Jo whined. Beverly chuckled.