blackbird • stanley uris

eight.

Who knew?

As I stood on my lawn adjusting my handle bars I heard my name being called. Looking around I saw Beverly cycling down the street towards me with a giant smile on her face.

"Bev! Hello! What are you doing here?" I asked as she came to a stop in front of me.

"I thought we could cycle to the quarry together. I hope that's okay?" Her eyes lowered in realisation and worry.

"That is totally fine. Come on let's go!" I smiled at her and got on my bike.

We cycled down to the quarry gossiping and laughing our heads off. As we neared we saw the five Losers lined up in a row at the edge.

"We should out do them and jump first." Beverly whispered into my ear. I jumped at the idea and nodded my head vigorously.

"Alright. Who's first?" Bill questioned. We knew that was the perfect time to make our appearance known.

"I'll go." Beverly called, causing the boys to turn their attention to us. We stripped out of our dresses so we were left in our underwear, much like the boys. We looked at each other and ran towards the Losers yelling "Sissies!" on our way past.

I let out a laugh of joy once my head resurfaced. Each of the boys finally took their turns and jumped in, all creating a giant splash as they hit the surface of the water. I quickly swam over to Stanley and dunked his head under the water before he said anything. I felt a slight tug on my ankle and got dragged underneath the green murky water. Stanley appeared in front of me and pulled a face.

The heat of the sun beat hard down onto the water as Stanley and I resurfaced. We looked over and saw the others on each others shoulders and trying to push the other team into the water. Beverly rested on Bills shoulders and Eddie on Richie's. Beverly cheered victoriously as Eddie fell backwards into the water. I started to swim over to them, eager to scare Bill. I discreetly swam up behind him and slammed my palm into his spine. He let out a squeak in fright and turned to face me. Bill grinned and threw me over his shoulder before dumping me into the water.

•∆•

Beverly and I lied next to each other, bathing in the sun and enjoying the calmness. A radio played loudly in the background and I turned over to look at Beverly.

"Someone is staring at you." She whispered with a wink. I sneekly looked over my shoulder and saw all the boys were staring at the two of us.

"Someone is staring at you." I mumbled back to her and winked. The two of us nodded discreetly at each other and started to rise into a sitting position. The boys looked anywhere but at the two of us.

"News flash, Ben, school's out for summa." Richie broke the silence after digging through Ben's bag.

"Oh that, that's not school stuff." Ben replied.

"Who sent you this?" Richie asked after looking at a postcard.

"No one." Ben yanked the postcard out of Richie's hands and stuffed it back into his bag.

"What's with the history project?" Eddie said as he watched Richie take a folder out of Ben's bag and start reading through it.

"Oh well, when I first moved here, I really didn't have anyone to hang out with so I just started spending time in the library." Ben mumbled watching as Richie passed the folder over to Bill.

"You went to the library?" Richie looked concerned. "On purpose?"

"I wanna see." Beverly got up from next to me and sat next to Bill. I noticed the slight blush dusting his cheeks.

"Me too." I said as I went and sat next to Stanley. I reached across him and grabbed another folder from Ben's bag. I could feel the heat coming off Stanley's body which caused me to retract mine and try to control my racing heart. 'What is up with me lately? I've been feeling weird.'

"What's the black spot?" Stanley asked.

"The black spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by a racist cult." Ben replied. I could tell by the smile on his face that History was definitely something he loved.

"The what?" Stanley said confused. He glanced over to me but I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Don't you watch Geraldo?" Richie laughed.

"Y-y-y-y-your hair..." Bill stuttered badly.

"Your hair looks beautiful Beverly." Ben finished for Bill.

"Oh, right, thanks." Beverly brushed her fingers through her hair and smile at Ben.

"Here pass." Richie mumbled to Bill, stretching a hand out for the folder.

"Why's it all murders and missing kids?" Richie questioned after clicking through it. I leaned over Stanley again to get a better look.

"Derry's not like any town I've been in before. They did a study once. It turns out people die or disappear six times the national average." Ben said. We all stared at him shocked and speechless.

"You read that?" Beverly asked, finally breaking the bubble of shock.

"Not just grown-ups. Kids are like worse. Way, way worse." Ben replied. I felt my hands starting to shake, I tried to stop them by sitting back and holding my hands in my lap. Stanley must have noticed as he placed a warm hand on top of mine.

"I've got more stuff if you want to see it." Ben asked with a shimmer in his eyes. Something tells me this boy has never had friends over. I notice in the corner of my eye Eddie shaking his head fearfully so I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Who knew Derry was so full of mystery.

A/N I am so sorry. I completely forgot I was in the middle of writing a story.
Enjoy the newest chapter and feel free to tell me what you think (this is probably my favourite scene in the movie) 😜

Til next time,
-I x