❝ so NOW i RISK it ALL,
just for the FEELING of JOY
you BRING me ❞
[ bill denbrough x oc ] [it 2017]
-
in which the sunshine girl of derry
offers six boys and one girl a friendship bracelet each,
ending up in a mess of a friendship and summer of...
APRIL AMBROSE WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD, the year, 1989. Besides the events which have been occurring as of late, it was safe to say that despite the worry pushed to the back of her head she was rather happy with how life was going. See, April could very much be seen as the sunshine in the rain, or the light at the end of the tunnel. She was just so cheerful, all of the damn time.
To say the least, April was a bright girl, in many ways. She seemed to be able to light up people's worlds once they were able to break passed her shy demeanour, once they truly knew her, they'd unlock a treasure trove of shy rambles and giggly grins. She'd often find her fingers occupied braiding and threading pieces of colourful string together, tying them around her wrist or ankle as cute bracelets and anklets. They were the perfect friendship bracelet, the one problem was, she didn't seem to have many friends. Or any friends at all.
It was curious. With her striking, tired, drooping eyes of dull blue and lips always curled into a warm smile, you'd expect her to be able to make friends easily - 'Ihave a friendly face', she'd often think to herself as she tucks a piece of her feathery hair behind her ear while watching her peers chatter amongst themselves. She was plain, but she definitely wasn't intimidating. She's tried to make friends too, it just never worked out - people either finding her shyness odd or just brushing her off completely. It had her thinking, 'am I annoying?' sometimes.
Nevertheless, April Ambrose was a joyful girl. Skipping around the hallways with a pep in her step as her floral dresses flowed behind her, her hair often having a single braid down the side with the rest down. She was almost ethereal, a daydream in the works - it's just that seeing as how boring the people in Derry were, they'd label anyone relatively different as odd.
No one seemed to understand how sixteen-year-old pessimist, Holden Ambrose, more commonly known as Holly, was related to the towns too-sweet-too-shy optimist. April and Holly resemble one another in looks -- similar hair and eyes. Though April thought that Holly was somewhat more saturated and beautiful than her, this was not the case, however. They were both lovely young girls with differing personalities. While April was constantly chattering off to their parents about this and about that. Holly always seemed to be rolling her eyes, nose in a book as she attempted to tune everything out. She never really was a chatty person, books were far more interesting than people, she found.
Holden, in her what some would call, 'tweens' was still very similar to how she is now. Observant, tired, and irritable at times. She preferred to keep to herself, though, she did sometimes find herself pining over the boys in her class. Something which always caused her cheeks to burn red and eyes to widen, ducking her head back into her book and silently reading.
Josephine and Cain Ambrose met in their childhood. They met in Junior High. From there, it was whirlwind of romance and happiness. They seemed to be on top of the world, those two. They were just so perfect for one another and the perfection only seemed to grow with their two daughters.
The Ambrose sisters were raised in a loving home with loving parents. It solidified April's thoughts on true love, her eyes glassy at the thought of falling in love with the person she'd spend her life with. She was very much a dreamer, April was.
Her mom, Josephine was a dream. Kind smiles and eyes of understanding. She always seemed to be there for her two daughters, her two most precious girls. She'd often laugh to herself when she picks up the girls from school, noticing the way Holden's eyes follow after that one boy in her grade. What was his name? Alexander Egan? Oh, yes. She'd also frown as she watched April offer kind smiles to her peers, being ignored by them - it hurt her heart severely, noticing the way her daughter's smile fell.
In many ways, Cain could be described as a sucker. My, God. Was he ever a sucker for his girls? He could never seem to say no to them! Always wanting to make them happy, he'd die to just see them smile. Joking constantly with April, feeding into her giggles and softly discussing books with Holden. He hoped to God that April would find friends, someone who understood her, someone who didn't find her odd. He just wanted her to be the happiest she could be.
Living in Derry was a curious thing. There was always nothing to do - and, it wasn't the type of boring where it's-so-boring-it's-fun but instead, it was truly, terribly, horribly boring. April always found herself sat in the front steps of her house, threading strings together to make colourful bracelets and anklets or on a walk to the forest to climb trees. It was lonely, she always seemed to think. She did wish awfully that she had friends.
Life in Derry was so terribly dull, especially when you're April Ambrose, happy and full of ideas. Just no friends to do them with. She'd just only hope that during the summer, she'd be able to find some friends. And, she did. But, it was much more than she bargained for.
