Far From Perfect [S.Uris]

Eden and the Quarry

The night before, Eden had managed to sneak past her mother and change into some proper clothes just in time.

Besides that, she had other problems such as how she felt towards Stanley, and what could have happened while they were walking, and the clown that she saw.

Was she going crazy? Was she already crazy? Or is she Derry's next targeted missing kid.

Right now, as she walks to the quarry to meet Stanley and the others, she can't help but continue to check her surroundings every now and then, fearful that someone else would show up out of nowhere.

Once she arrives at the edge, she sees only one boy. "Stan? Where are the others?" She asks. "They all jumped. I wanted to wait for you." He purses his lips, looking down towards the others.

"Oh. Thanks, Stan." She smiles. She slowly lifts her shirt, then unbuttons her jeans and slips them off. Stanley forces himself to look away while the girl gets undressed, then looks back to her when she stands beside him.

"I don't know about this.." she admits, fearfully looking down. "Yeah. Me neither. I'm sorry." He responds.

"Sorry for what?" She chuckles. "This." He grabs her hand, pulling her down with him. They both scream, holding onto each other's hands as strongly as they could, before they submerge in the water.

"Stan, you jerk!" Eden laughs, splashing his face once he emerges from the water. "You wouldn't do it if I didn't force you!" He shouts, laughing as she continues to splash him without stop.

"Will you stop that?" He splashes her back. "Asshole." She chuckles, pulling him down into the water along with her.

They smile to each other under the water. Stanley takes notice of how Eden's hair looks so beautiful when it slowly sways with the current.

Eden can't help but grin widely, until she looks behind Stanley, finding a sinister face planted in the rocky bottom. She quickly goes back up, gasping.

"Eden? What happened? Is everything okay?" Stanley asks, grabbing onto her waist without taking notice. Eden looks down at his hands, causing him to quickly remove them.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." She lies. Stanley doesn't seem to believe it, causing her to grow nervous. Luckily, Richie calls out right after.

"Chicken fight!" He exclaims as he climbs onto Ben's shoulders. "Hell yeah. Wanna team?" Eden smiles over to Stanley.

"Hm?" He looks over to her. "You and me.." She chuckles. "Oh! Yeah." He nods, going underwater and helping her onto his shoulders, slowly swimming over to the others.

"Anyone brave enough to take us on?" Eden smirks, holding Stanley's hand that was resting on her leg. "Oh. You're on, blondie." Richie smirks.

Eden let's go of Stanley's hand, then reaches forward, grabbing Richie's arms and beginning to push him down.

"Try not to cry when I defeat you." Eden says cockily. "In your dreams, Blondie." Richie laughs, pushing harder, yet she resists. "I'm not losing." She denies.

"Why? You wanna impress Stanley?" Richie says, causing her to blush. Immediately, she manages to push him off, cheering when he hits the water.

Stanley cheers, letting her down and holding up his hand for a high five. Instead, she hugs him, causing him to smile widely. She chuckles, leaning her head on his shoulder while Richie goes up against Beverly.

Stanley can't help but feel his heart flutter. He can tell that summer with Eden Moore is going to be fun, happy, and hopefully, something could finally happen between the two.

After about another half hour of swimming, they had all decided to dry off. While Beverly sun bathes, the boys not being able to keep their eyes away, Eden and Stanley have a conversation on the side.

"Look at them. It's like they've never seen a girl before." She laughs. Stanley looks  over at Beverly for a split second, then turns back to Eden.

"Don't tell me you're into it, too." She widens her eyes. "What? No." Stanley speedily shakes his head. "Mhm." She says in disbelief.

A moment of silence passes, then the two of them start snickering. "I can see it all over your face, Stan. You're blushing." She laughs. Stanley sighs, looking down at the large rock they were seated on.

If only Eden would realize he wasn't blushing because of Beverly. "Hey, I get it. She's pretty, right? I mean, like, really pretty." She comments.

"Yeah. You totally got me." Stanley mutters in disappointment. "You see? I know you, Stan the man." She smiles, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Like an open book." Stanley adds.

"More like a movie I really like. I don't read books." She chuckles. "Really like?" Before Eden could respond to Stanley, Beverly looks up.

All the boys turn around. "News flash, Ben. School's out for summah!" Richie says as he rummages through the boy's bag.

"Oh that? That's not school stuff." Ben responds causally. Eden slowly sits up, still leaving her arm around the boy beside her.

"Who sent you this?" Richie asks, pulling out a postcard. "No one. Give it.." he takes it from him. "No one."

Richie reaches inside once again, pulling out a black folder. "What's with the history project?" He inquires. "Oh.. well, when I first moved here, I didn't really have anyone to hang out with, so I just started spending time in the library." Ben responds.

"You went to the library? On purpose." Richie says in disbelief. "Believe it or not, Richie. Some people read. I know, it took me by shock as well." Eden jokes.

Stanley chuckles, smiling to the girl beside him. "Oh, I wanna see." Beverly states, standing up and taking a seat beside Bill.

"What's The Black Spot?" Stanley asks as he reads through the newspaper articles. "The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult." Eddie explains.

"The What?" Eden cuts in. "Don't you watch Geraldo?" Eddie replies. "Y-Y-Y-Your hair.." Bill mentions, looking to Beverly.

"Your... your hair is beautiful, Beverly." Ben quickly says. Eden can easily notice the disappointment on Bill's face. "Oh." She smiles.

"Right. Thanks."

"Yeah, Bev. It's totally badass." Eden smiles. "Here, pass it." Richie says, holding out his hand for the folder.

"Why is it all murders and missing kids?" He passes it back to Stanley and Eden. "Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before." Ben comments. "They did a study once, and it turns out people die or disappear six times the national average."

"You read that?" Beverly asks. "You read?" Eden wanted to say, but decided it was best to stay quiet. "And that's just grown-ups. Kids are worse. Way, way worse." He adds.

"I've got more stuff of you wanna see it."