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❛UGH, BOYS!❜
CHRIS WOKE UP TO LIGHT tapping on his bedroom door. He let out a groan, shielding his eyes as he peeped at the bright red digital clock on his desk, which flashed '6:30 am'. Chris pulled himself from the bed, his hair askew and torso bare. The tapping occurred again.
"Jeez, Lee! Calm your cattle, I'm coming," Chris spoke softly, chucking on a loose tee that was definitely two sizes too big-- though his dad insisted he'd grow into it.
"Hurry up," Beverly's voice whispered eagerly on the other side.
The air was just barely warm as the Marsh siblings slowly tiptoed down the fire escape from their apartment, wincing at every little creak hoping desperately their father hadn't woken from his drunken slumber.
They were unsure of what time they were meant to meet the others at the quarry, but leaving their house early in the morning was better than risking their father forbidding them from leaving as he often did out of his own unhinged rage.
So, they rode down near the city centre, where Chris's favourite ice-cream shop opened bright and early at 7 am for the early-rising Derry kids eager to not waste a single second of summer would come.
Beverly paid for her chocolate scoop and her brothers strawberry, which the two sat and ate by the Paul Bunyan statue, talking about everything and anything until the sun had fully risen, when they decided to bike down to the quarry.
They reached the dense treeline, walking their bikes the rest of the way in silence until Chris decided to speak up.
"Hey, Lee?" he spoke. Beverly hummed in response. "Well, um, what if, when Bill invited you, he meant only you." Beverly smiled lightly and furrowed her brows.
"What do you meant, Toto?"
"Like... what if they don't want me there?" Chris said, looking down at his shoes. Beverly opened her mouth to respond but paused as the two emerged from the tree line to spot the five boys in question-- Richie, Stan, Bill, Ben and Eddie-- stood in their underwear bickering about nonsense as they peered over the edge of the cliff.
Chris took a deep breath, trying to quell his nerves and remind himself that sure, he was odd. But so were these guys. If he gave it a chance, he might just feel at home for once. He smiled in reassurance to himself, pulling off his shirt and shorts and dumping them in the basket of his bike. Beverly took in the sight of the five boys near the cliff edge.
"Tighty whities? Seriously--" Beverly whispered, turning to her brother to share a laugh only to find he too was standing in tighty whities, his identical key to hers dangling from some string around his neck. Chris widened his eyes, turning to her.
"What," he shrugged with puffed cheeks. "They're comfortable." He turned back to the boys watching them look around at each other and suddenly felt insecure about his frail body. He slid his right arm over his left shoulder, while his left arm curled around his waist, shielding him from burning gazes.
