𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐑━︎━︎ B. Denbrough ✓︎

𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫

CHAPTER FOUR:
THE QUARRY

BEVERLY HAD TRIED TO CALL Athena's house several times, and when she got absolutely no answer from the girl, she became scared. So, Beverly snuck out of her house, succesfully making it past her dad before she took her bag and sped to the Ellison home. She knocked on the door, and the only response she got was Ruby's happy barks in response.

"Athena?!" She called out, her fist slamming on the door, not at all caring that it was the middle of the night and she was probably waking up all of the neighbors. She was worried for her friend. Athena never ignored calls, she almost always picked up the phone. Maybe Beverly was thinking too much into it, but then again, she had a feeling that she wasn't. Beverly looked around, a huff falling from her lips before she found the rock that held the spare key that only she knew about. She looked around to make sure no one was watching before she grabbed the key and placed it into the lock, twisting the door knob and then pushing it open.

She closed the door behind her, rubbing Ruby's head as the dog continued to jump up at her in hopes of gaining her attention. Beverly finally looked down at the dog, a worried smile falling on her face. "Hey, Ruby. You wouldn't happen to know where Athena is, would you?" Almost as if Ruby had heard her, the dog stopped jumping and spun around before running up the steps. Beverly followed the dog and let out a gasp when she saw Athena sitting in the middle of the hallway, her knees pulled up to her chest, her body slightly rocking as her eyes stared at the bathroom with horror, almost as if she were afraid to look away.

"Athena?" Beverly quizzed, quickly kneeling down in front of the girl. Athena's body was shaking, her eyes coated in fear. Beverly frowned, placing her hands on both of Athena's shoulders. Athena slowly moved her blue eyes to look up at Beverly, her lips parting to speak, but nothing came out. Beverly's frown deepened before she took it upon herself to help Athena up and down the stairs. She sat the girl on the couch, bringing her a glass of water before sitting beside of her.

"Hey, what happened? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Athena swallowed, her throat dry, before she shook her head. She tried to force a smile on her face, but it faded almost immediately. "I-It's nothing. I just sc-scared myself."

"Thena, you look pretty shaken up. Are you sure-?"

"I'm fine, Beverly." Athena snapped. She closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

Athena took a sip of the water before placing it on the coffee table. She placed her hands together in hopes of getting them to stop shaking as she turned her head to look at her redheaded friend. That's when she noticed something different about Beverly. Athena cocked her head slightly before asking, "You cut your hair?"

"Oh, uhm, yeah." Beverly nodded. Athena smiled at her.

"I like it. It definitely fits the whole bad girl persona that everyone compares with you."

Beverly smiled at the compliment, tucking the short hair behind her ear. "Thanks."

"So, uhm, movies and junkfood?" Athena asked, wanting a distractions from what it was that she had seen earlier. Beverly's face brightened as she nodded her head.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." With that, the two girls moved from the couch; Beverly to the kitchen to get the snacks, and Athena to the movies to pick out their selection for the night.

★︎★︎★︎★︎

The next morning, the two girls had ultimately decided that they would take Bill's invite and join the boys at the quarry. They both needed something to let the stress fall free from their shoulders, and this was the perfect opportunity. They rode their bikes, stopping when they saw the boys standing on the edge of the cliff. Richie and Eddie had been arguing as per usual, and Bill was the one to cut them off.

"Alright, who's first?" There was pause as they all looked down at the water below, Beverly and Athena exchanging looks before placing their bikes on the ground as Beverly spoke.

"We'll go." Her voice made the boys turn around, all of them watching as the two girls stripped into their undergarments. Beverly ran forward and jumped off the cliff. Athena copied her actions, but instead she did a front flip as well before crashing into the water. Her head broke the surface and she let out a joyful laugh before turning her head to look up at the group of boys that were still staring at the two girls.

"Come on, boys! The water's just fine!" Athena called up to them, swimming backwards as she and Beverly looked up at them.

"Come on!" Beverly yelled, Ben waving down at her. The two friends exchanged amused glances with one another before the boys jumped into the water one by one. When they were all there, they started to splash each other. Athena sent a splash towards Richie who narrowed his eyes at the girl before shoving water back at her. She let out a laugh as he did so, turning her head so the water wouldn't get into her eyes. Richie and Beverly did a chicken fight, before Beverly and Athena did one. Athena climbed on top of Bill's shoulders whilst Beverly did the same with Ben before they went after each other, laughing as they did so before Athena managed to push Beverly into the water, holding up her arms whilst shouting victory before flipping off of Bill's shoulders. They stayed like that for hours, having fun as they searched for creatures in the lake, dunking one another under the water. For once, Athena was in her natural state. She completely forgot about the bathroom incident as she was there, laughing along with a group of boys that she and Beverly had helped break a law. There was no fear, there was only laughter, and she only wished that it could stay like that.