He ran over to me and scanned me from head to toe.
"Are you alright? I can't believe Henry got to you like that. My dad says that a guy should never hit a girl." I brushed off my romper, even though that didn't really do anything but spread the mud around.
"Yeah, well unfortunately Henry is far from a man, so that doesn't apply to him." Stan laughed a bit, but stopped quickly.
"I would've helped you, but I wouldn't be any good. Better to have an adult than another victim of Bower's and his gang save you." He squinted his eyes as he observed my face. "How bad did he hurt you? Your face looks really red." I didn't want to tell him that I had just finished crying, so I said the next best thing.
"He slapped me in the face a few times, but it's all good. And technically you got the guy to come into the alley." He looked at me with a sense of admiration. It made my stomach twist up a bit.
"I wish I could talk about him as calmly as you do. You mock him even though you know he is gonna pummel you." Suddenly Stan lifted his hand to my hair and gently pulled out a leaf that was tangled in my hair. I felt butterflies rise in my stomach. I had that feeling again...no. I can't be seen with this.
"Is something wrong?" He could tell I had something in my mind.
"Why are you still talking to me? I completely shut you out that day. And I can't even hang out with you. My parents grounded me because I was hanging out with you guys behind their backs. If I was seen with you, my parents would completely lose their shit." Stan put his hand on my shoulder and I immediately shut up.
"Your parents aren't around now, are they? And as far as I'm concerned, you aren't the only one that shut me out. I haven't heard front when others since...well since that day. Richie will appear once in a while, but honestly I wish he and his huge mouth go his would stay away." I forced a laugh, but Stan still wasn't convinced. "Why don't we get out of this alleyway and head somewhere private...where a Catholic girl wouldn't be seen with a Jewish boy. What do you say?" I smiled and nodded.
"Okay." Thankfully he didn't see what Bowers did to my hand. I grabbed my bike and followed Stan out of the alleyway. His bike was leaned up against the wall of a building.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked as he mounted his bike. I thought for a second and smiled.
"Follow me." I pushed off the ground and immediately started to pedal. I was careful to not get ran over by any cars or run over any people. But I was also worried that Henry might've never left, or I'd see Bill or Beverly on the street, or even my parents would be following us in a car without us actually knowing. But none of that happened. It was actually a smooth ride to the park.
"I thought you wanted to get away from the public. I don't think the park is the best place." I looped around in my bike and went parallel to Stan.
"We aren't hanging out in the park." Stan was confused for a second, then his eyebrows raised when he finally realized where we were going.
"Well, then, lead the way?" We rode on the trail on the edge of the park and turned into a path that led to The Quarry. "So why'd you choose this place?"
"I don't know. It was the first place I thought of, I guess. This probably sounds stupid, but I guess this was the first place I ever felt...accepted. God that was so sappy." Stan laughed and we peeled off to the side to park out bikes. We went over to the pile of rocks we sat at the first time we came here.
"I don't think it's that sappy." Stan struggled to keep his laugh in.
"You don't have to hold it in. I know it's stupid, but this was the first place I ever felt like myself. At school, I was always one of Greta's followers. And even in my own home, I'm the daughter of two church-crazy Catholics who are blind to the real world...but here. I didn't have to hide anything. I didn't have to change anything about myself." I put my hands in my lap, making sure to cover Henry's markings. Stan was leaning on his knees and had his head turned towards me.
"No, I get it...hey Lucy. Can I ask you something?"
"You just did." I elbowed him and we both laughed at my poorly made joke.
"That day at Neibolt. Why did you let me choose the long stick? I'm sure you were just as terrified as I was. I could've gone in." I stared out into The Quarry.
"You've been so nice to me. You've hung out with me and you gave me a chance. I wanted to do something nice back. And in Bill's garage, I froze and you saved my sorry ass. I wanted to do something in return. I owe you big time. But since we are asking questions, why are you still trying to hang out with me. Bill was pretty clear that I wasn't a part of your group."
"Don't listen to what Bill says. He wanted to go back to the house we almost died in. Believe me, everyone wanted you in the club. He was warming up to you, I could tell. That day he was just pissed off. He wants to avenge his brother. People say things in anger, that's all."
"But I completely dissed your bar mitzvah. I told you to stay away from me. I'm a horrible friend. That's probably why I don't have any right now."
"That's not true. I'm your friend. At least I hope I am your friend." He looked at me, and waited for an answer. I waited a few seconds and smiled.
"I may only have one friend, but I'm glad it's you." We sat there in silence for a few seconds.
"Do why did Henry beat you up? I mean he on badly did you piss him off?"
"It was bound to happen. Back at the rock fight, before I left, he told me I couldn't hide behind you guys forever. That one day they would snap and see the real me. That day came, I was alone. Bad timing. And I guess I did call him and his friends the Faggot Squad." Stan started cracking up and he leaned back, almost falling off the rock. I caught his arm just before he toppled over and pulled him back up.
"Damn you really did deserve it."
There was a small silence. Then I found myself reminiscing about the summer.
"It all felt so long ago. The last day of school; coming to The Quarry and seeing...It. Then there was the Rock fight and Fourth of July. Then the dramatic split up. Can't believe July is almost done."
"Yeah it's crazy. I turn 13 in two weeks. I don't think I'm ready for it, to tell you the truth. My dad is the rabbi, which is sort of the equivalent to a priest, so it feels like my whole life depends on it. It's so stressful, and my dad doubts me. I try to learn, but there has just been so much going on, and I can't even go into my dad's office anymore without...without thinking of the lady in the painting."
"Well you better get your game together because imma be sitting in the front pew or whatever." Stan looked at with wide eyes, and for a second, I wasn't even sure what I said.
"Wait, you're gonna come?" I nodded.
"Well, I'll be out of prison in next week and I gottta support my only friend, right? I'm not gonna mess up again. My parents will probably be pissed, but it doesn't matter. I'll just figure that part out later." Stan smiled and stood up. He held out his hand, signaling that he wanted to pull me up. "Where are we going now? We just got here." He smiled.
"It's a surprise. I promise it'll be worth it." I grinned and grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. Onto our next stop.
"Wait, so where are we?" I followed Stan as he brought me to an area in Derry that I didn't even realize existed. It was a bridge by the school that connected another part of town to the main part of Derry.
"You'll see." Was all he would say.
"I see a bridge. You aren't going to push me off or anything, right? I thought we were getting somewhere."
"No, of course not. It's called The Kissing Bridge."
"Why the Kissing Bridge? I honestly didn't even know this place existed." I went onto the wooden bridge and noticed several carvings in all the planks. There were almost no empty spaces and the writing varied in several different fonts and sizes. They were initials. I squatted down and skimmed my fingers on the infinite amount of letter combinations.
"You see this?" I looked over to Stan. He was standing with one hand in his pocket, the other pointing down at the wooden plank in the middle. I bounced up and walked over to him. I looked to where he was pointing.
D+A Forever
"Those are my parents' initials. They came here right after they got married and carved their names."
"Aww that's really sweet." Stan scrunched his nose and shook his head.
"Trust me, if you were me, you'd hate it. They tell this story and get all sappy whenever we cross this bridge, which is pretty often when you have to cross this bridge to get to the synagogue and cross it again to get back to my house." I laughed as I pushed the hair out of my head. I started to walk across the bridge, continuing to scan at the messages and names, when I came across a huge gap. Initials surrounded the area, but the actual clearing was untouched.
"Hey Stan, look how weird this looks." He joined me and stared down at the empty spot in the wood.
"That's weird. It's like the spot is infected or something." Stan bent down and picked up a sharp rock . He went over to the spot and started to carve.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm claiming my spot," was all he said, as he etched an "S" into the bumpy surface.
"You realize you have to actually have a girlfriend...or boyfriend if your into that stuff. But I mean...you can let people know your forever single if you want them to. Your choice." Stan stood up, and in the once empty area, now had an "S+" in it.
"Well until, then...it stays like that. Who knows, it may never be filled out, but at least I continued the family tradition." He chucked the rock into the he river below, and we watched as it made a huge splash. The sun was setting over the river, giving it an orangey-look. I put my hands on the fence and looked at the sunset.
"It's nice isn't it. How the water reflects the sun like that." Stan leaned on the fence next to me and murmured something inaudible. It was quiet again for a few seconds, but Stan caught me off guard.
"Did Henry do that to you?" I looked to him, and he was staring down...at my hand. I felt my face go red. Suddenly the ache in my side and the sore gut came flooding back into my nerves. I looked down at my hand. It was still red and it throbbed a bit. The blood had dried, so the letters were bolder. In large caps, it read:
LOSER
I tried to shake it off casually.
"It's sort of an inside joke. Earlier in the summer, he'd say he would get me. Even predicted that I wouldn't last in your club after the rock fight. Well...that day came. Bowers and his friends had me cornered. Then he said he could help with "acceptance" problem or something like that...and he...he had Belch and Victor...he had them pin down my arms. And he took his knife, and he did this." I made a fist and held it up, then brought it back down.
"Why didn't you call for help? You were out in public. Someone could've stopped before he marked you like that." I shook my head a took a deep breath.
"I couldn't. He said that if I even made a noise, he would kill every single one of you. And Bowers doesn't shit around like that...clearly. It's nothing though. My mom has some cream that'll help it heal."
"Wait, you really let him do this to you? Just so he wouldn't fuck with any of us?"
"Dude, your making this way more cringy then it needs to be." I chuckled a bit, and looked back at the sun.
"I'm sorry. I just can't believe that everything that happened. And what Bill said to you...that you'd even do that. No of us wouldn't even know it would be your fault. We'd just assume he was in the mood to beat us up."
I casually looked down at my watch, but really thinking anything of it. Shit. It was almost 6:30. Time went by so fast since I started hanging out with Stan and I didn't even realize.
"Shit I'm still grounded. I better get home or else I won't be able to go to bar mitzvah secretly." I started to walk to the end of the bridge where our bikes were parked. Then I stopped and turned around. We stared at each other for a few seconds, his hands to his sides and my hands tugging on my dress.
"Hey uhhh, thanks for saving my ass earlier. I'd probably be in the hospital if you haven't come bye." Stan blushed a bit and did a goofy smile.
"Well, uhh. Thanks for not letting Bowers get anymore crazy than he already is. Bill may be upset, but if he hears what you did...well he'll think twice about yelling at you that day. See you in two weeks?" I smiled and waved.
"Two weeks." I ran to my bike and kicked up the kickstand. I looked back at Stan, who was staring at something in the wood, and I raced off to my house.
Foreshadowing...😏😏😂😂