The next morning, Bill and I rode to the quarry. We met the other boys there.
"Do you think Beverly is coming?" I asked eagerly.
As much as I loved these boys (except Richie) I still missed having a girl to be able to talk to without the fear of being judged. I know that Beverly was bullied a lot and I helped her out in tight spots sometimes.
"I hope so." Bill smiled wistfully.
I nudged his shoulder. "I know why you hope so."
Bill ignored me. "Let's just get ready."
We all stripped off our clothes and into our underclothing. Stan looked visibly awkward and wouldn't look my way as I slipped off my shorts.. The other boys looked more natural around me though.
"Alright," Bill said, as we stood at the edge of the cliff. "Who's first?"
We looked down at the steepness.
"Richie." I volunteered.
"No way!" Richie said.
"Why, scared?" I taunted.
"No I want to see someone else go first that's all."
"I'll go!" someone said behind us.
We turned around to see Beverly taking off her dress. "Sissies." she ran past us and jumped in.
"What the fuck!" Richie yelled.
"Holy shit, we just got showed up by a girl!" Richie complained.
"We have to do that now?" Stan looked worried.
Seeing Bev jump in made me feel more confident.
"While you boys get over your fear, I'll join Beverly. See you later cock suckers!" I jumped and screamed with laughter.
"HOLY FUCK NOT LARSON TOO!" I heard Richie scream.
Landing in the water stung a little and I shot up out of the cool water. "WOOOOO!"
"Come on!" Beverly yelled.
"Finally!" I said, when Bill jumped in. "Fancy seeing you down here." I punched his shoulder lightly when he resurfaced.
He gasped and grinned at me. One by one, the rest of the Losers jumped in.
Everyone started splashing each other. Even Richie started splashing me.
"Fuck off Tozier!" I laughed as he shoved me underwater.
He laughed too.
After awhile we ended up playing chicken. Beverly got on on Bill's shoulders, Richie got on Ben's, and I got on Stan's. Eddie decided to just watch.
Richie made Ben steer closer to us. "Let's knock off Larson first."
"I'm ready for you." I grinned, cracking my knuckles.
We started pushing each other. I was starting to win, but then Richie made me slip. I subconsciously grabbed onto his arm, pulling him down with me. I shot out of the water and laughed. "Fuck you Tozier I was almost winning."
Richie pushed me. "Well, I won."
After awhile, we swam back to the rocks. Beverly had brought a beatbox and played Bust a Move by Young MC She pulled out a towel and we both laid down on it.
"I think the boys are staring at you." I whispered.
"You mean us." she whispered back.
"No, you." I chuckled. "They've known me for so long, I've basically become another boy to them."
"Richie is staring at you." she glanced at them, then back at me.
"What?" I leaned up onto my elbows and looked at the boys. They were all staring at Beverly, but sure enough, Richie was looking at me. We made eye contact and he turned red, looking away. Beverly then turned to the boys and they all suddenly busied themselves with doing anything but look her way. Stan just turned his eyes to look at me instead.
Why the fuck was Richie looking at me?
Richie started looking through Ben's backpack. He held up an imaginary microphone to his mouth. "News flash Ben, school's out for summah!"
"Oh that?" Ben looked at Richie. "That's not school stuff."
Richie pulled out a card. "Who sent you this?"
"No one!" Ben snatched it away from him.
"Hasn't your mother taught you it's really rude to go through someone's bag without permission." I shook my head.
Richie ignored me and pulled out a folder. "What's with the history project?"
"When I first moved here, I didn't really have anyone to hangout with." Ben shrugged. "So I started spending time in the library."
Richie passed the folder to Bill. "You went to the library? On purpose?"
"I go to the library on purpose." I stood up to go look at the folder. "It's nothing weird."
"You can't even read!" Richie laughed.
"I went because I was trying!" I seethed.
Not only was I dyslexic, I hadn't actually gone to public school until a little late because of my parents. Which meant I hadn't started reading until I was ten. Luckily, I was really good in everything except English. So I wasn't too far behind.
Beverly sat next to Bill, and I sat on her other side.
"Y-y-y-your hair." Bill looked at her.
She stared at him.
"Your hair is beautiful Beverly." Ben smiled.
Beverly touched it. "Oh right. Thanks."
"Here pass." Richie stuck his hand out.
Bill handed the folder to him.
"Why is it all about murders and missing kids?" asked Richie, passing it to Eddie.
"Derry's not like any other town I've been in before." Ben said. "They did a study once. People die or disappear six times the national average."
"Seriously?" I felt spooked.
"You read that?" Bev asked.
Ben nodded. "And that's just the adults. Kids are way way worse."
"I've got more stuff if you want to see it." Ben said.
We all nodded.
After getting dressed, we got on our bikes and followed Ben to his house. Ben ran in before us. We followed slowly. Walking into his room, Ben was obviously hurriedly trying to shove things away. Entering Ben's room was like a change of reality. His whole room was filled with newspaper clippings, maps and lots of other things about Derry.
"Woah woah woah." Richie walking around.
"Cool huh?" Ben looked proud.
"No, no nothing cool nothing cool." Richie peered at the walls.
I rolled my eyes. "I think it's super cool Ben."
"Hey this is cool!" Richie pointed to a picture. "Wait, no it's not never mind."
I shoved past him to get a better look at Ben's walls.
"What's that?" Stan asked, pointing to a paper on the wall.
"That's the Derry township." Ben replied.
"Nerd alert." Richie laughed, fixing his glasses.
"No, it's actually really interesting." Ben said.
"I'm sure it is, Richie is just being annoying." I smiled at Ben.
He smiled back. "Derry started as a beaver-trapping camp."
"Still is, am I right?" Richie raised his hand for a high-five. Stan shook his head and I glared at Richie.
"91 people signed the charter that made Derry, but later that winter they disappeared without a trace." Ben explained.
"The entire camp?" Eddie asked.
Ben nodded. "There were rumors' of Indians, but no sign of an attack. Everyone thought it was a plague or something. But it was like, one day everybody just woke up and left. The only clue was a trail of bloody clothes leading to the well house."
I felt goosebumps on my arms and I rubbed them. "Holy fuck."
Richie side eyed me. "Wuss."
"Asshole."
"Derry could be an unsolved mysteries." Richie said, turning back to the paper.
"W-w-where was the well house?" Bill asked.
Ben shrugged. "I don't know. Somewhere in town I guess. Why?"
Bill shook his head. "Nothing."
I knew Bill too well to know that it wasn't just nothing.