Jo woke up to the impact a large pillow made on her face.
"Wake up, Joe-hoe!" Beverly yelled. Jo rubbed her eyes and groaned.
"Where did that name come from?" she asked. Bev shrugged.
"Dunno. But wake up! It's the first day of summer!" she exclaimed. It's far too early for this. Jo thought. But nonetheless, she reluctantly sat up and faced a chipper Beverly.
Sleepovers were an almost everyday thing. Most of the time, they were at Jo's house. Her parents were never home. They were on work trips often. On rare occasions, when Alvin Marsh was off somewhere, the two girls would have a sleepover at Beverly's. But then there were other times. The times when Jo's parents were home. When Jo didn't want Bev over because she didn't want her to witness what her parents did to her. And then there were times when Alvin Marsh was home, too, and the only option the girls had were to stay in their own beds at night.
It seemed as if they were each other's only solace. The one thing keeping them from breaking when they had to face the troubles in life. Without each other, they would have no safe haven.
Without you, I would come undone. I would break into a million little pieces. You are the only one who could put my pieces back together.
Sometimes, even if she was ashamed of it, those were the exact words Beverly Marsh thought of on those long nights when she lay in bed alone. Sometimes, and she was even more ashamed of it then, she would think those words when she looked at Jo.
"I'm gonna head to the bathroom," Bev announced.
"Okay," Jo replied as she got up from the bed and walked toward her dresser. Beverly left the room, closing the door softly behind her. Jo observed her options sitting on the dresser. Jeans, jean shorts, overalls, band tees. Her wardrobe consisted of those things and those things only.
There wasn't much thinking that went along with choosing what to wear, so she just grabbed a Queen t-shirt and overall shorts. Nothing mind-blowing. And, just like Beverly, she wore her dirty converse.
When she was done getting dressed, Beverly walked back into the room. There was a look on her face—Jo couldn't place it. She seemed...uncomfortable. Weary, even.
"What's wrong?" Jo asked.
"It happened," Bev responded anxiously. Jo was confused.
"What happened?" she asked.
"My..." Bev tilted her head as to gesture to something. That's when it hit her.
"Your period, oh my god! Do you have what you need?" Jo exclaimed. Beverly shook her head.
"Okay, that's fine. I don't have anything right now, but after we get ready we can go to the pharmacy. How does that sound?" Jo asked.
"Sure," Bev replied. The two walked back over to the bathroom and did what they had to. They brushed their teeth and hair. Beverly pulled her hair back into its everyday ponytail, and Jo put hers into two braids. And then they were off.
As they walked down the hall, Jo could see her older brother sitting on the couch watching TV. He was nice, for the most part. He liked to annoy Jo, and sometimes he liked to fight her as if she was his brother, but at least he wasn't like their parents. And that was why Jo thought he treated her the way he did. He wanted her to have some sort of normal brother, but he was also soft when he needed to be. Especially when their parents were home.
"Where are you two off to?" he asked. Bev shot Jo a look that said Don't tell him the truth. She was embarrassed. Even though it wasn't something to be embarrassed about, Jo obliged.
"Just out shopping," she said, which wasn't a total lie. Her brother took a sip out of his glass of milk.
"Okay. Well, bye," he said. Jo and Beverly walked out of the apartment.
"Bye, Dean!" Bev shouted. The two walked down the fire stairs, Jo skipping steps occasionally. They grabbed their bikes and pedaled into town.
~~~
"No, you don't want that one," Jo told Bev. At the pharmacy, there were rows of shelves filled with feminine products. Beverly seemed to be overwhelmed with all of the options.
"Why are there so many? Don't they all do the same thing?" she asked.
"Well, sort of. Look. There are scented ones, there are small ones, there are medium ones, and there are big ones, depending on your flow," Jo said, pointing to the kind she named as she said it.
"Which one am I supposed to get, though?" Beverly asked.
"Let's get you...the multi-pad pack and the multi-tampons pack. That way you'll be prepared for whatever comes your way," Jo said, picking up the two boxes off of the shelf.
"Are you sure this is what I need?" Bev asked anxiously.
"Positivo. Trust me," Jo assured her. And with that, the girls turned to walk to the register.
However, to their demise, they saw Greta Bowie walking down the aisle they just passed.
"Bye, Dad!" she farewelled. Jo grabbed Bev's hand and rushed into the next aisle, hoping it would shield them from Greta's wrath.
When they turned, they were met with three boys. Bill Denbrough, Eddie Kaspbrak, and Stanely Uris. Jo recognized them as Richie's friends from school. Jo and Bev frantically hid the period products behind their backs. They stared at each other for a good five seconds.
"You g-guys okay?" Bill asked. He had a stutter. Jo tried not to find it funny, but it was because he got hit by a car when he was younger.
"We're fine. What's wrong with you?" Beverly replied.
"None of your business," Stanley shot back.
"There's a kid outside, looked like someone killed him," Eddie admitted. Jo's eyebrows knitted into concern.
"We need some s-s-supplies, but we don't have enough money," Bill added. Jo turned to Bev, and Bev saw she had an idea.
"I have an idea," she whispered, just loud enough so only Bev could hear.
"I see that," Beverly replied.
"Okay. So you know how Mr. Keene is like, a total creep? Like a major pedo? He has crushes on teenage—" Jo started, but Bev was quick to interrupt her.
"I get it, I get it. He's a pedo. And? What's your plan?" she asked. Jo smirked and jumped up and down. She heard Stanley behind them snicker.
"Absolutely not," Beverly said. It seemed she read Jo's mind. Jo groaned.
"Why not? It's a good idea!" she exclaimed. Bev rolled her eyes. She was thinking about it.
"Fine! But if it goes wrong I'm blaming it on you," she warned.
And so, the two girls told the other three boys their plan.
~~~
"I like your glasses Mr. Keene," Beverly told the old man sitting at the front desk of the pharmacy. "You look just like Clark Kent."
"I don't know, I think he looks more like Tony Stark," Jo disagreed.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Mr. Keene flattered himself. Jo smiled sweetly, ignoring the fact that it pained her to do so.
"Can we try them?" Bev asked. He seemed to think about it for a moment.
"Sure," he decided. He took off the glasses and handed them to Beverly. She put them on and looked up smiling.
"What do you think?" she asked. Mr. Keene leaned forward.
"Well, how about that? You look just like Lois Lane," he replied. Jo wanted to gag. What a perv.
"Really?" Bev asked. Mr. Keene nodded.
"Mhm."
"Let me try," Jo said, snatching the glasses off of Beverly's head. She placed them on hers.
"And you, dear, look like Pepper Potts," Mr. Keene told Jo. It took everything in her not to punch the man in the nose.
"Thank you," she replied with a warm, fake smile on her face. Jo handed the pair of glasses back to Bev. She then handed them back to Mr. Keene, knocking over the display of cigarettes in the process.
"Shoot, I'm so sorry," she said sympathetically.
"It's okay," Mr. Keene responded and chuckled, just before he bent down to clean up the mess. Beverly and Jo looked behind them at the three boys carrying medical supplies. They nudged their heads to signal that it was their time to go.
Sloppily, each one of the boys stumbled out of the door, causing Jo to giggle. Bev grabbed a box of cigarettes off of the table, taking her chance while she had it. She shoved it into her pocket. Jo high-fived Beverly from under the front desk. They smiled at each other. Just then, Mr. Keene got up.
"Thank you, Mr. Keene," Jo farewelled. "Have a good day!"
Jo and Beverly happily walked out of the store.
"Mission: succeeded," Bev whispered in Jo's ear.
Missed succeeded, indeed.
a/n: pls ignore the fact that i forgot that i published this book LMAO but anyway im planning on rewriting all of the chapters (besides the published ones) because my writing is getting sloppy. anyway, to the probably zero people that read this, i love you and stay safe!