Standing atop a cliff, stripped down to their underwear, five boys were having a competition to see who could spit the farthest while the only girl sat back and watched in disgust.
"You know we have to swim in there?" She called, only to be ignored as the boys kept bickering.
Richie cheered as the group watched Eddie's loogie hit the floor by his feet, "Oh, my god, that was terrible. I win."
"You won?" Eddie asked, genuinely confused.
"Yeah."
"Did you see my loogie?"
"That went the farthest! It's by distance."
"Mass. It's always been mass."
"Wha-What is mass?"
"Who cares how far it goes? It matters how cool it looks; like it's green or it's white or juicy and fat."
Beverly hopped off her bike, and walked out of the trees, smiling at the brunette girl. Because of their bickering, the group hadn't heard the girl appear.
"Hey, Nicole."
"Hey, Beverly."
The redhead looked at the boys, who still had their backs to the girls, "What are they doing?"
"Being boys. None of them wants to jump first."
"Why don't we show them how it's done?" She smirked, kicking off her shoes.
"I like the way you think, Red."
While Nicole dusted herself off, Beverly slipped out of her dress before grabbing the brunette's hand and facing the boys, just as Bill interrupted the arguing, "Alright. Who's first?
"We'll go!" Beverly called before she and Nicole ran toward the cliff, the group of boys parting like the red sea in shock. "Sissies."
"What the fuck!" Richie yelled as both girls jumped off the cliff, hand in hand, splashing into the water below.
Breaking the surface, the pair looked up at the cliff, the boys still staring in shock, "Come on!"
"You're already losers, don't add pussies to the list too!" Nicole laughed, high-fiving Beverly as, one by one, the boys jumped.
The rest of the afternoon was spent splashing around with the occasional chicken fight that Bill and Nicole won, earning very loud protests from Richie, who swore up and down that the pair cheated.
"Ah, fuck! What was that?" Richie yelled, looking down at the water, "Something just touched my foot right here."
Everyone was quick to swim over, dipping their heads underwater to find what their friend was yelling about.
"Right here, right here!"
"It's a turtle," Bill said, pushing back his wet hair before noticing the absence of one of the losers.
"Hey, where's-"
Suddenly, Richie shrieked before disappearing below the surface only to reappear, joined by a hysterical brunette girl.
"That was fucking hilarious! Who knew you had such a girly scream, Trash-mouth?"
"Oh, you bitch! I can't believe you just did that! Come here!" The boy yelled back and quickly lifted the girl out of the water before throwing her back in and splashing her.
The pair continued to fight as the other losers watched on, laughing, all except two who, despite their smiles, held a burning envy in their eyes.
♪This here's a jam for all the fellas♪
♪Trying to do what those ladies tell us♪
Music playing from a nearby boombox filled the awkward air as Beverly and Nicole sunbathed side by side, using the heat to dry off.
♪Get shot down 'cause ya over-zealous♪
♪Play hard to get females get jealous♪
♪Okay smarty♪
♪Go to a party♪
The two were fully aware of the boy's stares but didn't bother saying anything, deciding to let them keep at least a little bit of their dignity.
♪Girls are scantily clad and showing body♪
♪A chick walks by you wish you could sex her♪
♪But you're standing on the wall like you was Poindexter♪
♪Next day's function♪
♪High class luncheon♪
♪Food is served, and you're stone-cold munching♪
♪Music comes on people start to dance♪
♪But then you ate so much you nearly split your pants♪
While most were looking at the redhead, occasionally letting their eyes drift to the brunette, one pair of blue eyes stayed glued to the original loser girl.
♪A girl starts walking♪
♪Guys start gawking♪
♪Sits down next to you and starts talking♪
♪Says she wants to dance 'cause she likes to groove♪
♪So come on fatso and just bust a move♪
Turning her head slightly, Beverly snapped the boys out of their daze as they quickly adverted their eyes, not wanting to be caught staring.
Quickly dispelling the sudden tension, Richie started raiding Ben's backpack.
"News flash, Ben. Schools out for summa!" He said, pretending to hold a microphone, and using a silly presenter-type voice.
"Oh, that? That's not school stuff." Ben said as Richie pulled out a small postcard, grinning.
"Who sent you this?"
Quickly snatching it back, the blushing boy shoved the card to the bottom of his backpack, "No one. Give it...No one."
Pulling out a dark green folder, the curly-haired brunette flipped through it, "What with the history project?"
"Oh...When I first moved here, I didn't have anyone to hang out with, so I just started spending time in the library."
"You went to the library? On purpose?"
Sitting up, the girls moved to join the boys on the rocks, "Oh, I wanna see." Beverly smiled, sitting next to Bill, much to the brunette girl's disappointment as she sat next to Eddie, leaning her head against Richie's leg.
"What's the Black Spot," Stan asked.
"The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult," Eddie said like it was obvious.
"The what?"
"Don't you watch Geraldo?"
"Y-y-your h-hair..." Bill stuttered as he looked up from the folder, unable to finish his sentence before Ben jumped in, "Your...Your hair is beautiful, Beverly."
Blushing slightly, the redhead tucked a piece of her newly cut hair behind her ear, "Oh. Right. Thanks."
"Here, pass it." Bill handed the folder to Nicole, who quickly flipped through it confused, "Why is it all murders and missing kids?"
"Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before. They did a study once, and it turns out people die or disappear six times the national average."
"You read that?" Beverly said softly, wrapping her arms around herself.
Ben nodded, "And that's just grown-ups. Kids are worse. Way, way worse. I've got more stuff if you wanna see it."
While the others agreed, Eddie shook his head, softly speaking, "No, no."
"C'mon Eds, don't be a wuss." Richie and Nicole laughed as they all stood, throwing on their clothes before taking off their bikes toward the Hanscom household.
Pulling up to the front yard, the losers dumped their bikes, minus Stan, who set his on a stand, before heading inside.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wow."
Walking into Ben's room was like walking into a detective's office. Newspapers, documents, and missing person posters filled the walls, some dating back at least a century.
"Cool, huh?"
"No. No, nothing cool. There's nothing cool." Richie said, looking at some of the papers with Stan and Eddie behind him.
Bill walked over to a desk by the window, picked up a projector slide, and held it to the light. Nicole walked over, placing a gentle hand on his upper arm while looking at the other slides, vaguely hearing her friend's conversation.
"What's that?" Stan asked, pointing to a document.
"Oh, that? That's the charter for Derry Township."
"Nerd alert." Richie grinned.
"No, actually, it's really interesting. Derry started as a beaver trapping camp."
"Still is, am I right boys?" The brunette interrupted, only getting a shake of the head from Stanley.
"Ninety-one people signed the charter that made Derry. But later that winter, they all disappeared without a trace."
"The entire camp?" Eddie questioned fearfully.
"There were rumors of Indians but no sign of an attack. Everybody just thought it was a plague or something. But it's like one day, everybody just woke up and left. The only clue was a trail of bloody clothes leading to the Well House."
"Jesus. We can get Derry on Unsolved Mysteries."
Finally joining the conversation while slipping the slide into his pocket, Bill stuttered, "W-W-Where was the Well House?"
Ben just shrugged, "I don't know. Somewhere in town, I guess. Why?"
Staring off into space, Bill sighed, "Nothing."
Nicole frowned; she knew he was lying but didn't want to upset him further, so she just gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze, not making eye contact.
Later that night, after the losers had split up from Ben's house, Nicole sat awake, thinking about a certain stuttering boy.
In the eerie silence of the Evans home, a sharp scraping sound could be heard from across the hall.
"Mom?" Nicole called, slowly climbing out of bed.
As the brunette moved closer to her bedroom door, the scaping became louder, a distinct sound of metal against wood. Carefully creaking the door open, Nicole peered into the dark hallway, only to be met with nothing.
"Huh."
Figuring it was simply her imagination, she moved to close her door when suddenly, from the darkness, out jumped a porcelain doll.
Screaming, Nicole stumbled back, tripping over a pair of sneakers, sending her to the floor. Creeping closer, dragging a large kitchen knife behind itself, a cracked cheek, missing eye, messy pigtails, and an old Victorian-style dress, the doll walked. Nicole froze in fear, unable to even breathe as the fragile toy moved closer and closer and closer...
"Why are you running away, silly? Don't you wanna play Eva?" The doll spoke in an eerily calm, childish voice.
"We can have tea parties, play dress up; I'll even teach you how to float! That way we can all float together!"
Finally getting some form of sense back, Nicole threw her leg forward, kicking the doll and shattering it against her bedroom wall.
Breathing heavily, tears streaming down her cheeks, the girl moved back a little more as the doll spoke again in a singsong tone, "You'll float too." Before it faded away, and the house was once again, plunged into silence.
Nicole didn't move from her spot on the floor for the rest of the night.