SUMMER VACATION had finally arrived for the kids of derry. it was the last two minutes of the day & teenagers were already rushing out in swarms. derry police watching as they did so. the police were always there, considering the amount of kids that were going missing within the town.
by the last bell, derry middle's own losers club was already outside. the club was fairly small & consisted of four boys. bill denbrough who's little brother was among the first kids to go missing. stanley uris, richie tozier, and of course little eddie kaspbrak.
they all had something about them that made them a perfect target for bullies, bill having a stutter, stan being a jew, richie being a trashmouth, and eddie being a germaphobe.
"best feeling ever!" stan exclaimed, as he & his three other friends emptied their bags out into the trash. "oh yeah? try tickling your pickle for the first time." richie snorted. only a remark that inappropriate would come from the boy.
"so what do you guys wanna do tomorrow?" eddie asked, zipping up his now empty bag. richie was the first to speak up. "i start my training." he said, enthusiastically.
"training? what training?" eddie scrunched up his nose in confusion. "street fighter" the smaller boy scoffed at his best friends answer. "is that how you wanna spend your summer? stuck in an arcade?" richie cleared his throat, obviously ready to crack a joke.
"beats spending it inside your mother! oh-" the four eyed boy threw his hand up for a high five only to be rejected by stan. "what if we go to the quarry?" stan happily suggested. "guys, we have the b-barrens." bill said, finally speaking up.
"right." the three boys smiled at their friend. that's when eddie noticed one of their only other friends walking towards them. "look, maxine." the boy pointed as she got closer. "it's max! she prefers max." richie said, obviously flustered.
maxine, or 'max' morales and the losers spoke at school sometimes. she considered them her friends as she didn't have any besides the four boys. she was bullied just as much as them.
so technically speaking, max was in the losers club. she definitely qualified for it, having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder made her a loser. the bullying definitely proved it.
the nasty rumors henry bowers would spread around wouldn't help with it either. the boys didn't believe them though, mostly because bowers was after them too.
that was one thing they all had in common, bowers.
before eddie could make a joke about richie's undying love for the girl she had already approached them.
"hey, babe!" richie waved as the girl tossed a paper into the trash. max couldn't help but laugh. "not your babe, rich." the boy smiled to himself. "yet." he whispered lowly.
"anyways, what're you guys up to?" she asked, the rest of the group. "just talking about our plans for the summer." eddie answered with a kind smile. "coolio!" a silence fell upon the five kids.
"w-what do you have planned for the s-summer?" bill asked. she paused and thought for a moment. "nothing, really." max ended up sighing in reply.
"w-we're going to the b-barrens tomorrow. you should c-come with us." bill suggested. "yeah! you might as well spend your summer with us. it'd be fun!" eddie added as the other boys nodded along to his words.
"thanks for the invite! i totally will tomorrow & the rest of the summer." richie smiled at the thought of her joining them outside of school. "i can pick you up!" he said, a bit too happily. max took a moment to think about it. "fine." she decided.
"you can totally ride my bike." richie winked as the girl rolled her eyes & smiled. "don't push it dickwad, i have my own." bill, stan, and eddie tried holding back their laughs but ultimately failed.
"hey, losers!"
it was voice the five kids knew too well. no one other than henry fucking bowers & his stupid goons. "cant you just leave us alone for once?" max's hands clenched into a fist.
the amount of hatred and anger the poor girl has bottled up inside towards the bowers boy & his gang was more than she could handle.
they had already put her and the boys through so much this school year and the many before it.
henry snickered as he grabbed the girl by her waist. he then made her watch as patrick, belch & victor tormented her friends.
belch burped right in eddie's face causing him to dry heave, patrick had thrown stan's kippah into a passing bus, and victor had pushed bill & richie down several times.
richie had noticed the tight & inappropriate grip bowers had on max, and it immediately infuriated him. "stop it! let go of her right fucking now you piece of shit!" richie had attempted to run towards her.
but, failed when he was pushed back down once again by victor.
by the time the older boys had stopped, bill gathered up enough courage to tell henry off.
"you s-suck bowers!"
"just shut up bill!" eddie whispered as he & the others watched in shock. henry suddenly released his grip on max, causing her to fall to the ground in pain.
"oh shit. max!" richie wasted no time to help her up. "are you okay?" he asked as he began noticing the new marks bowers had left on her. "yeah, i'm fine." the girl weakly smiled.
richie frowned in both anger & sadness. he didn't enjoy seeing the girl he really liked in this state all because of fucking bowers.
"im really sorry, i tried getting to you but vic-" richie was cut off. "i know, thank you richie. you don't have to apologize though. its not your fault they're pieces of shit." the two laughed momentarily.
right before returning their attention to the sight in front of them.
henry & bill.
"this summer's gonna be a hurt train. for you & your faggot friends." bowers licked his hand and rubbed it across bill's face. eddie gagged.
henry looked past the group of kids & noticed his father. he took a step away. "and don't ever forget who you really belong to, sweetcheeks." he snickered at a disgusted max before walking away.
"i wish he would go missing." richie said, referring to the kids that were going missing in derry. "he's probably the one doing it." eddie snorted.
"a-are you o-okay max?" bill asked, refocusing the boys attention. "yeah, i'm fine. i better get going now though." max hopped onto her bike.
"wait! let me go with you. since we live on the same street anyways." richie offered. max smiled, he hasn't been a dick for a total of five minutes! now that's a side of him she'd like to see more often.
"sure, okay."
the other boys all exchanged knowing looks with small smiles on their faces.
the pair rode off together. richie was the first to talk. "since we're now hanging out in a non educational environment. you're officially in the losers club, welcome home baby." he smiled and max let out a genuine giggle.
"rich, you & i both know ive always been in the club." she said. "yeah, but now it's official princess." richie relentlessly flirted. "i welcome you with open arms, and you can thank me with open legs." he smiled.
max punched the boy in the arm with a bit of force. "in your dreams, dickwad." she scoffed. "yeah, my wet dreams." richie snorted causing max to laugh as well.
"so now that you being in the club is official. would you like to give a speech, my darling?"
maxine scoffed. richie looked at her, quietly for once. "oh! you're being serious?" the boy could only smile. "of course i am, princess." max shrugged her shoulders and cleared her throat anyway.
"first i'd like to thank the other losers for being so incredibly nice to me. you not so much." she joked causing richie to laugh. "i'd also like to thank my parents for not giving a shit about me."
a sudden silence rang in the air once she had finished. richie frowned, they were in the same
boat.
their parents neglected them.
"your parents might not care for you. just know that i do. i care so fucking much." richie slammed his fist against the bike handle in anger.
max noticed his anger & had pulled her bike to a stop causing him to do the same.
"i care about you too."
maxine smiled placing her hand over his fist.
richie instantly felt his heart rate speed up & the tension within his hand was released.
silence had fell upon the two once again. max realized her hand was still on top of richie's and she suddenly pulled it back.
the two exchanged looks & couldn't help but burst out into a fit of laughter.
there was no doubt about the fact that the pair were fairly alike in some ways. bill, eddie, & stan knew it.
"race you home?" max asked, richie smirked & nodded his head. "if i win, you have to kiss me." he said.
"okay." she smiled. richie's eyes widened almost immediately. "holy shit! really?" max let out a loud laugh. "of course you know i'm going to win, rich." richie shook his head & laughed himself.
"no way, princess."
maxine suddenly looked past richie as her pupils dilated. "holy shit! look there's a fucking clown!" she pointed. richie quickly whipped his head around in fear.
"just kidding!" the girl laughed as she peddled away quickly.
"oh you're so on morales!"