"you've never gone ice skating? now you have to come!" richie acknowledged, his arm around eddie, who didn't seem to notice to sign of affection.

they all sat in their normal table in the cafeteria, the circular table in the corner of the room, the furthest from the exit.

"maybe. depends if my mom's home, i don't wanna leave georgie home alone." i wrote in my notebook, sliding it over to stan and taking a bite out of my carrot, not bothering to dip in in ranch as stan read it out loud to richie and eddie.

bev and mike, along with his girlfriend, carol were talking about some assembly we had in school today about vaping on campus, and ben ate his food quietly, not interested to speak conversation with anyone else.

bill glanced over to the other side of the room, catching eyes with one person in particular, a blond boy with a mullet, who was intensely staring at their table.

"who's that? with the mullet?" bill wrote, and stan read it out loud, and the whole table seemed to hush down. the losers were quiet for a moment, as if they didn't know how to respond.

"henry. his name's henry. henry bowers. don't associate with him, he's nothing but trouble." bev spat out like glue was stuck down her throat, and dumb look plastered across her face, giving bill a weird expression of the mullet boy.

"he's a bully. he stepped on my inhaler yesterday, cost me seventy dollars for a replacement." eddie said, and leaned against richie for comfort, digging his face into richie's chest, in which richie's face went red and he linked his arm around the boy, letting him in.

"h'it mah bevvy." richie said in a raspy, country accent, and beverly slide a lighter across the round table to him, along with her cigarette pack, and continued her conversation with mike and carol, who was sitting on the table.

"don't you dare smoke that cancer stick near me. it's me or the stick, you choose." eddie ordered sternly, and richie groaned, brushing his fingers through eddie's hair gently, and sliding the pack and lighter back to bev, a confused expression forming on her face.

bill watched the two boys, cuddling with each other, not bothering with the dirty looks they were getting from their peers, and wished he could do that was someone.

with him.

he glanced over to stan, eyes drifted to bill's notebook, reading what he had said over today and yesterday, and bill surprisingly didn't mind, he didn't mind anything the jewish boy did.

he gripped his notebook from stan's view, writing in it, and placing it back in front of him. "how was... the jewish thing you do?"

stan chuckled at the response, and bill's cheeks heated up from his reaction, bill hiding his face from view. he swore he saw bev watching him from across the table, but ignored the thought.

"same as always. boring, i guess." stan mumbled in return, obviously not interested in the practice of the jewish culture, at least not in the moment.

lunch soon ended, along with fourth period, and bill found his way towards his locker, carefully taking out his needed books, and putting in his unneeded.

he closed his locker, carefully and quietly, making his way out of the school to meet stan by the parking lot, hopeful stan would drive him home; he had drove him to school anyways.

he walked down the steps off the school, stopping when he heard his name from behind him. "b-b-bill!" he heard a unrealistic stutter, and couldn't understand why someone would mimic a stutter.

he turned around, gulping when the mullet boy was nearly against his chest, and bill looked up to meet his eye, his heart pounding and his stomach whirling.

"i'm henry, and you are?" the boy asked, backing up a bit, and bill didn't understand why the boy had a bad rep, he seemed nice enough.

bill wanted to say he was bill, but something stopped him from his thoughts. the boy had just said his name, so why was he asking for it from him?

"oh, right, pretty boy doesn't talk!" henry exclaimed, and suddenly everything made since as he was hit to the ground and henry's friends seemed to come out from the corner of his eye.

"should i even call him pretty? how 'bout pretty dumb?" henry asked the two boys, and bill's mind spun, watching as students passed him, no hesitation to not help him.

i need to get out of here. i need to get out. i need to go. i need to. i need. i need. i-

henry kicked bill in the stomach, bill not hesitating to grab henry's leg in return, turning henry's foot the wrong way, holding his stomach as he stumbled up.

"ouch! what the fuck?" henry exclaimed, as if he didn't see it coming from the lanky, quiet boy. nobody did.

bill didn't need to ask for permission before he using his wrist to push up on henry's nose, and he felt his nose break, henry stumbling backwards and falling on his ass.

"grab him! get him you asses!" bill heard from a distance, but he had already made it to the parking lot, jumping into stan's car without hesitation, and stan zooming away towards their neighborhood, leaving henry on the steps of the school, cursing the quiet boy, holding his broken nose.

"woah." stanley breathed out in awe, astonished by bill's skills and guts.

bill only smiled.

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