bill always came to stories when times were hard. after his dad died and he felt as if he had nobody else, he told georgie a story, after elle had fallen off max's skateboard at age seven, he told her a story to cheer her up. sometimes, people tell stories to him; stan. his father. georgie.

so when times got hard with beverly, he told her a story. she sat with her cigarette dangling at her chapped lips, looking down at her phone, merely waiting for his story he had promised.

i don't know exactly why, but i always turn to stories. i think made up stories are easier to face than reality sometimes.

beverly marsh's red hair reflected off the streetlamp rested not too far away from the pair as he typed, and after he pressed send she sat up a bit. her hair slowly went out of the light, darkness falling over her face as she read.

i moved her about a month ago, before that, i have really only known one town.

hawkins, indiana. not too far from here. i have friends, i know, hard to believe.

beverly only rolled her eyes at his comment, a smile creeping up on her lips.

i had two best friends though, ironically the two girls of the group, elle and max. elle was sweet, quiet, and had short brown hair. max, the opposite, at fiery hair to match her fiery personality.

well, i believe it was somewhere in january, we were at the arcade, and elle was playing pac man. pretty basic game, but elle loved it nevertheless.

elle was actually getting decent at the game, and max didn't know this, so when elle was about to die, max helped her, only to find out elle had just beat the high score. which was held by max.

let's just say, i got a good laugh.

beverly chuckled, stomping the cigarette on the ground and watching it crumble.

"you really are something." bev stood up, leaning against the wall once again. bill slowly smiled, holding the phone in his dominant hand tightly.

"bill, how'd you know you were gay?" bev asked, sinking into the wall like a sponge, as if she could easily bounce back.

i had crushes on boys. i'm not interested in girls.

bill felt his breath pick up as the girl grew closer to him.

"bill..." she murmured slowly, until they were too close they were practically touching, and bill wanted to tell her to move back.

he felt his heart pump out of his chest and his eyes widen as her lips slowly went onto his, enclosing him in a slow make out. he wanted to tell her to back off, to stop, to let him go, but he couldn't ruin their friendship.

it wasn't too long after when she pulled back, his eyes not going back to normal from earlier.

"bill...?" she asked, fear in her eyes, fear in his as well. he watched as she backed up even more, her breathes quickening as tears welled in her eyes.

"i think i'm lesbian."

bill almost immediately wrapped her in a hug, the girl hesitating to hug him back with shock. "i... i don't know what to do... ben..." she sobbed on his shoulder.

bill wanted to give her kindhearted words in comfort to calm the girl down, but all he did was brush his fingers through her hair and pull her down to sit down on the bench next to them.

"i'm sorry, it's just that, if i liked guys, i think it would be you. you're the perfect guy, you would keep me... in control, i guess. but when we kissed, i didn't feel anything."

bill nodded understandably, feelings his lips with his thumb, back and forth.

he was glad he didn't feel anything in return.

i don't know about ben. i'm not gonna lie and say he won't be heartbroken, but he loves you and will accept you. as for me, i support you and we are gonna get you a girlfriend for sure.

beverly smiled at the text, hugging bill again. "i don't like this, you are making me quiet too!" she laughed, letting him go.

i tend to have that effect on people.

beverly laughed again, and bill couldn't help himself, he laughed as well. as he did, bev stopped, staring at him with profound eyes.

i am perfectly capable of laughing y'know.

"i know, it's just that, laughing is just kinda a preview for talking. so i kinda know your voice now."

you wanna hear my voice?

beverly stared down at her phone in confusion, obvious he wasn't going to talk to her, out of anybody.

bill scrolled through his phone, searching through videos, and stopped at one where he was around ten, trying to skateboard on max's board. max was trying to teach him that day, and elle sat in the grass not too far away, barely visible in the video, but you could clearly see her.

"c'mon, don't be a pussy, you can do it!" max laughed, helping little bill on the board, who was scared shitless.

"i got this!" bill said to himself in the video, in which bev stared at the screen with awe, hearing the boys voice.

maybe he was younger, but that was enough for beverly.

she heard his voice, and that was enough.

do you guys like shorter chapters more often or longer chapters less often?

~ penny (feb 22, 2018 @ 6:33pm)