The next day started slowly for DJ, as her father was out of town for a few days. He was taking a business trip to Boston, meaning that DJ and Claudia had the house to themselves for about a week. They were mostly silent at breakfast, though DJ sparked a conversation near the end of their meal.

"We're going swimming today, so I don't know when I'll be back." She told her mother, who smiled at her daughter.

"I'm glad you're spending so much time with your friends," Claudia said, taking another bite from her bread. "I mean Gretta and you have always been close, but you did spend a lot of time alone for the past few weeks. You had your dad and me worried, Diana."

It was like another blow in the stomach for DJ, but she had gotten used to it by now. It didn't necessarily make it better, however it made it easier to pretend for the girl.

"Yeah, well, I enjoy spending time with my friends a lot." She exclaimed truthfully, avoiding the stuff that Claudia had said about Gretta.

She didn't want to openly lie either, so she also avoided saying that she was friends with the Keene girl. After she had finished eating her last bit of bread, she casted a look at the clock and gasped, nearly choking on her food.

"I'm late!" She coughed out, jumping up and running to the shoe rack in the hallway.

She quickly grabbed the sneakers and put them on, swallowing her food while doing so.

"Bye, mom!"

"Have fun, Diana!" Her mother called back before the door swung close and DJ hurried over to her bike.

It felt weird, when Mrs. Johnson called her daughter Diana. Somehow it made her feel uncomfortable, as if Diana was the person her mom wanted her to be, and DJ was the person she actually was. It was different when Stanley called her Diana, but she wasn't sure why. She shrugged the thought off, as she grabbed her bike and started pedaling towards the Quarry.

Halfway there, a certain redhead biked next to her.

"Hey, Beverly!" greeted DJ, feeling a bit awkward to be alone with the girl.

"Hi, DJ," Beverly greeted back, seemingly feeling just as awkward. "I, uh, just want to make sure you're okay with me joining you guys."

DJ glanced at her briefly, confused why the girl even cared. Her old friends made Beverly's life living hell and DJ hadn't managed to stop them. Besides Bill had invited her and DJ really had no say in that.

Mistaking her silence as a no, Beverly's face fell and she slowed down.

"I get it." She muttered, turning to drive off, as DJ stopped and slid forward over her saddle and stopped with the bike still between her legs.

"No, wait!" The Johnson girl called, glad when Beverly followed her actions and stepped next to her. "I don't have anything against you joining us."

"You're uncomfortable around me." argued Beverly, causing DJ to sigh.

"Well, of course. How can you expect me not to be uncomfortable around you after what I did?" She questioned, pushing a strand of hair behind her shoulder nervously.

"Wait what?" Beverly said, confusion written on her face. "What did you do?"

Now, DJ was staring at her in confusion, "I never stood up for you or said anything against Gretta and when I finally did, it did nothing."

"That's all?" Beverly asked with a laugh. "I thought you hated me for ruining your friendship with her."

DJ shook her head incredulously, a laugh bubbling up in her throat. The whole awkwardness had disappeared in seconds luckily.

"No, I'm glad I stood up for you, I just wish it would've changed anything."

"That's nice of you," Beverly acknowledged, smiling at her new friend. "If you really have nothing against me, then I'd love to go swimming now."

"I'd love for you to do that, Beverly." DJ replied honestly, getting onto her bike again.

"Bev." corrected the girl in question, as the duo started to drive again.

"All right, Bev." DJ muttered, before gaining some speed, as they were late already.

After a few seconds Bev groaned, "Can you believe I forgot swim wear? I only have my underwear."

DJ nodded, grimacing slightly, "Same here. I was late already and didn't have enough time anymore."

"At least I'm not alone with that problem then." Bev exclaimed with a laugh, DJ joining in.

Barely three minutes later, they finally arrived at the Quarry and it took a load off DJ's mind immediately upon seeing the boys still standing at the cliff.

"Who's first?" She could hear Bill ask and somehow she wasn't surprised when Beverly spoke up.

"I'll go." She called, as the five boys turned around at the sound of her voice.

She let her bike fall on its side and quickly undressed.

"Sissies." Bev teasingly insulted the boys, while running right for the edge of the cliff, past the boys, and gracefully jumping off.

"What the fuck?!" Richie yelled, as Beverly descended toward the water, arms flailing.

She landed in the water with a perfect entry as the group, now joined by DJ after she had putten the kickstand of her bike down, watched her from the cliff.

"Aw, holy shit! We just got showed up by a girl!" Richie complained, while DJ rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"Do we have to do that now?" Stan questioned nervously, looking a bit pale.

"Yes." Eddie confirmed, while DJ replied with a no and shook her head furiously.

"Come on!" Beverly yelled from the water.

"Oh, shit." muttered Stan.

Taking another look down, DJ frowned. It didn't look particularly safe and even though Bev had done this just fine, the blonde didn't want to risk it. The way down was really long.

"Stan, we don't have to jump," DJ spoke up, pointing to a path on the side. "We could bring our bikes down while we go down that path."

"Sounds good." said Stan, looking quite relieved at the opportunity not to jump.

"Don't be gone too long!" Richie called with an overdramatic wink, as Bill jumped down the water.

"Beep Beep, Richie." called DJ back, moving to her bike.

"Yeah, yeah, fine." Richie muttered and plainly ignored the confused glances from the Eddie, Stan and Ben.

DJ laughed slightly, being able to hear Richie jump down, as he was swearing profoundly.

"'Beep Beep, Richie?'" repeated Stanley, a curious look on his face.

"Just something that slipped out yesterday," DJ chuckled, further explaining, "Something to let Richie know when he's taking it too far."

Stan nodded, "Huh, that's good. I'm definitely in use of that."

It seemed as if DJ couldn't stop laughing that day, as another laugh bubbled up in her throat. She couldn't recall a time she had laughed that much before, which made her realize just how lucky she was to have those friends.

"I'm glad you're here." Stan told her after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"I'm glad I'm here too." hummed DJ softly.

"You know I wasn't sure if you'd show up. I mean with you being late and all."

In response to Stanley's words DJ scratched her head awkwardly.

"I'm sorry for being late," She apologized, "Breakfast was weird. My dad's out of town and my mom and I are alone right now."

"Oh, is everything okay?" Stanley asked in worry.

"Don't worry, Stan. Sometimes I just think my mom doesn't care about me that much. She's convinced I'm swimming with Gretta and the girls." DJ scoffed, shaking her head at the thought.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Diana." Stan said, rubbing her shoulder for a moment.

"That's another thing; I just hate how she calls me Diana. It just feels so wrong." She complained, as Stanley's face fell.

"If it makes you uncomfortable, when I call you-"

"No," DJ cut him off firmly. "It feels right when you call me that."

"That's a big honor for me." exclaimed Stanley, smiling at her.

Then, at the height of the water, the two reached the small beach where they parked their bikes. DJ put her towel on a stone next to Stanley's and quickly took off her sneakers, socks, t-shirt and shorts.

"Finally! Enjoyed your stroll, love birds?" Richie called from the water, as Stan rolled his eyes.

"Beep Beep, Richie." called the Uris boy back.

"Huh, apparently that's now a thing." DJ heard Richie mutter, while Stan and her jogged into the water.

Seconds later, the seven of them were having fun splashing each other and just talking. Ben rose from the water, holding Richie on his shoulders, while Bill held Beverly on his shoulders. Richie and Beverly then tried to see who can push the other off. DJ was pretty sure the game they were playing was called chicken fight. She was watching them curiously, before a splash of water hit her right in the face.

"Hey!" She protested, turning to see Eddie dunking Stan in the water.

"I already won! We already won!" Richie called, while DJ swam over to Eddie and Stan, splashing them both with water, as she didn't know who had splashed her.

She cast another glance behind her and saw Richie and Beverly grapple with each other. As Bev fell off Bill's back into the water, she yelped.

"They're down! Yes!" Richie cheered, raising his arms victoriously.

She shouldn't have gotten distracted though, as next she knew Stan dunked her underwater.

This went on for a while, with all of them swimming together and splashing each other, when Richie yelled, "Ah, fuck! What was that?"

Stan, too, had noticed something in the water, "Something just touched my foot right here."

Eddie, Stan, DJ and Richie looked underwater then, trying to see what was swimming in their vicinity, but without success.

"That work?"

Eddie asked, "Where are we looking?"

"Right here, right here, right here!" Richie pointed in the middle of their circle.

"It's a turtle." Bill informed them, surfacing after he had taken a closer look.

"He's right." DJ agreed excitedly, having just seen the animal as well.

Moments later, Young MC's "Bust a Move" played on a cassette player, while Beverly and DJ were sunbathing. Bev was wearing sunglasses, but the Johnson girl had nothing covering her face, since she didn't want to tan around the shape. By now it was getting harder to ignore that she felt looks on her, which she had shrugged off at first, but as soon as Bev had lightly nudged her she finally turned to look at the boys. That was apparently Bev's plan, since both girls turned to look at them at the same time, causing the boys to promptly look away and try to act natural. Eddie, who had been standing next to Ben and Bill, walked to sit on the ground next to Stanley, who was sitting on a big rock like the others. Everyone else had simply looked away or cleared their throats. As the girls went into sitting positions, they shared a look and giggled.

"News flash, Ben. School's out for summer!" Richie remarked, going through the contents of Ben's bag, and catching DJ's attention.

"Oh, that? That's not school stuff." Ben said, as Richie reached into the backpack and pulled out a postcard.

"Who sent you this?" He asked, turning it around.

"No one. Give it..." Ben snapped, quickly grabbing the postcard back. "No one."

Richie grinned, amused that he had gotten the reaction from Ben. Next, he reached into the backpack and pulled out a book. Ben didn't seem to mind that, since he didn't protest when Richie opened it.

"What's with the history project?"

"Oh... Well, when I first moved here, I didn't really have anyone to hang out with, so I just started spending time in the library." Ben explained at the same time as Richie passed the book to Bill.

"You went to the library? On purpose?" Richie questioned, genuinely confused.

"Oh, I wanna see." Beverly exclaimed, standing up and walking over to the group.

DJ quickly followed her actions, sitting down between Richie and Stan, while Bev sat down next to Bill.

"What's the Black Spot?" Stan wondered, as Eddie looked at a picture of the Black Spot from 1962.

"The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult." Eddie informed him, surprising the group with his knowledge.

"The what?"

"Don't you watch Geraldo?" Eddie questioned Stan, who shook his head.

"Y-Your... Your hair-" Bill spoke up, looking at Beverly, and getting the attention of the whole group.

It was obvious that he wanted to compliment Beverly's new hair cut, but he didn't get the chance, when Ben interrupted him.

"Your... Your hair's beautiful, Beverly."

"Oh, right. Thanks." Bev thanked him, running a hand through her hair and sending him a smile.

The moment was incredibly awkward, especially when Ben and Bill stared at each other. DJ was on Bill's side on that one, since Bill had spoken up first. Ben shouldn't have interrupted him in her opinion.

Richie, who also picked up on the awkward atmosphere, quickly intervened and distracted the group from that moment.

"Here, pass it." He said, extending his hand to Bill, who handed the book back to him.

Stan leaned over DJ's shoulder to take a look and DJ nuzzled her head lightly against his, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Stan seemed pleasantly surprised and way too caught off guard to even think about pulling his head back.

"Why is it all murders and missing kids?" Richie questioned, as Eddie turned to face Ben.

"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." Ben informed the group, as Richie looked at Stan, finding that to be very alarming.

"You read that?" asked Beverly the Hanscom boy.

"No, Bev, he's just making it up out of boredom." DJ muttered, trying to hide just how much that information terrified her.

"That and because he wants to look interesting." Richie added to her words, giving her a high five.

DJ felt Stan shake his head, making her suppress a smile.

"Ugh, shut up you two. Ben, keep talking please." Bev said, rolling her eyes, before turning her attention back to Ben, who had a blush on his cheeks.

"And that's just grown-ups. Kids are worse. Way, way worse."

Goosebumps spread across Stan's skin, which DJ could feel. She took his hand and rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand to soothe him, and she was pleased when the goosebumps disappeared. He was still disturbed by this information, but he was calmer now.

"I've got more stuff if you wanna see it." Ben invited the group, causing everyone to share looks with each other.

Everyone was curious and agreed to go, but Eddie frequently shook his head, mouthing, "No, no."

"Come on, Eds!" DJ called, grabbing his arm and hauling him up.

Merely a few minutes later, the group had arrived at Ben's house. Ben, Beverly, Eddie, Bill, and Richie let their bikes fall to the ground and went inside, while Stan and DJ (as usual) put the kickstands down.

"Why are we the only ones ever doing this properly?" DJ muttered, causing a smile to break out on Stanley's face.

"Don't ask me." He shrugged.

Quickly, DJ and Stan followed after their friends, walking inside Ben's house.

Once they arrived in Ben's bedroom, Stan immediately looked at the stuff on Ben's desk, while both DJ's and Richie's attention was drawn to the articles and pictures on the wall.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wow!"

Mistaking Richie's statement as excitement, Ben smiled proudly, "Cool, huh?"

"No. No, nothing cool. There's nothing cool. Oh, this is cool, right here... Wait, no. No, it's not cool."

"Don't be mean." DJ reprimanded him softly, so he stuck his tongue out, incredible mature as he was.

"What's that?" Stan asked, pointing at a piece of paper.

"Oh, that? That's the charter for Derry Township."

"Nerd alert." sung Richie, making DJ roll her eyes.

"Take a look in the mirror and stay quiet," She huffed, causing Richie to gasp dramatically. "I think it's interesting."

Ben looked relieved to hear that, "Yeah, actually, it's really interesting. Derry started out as a beaver trapping camp."

"Still is, am I right, boys?" Richie joked, holding up his hand for a high five.

Stan shook his head, signaling Richie to put his hand down, while Eddie merely looked at him. DJ, on the other hand, raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the Tozier boy.

"Ninety-one people signed the charter that made Derry," Ben went on, simply ignoring Richie's comment. "But later that winter, they all disappeared without a trace."

"The entire camp?" repeated Eddie skeptically.

"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." Ben informed them, shocking the group even further.

DJ stared at a photograph that displayed the camp. She licked her chapped lips, fear drying her mouth upon seeing a figure that resembled the clown she had seen the day prior on the photograph. She started tapping the floor with her foot over and over again, absolutely terrified when she realized that either she was going mad or that clown actually existed.

"Jesus. We can get Derry on Unsolved Mysteries." Richie remarked, slightly freaked out.

In response Eddie nodded, approving of that idea. "Let's do that. You're brilliant."

"I might be."

"I don't know," DJ heard Richie say, realizing she had missed the entire conversation that had followed. "Maybe he's just trying to make some friends, Stanley."

"W-Where was the Well House?" Bill asked suddenly and DJ's eyes met his. A mutual understanding passed between, once they both realized that they had seen something. DJ definitely wanted to talk with him later.

"I don't know. Somewhere in town, I guess. Why?" Ben shrugged, not knowing the answer to that.

"Nothing." muttered Bill, his gaze fixed on the articles on the wall.

Note: I know technically Bill hadn't seen IT-Georgie yet, only like a scene later, but for this to fit the story I'm changing that haha.