Walking home after Beverly had long since gone back to her apartment wasn't as easy as Steph normally thought it would be. Today, although she didn't know the exact reason why

(you're all alone just like you always have been your friends are just friendly to you because they pity your lonely freaking existence)

she was feeling rather paranoid of her surroundings. Of course, this was something she always felt in general, but the feeling was much stronger in power today, almost as if a lightbulb in her mind was growing brighter in horror and dread. She felt shivers travel through her, and it was always the awful type of them, and it was something that often happened when she sensed danger either physically in front of her or if she was predicting the future.

She never understood why she often felt this way, but it was so much worse for her recently and she now most definitely knew that something bad was going to happen as time slowly and slowly passed by. She didn't know if she was prepared for it or not, but she did know it was coming, and she wasn't sure if she should warn her friends or Danny.

(yeah i should let him know he would know what it's like because he went through something like this before but it was different oh yes very very different)

(yeah i do know what that's like steph)

A soft little chuckle left Steph's thin lips at the sound of her cousin's voice echoing through her brain but she didn't shut it down, because she always went to Danny Torrance for help and advice. And Danny was always there to offer both things to her, but she could sense that his power was slowly fading

(being repressed by him)

away into the background and being replaced with more normal thoughts and images. I guess that's what he had to do to try and get rid of the trauma he had with his past, which was something that he still wouldn't tell Steph.

"It's too disturbing for you to hear about," Danny had said when she was seven years old.

"I'll tell you when you get older," he had said when she had turned eleven.

And yet, he still wouldn't open his mouth and tell his younger cousin the truth.

Steph sighed a little bit as she glanced down, the bright lightbulb in her subconscious slowly dimming down but not going to total darkness, which was okay with her. Her mood since the pharmacy wasn't as cheerful and full of butterflies as it was at the sight of Bill's blush, although she still had no idea why his face was so red in the first place. And, even though she still wouldn't know why for the next two months, she had the smallest hint of an idea of the reason

(he likes you he likes you he has a CRUSH ON YOU YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT)

but she decided not to listen to the thought, since she knew that it was literally impossible that this would even happen. Bill Denbrough having a crush on her?! Well, that just sounded ridiculous to her, and it made her laugh in the face of whoever even suggested the idea, but she kept that humorous thought deep into the back of her library of images and mental sentences.

Well, maybe it was true... Maybe Bill did have a crush on her... Maybe --

Steph thought she was going insane when she saw someone standing behind one of the bushes on the sidewalk, and she stared at it for several seconds. She was sure she had seen this person somewhere before... the red lines that curved up into their eyes looked scarily familiar but she couldn't recall where she had seen this guy at all. Maybe at the local circus that was being held the summer before in Bangor...?

No... Steph would've known if that happened. She wasn't that scared of clowns but she was sure that she didn't see any that freaky-looking. If she had, she would've been sure that day was certain death because she would have most certainly fainted, since she was only eleven at the time. Most pre-teens out there were still terrified of clowns and she had a slight fear of them back then, but after seeing Killer Klowns From Outer Space on VHS just over a year ago, those fears vanished within an instant when she had found out the concept of the movie.

But looking at this guy who was most certainly dressed as a clown really did freak her out just a little bit but she tried her hardest not to show that. She just stared ahead at the figure standing behind the hedge, which reminded her of that one scene in Halloween, and that fact just creeped her out even more.

Steph glanced around, only to see that nobody was surrounding her in the streets of Derry. It was almost as if she were living in a ghost town where not a single soul lived in the houses that aligned every side of the street, and it really confused her to no end. A soft and shaky breath leaving her lips, she turned back around to see if the clown was still there. Not a single ounce of surprise hit her when she saw that there wasn't anybody standing behind the hedge. But she did sigh with relief, sort of glad that she was alone again.

She slowly took a few steps forward again, still feeling a bit paranoid, but she forced herself to relax as she took a few deep breaths. She shook her hands roughly out in front of her, her blonde hair bouncing on her back due to the momentum of the small gust of wind blowing through the town. She then did something that would've sounded unimaginable to do at that moment.

She laughed. A small giggle left her and she had the urge to cover her mouth almost immediately afterwards since it felt inappropriate to do it right then and there.

But she giggled almost hysterically, shocking herself and the internal demons in her heart when she wasn't able to stop laughing about the ridiculousness of what this summer was bringing upon her and her friends. It nearly seemed utterly hilarious, as if it were a comedy sketch that she were watching with her mother, but she couldn't gather the courage to snap herself out of it.

She couldn't admit to herself that what she was living in was real... it was all horrifically and completely real, which was something she never wanted.

God, why couldn't things in her life be perfect?! All she wanted was to have the perfect mother and father, as well as a glorious childhood and it was all ripped away from her. Jonathan was long dead and Jamie was left a depressed widow who did everything she could to protect and care for her daughter with twice the amount of love a regular mother should have. Every single one of those smiles and laughs were concealing the utter pain and torture hidden deep down in her soul. Jesus, there were even things about the older woman's troubled past that she had still kept a secret from her poor daughter and Steph didn't think that Jamie would ever sit down with her and tell her everything.

"Steph?"

The young girl jumped so fast that it almost made the boy beside her fall backwards in surprise as she frantically looked around, her eyes wide in what seemed to be horror. But she was brought back down to earth when she felt careful and friendly hands grip her arms to keep her from falling. She looked up and saw the sienna eyes that were filled with concern for his best friend as her terror slowly died down and withered away, and she was suddenly relieved to not be alone anymore.

It was Stan. It was just Stan.

"Oh... hey, what's up?" she greeted him, a genuine smile being planted on her face for real this time.

"Is everything okay...?" Stan replied in a worried tone, scanning every inch of the girl's expression for something troubled, which was something he always did with the person that had practically become his sister over the course of four years. "I was walking home from the pharmacy and I saw you huddled close to your mailbox, crying... like, crying horribly... Are you okay, Steph?"

Steph's eyes squinted like they always did in utter confusion as she put a hand against her cheek, wiping away the tears that soaked her skin and she pulled the hand back to see the salty water there. Her eyes then widened when she noticed that she hadn't even realized that she was crying whatsoever... in fact, she didn't even remember sitting next to her mailbox until Stan had gotten her attention and tore her away from the inner thoughts that she always stored away in her mind. Her hands were slightly shaking as she took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment and wiping the rest of the tears away. She sniffed as she let out an exhale of frustration as she looked at Stan.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Stan," she mumbled, only half-telling the truth towards her best friend as her shoulders trembled a little. "I don't know what happened, probably too much sun, you know? It's blistering hot today..." Steph wasn't really lying because she was sweating up a storm as she talked to the boy with curly, dirty blonde hair that listened to her every word because that was just the kind of friend Stanley Uris happened to be. He was the type of friend who would always look after you whenever you needed it, and would always support you through any hardships. For example, when Steph had first brought up the fact that her father had died before she was born to the Losers, Stan had been the first to hug her and express his sorrow towards her, and it was something she truly appreciated.

In fact, Steph and Stan had grown so close as friends that the girl had expected that he had a crush on her for a little while. But when he admitted that it wasn't true and that he only saw her as a friend and nothing more, things were slightly awkward for a little while after that; but it was mostly because Steph felt like an idiot for even suggesting the thought in her mind. But Stan did assure her that there was absolutely nothing wrong with assuming what she had assumed, since he brought up the fact that the other boys had teased him for a while, saying that he was in love with Steph.

When the two finally told the rest that what they were saying really were lies, they shut their mouths real fast and stopped the playful taunting.

"Yeah, I get that," Stan said in understanding, nodding a little bit. He had the feeling that Steph was lying to him but he didn't want to push her buttons, since he knew that it would result in her becoming upset. "Thank God we're going to the quarry tomorrow then, am I right?"

Steph let out a giggle, but this was a genuine one of amusement and cheerfulness. "Yeah, that's true," she said, nodding a little before feeling the presence of someone else behind her and she swiftly turned around to see who it was that could possibly join in on hers and Stan's conversation.

Nobody. There was absolutely no one behind her.

"What is it, Steph?" Stan asked her, making her turn back to face him before shaking her head lightly.

"Nothing..." she mumbled. "Just thought I heard something behind me, that's all." That was the truth, since she thought that she could hear the distinct snapping of a tree branch just mere feet behind her, only to come to terms that it was just her imagination playing mind games with her. "I'm okay, really... There's nothing to worry about..."

At least, for now... the girl thought to herself but she shook the idea out of her mind.

Stan nodded as he sent Steph a genuine smile in hopes of cheering her up lightly, despite the fact that he still didn't believe what she was saying one bit. "Well, all right then," he replied, picking his bicycle up that he had dropped to the ground when he saw Steph distressed earlier. "I'm gonna head home now, just wanted to see if you were okay. You... You give me a call if you get stressed out again, okay, Steph? I want to be a good friend and be there for you, you know...?"

The blonde girl hesitated for a full thirty seconds before snapping back to her own nightmare of a reality and nodding, smiling at Stan in a thankful way. "Okay, I will," she said. "Thanks for caring about me, Stan..."

"Oh, it's nothing, really..." the curly-haired boy responded and then took off on his bike, but not before waving goodbye to the blonde girl in farewell.

Steph watched her best friend leave her house until he was out of sight and, once he was, she instantly dashed to her front door and quickly got inside before locking it. She slowly felt relief and all of the panic in her system wash away knowing that she was safe inside her own home, and she took a deep breath to calm her frantic heartbeat, although it just barely worked.

She then walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, chugging it down her throat immediately afterwards, feeling a little happier that it quenched her dying thirst that she didn't even know she had. She then leaned against the refrigerator and sank to the floor, resting her forehead against her knees as her shoulders shook ever so slightly. She then ran her hands over the now rough skin of her face due to the tears from mere minutes ago...

Or could it have been hours...? Or days...? She would have no idea.

A trembling sigh left her thin lips as she stood up, walking to the telephone in her living room rather faster than she had in a while, picking it up and putting it to her ear as she dialed a number that had been ingrained in her head ever since the person gave it to her. She bounced her leg for a little bit, patiently waiting for whoever she was calling to answer her and greet her with a polite "Hello?"

She hung her head in dismay when she kept on hearing the dial tone, meaning that the person wasn't going to pick up at all. But when she heard a click and heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line, a comforted smile grew on her face as she sank back against the couch, finally relaxed.

_____

Once the sun finally rose the next morning, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over Steph as her uniquely-colored eyes fluttered open and she shielded herself from the harsh light shining through the cracked blinds of her bedroom window. She rubbed her forehead more roughly than she probably would've if it happened to be a normal day, and she sighed a little while sitting up in her bed. She then glanced at her clock, seeing that it read 10:33 A.M, and she immediately stood up to get ready because she wanted to get to the quarry as early as she could before the others arrived at 12:00.

After the girl talked to her cousin on the phone for over an hour the night before, she felt a lot more at ease with the advice he had given her. Danny had told her that maybe she should be on the lookout for anything suspicious that was happening around her, but he also advised Steph to keep herself as calm as she possibly could be in any given situation, no matter what the outcome was. The pre-teen had the slightest idea of what Danny meant, since she knew that he was way smarter than her when it came to these situations, and she guessed that was what happened when you had the type of power that her cousin had.

Oh, wait... she did have the power as well.... But it wasn't as strong as Danny's abilities, although they were quite powerful despite the fact that she rarely used it.

She shook the thoughts of ridiculousness away as she attempted to pick out which bathing suit she wanted to wear to the quarry for the day. She actually didn't have to go through a whole bunch of options since she rarely went swimming anyway, so she was pretty freaking thankful for that. She eventually settled on a blue one-piece that she wore almost every time she went to someone's house or the quarry to swim with her friends. She almost never showed any skin around people because she was extremely insecure of how she looked in front of anyone that she came into contact with, since she always believed that everyone she knew thought that she was hideous, including her own mother. And, despite the protests that Jamie made against those statements, Steph always refused to believe the older woman.

She changed out of her pajamas and into the bathing suit, looking at herself in the mirror as she did so. She thought she looked decent at best, and unbearably unattractive at worst, and she sighed to herself. She fought away the urge to just call Bill and tell him that she would be staying at home for the day and, instead, decided to put on a white summer dress over the swimsuit, thinking to herself that she should be more confident in herself. She then ran a hairbrush through her nappy and tangled hair, wincing a little at the slight bit of pain that the task brought her, and she exhaled sharply.

Tossing her hairbrush down onto her desk and grabbing her purse, she opened her door and stepped out into the bare and empty hallway. She was instantly greeted by the sound of Roseanne playing an episode on the television downstairs, and the smell of bacon sizzling in the kitchen. She jogged downstairs, her feet ever so quietly making footfall to each wooden step, and that alone just made the smallest smile touch her radiant face.

What could she say? Stephanie Palmer was quite the ninja and was always very silent when stealthily sneaking around the house.

Steph dropped her purse over the back of the couch before making her way into the kitchen and acknowledged her mother with a smile before grabbing a plate for her breakfast. "Good morning, Mom," she greeted the middle-aged woman happily but with a slightly tired tone as she sat down at the dining room table.

"Morning, sweetheart!" Jamie replied cheerfully while brewing herself a cup of coffee, grinning at her daughter. "Did you sleep well last night...?" When she saw Steph nod her head in reply, she went back to finishing the process of making her coffee. She then went to sit across the dining table from her, sipping from her mug while picking up a new novel that she had bought the week before, ready to read it.

"Thanks for making breakfast, Mom..." Steph mumbled timidly, always scared to speak out loud in fear of interrupting her mother's ability to read.

"Oh, no problem!" the woman replied, smiling at her daughter as she looked at her over the top of the book she was just beginning to read. "I just figured that you should go ahead and have something to eat before you go to the quarry with your friends."

The blonde pre-teen nodded her head as she smiled, going back to eat her food as quickly as she could, not wanting to waste too much time before going to hang out with her friends. She then got a bottle of water out from the refrigerator and took a sip of it after opening it, before placing the lid back on it. She glanced back to the television in the living room playing the end credits of the Roseanne episode.

God, she really hoped that she could at least have a good day today...

"Mom, I'm gonna go ahead and go..." Steph called out to Jamie as she neared the front door, taking her house key out of her purse after grabbing it. "I'll see you this evening if you're not already gone!"

"Okay, honey!" Jamie called back to her only child, smiling at her. "You have fun, and I'll still be here when you get back! Be sure that you're back before the curfew and please be careful!"

"You know I will, Mom!" Steph shouted back as she giggled gently. "Love you!" As soon as she heard her mother return the saying, she stepped out the front door and shut it behind her, locking it just like Jamie would've wanted her to. She then went over to her bike that was tied in a lock to the tree, unlocking it and grabbing it from where it sat. She then got on it and started biking out of the driveway that led to her home, turning to her right and beginning to pedal down the street. She enjoyed the cool air on her face and she was grateful for the fact that it wasn't as suffocatingly hot as it was the day before.

"Hey, Steph!"

Steph immediately screeched her bike to a halt as she felt her heart jump in her chest out of fright, and the sudden stop nearly made her fly off of her bicycle. Catching her breath, she turned her head to her left and what she saw made her sigh in utter relief. "Oh, Justin!" she shouted back. "Hi! Don't scare me like that, kid!"

"Sorry!" Justin replied as he chuckled apologetically, jogging over to the girl that was only three years older than him. Steph made sure that she had walked over to the sidewalk, that way she wouldn't risk the little boy being struck and run over by either a car or a semi-truck.

"It's okay, kid," she replied before ruffling his head of hair, which made him swat at her hand playfully. "What are you and Amber doing today?"

Justin turned around to wave his father, Daniel, over to him and Steph before turning to face the girl in question. "Dad's gonna set up a swimming pool for us and I'm helping him and Mom out with it! And it's a gigantic swimming pool, like, it's the size of a SHIP!" The young boy was clearly making it sound more dramatic than it actually was, but it still made Steph let out a giggle of happiness as she patted the boy's shoulder.

"I'm happy you guys got a swimming pool after the other one busted," she replied to Justin as she chuckled. "I'll have to come over someday and swim with you two. Maybe your parents will have a cookout next week... I don't know, it's a possibility."

The little boy's eyes brightened majorly at hearing this, and he nodded frantically with pure joy. "That sounds like a great idea, Steph!" he said. "I'll let my mom and Amber know and maybe Mom can get everything arranged, you know?"

Steph nodded before looking up to see Daniel approach her and his son, a warm smile on his face but the girl could tell that it didn't quite reach his eyes. Nevertheless, she extended her hand to shake his in a polite greeting. "Good morning, Mr. O'Connor," she said kindly. "It's nice to see you on this beautiful day."

"Nice to see you, too, Steph," Daniel replied with the slightest hint of a chuckle, and Steph could immediately tell that something was off. She noticed that his hands were trembling ever so slightly and she didn't know if it were from exhaustion of setting up the swimming pool or from something else that she wasn't able to describe just yet. But she was broken out of her thoughts when the older man added his sentence with, "You got any plans for today?"

The girl nodded as she sighed a little from how warm it was outside, but she still managed to smile anyway. "Yeah, I'm going swimming with some of my friends," she answered him. "Speaking of which, Justin was just telling me about the swimming pool you guys were fixing up. It's great that y'all got a new one!" When she saw a true smile form on Daniel's face, she was ever so slightly put at ease with herself. Maybe nothing was actually wrong with him after all.

Or was there...?

Daniel slightly nodded as he grinned, and he was also using that smile to hide his deepest and darkest secrets from the poor girl, since he knew that she could read him like a book. That may have been why he had hired Steph as a babysitter: she was one of the more smarter young girls he had ever met, and he kind of admired that about her, maybe even wishing he had the talent that she had. "Yeah," he said instead of voicing his inner thoughts and unleashing them into the world. "The kids are pretty excited and Rachel is sitting on the back porch just soaking in some sun, all while I'm stuck doing the hard work like always..."

"Liar!" Justin exclaimed in an over-the-top manner that made Steph chuckle lightly. "I'm helping you, remember?!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Daniel said as he rolled his eyes playfully before shaking his head and laughing a little bit with his son.

And there it was again: the same paranoid frown that was tracing the features of the middle-aged man's face and it, once more, made Steph anxious about what possibly could have been wrong with him. She racked through her brain trying to struggle on finding out what it could be but her abilities were on the backburner for today and she wasn't able to allow herself to intrude in on Daniel's thoughts. But she couldn't help but ask the inevitable...

"Um... Daniel, are you okay...?" she mumbled hesitantly. "You seem a little... off."

The man nodded instantly, although his hands seemed to be shaking even more with what seemed to be... lunacy...? Madness...? No, it couldn't have been that! He may have just been completely exhausted from the hard work that he was already putting into setting up the swimming pool.

Right?

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay..." he mumbled in a way that immediately shouted that he was one hundred percent lying to the pre-teen. And, when he saw her raising an eyebrow at that answer, he sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "I really am okay, Steph," he added. "Why don't you go ahead and go hang out with your friends like you said you would, alright?"

Steph falteringly nodded her head before lowering to Justin's level and hugging the boy tightly. "You best be a good kid, you hear me?" she told him with a smile that did touch her eyes for the first time in several days, especially when he nodded and replied with "Okay, I will, Stephie!" That was a nickname that he often said around her, as well as her friends and, while it did annoy her at times, she actually found the saying to be quite touching and she tried not to burst into tears right there.

But, keeping her composure together, she grinned instead and stood back up, ruffling Justin's hair once more. "Thank you," she said before looking back up at the boy's father. "I'll see you later, Daniel. Say hi to Amber and Rachel for me!"

Daniel nodded and opened his mouth to say something but, rather than actually speak, he alternatively turned his head away and walked back to the backyard to finish fixing up the family swimming pool. What Steph didn't notice was him sighing and frowning with guilt and feeling that he should've actually said something to the girl.

Steph's eyebrows knitted together as a confused frown graced her lips in an unpleasant way, and it made her glance down before seeing Justin following his dad to go help him out with the daunting task. She then turned around and began heading down the street, a concerning feeling settling into her emotions and it made her decide to not immediately jump onto her bicycle and speed away to somewhere where nobody would ever see her again. She sighed a little bit and combed her hand through her frizzy hair, looking behind her and just wishing that she could have said something to Justin's father about what was happening with him... but she simply couldn't. She was too scared to.

Glancing back in front of her, her concerned expression slowly began to wipe itself away from anyone's view if they just so happened to catch a slimmer of a glimpse at it. A chortle of disbelief slipped past her lips and she honestly didn't mean to let it happen but it happened anyway and she couldn't stop it. She put a hand on her forehead to wipe away the thin layer of sweat that adorned her skin, and she was surprised at how much she was burning up.

She definitely couldn't wait to jump into the freezing water of the quarry now!

A rustling sound suddenly erupted from a bush behind her, and it made her jump slightly before freezing in place completely. She felt as if she had sprung up a death trap that would lure whatever monsters that invaded the planet right to her location if she weren't quiet enough. She didn't even let out a gasp of surprise or fear in terror of being snatched away from her world in seconds.

Steph ever so slowly turned around to take a peek at whatever had been the source of the noise that emanated from right behind her. She sighed very silently when she didn't see an object or person at first, and she smiled a smile of relief, putting a hand over her chest. Maybe she was just hearing things and it was all a part of her imagination and her paranoia playing cruel tricks on the mind.

But then the pre-teen caught a glimpse of something creeping around the bush and it made her eyes widen in worry as she struggled to get back on her bike, and she pedaled dangerously down the street as a way to flee.

"Not again..." she frantically whispered under her breath.

_____

Much to Steph's relief, Beverly Marsh came across her path after speeding away from what she had seen near her home, and it forced her to stop her bike before she was bound to crash into something and break a bone. She sighed with utter relief as she gasped for precious oxygen to properly fill her lungs after quitting her escape, and Beverly had to catch her in her arms before she could fall over and collapse from exhaustion.

Steph then had to reassure the redhead over a dozen times that she really was okay, although it wasn't completely the truth. But she couldn't gather the courage to tell Beverly what she had really seen behind that bush and, after several minutes of trying to convince her, the blonde's best friend finally gave in and accepted her story despite the fact that she glanced at her with suspicion in her blue-green eyes.

The pre-teen then broke all of the tension by saying that they were probably going to be late in meeting up with the other Losers to go swimming and that got Beverly's attention. So they both raced to the quarry, Beverly unsurprisingly beating Steph there and it made them both let out giggles of amusement because, while Stephanie Palmer was quite stealthy, Beverly Marsh was a hundred times faster than she herself was. The blonde-haired girl stepped off of her bike, propping up the kickstand as she yawned a little bit, since she was still ever so slightly sleepy from waking up only an hour ago.

"Ready to go swimming, Little Loser?" Bev asked her with that gorgeous smile that always made Steph envy her. Oh, how she wished to have Beverly's insane beauty that made her rise above all of the angels in her own version of what Heaven may have been like...

"Yeah, I guess," Steph said while crossing her arms and jokingly scowling at Beverly. "But, after that, you owe me a rematch. We'll see who really is the quickest of us!"

Beverly laughed as she tossed her head back, and that's when Steph finally noticed the shorter red hair that was now cut to the girl's shoulders. "And the answer will be me!' she retorted with a challenging smirk on her face. "It's always going to be and there's nothing you can do about it!" She then tilted her head back so her nose could stick up in the air as she tried her hardest to hold back hysterical laughter.

Steph then rolled her eyes as she gently punched Beverly's arm, giggling softly. "Okay, okay, you win," she scoffed merrily as she grinned at her closest friend.

"Hmm, that's what I thought!" Beverly snapped back happily as she tossed her arm to be over Steph's shoulders, which was something she often did with her friend. "Come on, let's go visit the boys and see what they're up to."

The blonde nodded as she stepped through the woods, doing her best to avoid every tree branch in her path in fear of making any sudden and inappropriate noise... she didn't want to attract any monsters to her friends, now did she?

No, she most certainly didn't.

Her breath then hitched in her throat when she saw five boys in a clear spot in the woods, and they were standing on a rock. They were at the edge of the cliff that they would normally jump off of in order to land in the water and they did this countless times... but, now that Steph had hit puberty, she had grown to be more insecure of how she physically looked, especially in front of the boys. Her hands began to shake a little bit in fear that they would find her utterly repulsive to look at, and she was nearly tempted to turn around and sprint all the way home.

Beverly then placed a hand on her shoulder, almost as if sensing her inner fears, and she gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Steph..." she mumbled to her in a comforting manner, like she always did. "You're beautiful, don't ever forget that. Be confident in yourself. If anyone ever calls you ugly, don't listen to them because they are wrong. You are beautiful, okay?"

Steph smiled at her best friend in thankfulness as she nodded timidly, feeling truly shy about the topic for the first time in a while. "Thanks, Bev..." she whispered under her breath, feeling happier when the redhead's smile grew bigger in response.

"No problem, Stephie," she replied before removing her arm from around her shoulders. "Now let's go show these gentlemen how awesome we really are."

The girl nodded as she now grinned with excitement and she strolled closer to the boys, a little relieved that they weren't aware of their presence yet. She gently dropped her purse to the ground as she heard Richie and Eddie arguing over who spat loogie better into the water; it made her sigh a little bit but also let out the faintest giggle imaginable so they wouldn't hear her cracking up behind them or have heart attacks at the sudden sound.

Steph then saw Bill break up the argument between the other boys by pointing towards the water, even though she wasn't able to see his face. "Who's fuh-first?" she heard him say to the others and she was actually curious as to which boy would jump or dive or cannonball into the water. That was when her heart began to race just a little because she remembered that she was kind of afraid of heights, but she let that fear in her body subside and vanish for the time being. She had this sudden urge to fling herself over the edge of the cliff in an effort to be brave for once in her godforsaken life, but she didn't know if she could do it.

"I'll go!" shouted Beverly from beside her and she snapped her head in her best friend's direction, her eyes wide in surprise. Their presence was now being made aware of by the boys standing in front of them.

"W-Wait, what?!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper that made the redhead giggle as she unbuttoned the front of her flower-patterned dress and slipped it off of her shoulders. As she tossed the dress to the side, she murmured to the blonde to be the fearless woman that she knew that she would be destined to be someday.

Little did she know that that day wouldn't be as far away as she thought....

"Sissies!" Beverly let out in a giggle once the girls noticed that the six boys had their eyes on both of them, mostly on the redhead of the two. Steph then watched in disbelief as her surrogate sister began to jog past the boys before full on sprinting towards the edge of the cliff, unleashing herself off of it and into the air, flying towards the water as if she were Superman and the manner of it made the blonde chortle a little at how humorous it actually was. But then her insecurities returned full circle as she ever so slowly began to remove her summer dress.

"What the fuck?!" she heard Richie shout at the top of his lungs right before the sound of Beverly splashing below the beautiful waters of the quarry rang through her eardrums. By that point, Steph had removed her dress and flip-flops before crossing her arms over her chest and looking down shyly, feeling awful for how she looked and she frowned. The boys would probably make fun of her for how skinny she was and point at her as they laughed and it made her sigh in dismay as she heard four of the boys jump off of the cliff and splash into the water.

"S-Steph...?" she heard a quiet mumble from right in front of her. Steph had forgotten that she closed her eyes while feeling immense shame just now, so she opened them and glanced up at who would be unavoidably standing there.

Bill was looking into her eyes with mild concern in his caring eyes as he placed a hand on her bare arm. He totally hadn't just been admiring her and staring at her while the others were starting to swim in the water. Nope, he definitely wasn't.

Oh, screw it, of course he had! After his sudden feelings for her had kicked in the afternoon before today, how could he not appreciate how downright gorgeous his best friend was?! It was pretty freaking impossible not to, but he did grow worried for the girl when he saw her look down and frown. So he had bravely stepped up to her, ready to provide her comfort if she needed it and to be the great friend he needed to be towards her... even if what he felt for her was so much more than friendship.

"Are y-y-y-you o-okay?" he asked her in that gentle voice he always used when he was around her specifically, examining her facial expression that seemed to be... humiliation? Shame? He didn't understand why she looked or felt this way but maybe it was in his best interest to know. But if she didn't want to tell him what was wrong, that would be okay, too.

The girl in front of him nodded as she looked down again, feeling shy now as her cheeks started to turn pink. "Yeah... I am," she murmured extremely quietly, intertwining her fingers together rather tightly as she let out a nervous breath. "I just... I guess I'm scared to be dressed like this in front of you guys. I'm anxious as to whether or not you'll laugh at me..."

Bill's lips parted slightly as his eyes widened with sympathy, lowering his hand to softly take hers and hold it carefully. He then looked back up at her and his inner thoughts screamed for him to compliment her to make her feel better. After all, he thought she was so beautiful and he felt his heart racing a mile in his chest when he saw her standing there in her one-piece. He did understand that she wouldn't show as much skin as Beverly, and he was perfectly fine with that, as long as she felt comfortable.

"I'm n-n-nuh-not going to luh-laugh at y-y-y-y-you..." he whispered to reassure her that there was nothing to be scared of. "I-I actually th-th-think that you're v-v-v-very pretty." His face then turned pink in surprise that he actually said this to her face and he lowered his own head shyly and closed his eyes, smiling a little bit. "You don't huh-have to feel e-em-embarrassed. I promise..."

The blonde girl that looked as pretty as Cinderella to him glanced up at him as the shyest smile formed on her face and that alone was enough to make Bill weak at the knees as he let out a nervous breath. He stared at her with astonishment in his blue-green eyes but tried his best to play it off as casual, but there was a mixture of consolation in those eyes as he attempted to comfort his best friend and he was happy when he saw that it was actually working.

"Thank you, Bill..." Steph whispered sheepishly as she smiled at the boy, her cheeks blood red now from shyness. "I... I actually really needed to hear that, so thank you."

Bill didn't say anything in response, just nodding a little as he smiled a little wider at Steph; and, in the girl's opinion, she felt as if it were right that her friend didn't say anything. She thought that the moment felt more perfect because Bill didn't reply and that made her a little more confident and overjoyed as she began to step closer to the edge of the cliff. She stared over the edge and saw that Richie, Ben, Beverly, and Eddie were swimming and splashing at each other while laughing pretty loudly.

"Come on, Steph!" the redhead shouted up to her and the softest giggle trailed from her lips as she shrugged. What the hell, she thought. Might as well. I've done this several times already. Need to go ahead and do it again...

So, the girl took a few steps back before making a mad dash for the edge and tossing herself overboard as if she were on a ship. She flew at a terrifying speed towards the water as she could faintly hear the others cheering her on. But the noise was immediately muffled the second she hit the surface of the water and began to sink for a moment. But then she resurfaced and was relieved that she didn't drown, not wanting to end up like Jason Voorhees did in the Friday the 13th movies. She then heard Richie cheering louder than the others, which made her laugh as she looked up and saw Bill and Stan jumping into the water at the same time.

Steph began to wade around in the water, just watching her friends splash each other rather than actually play games. The water was even colder than she thought it would be, but she got used to it fairly quickly and stopped shivering almost as soon as she had hit the water and came back on top. A big smile was on her face as she watched Richie and Eddie trying to dunk each other under the water, and she just prayed that neither one of them would actually drown, but she was sure that they wouldn't.

She then felt as if someone happened to be looking in her direction, so she looked to her right, but she only saw Beverly; and the redhead wasn't looking at her at all, instead also watching their friends acting like complete lunatics in the water. So, she then decided to glance over to her left just to see if anyone was looking at her.

She wasn't expecting it to be the person that was actually standing there.

It was Bill.

He was looking at her with adoration in his eyes and the faintest grin was planted on his face, and he seemed to not notice that she had caught him staring for the time being. Bill could have sworn that, if this were a cartoon, his eyes would have turned into hearts just at the sight of the gorgeous girl standing right next to him. There was no denying that he had the biggest crush on her at this point, since it was difficult to hide away from anybody but could he care less? Probably not.

He then finally realized that Steph had caught him staring and he quickly looked away out of pure embarrassment. He glanced down towards the water, his face turning so red and he felt warm from the awkwardness he felt in his soul. But, after a few seconds, he risked sneaking a peek back at Steph, a nervous smile on his face. And, when he saw Steph's face turn pink as she smiled back at him, he could've died a happy man.

Steph was smiling at him rather bashfully as her eyes glanced over his facial expressions, and she actually felt her heart fluttering in her chest. She felt this feathery-light feeling in her stomach that she couldn't quite describe, but mainly because she had never experienced this before. But she was happy with having this feeling become a new one in her emotions, since it wasn't a bad feeling at all.

She then looked away after a little while, only to be met with the gaze of Beverly just a few feet away from her. The smirk on the redhead's face told it all as she playfully narrowed her eyes at Steph, shaking her head a little bit. "I'm watching you two!" she said jokingly as she giggled, and that only made Steph blush even more as she looked down very quickly.

She was suddenly very thankful for her friends being there when they suggested that they play 'Chicken Fight.'

_____

When routine bites hard and ambitions are low
And resentment rides high but emotions won't grow

While Steph was sitting beside the boys on the rock and using the sun as a source to dry herself off instead of a towel, she could hear Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart blasting through the boombox that Richie had brought with him so they could listen to some music. Her eyes were closed out of pure peace as she sighed softly with happiness, just soaking in the sun as she listened to the blissful lyrics of Joy Division drown out any other sound around her. She felt happier than she had in a while, and she was so relieved.

After Young MC's Bust a Move switched on the stereo and Steph had rolled her eyes at how annoying the song was to her, her eyes fluttered open and she looked at Beverly, who was laying on a towel in front of the boys and also soaking in some sun. She smiled for a second and even chuckled at the boys that were gawking at her, finding it very amusing to watch. But her smile turned into a hurt frown when she saw that Bill was also looking at Beverly.

But she had no idea that the boy was only regarding the fact that Beverly was in front of them. He had only acknowledged the redhead's presence, and wasn't staring at her. And when he shyly drew his gaze back to Steph, his heart dropped at the frown on her face and he moved a little closer to her. "You o-okay...?" he asked in a quiet mumble, his hand accidentally brushing against hers.

Steph flinched at the sudden voice and she turned to face Bill yet again as she quickly nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay..." she lied through her teeth in a whisper. "I guess the heat's just getting to me... That's probably it."

She briefly saw Stan, who was on the other side of the row of boys, giving her a suspicious glance when he heard those words. And once the curly-haired boy noticed that she could see him, he raised his eyebrows in a way to say "I know you're lying. You're the worst liar I've ever met." Steph, in return, narrowed her eyes at him in a way to tell him to mind his own business. She didn't want her friends to know what was really wrong with her and it made her look down, but not before noticing that Stan had quickly ducked his head down out of guilt, and she felt sorry for him.

"O-Oh..." Bill mumbled, growing worried for the girl as he looked into her eyes. God, those beautiful midnight blue eyes that were so vivid in color. He doubted that he would ever see anything more magnificent than them. "D-Do you wanna s-s-suh-sit in the shade with m-m-me...? If... If that's o-okay with you..."

The blonde girl blushed a little as she shyly nodded, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Sure..." she murmured, slowly scooting closer to Bill but still providing him enough room to actually sit. She actually thought that the shade felt nice, especially when a gentle breeze began to drift through the quarry and hit her in a great way. "I feel better now, Bill," she added to him after about a minute. "Thanks..."

The boy smiled widely at her as he nodded timidly, trying to ignore the fact that his palms were sweating due to nervousness. "Nuh-No problem," he replied before pecking her cheek very quickly, which led to Steph placing her hand on the burning skin as she gasped softly. Bill frantically looked away after that, breathing heavily because of how instantly bad he felt for doing that. He shouldn't have done that! No, he should not have done that!

God, he was such an idiot!

"News flash, Ben!" Richie shouted in an attempt to do the voice of a radio DJ that was admittedly terrible, his fist over his mouth as if he were holding a microphone to his lips. "School's out for summa!" Turns out that he had discovered the mountain of books that Ben had stowed away in his backpack that he often brought with him, and Steph was pretty impressed that he could carry that much stuff with him everywhere he went. Not even she would be able to do that. She briefly noticed Richie taking out a postcard from the backpack and regarding it with interest, but Ben immediately snatched it from it and shoved it back in it. "What's with the history project?" she then heard Richie add to the other boy.

This made Steph tilt her head a little in mild interest, leaning forward so she could hear the conversation a little better.

"Oh," Ben muttered, feeling a little self-conscious when he saw that all eyes were on him when he spoke up. But he continued nonetheless, ignoring his anxiety. "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."

Steph then looked up at Richie and saw an amused look in his eyes behind those large glasses as he looked from the folder to Ben. "You went to the library?" he scoffed, a bit of laughter escaping his lips. "On purpose?"

The girl then sighed in irritation before picking up a small stick from beside her and hurling it in Richie's direction. She then let out an amused giggle when it hit him square in the face and knocked his glasses off of his nose. Once he recovered from the shock and looked in her direction, she didn't hesitate to stick her middle finger up and flip him the bird as she smirked.

"Dude, what the hell?!" he exclaimed, starting to get up.

"Go right on ahead," Steph said as she grinned at Richie, almost as if she were challenging him. "Go ahead and say something else to him, I dare you."

Richie suddenly backed down from an argument and raised his hands up in defeat. "You know what? I'm good," he replied in a quivering tone.

"That's what I thought!" she said in response, not noticing the look of admiration in Bill's eyes from beside her.

At that point, Beverly had gotten up and walked over to the rest of the group, sitting next to Steph. And Richie had handed the blonde girl and Bill a book full of Ben's research on Derry, which made her ponder over all of it in curiosity. All while the boy sitting inches away from her felt his heart pounding in his chest because he would've never expected for a beautiful young woman like her to sit next to him.

"What's the Black Spot?" asked Stan as he glanced over a page that he had taken from Ben's backpack, his eyes squinted in questioning.

"The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult," Richie replied to the other boy, which made Steph's eyebrows raise in ever so slight alarm. She recalled hearing that story from somebody... didn't her aunt Wendy mention the tale to her?

Yeah, she did, she thought to herself. And she also mentioned someone while telling the story... God, what was his name?

She couldn't bring herself to remember for the time being.

"What?!" she caught Stan exclaiming in utter disbelief, and she looked up just in time to see that his eyes were wide in shock.

"Don't you watch Geraldo?" Richie replied.

As Steph was scanning through the pages of information with her eyes, she suddenly had the bravery to take Bill's hand and gently intertwine her fingers with his. When she heard his breath hitch, her heart skipped a beat as she glanced over at him, and she beamed at the stunned expression in his eyes. He shyly looked in her direction as the smallest of smiles touched his lips, and he let out the shaky breath that he didn't know that he had been holding. But, instead of pulling his hand away and being nervous, he confidently squeezed Steph's hand in return as a blush overtook his entire face.

"Y-Y-You really do look p-pr-pruh-pretty today..." he mumbled nervously, his eyes inspecting every inch of Steph's face, just trying desperately to look for a flaw about her physical appearance. But he couldn't find one at all.

Her cheeks seemed to blossom like roses as her face turned even redder, and she looked down at the ground bashfully while she smiled. "Thank you..." she whispered back, letting out a soft giggle. "I appreciate it..."

"You're wuh-welcome," Bill replied with a dumb grin on his face.

"Why's it all murders and missing kids?"

The moment Richie had asked that question to Ben, Steph immediately snapped her head up in his direction, her eyes wide in unease as she stared in his direction.

"Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before," Ben responded with a tone of dread laced into every word that he said. "They did a study once. It turns out... people die or disappear six times the national average."

Steph's heart plummeted to the bottom of her stomach at that sentence as she looked at Ben now, her shocked stare unwavering. She didn't understand... She had lived in Derry ever since she and her mother had moved here when she was a month old. So, she had basically lived in the small town for her whole life, and it was home to her and Jamie. Then... why were there sudden murders happening where she lived? Was there some psychotic serial killer going around and butchering people in gruesome ways...? Did the killer have a specific target...?

Or it could be something repeating itself... she thought crazily in her mind, although she didn't know why.

"You read that?" Beverly asked Ben in a soft but disturbed voice that broke Steph out of her crazy mind and her eyes darted every which way before eyes rested on Ben to focus on what he was saying again... just in time to see him nod.

"And that's just grown-ups..." he added in a low voice. "Kids are worse..." His face then contorted into the scared face a very small child would have, fear filling his kind eyes. "Way, way worse."

Georgie's happy face suddenly flashed through Steph's thoughts and a pained look formed in her eyes as she looked down. She really did think that the boy was long dead since it had been nearly a year since he had disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again. But Bill's determination to find him convinced Steph to help him search for his little brother, even though she secretly wished that he would just let go and move on.

She just didn't want whoever this sick psycho was to touch Justin or Amber... she couldn't bear to imagine what she would feel if those two kids were taken from her....

"I've got more stuff at my house," Ben went on, looking at all of the others with a bright and excited smile on his face all of a sudden. "You wanna see?"

Steph looked at her other friends just in time to see Eddie immediately shaking his head no, his eyes wide with worry. She herself was less eager to see what Ben had at his house, and she almost declined the offer, but she didn't want to be mean to her new best friend. So, she slowly stood up and all eyes were on her now. She gave Ben a curt nod as a smile touched her face.

"Sure, Ben," was all she said.

_____

About half an hour later, Steph took Ben up on that offer.

And as she and the other six people rode their bikes to the boy's house, she was actually more curious than concerned now as to what she would see in his room. Did she feel some dread in her heart? Well... yes and no. She did feel it because she never wanted anything similar to happen to her friends, but she couldn't say that out loud to them in fear of being cackled at out of amusement. But she also didn't feel it because she at least wouldn't be alone here... she had more than enough friends with her to support her through this and she could do the same with them.

After she and Bill shared some glances filled with shyness, they finally arrived at Ben's house, and they got off of their bikes. Steph decided to just drop hers down on the ground now after stepping off of it, which was something she would do every now and then. She then saw Eddie's fanny pack be snagged by the handlebars of his bike and he was sent tumbling to the ground with it. Panic in her eyes, she dashed over to him and helped him up, all while Richie was laughing hysterically.

"You okay there?" she asked the smaller boy, real concern in her eyes. But she sighed with relief when she saw Eddie nod as he chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he answered her, patting her on the shoulder. "Thanks, Steph."

Steph's head bobbed up and down as she took a deep breath and assured herself that everything was okay. Everything was just fine.

Well, for now.

She followed Ben up the front porch stairs after that, her feeling of pure panic sliding off of her shoulders for the time being. She had this strange feeling that it would return sooner than later, and her heart skipped a beat in worry. And, as Ben unlocked the front door with his house key, that feeling was further justified and she knew that she was walking into a situation that she wouldn't be able to get herself out of in any way, shape, or form.

One glance of concern from Bill later, and Steph had confirmed that she was willing to walk into whatever happened to be waiting for her on the other side of the front door. So, she finally took a step inside, a deep exhale leaving her lungs as she glanced around the Hanscom residence. She did have to admit that it wasn't extremely fancy, but she thought it was probably just because Ben and his mother that he had previously mentioned had just moved to Derry.

And then Ben further answered those suspecting answers lingering in the girl's mind, saying that he and his mother didn't have much stuff because they used to move around a whole lot when he was younger. He also added that his mother wouldn't be home for another hour or two, and that sentence made Steph nod in understanding.

The boy led the rest of the group down the hall after saying this and turned to his bedroom door, slowly opening it. At the same time, Richie was mainly having a conversation with mostly himself, even though Eddie joined in every now and then to shut him up with a burning glare of annoyance. Steph walked into the bedroom behind Ben and took in the sight of his room, looking all around her with interest in her eyes.

Ben's bedroom actually looked much like hers, excluding the fact that it definitely looked more like a boy's room than hers did. But he had a bookshelf that was filled with novels on each shelf and even a poster for Bananarama above his bed, which made her smile a little bit. There was a desk in front of the window with papers strewn all about it, which she hoped that he would tidy up just a little bit, and she then saw a cardboard box at the foot of his bed with cassette tapes piled from bottom to top. But one thing about his room made chills travel throughout her...

The walls were covered with children's missing posters and black and white newspaper clippings.

But not just that.

There were other papers taped up to the wall that actually had some pretty useful information that Steph herself could maybe look over later. There were also post-it notes that were scribbled on by Ben, which probably happened during his time at the library. While Steph was admittedly awestruck and fascinated by what she saw, she was deeply disturbed, wondering how in the world the boy could sleep in this room with all these terrifying headlines in here.

But she dared not voice that actual question.

Richie had instantly stopped speaking the moment he saw what was surrounding him in Ben's bedroom, and he actually took in the environment around him for once. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he exclaimed in a whisper, which Ben mistakenly assumed was in amazement. "Wow!"

"Cool, huh?" Ben replied proudly, chuckling a little as he himself also looked around at what he had put up on the wall.

Richie, to nobody's surprise, shook his head without looking away from the walls so much as once. "No, no, nothing cool," he said sarcastically before investigating the rest of Ben's room, picking up something that seemingly interested him. "Oh, this is cool right here! Wait, no, no, it's not cool."

The blonde girl rolled her eyes slightly and then looked away, not at all amused by Richie's antics. She studied Ben's findings instead of listening to Richie's sardonic sayings from behind her. Her midnight blue eyes trailed from one newspaper clipping to the other, growing even more intrigued by the backstory of the town of Derry, but each sentence kept on chilling her to the bone. She glanced down after this before looking in Bill's direction, seeing that he was also doing the same thing as her, although he was on the other side of the room.

"What's that?" Stan asked as he pointed to a sheet of paper in particular on the far end of the room.

Steph turned to look at the boy in question as Ben followed Stan's gaze and tried to get a better view. "Oh, that?" he asked, seeing Stan's nod. "That's the charter for Derry Township." Steph took a small step closer to see what Ben was talking about, seeing the paper taped up to the beige-colored wall.

"Nerd alert!" Richie exclaimed jokingly but Steph met his eyes and gave him a deadly glare that made him shut up instantly.

"Richie, what the hell did I say?" she mumbled quietly, her lips pressed into a thin line out of annoyance. "One more mean thing said to Ben and I will take you outside for a nice little chat."

The boy immediately nodded and looked away from Steph and she smiled in satisfaction before looking back to Ben. "Continue," she said to him with a kind grin.

"No, it's actually really interesting," Ben said in defense of what Richie had mumbled towards him, feeling a lot more confident than normal. Probably something to do with the fact that he had actual friends now. "Derry started as a beaver trapping camp."

Richie, despite Steph's threat just second earlier, couldn't contain himself as he raised his hand up for a high five. "Still is! Am I right, boys?!" Stan shook his head, unamused, but Steph actually let out a chuckle at what he declared, finally humored by a saying of Richie's for the first time that day.

"I'll let you slide on that one, Tozier," she added in reply.

"Ninety-one people signed the charter that made Derry," Ben continued, before squinting his eyes in puzzlement. "But, later that winter, they all disappeared without a trace."

"The entire camp?" Eddie inquired, swallowing a lump in his throat just as Steph detected the nervousness in his tone of voice.

"There were rumors of Indians, but no sign of an attack," Ben answered, looking at the charter with a solemn look in his dull green eyes. "Everybody just thought it was a plague or something, but it's just like one day, everybody just woke up and left. The only clue was a trail of bloody clothes leading to the Well House..."

Steph then looked back up at the missing children's posters, her stomach churning at what she was seeing and she could feel her heart stop for a moment at the utter fear she instantaneously felt. Ignoring the comment Richie made about getting Derry onto Unsolved Mysteries, her hands began to tremble as sweat formed on her forehead. She tried taking deep breaths to calm herself but it just couldn't work, so she had to look away and stare down at the brown hardwood floor of the bedroom.

"Steph, a-are you okay?" came the sudden voice of Bill to her left and she turned to face him, and she immediately nodded, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

"Yeah, just a little unnerved by all this," she mumbled, not admitting that she had seen something terrifying earlier that morning. "Sorry if I looked terrible to you or anything..."

Bill put a hand on Steph's shoulder, squeezing it softly to give her comfort as he met her gaze. "D-Duh-Don't apologize..." he whispered. "It's okay...."

The blonde nodded as she smiled at Bill weakly, putting her hand over his as she just barely blushed. "Thanks..." she mumbled bashfully.

Bill smiled at his crush before turning back to the other members of the group, a curious glance in his eyes. "Wuh-Where was the Well House?" he questioned.

Ben turned to face Bill and shrugged, shaking his head a little since he actually didn't know the answer. "I don't know," he replied. "Somewhere in town, I guess. Why?"

Steph watched as Bill returned his gaze back to the photo and articles hung up on the wall, almost as if he were too engrossed in the story. "Nothing," he mumbled.

But Steph knew that he was lying to all of them.

A/N: so things are growing really creepy now, huh?

don't hope for happiness anytime soon, as scary shit begins shortly!

ANYWAYS, thoughts on this chapter? did you like it?

did you like the reveal that steph is related to danny torrance from "the shining?" and that she also has the 'shine' as well?!

do you think that justin and amber's father is acting a bit off? what are your thoughts and ideas about that?

also, steph and bill are absolutely adorable together, aren't they?🥺👉🏻👈🏻

speaking of that, did you like how bill lifted steph's spirits? and when he kissed her on the cheek and called her pretty?

predictions for the next chapter? what do you think is going to happen later on in the book?

be looking forward to the next chapter!

-denbroughswife