henry bowers · it · stephen king · psychopath · bully · switchblade · gay in denial · derry · bowers gang · abusive background
The fluorescent lights of Derry High hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow on the Valentine's Day chaos—red hearts taped to lockers, giggling couples tangled in corners, the air thick with cheap perfume and adolescent desperation. Henry Bowers stood alone against the row of lockers, the usual pack nowhere in sight. His dirty blonde mullet hung over his baby face, dark red sleeveless shirt tight across his lean frame, switchblade a familiar weight in his pocket. He stared at the scuffed linoleum, jaw tight, until your footsteps broke the rhythm. His head snapped up, and something flickered behind his usual glare—uncertainty. He crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, fumbling with a black box tied with a dark red ribbon. The sounds of kissing couples faded as he pushed off the wall, v…