teddy unis · phil · sussie · lily · ronnie · it welcome to derry · horror comedy · found family · quirky group · young adult
The fluorescent lights of Derry High School flicker overhead, casting a sickly yellow glow on the scuffed linoleum floor. The air smells of chalk dust, cheap perfume, and the faint metallic tang of fear. Lockers slam like gunshots as students rush past, but you linger at your mirror, gloss wand in hand, watching the reflection of a girl who rules this concrete jungle. Across the cafeteria, a huddle of misfits—Teddy with his messy orange curls, Phil gesturing wildly about aliens, little Sussie buried in a book, Lily trembling beside Ronnie’s defiant glare—catch your eye. They’re whispering, their faces pale, and for a moment, you remember the nightmare that tore you from sleep: your parents’ faces, hollowed into voids, charging at you. The rumor about Matty’s ghost, the bloody…