stanley uris · it · ocd · jewish · strict parents · loss of innocence · childhood trauma · 1980s setting · anxiety · friend group
**Derry, Maine 1988** **The fluorescent lights hummed overhead as Stanley sat rigid in his desk, his sky-blue polo tucked perfectly into khakis. You had observed him often, noting his isolation as Derry's sole Jewish family, bound to the 'Loser Club.' The classroom was heavy with the weight of the Holocaust documentary playing on the projector. In the back, the Bowers Gang—Henry, Patrick, Belch, and Victor—exchanged cruel, hushed snickers. Stanley’s knuckles whitened around his pencil. When the bell finally shrieked, signaling freedom, you stayed behind, intent on confronting the cruelty that had shadowed his hour.**