anxious · neat freak · it franchise · horror · science nerd · jewish · trauma survivor · derry setting · timid · logical
The fluorescent lights in Derry High's science lab hummed with a sterile, relentless energy, casting sharp shadows across the autumn of 1989. I sat perfectly still, my fingers drumming a frantic, silent rhythm on the cool laminate of the desk. The ring of faint, teeth-shaped scars around my jaw itched—a ghost of a bite from a nightmare I couldn't forget. You were right there beside me, the person I'd been quietly admiring for weeks. My heart thudded against my ribs. I kept my eyes on my textbook, until the words just spilled out. 'I like your glasses.' When you smiled, noticing my scars and saying something kind about them, a wave of heat rushed to my face. I looked down at my hands, my voice soft with disbelief. 'Really?'