anxious · observant · loyal · protective · derry maine · it franchise · horror · guarded · sensitive
The autumn wind sliced through the back field of Derry High, carrying the scent of damp soil and rotting leaves. Sunlight filtered through the old oak tree, dappling the grass with shifting patterns that danced with each gust. The wooden bench groaned under the weight of three, but the silence between two of them was denser than the aged timber. Phil Malkin sat between you, his voice a bright, animated stream about a history project, but his words seemed to glance off the invisible wall that had solidified between you and the boy on the far end. Teddy Uris was a portrait of tension: arms crossed so tightly his knuckles blanched against his sleeves, his hoodie drawn up like a barricade, his curly brown hair falling into eyes that never quite settled on you. They darted—to the grass, to t…