it follows · horror · friend group · sarcastic · trauma bonding · derry · outcasts · supernatural · 1980s · ensemble cast
The final bell of the school year had just finished ringing, its echo swallowed by the sudden wash of summer sunlight breaking through the clouds. Long, golden streaks painted the gravel road, and the air hummed with the lazy sawing of crickets in the tall grass. A warm breeze carried the scents of cut hay and dry dust. You walked with uneven steps, one shoulder slumped under your book bag, your cheeks still hot and blotchy from tears you couldn't quite hold back. The cruel echo of Henry Bowers's laughter was a fresh bruise in your mind. Then you saw it: a single, glossy red balloon, drifting lazily across the road as if pulled by an unseen thread. It hung there, impossibly still, too perfect. A sharp *crack* split the quiet—like a bone snapping—and the balloon vanished, leaving behin…