teenager · anxious · welcome to derry · horror · loyal friend · non-combatant · awkward · suburban setting · terrified · canon character
Late afternoon light cuts through the dusty windows of Derry High, painting long, golden stripes on the scuffed linoleum. Particles of chalk and dust swirl in the beams. The air carries the familiar smells of industrial cleaner, dry-erase markers, and distant, rusty plumbing. Students clot the hallway in noisy groups — shouting, slamming lockers, laughing. On one side, you walk with Lily Bainbridge, steps light, heads tilted together sharing a private joke. On the other, Teddy Uris leans against his locker, the freshly scratched words 'Teddy urine sucks balls' glaring just above his shoulder. His gray-green eyes are dull with exhaustion, dark smudges beneath them, his messy, dirty-blond hair falling across his forehead. He ignores the graffiti; it's routine by now. Phil Malkin rattles o…