It had been a few weeks since you met the infamous group of kids. Although they had obvious chemistry, a force that held all of them together like glue, you felt like you fit in well. It was natural for you and Eddie to get closer since he spent so much time around Richie. He often helped you throw playful insults at Richie when he would lose. You were like partners in crime. You weren't as invested as him when it came to health-related topics, but you began to get used to zoning out as he rants about diseases and viruses that were lingering in the air.

Beverly was also another obvious person that you would get along with. Girls weren't the easiest to get along with most of the time, but you trusted Beverly. She told you about the other people in school, including Greta who she warned you to avoid at all costs. She also mentioned a group of boys that wreaked havoc around the town, but she said that you didn't need to worry about them anymore, whatever that means.

Other than preparing you for when the school year starts, Beverly was a very welcoming person when it came to you. While the boys had their own conversation, Beverly was getting to know you. Eventually, she invited you to hang out without the guys, talking about a much-needed break away from the masculine front that they put on. You speedily took up her offer, telling Richie that you were taking a day off from your Street Fighter championships much to his dismay.

Richie couldn't deny that he was upset that you ditched him to spend time with Beverly. He selfishly wanted you to spend all your time with him. Something about Eddie's insults without yours made his stomach turn, almost like he could feel you were missing. Richie told himself that it was stupid being so affected by your absence. Heck, you had only been in Derry a few weeks, there was no way that you could affect him this much, right?

Eddie had seen it too. Richie was so upbeat in your presence, the playful insults that you threw at him were taken as compliments and only boosted his ego. Without you, Richie's mood declined and receiving Eddie's insults made him annoyed.

"You really want to spend the rest of your summer playing this stupid game?"

"Shut up Eddie," Richie grumbled, not even making an attempt to comb the hair out of his face. He was putting all of his energy into the game in front of him, wanting the day to pass as fast as it could.

Eddie scoffed at Richie's response, crossing his arms in front of his small frame. "What's up with you? You were all happy-go-lucky yesterday but today you're Mr. Debbie Downer." Richie rolled his eyes and smashed his fingers into the buttons, the tips of them turning white from the pressure he was forcing on them. Eddie felt himself getting angry at Richie's lack of response so he decided to just get to the point. "Is it because (Y/n) isn't here?"

Richie's finger slipped from the button out of shock. He didn't expect Eddie to realize what was actually making him so upset. The slip up made Richie's Street Fighter character unable to move away, taking a lethal blow from the NPC. "What the fuck Eddie?" Richie boomed, glaring at his hypochondriac friend.

Eddie just shook his head, not taking any of his friend's anger stricken statements to heart. "Don't even try to lie to me, Richie. I've been friends with you too long for you to even try to fib."

Richie just decided not to answer, his face starting to heat up despite his attempts to hold it back. Eddie smirked at his victory and decided to take the chance to step further.

"Does the trashmouth have a crush?"

"Hell no," Richie cried out, "What the fuck made you think that?"

"Call it a premonition," Eddie shrugged, "But really, it's pretty obvious."

Richie's lip curled in mock disgust, he was really trying to hide his feelings from truly showing. Although he didn't really mind Eddie knowing his true feelings, his pride convinced him to put on a strong front. Digging his right foot into the ground, his mind began to wonder about you. He felt selfish, only focused on himself rather than what you wanted. "She's probably focused on finding her soulmate anyway."

Eddie's eyebrows furrowed, beginning to feel bad for his friend. "How do you know you're not soulmates."

Richie deadpanned at Eddie, not believing how ludicrous he was being. "Maybe I should remind you that she swam half-naked with us at the quarry. I think I would know if she was my soulmate."

Eddie couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted when looking at his friend. He knew that Richie was trying his best to cover his sensitivity by putting on a strong front. Richie cared about you, yes, but he also felt like he was betraying his soulmate. He may act like he doesn't care but these feelings that came hurling at him made him wonder more about the mark on his foot. It made him wonder about who his soulmate really was. Did they act like you? Did they look like you? Every time he would think about his soulmate, his thoughts would go back to you. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't stop himself. Stupid teenage love.

You tapped your foot as you waited in a little alleyway next to where Beverly said she'd meet you. You didn't have much with you at all, just your bike and a little bit of money in case you two got hungry. Other than that, there really wasn't much planned for your outing. You both planned to stroll the street and do some window shopping, gazing at items with no intention of actually buying anything. You also just planned to take a much-needed break from the arcade. Although it was very entertaining to play with Richie, you were beginning to feel suffocated by the dark room. Being in the same place doing the same thing every day got monotonous. Not to mention, you were beginning to run out of insults towards Richie and that could never happen. You needed to refill your insult jar as fast as you could. What better way to do that than to spend time with Bev?

Beverly rolled up next to you with red cheeks and heavy breaths. "Sorry I'm late," She spoke, moving her bike to park right next to yours. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"No, I got here like two minutes ago," You responded, shoulders relaxing at the presence of your friend.

"Great. You ready to go?"

The two of you started your journey down the street, eyes wandering into the windows of the different stores. "So," Beverly started, the corner of her lip tilting upwards, "What's going on between you and Richie?"

You squinted your eyes at her, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not stupid, (Y/n)," She replied, putting her hand on her hip, "You know what I'm talking about."

Biting your lip, you averted your eyes from hers, trying to ignore the piercing gaze of her eyes. "It's really nothing. We've just been getting closer, it's pretty normal."

Beverly hummed, tilting her head upwards at your statement. "What do you classify as normal?"

"What about you and Bill?" You quickly tried to change the subject. Although you avoided her questioning, you knew that Beverly was not going to forget about it.

"What about me and Bill?"

"I'm not stupid, Beverly," You mimicked her, earning a small grin from your friend.

"Well, you know it's been pretty awkward since-" She gave you a pointed look, instantly making your mind go back to when she told you about the last time that they kissed. "But he's been really sweet. He even got me this." Beverly held out her left hand, showing off the small bracelet that hugged her wrist. You smiled at the cute gift, happy that your friend was so excited over a gift. When she turned her hand over, your face immediately fell. Even though her fingers were slightly curled, you could clearly make out the dark line that was etched into her skin.

Your hand shot out to grab hers, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk as you studied the palm of her hand. The scar was so similar that it made your heart race, but your heart dropped when you realized that it wasn't identical. In fact, her hand not only had a prominent scar in the middle but another lighter line behind it. It was like she had two scars but one of them belonged to her soulmate. They were muddled together.

Beverly was shocked from your sudden outburst, eyes wide as she watched you gaze intently at her scar.

"Where did you get that from?" You spoke, mouth feeling dry.

"The scar?" You nodded your head. "All of the losers have one."

Your head started to spin as you frantically started searching for an answer. If all the losers had one, then there was a high possibility that one of them was your soulmate. However, you also couldn't deny the possibility that all of them wouldn't have a scar that matched yours.

Beverly watched you closely as you began to feel lightheaded, taken over by the shock that coursed your body. "Are you okay?" Beverly asked quietly, eyes darting around you to make sure no one was staring.

"Y-Yeah," You choked out, recoiling your hands from hers, "It's just- It looked really similar to mine."

"Wait," Beverly sputtered out, mouth dropping open slightly at your statement. "You have one?" You nodded your head and stuck out your left hand, showing the jagged mark that was engraved in your palm. "Holy shit, when did you get this?" Beverly gasped, cradling your hand in hers as she inspected the scar closely.

"It showed up a few days before I moved here. So, maybe a month?"

"Oh my god," Beverly breathed as she stood in front of you, hand frozen as she thought about when the losers made the blood oath.

"When did you get the scar?" You asked so quietly that she might not have heard you.

A part of you didn't want to know. You wanted to find out your soulmate randomly, not go searching for them like those crazy people you see in films all the time. A part of you wanted to have that moment where your soulmate accidentally knocks you down and offers their hand when suddenly you realize they're your soulmate. A part of you was terrified that if you found your soulmate this early in life, it wouldn't work in the end. There had been many cases where soulmates got bored of each other or they didn't want to be tied to a certain person so early in their life. You didn't want to experience that.

"Around a month ago," Beverly responded, gently letting go of your hand.

You took a deep breath, eyes beginning to tear up as you became overwhelmed with emotions. You were happy and upset at the same time; happy that you found something that leads you to your soulmate, but upset that it happened so soon.

"Do you know how great this is?" Beverly lit up, obviously not catching your horror-stricken face. "This means your soulmate could be one of the guys! You don't have to go looking anywhere else-"

"Beverly!" You yelled, but instantly lowered your voice when you noticed how loud you were. "I don't want to know. Don't you realize how terrible this is?"

"What do you mean?" Beverly breathed, eyebrows furrowed as she shot you an incredulous look. "Several people our age know their soulmate already, it's totally normal. I don't see what the problem is."

You shook your head, your teeth starting to dig into your bottom lip. "Do you think any of them want to be tied down to someone right now? We're only teenagers! Besides, who says the people at school are going to stay with their soulmates forever? Plenty of people who met their soulmate early in life split up. You've seen the research: the later you meet your soulmate, the easier it is to stay together."

Beverly's excitement started to boil down as you ranted. She thought what you were saying was absolutely ridiculous. She would give anything to know who her soulmate was. She was cursed with not knowing who out of the group was considered her soulmate. Her own scar covered her lover's and without being able to make out details, figuring out her soulmate is a complete waste. You have the opportunity that she doesn't. You have the opportunity to find your soulmate and live happy with your other half, yet you're too afraid to act on it.

"Do you realize how lucky you are?" Beverly scoffed, "You're taking your soulmate mark for granted."

You both stood in silence, not sure what to say to each other. Obviously you both had completely different viewpoints. Although Beverly was seriously opposed to your opinion, she knew that going behind your back was something she despised even more.

"If you really don't want to know, I'm not going to force you to. I'm not going to search for you either, I just don't think you're making the right choice."

You took deep breaths, successfully pulling yourself back together before you responded. "Thanks, Bev, that means a lot."

She nodded, putting a smile back on her face as she started to walk again. "Let's do some window shopping."