GLASSES CLINKED AND POLITE LAUGHTER ECHOED. Twelve-year-old Hayley would never have imagined her older self in such a place — fake people and fake compliments, forced smiles and long gowns. It wasn't real, none of it was. They all acted like old friends, but everyone who spoke to you wanted something from you and vice versa.

That's what Hayley thought about while she stood in a penthouse in London and listened to someone's boss' wife ramble on about some new cutlery she imported from Singapore.

Young Hayley would not approve. Young Hayley did envision this life for herself. Young Hayley wanted to be an actor. She wanted lights and cameras. She wanted glory and wonder and art.

Instead, she ended up at a fancy party with people she couldn't stand and food that was way too small, surrounded by people talking about business and making small talk. She knew none of these people, but she hated all of them.

She had never been more grateful for her phone ringing. She looked up at the woman talking to her. "Excuse me, just one moment," she started, but the lady was already talking someone else's ear off. Hayley stepped off to the side and glanced down at her phone, freezing when she saw the address. She answered the call and slowly brought the phone to her ear. "Hello, Hayley Forbes speaking."

"Hayley, it's Mike," the voice informed her. She froze, hit by an overwhelming sense of pure fear. She had never felt so scared in her life, but she had no clue why. She remembered Mike, but she could hardly remember any unpleasant memories with him.

Her voice was shaky as she replied, "Hi, Mike."

"You need to come home," he said, not offering much information as to why. There was an urgency in his voice, though, and she knew that something serious was happening.

She furrowed her eyebrows and turned away from the party, stepping further into a corner so that no one could hear her. "Why? What's wrong?"

"No one else remembered much either," he responded. No one else? Who was he talking about? Her life in Derry had been so long ago that all of her memories of the place, especially of that time, were hazy.

Trying to get some more information, she questioned, "Who else did you call?"

"Everyone. Ben, Bev, Stan, Eddie, Richie..." he answered, and he paused before saying the last name, like he was scared that it would make her not want to come. "Bill."

"Billy," she breathed out after a moment. As he said the names, she began to remember. She caught glimpses of them hanging out, but she could not quite recall a moment that would make her need to come back almost 30 years later.

Mike repeated, "You need to come home, Hayley."

"Be there as soon as I can," she told him before hanging up. She stumbled back into a wall and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to shake the terrified feeling still in her stomach.

She straightened up when she noticed someone approaching, and Evan, her fiancee, joined her in the corner. He gestured to her phone and asked, "Hey, who was that?"

"An old friend," she answered with a shrug. She was unsure how to bring up that she needed to leave, but she needed to do it now. So, she told him straight. "Um, I need to go out of town for a bit. Something came up back home."

"Hey, Steve!" he shouted, waving at his friend and cutting her off. It was his party, after all. She was just there as arm candy. "What was that, honey?" he asked again, barely even glancing at her.

She started again, "Some—"

"Yeah, do whatever you need," he interrupted again, waving her off before going off to talk to someone else.

AN EIGHT HOUR FLIGHT WAS NOT FOR THE WEAK. Hayley knew that she was going to be late for the dinner, but there was just no way that she could make it in time. She had to go home, pack, wait for the next flight, get a taxi to where she was staying, and then get to the restaurant.

When she finally arrived, it took her about ten minutes to work up the courage to go inside. She had not seen these people in decades. She hadn't even thought about them in forever. For some reason, she could barely even remember the time that they spent together, but she associated two overwhelming feelings with them — love and joy.

She was mostly hyping herself up to talk to Bill. She did not remember why they broke up, just that they stopped talking when they were about thirteen or so. She went back to shitty friends and her cheerleading, and she didn't have the faintest clue as to why.

She walked in and was directed into a little private table toward the back. She stood there silently for a moment, taking in the people laughing and talking. She could immediately tell who everyone was. They had barely changed. Bev was stunning, like she always had been. Richie was krakeng the same inappropriate jokes. Mike looked strong but glowing. Eddie was saying something about diseases. Ben — holy shit — Ben was freaking gorgeous. She almost did a double take. Stan seemed to be missing.

The only one that she couldn't see was the one with his back completely to her. But she'd recognize him anywhere, even after all of those years.

"Hayley!" The blonde woman's eyes shot up when she heard her name being shouted, and she barely had time to process before Beverley wrapped her in a hug. Hayley grinned and hugged her back gently as everyone climbed to their feet to greet her.

She explained, "Hi, guys. Sorry I'm late. Long flight."

She made her way down the line, saying hello and complimenting everyone about the way they turned out. Richie muttered something about everyone turning out hot except for him.

Finally, Bill came to halt in front of her. He hesitated, like he was unsure of whether or not he should hug her or shake her hand or what. But she pulled him into an embrace after a moment, patting him on the pack. "Billy."

"Hayley," he countered with a chuckle, trying to play it cool like he wasn't hugging the girl that he had obsessed over for his entire childhood. When he pulled away, he told her,"You look good."

"I could say the same for you," she replied, and she took a moment to look him up and down, her eyes trailing slowly across his large biceps and familiar features.

They room was silent as they stared at each other, and it might have gone on forever if Richie hadn't said, "Well, this is awkward. Hayley, want some wine?"

"I'd love some, Richie," she giggled before having a seat in the empty chair between Bev and Bill as the bottle was passed over to her.

"Okay, let's talk about the elephant not in the room," Richie announced after they had all gotten settled in again. He looked over at the man who had changed physically a lot more than the others. "Ben. What the fuck, man?"

As everyone joined in, asking him how it happened, he held his hands up. "Okay, okay. Obviously, I lost a few pounds."

"No shit," Hayley commented.

"You're hot. You're like every Brazilian soccer player wrapped up into one person," Richie informed him, and it was true. Ben was looking amazing, and Hayley was so wrapped up in the conversation that she didn't notice the eyes on her, unhappy that she was agreeing about how hot Ben was.

Bev cut in, "Leave him alone. You're embarrassing him."

"Okay, okay, all right. Please, come on," Ben interrupted, trying to shift the attention off of him. "Is Stanley coming or what?"

The table went silent after that. They all looked around at each other, and Hayley guessed that this had not been mentioned before she had arrived. Richie scoffed, "Stanley Urine. No, he's a fucking pussy. He's not gonna show."

"Why would Stan save you anyway?" Eddie asked, rolling his eyes, but the truth was that it was quite unsettling that not all of them were there. "Was I not the one who performed surgery on you after Bowers cut you up?"

"Please tell me you ended up becoming a doctor, Eds," Bev said, smiling over at him.

He shook his head. "No, I ended up becoming a risk analyst." Hayley fought the urge to laugh because that sounded like the perfect job for Eddie.

"Yeah, that sounds really interesting. What does that entail?" Richie questioned, and he sounded too interested. Hayley knew that this was somehow a setup for a joke.

"Yeah, so I work for a big insurance firm, and..." Eddie trailed off at the sound of snoring, and he looked over to see Richie with his eyes closed and head dropped back like he was asleep. Hayley burst out laughing with everyone else at his stupid joke, and Eddie snapped, "Oh, fuck you, dude."

"Was this job invented before fun?"

"That's so not funny."

Bev cut in, and she picked up her glass and lifted it, announcing. "I propose a toast to the Losers." Hayley smiled and joined in, and even though she couldn't quite remember everything that happened with these friends, it felt amazing to be back with them.