reddie oneshots || fluff

40

note: i had to wipe my phone cause i'm dumb and i locked myself out so i lost all the fanart i had saved 💔

TW: use of f slur

3rd person POV

Richie races through the tall double doors of the Derry High School, leaving them swinging. He is now ten minutes late to his first period, and the English teacher already hates him as it is. Knowing her she'll most likely give him a detention after school, and he's meant to be going to see Eddie after school. He wouldn't miss that for the world.

Richie is now running down the familiar hallways and staircases to get to his class at the opposite side of the school, and he's so focused on where he's going he didn't hear the snickers of the other students as they point him out to their friends. He didn't see the disgusted looks on their faces at the knowledge they all now share.

As he rounds a corner and speeds down yet another corridor - sneakers squeaking harshly against the polished wood flooring - he notices Stanley leaning against his locker.
"Richie!" Stan calls out as he notices the flustered boy, and Richie shouts out a quick:
"Sorry, gotta go!" before rushing past him. He was to far ahead to hear the warning his friend gave in a desperate attempt to prepare the boy for what's about to come.

Richie finally reaches his classroom after what seems like an age of running, and he immediately turns the doorknob and lets himself in.
"Sorry I'm late Miss!" He says, panting, as he makes his way to his desk. All eyes fall upon him, and the class which had been lively just seconds ago has now fallen deadly silent.

Richie frowns as he takes a seat and pulls his chewed pencil and battered english book out of his backpack, and the chilling silence is broken only by the teacher sighing and shaking her head, looking disappointedly at the mess of a boy who just interrupted her register.
"Fine. Next time it's an after school," She says finally, before turning back to the attendance.

After answering to his name, Richie blocks out the sound of Miss Clayton droning on about subordinate clauses or some shit, until it's mere background noise. He rests his head on one hand and flicks his pencil in the other, staring aimlessly out of the window at the school field stretched below. He stays like that for about thirty minutes, before something hard and round hits the back of his neck and lands by his feet with a gentle thud.

Cautiously, Richie picks up the crumpled piece of paper and shoots a glance back over his shoulder, seeing the girl behind him giggling and whispering to her friend. He also notices that his classmates still haven't stopped staring at him. More confused then ever, Richie turns back around in his seat and slowly unravels the paper. A single word is scrawled in the centre with black biro, but it's enough to make Richie's blood run cold.

'Faggot'

Richie has been called a lot of things in his life - some words he didn't even know were real before Henry Bowers or some other bully spat them at him - but never, never, had he been called a fag. Believe it or not, there are some things the Trashmouth actually manages to keep to himself. For example: his deepest darkest secret which the entire school now somehow knew. Richie was a lot of things, but straight was definitely not one of them.

His face pales as he turns back around, and the eyes glued to him suddenly felt as though they can bore into his skin, burning him alive and swallowing him whole.
"W-What..." Richie trails off, hoping to God that this was some sort of sick joke, that the looks and whispers meant nothing and this was just another insult meant to offend him. But it isn't, and he can tell by the looks on their faces.

Eddie. The thought rises up in his mind and circles around and around relentlessly. Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. If the entire school now knows about this then his best friend must as well, and he's nowhere near ready to have that conversation. He simply can't stand to watch his crush leaves him because of something as insignificant as his sexuality, but everyone in this shitty town seems to have the same view. Being gay is a sin. Being gay is... being gay isn't right. He isn't right.