OUCH!➳reddie

t h i r t e e n

english went pretty smoothly, much to richie's surprise. he thought it would of been awkward with eddie and all but it went by pretty smoothly. mrs. irwin just read from their book the whole time then they had to take a silent worksheet that would be handed in for marks. richie, for the first time, felt confident taking the test and was one of the first to finish. mrs. irwin looked up skeptically but took the test nonetheless.

eddie on the other hand, was struggling greatly with the simple questions he would usually zoom past. the words all seemed to be muddled together in a messy, twisted flow of words that his brown eyes had trouble processing. he was just so distracted today.

last night had been one of the best and worst nights of his life. he, the loser eddie kaspbrak, had almost been kissed by the school's star football player. he could still smell the swirling, intoxicating breath of mint and cigarettes still lingering around his mind. but then he shoved richie into a closet and then cried.

he almost groaned into his hands. he made poor richie sleep on the floor. last night he had a dream that he crawled down and cuddled by richie's side but he woke up back in his bed so he knew it had just been a dream. god, his thought were practically consuming eddie with confusion as he desperately tried to swim to the top to catch his breath...

"eddie!" mrs. irwin's stern voice cut through the thoughts. eddie jumped in his seat slightly, looking up with glazed eyes. "eddie, are you alright?" she asked, worry seeping into her tone. he didn't blame her, eddie was one of the best in the class and he was moving very slowly through the questions and seemed distracted. "you haven't even finished halfway."

"oh," was all eddie could utter. "could i finish another day?" mrs. irwin blinked in surprise before her gaze softened. "of course you can, eddie," she grabbed his paper and ushered him along. "now, get to lunch. i hope you feel better in your next class."

eddie smiled gratfully, " thank you mrs. irwin."

"what took you so luh-long?" bill asked as he leaned against the lockers with beverly by his side. eddie shifted his books around, pressing them even tighter against his chest. he shrugged, "i got suck on a question."

bill nodded in understanding but beverly seemed unconvinced but let it slide much to eddie's pleasure. "alright," she said, pulling her backpack over both of her shoulders. "let's get to lunch."

***

"i'm sorry," richie said in disbelief, almost dropping his french fry. "you guys invited someone to the table, our table?"

mike shrugged, glancing between ben and stan. "not us, bill and beverly." richie groaned again, popping the greasy snack into his mouth and munching with a pout. "i'm sorry, but am i the only one who is, like, concerned? like, they just met the guy today and they believe he is table worthy? i call bull."

stan cracked a small smile, "wow, you're pretty serious about this whole table thing." before richie could make any jokes or explode, ben cut in, "i trust their judgement. if bill and bev invited him over, he must be special, right?"

richie slunk back in his seat, muttering, "i guess."

"oh, here they come now," stan pointed out, waving to bill, who enthusiastically waved back. a smaller body faded into the back as if to hide themselves. richie squinted before they widened in surprise. stan noticed his expression and smirked. "you know him?"

it took richie a moment to register stan's words and shake his head. his hands trembled as they nervously fiddled with each other. "him?" his voice went up three octaves. richie flushed, clearing his throat. "no, i don't know him."

"hey, isn't that the kid who came to all our practices?" ben intervened with a cocky grin slowly creeping up on his face. they had richie cornered. "the one in your english?"

before richie could retort with some dumb excuse, beverly plopped down beside richie and grinned. bill settled down beside stan and mike while eddie just sat in front of richie. richie could see his adam's apple bob up and down nervously. "hey guys," beverly said, pulling out her lunch. she smiled softly at ben to which he smiled back. "this is eddie, he's in our science."

"h-hi," eddie mumbled, avoiding eye contact with richie and the others. he could see eddie's breathing pick up and nervously gnawed on his bottom lip. he gently traced his foot over eddie's calf. eddie jolted, a bright blush pinking his entire face. he lifted his head up to meet richie's eyes. richie just offered him a teasing wink as if to say 'i'm right here.'

it was mike who took control of the conversation. "so, eddie," he crossed his arms on the table and sat up a little straighter as eddie took his lunch bag out of his backpack. he pulled out a clementine and a perfectly cut lettuce and ham sandwich. he looked up, his feet still intertwined with richie's. "what class did you just come from?"

"english," eddie answered simply. ben harrumphed triumphantly and richie narrowed his eyes and the usually shy boy. what had gotten into them? they were acting weird as if they were waiting for richie to fail. to fail at what, he didn't know exactly.

"wait," beverly interjected in a tone that sounded straight out of a shitty detective television show. richie deadpanned, chewing slowly on another fry. "isn't the mystery girl also in that class, the same class you have with eddie?" she leaned back in her seat, pretending to look in disbelief. "wow, so crazy. small world."

richie felt eddie's feet tense up against his own and flushed, hearing the others murmur in agreement in that same stupid tone that was driving richie crazy. suddenly, eddie pulled his feet from richie's and smiled tightly. he grabbed his lunch and bag, standing up with that same tight smiled, "listen, it was great meeting all of you, but i just remembered, i have to get some math help."

he doesn't have math this semester, richie thought to himself, also standing up as eddie walked away. his brow furrowed in confusion. "i need go to the bathroom."

before anyone could even answer, he followed eddie out of the cafeteria. when they were in the hallway, richie started to walk faster and tugged on his sweatshirt sleeve. "hey, eds, are you okay?"

eddie pulled his arm away harshly, spinning around to turn and face richie. a hurt and annoyed mask of emotion battled on his face. "why don't you just bother your mystery girl instead of me?" he spat bitterly, going to turn away only to have richie grab his arm again.

"eds," richie started softly, practically towering over the small brunette. "you know there's no mystery girl, right?"

eddie blinked in confusion before it melted into anger, "stop bullshitting me, rich. it's not funny."

"eds, i'm serious," richie's eyes never left eddie's soft brown ones. "i-i made her up, to, um, to-um-" eddie groaned in irascibility, "just spit it out."

"cause i wanted to cover up the fact that i like you, a boy, rather than a girl. so i made her up. but it's you, you're the mystery girl i'm always talking about, day and night. it's been you since the first time we met eyes. heard your voice." he wanted to say so badly, so badly it physically hurt him. but he couldn't. he just dropped his eyes to the ground and sighed, "i just wanted to fake a crush, s'all."

eddie's eyes softened but still tugged his arm away from richie's now loose grip. "oh," he sounded disappointed. "well, good luck with that."

before richie could retort, eddie was already down the hallway.