Chapter 2

28 0 1
                                    

"What do you have next?" Beverly asked Richie. She leaned over his shoulder and Richie showed her his schedule.

"Cool, I also have art!" Beverly said, smiling. Richie returned it.

Beverly was probably his best friend, other than Eddie. He enjoyed spending time with her and helping her figure out her boy problems.

"Cool, cool." Richie replied.

They walked to class and sat down next to eachother, then reached for a new sketchbook which was issued by the school.

"Alright class, I see a couple new faces this year. Not to worry, you'll all learn names soon enough. Now, we're going to start off this school year with simple drawing patterns to practice hand motions...."

The teacher dragged on the lesson, and soon she got to the actual showing part where she drew on the board what she expected them to do.

Lucky for her, Richie was actually a great artist. Same with Beverly. They both talked while practicing how to draw different textures and patterns, often copying each other's ideas.

"Do you want to go down to the clubhouse after school with me tonight?" Beverly asked him. Richie agreed.

"Yeah that's cool."

Later, as promised, they were both at the clubhouse underground. Surprisingly, they were the only ones there.

Richie plopped down on the blue hammock and Beverly sat down across from him.

When they were both alone, that meant they could smoke without annoying the others.

Beverly and Richie often smoked plants, much to the others'  dismay. Beverly told Ben she would stop, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him.

Beverly lightened a joint and took it in before passing it to Richie.

"What is it?" Richie asked, taking a hit and blowing it out his nose.

"Weed." She replied.

"Cool."

Then, they just talked.

Richie and Beverly had that type of relationship, where they could talk about anything with eachother without the fear of being judged. Their conversation topics ranged from who the hottest guy at school is, to masterbation, to their favorite animal and how they would act if they were a dog for a day.

Today, their topic was Ben, Bill and Beverly.

"Y'know the card I showed you a week ago? The one with the poem on it?" Bev asked. They were both getting really high really quickly.

"Mhm," Richie replied. "Your hair is winter fire..." He recited in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah, that. I think Ben sent that to me." Beverly confessed.

"Woah, Benny-boy? I never though he had it in him." Richie said, eyes wide and red.

Beverly nodded. "I thought it was Bill at first, but he doesn't seem like the poet type."

"Nahh, he can barely say anything with more than two vowels, he could never write a poem."

"Exactly!" Beverly pointed her finger at Richie.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. I kind of like Bill, and I know he likes me, but dating another Loser feels so wrong. It feels like I'm betraying everyone, especially Ben."

"You don't have to worry about betraying me, Bevvy. I'm too homo for that shit." Richie said. His mind cleared up for half a second.

Shit.

Between him and Beverly, they never talked about Richie's sexual orientation. It was kind of an unspoken thing between the two of them that Richie was gay. Up until now,

Richie had never even mentioned he was gay.

"I know, Rich." Bev slurred her words. "You know I love you, right? I don't care that you're gay. Actually, you know once I saw Patrick give Bowers a blowjob? Bowers and his friends were farting and holding a lighter to their asses and they were butt-naked. I'm pretty sure they're all gay. Haha."

(Yes this happens in the book. Read it.)

Richie was so happy he felt like crying. He got up and turned around, laying his head on Beverly's chest.

She was confused for a moment until she heard Richie's almost silent sobs. She smiled and stroked his head.
She knew it was the first time that he had admitted he was gay aloud. She didn't have to follow him all the time to know that, just seeing his reaction to her accepting him was enough.

"Do you think you'll come out to the other Losers?" Bevery asked, still stroking his head calmly. She had abandoned the joint and it was on the ground, still sizzling.

"Maybe, I don't know." Richie sobbed. "What if they hate me?"

"I don't think they're going to hate you, darling. They might be a bit surprised though, considering how many 'your mom' jokes you make a day."

"Tell me something I don't know."

They just sat there for a while, enjoying eachothers presence.

"You like Eddie, don't you?"

Richie sat up and turned around.

"WHAT?!" He almost yelled.

But she was right.

And they both knew that.

Richie layed back down and sighed.

"I don't know what to do." He admitted.

"Maybe you should tell him how you feel." Beverly suggested.

"No way! What if he hates me? Coming out is one thing, but having a crush on your best friend is another. It's in a whole other category called 'pining to my death.'" Richie sighed dramatically.

Beverly smiled softly.

"Well, if you ever want to come out, then please do. I think it may encourage a few others in our entourage to do the same."

"Maybe."

"Maybe."

My L♡ve (A Reddie Fanfic)Where stories live. Discover now