do you know what i'm seeing?

one

"yeah."

"oh, perfect! would you want to sit with me and my friends? we have plenty of room, unless you've already got a place to sit." bev turned to face him as they approached the stairs that led to the first floor of the school.

"yeah, sure. i was just going to go to my car, so, yeah. thank you." richie smiled. he had been offered quite a few tables to sit at for his lunch period. truthfully, richie had been quite popular that day. but something about bev pulled him in. something about her just made him know that she'd be a friend.

the biggest, brightest smile flashed onto bevs face, and she did a little spin, causing her long skirt to bounce around.

"eee! i'm so happy you said yes, i would've been so embarrassed if you said no." bev giggled and linked her arm with richie's, dragging him to the library where her friends were sitting.

"bev, what is with you and picking up strays?" a shorter guy with honey blonde hair says, causing the other boy at the table to look up from the notebook that he's writing in.

"why are you being mean? he's normally not like that, i'm sorry." the other speaks. richie notes that he's got a slight stutter. his eyes are a piercing blue, and his hair is dark brown with a tinge of red.

"ben, darling. don't forget that you were also a stray. wasn't he billy?" bev laughed as she sat down, patting the spot next to her. richie assumed that it meant she wanted him to sit, so he did.

"she's right. he's just trying to be funny, it's a new thing he's been testing recently." the boy with the stutter says.

"oh, it's fine. i like to be funny too, i thought it was a good joke." richie smiled, looking over to ben, as bev called him.

"was it really that bad?" ben said with a faux frown.

"well, it wasn't good." bev laughed again, tapping richies shoulder. "richie, bill and ben. guys, richie. it's his first day."

"nice to meet you guys." richie said, repeating their names a few times in his head so that he didn't forget.

"same here. sorry for calling you a stray." ben laughed softly.

richie shook his head, and listened as the group began to start a conversation. he let his eyes wander around the library, looking at all of the faces and books that occupied it, before his gaze paused at a table.

a boy, who richie vaguely recognized, was sitting alone. his face was buried into a calculus textbook and he scribbled onto a notebook.

"whatcha looking at?" bev asked, following richie gaze.

"just, that guy. he looks familiar." bevs eyes finally landed on the boy.

"oh, eddie? he's in our english class. he sits in the desk in front of yours." bev turned back to bill and ben, expecting richie to do the same- but he didn't.

"eddie." richie whispered, letting his eyes stay fixed to the table eddie sat at.

"eddie is so...odd." ben said, tapping a pencil onto the table and causing richie to be pulled from his thoughts.

"odd?" richie was confused. eddie didn't look odd. sure he was doing calculus, but honestly richie was in pre-calc so it wasn't too odd. at least richie hoped it wasn't.

"yeah, eddie's, well. he's a special case." bill added on.

"what's wrong with him?" richie questioned.

"he's just, he doesn't really like anyone." ben answered.

"okay, wait. if you're going to tell it, at least tell it right. he's just always pissed off, or annoyed, or angry. it doesn't matter what's going on or how new a situation is, there's always one thing that you can count on: eddie's being mean." bev said plainly.