Lover - Reddie

two

he moved slowly along the sidewalk with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his hands and his hair blowing in the wind.

eddie kaspbrak had spent far too much time in the mirror doing his hair for it to be bullied like this by the wind.

but today, it was okay.

as hard as eddie tried, he couldn't put his finger on the name of the boy he'd helped out three days ago. he hadn't stopped thinking about the curly black hair and those dumb coke-bottle glasses that somehow fit the boy's appearance perfectly.

all he could remember was the nickname 'trash mouth'. and that one name would not stay out of the back of his head.

"eddie, dear?"

eddie lifted his head and inwardly moaned as he was met with the eyes of his mother. sonia rushed forward, jiggling embarrassingly, and pulled her son into a hug that would crush his lungs far worse than his asthma.

"gee, ma. get offa me," eddie whined, gently pushing her away. she bustled him inside, stripping away his jacket for him and retrieving his afternoon pills. "oh did i forget?"

yes, he did. because sometimes, eddie felt the need to skip his medication that was forced upon him. and all he felt today without those fucking pills was happy and free. sonia paid no attention to her son's displeasure and poured him a glass of water (reminding him that juice was bad for him).

"mommy, i want to go out tomorrow night," he said as he swallowed the pills. "mike invited me to a movie."

sonia's beady eye's narrowed and she made a sad, pouty face. "tell me it's a friends thing, eddie-bear. please tell me you're not-."

eddie thought about trash mouth and quickly shook it away. "i'm no fruit, mama."

sonia nodded vigorously. "good. then go on to that movie tomorrow. but don't forget your-."

"pills, i know."

sonia almost glared at him, then retreated back to her lazy chair where she would likely stay until supper time.

eddie went to the toilet and threw up his meds then grabbed his flashlight and snuck out his window. sure, he didn't have to sneak out. but he enjoyed the small amount of freedom.

as he walked toward the barrens, eddie searched for where he knew the buddy-holly look alike. he bit his tongue and looked down at his feet. he'd love to get some more shoes instead of his beat up converse but his mama told him she wasn't rich and-.

rich, eddie realized with widening brown eyes. that's it! richie! richie toe-toe... tozier. yeah, that's his name!

eddie laughed out loud and took a draw from his inhaler. the burn of the battery acid hurt, but he was far past used to it now.

richie tozier, eddie thought as he kicked the dirt with those beat up converse.

he hopped down the rocky slope and came up behind mike hanlon. the boy jumped at the sound of eddie jumping down to flat land, but then gave eddie a beaming smile when he recognized his friend.

"hey, eddie!" mike waved him over and eddie took off his shoes so he could wade in next to mike.

mike towered over eddie, so eddie couldn't go as far in fear of wetting his shorts, but he still stood somewhat close to him. "whatcha doing, mikey?"

"tossin' rocks is all," mike answered as he turned back and threw another pebble. "it's boring on the farm right now. right between seasons, ya know?"

eddie didn't, but he nodded.

"are you going to the picture tomorrow, then?" mike asked. eddie loved how he said picture instead of mouse like everyone else. he loved how different mike was. not like every other shitty kid in this town.