cliché || reddie ✔️

thirteen

"You're not winning," he says, glancing at Eddie again.

Eddie shakes his head and shifts around to get more comfortable. "Yes I am."

Stanley doesn't respond, instead letting a finger flip fast through the cards. "Play during lunch?" Eddie asks.

"Well, yeah," Bill says with a soft shrug, "that's wuh-what we al-always do.."

Stanley hands the cards back and Bill tucks them into the front pocket again. As he does, the intruding roll of the bell sounds throughout the school.

Stanley closes his eyes and breaths out a sigh. "I'm going to kill myself," he says before leaning forward and getting to his feet.

Eddie gives him a sympathetic smile and follows Bill out from under the stairs. "Tuh-Time for Geome-metry," Bill says to Eddie as they climb the steps. Stanley hurries from behind them, trying to escape the roar of footsteps rushing down the hallway.

As his two friends round the corner, Stanley catches sight of Beverly trying to shove the door on Richie. He gets through, barely, his leg and backpack getting caught as she pushes on the metal. "Fuck you, Bev," Richie says, his voice carrying down the mezzanine. He stumbles inside and starts to walk away, a laughing Beverly jogging to keep up with his long strides.

Stanley's eyes roll, but there's no mark of annoyance. A hint of an amused smile plays at his lips, but before it can show he raises a hand and waves at the pair. Beverly sees him first, then Richie drags his eyes away from the posters on the wall to Stanley.

"Hey Stan," Beverly says as she and Richie walk over to him. They stand off to the side of the stairs, safely away from the herd of all grades. Richie watches as two figures push past the flow, hands emerging only for bodies to follow. Eddie looks over his shoulder, adjusting his backpack strap as Bill looks to Stanley.

"You left us, Stan," Eddie says as the two abandoned boys approach.

"W-We were almost kuh-killed."

Stanley looks at his friends, eyes slightly narrowed. "You look fine to me," he responds.

Eddie shakes his head, saying, "That's not the point."

Stanley rolls his eyes and face Beverly and Richie again. "What classes are you guys heading to?" He asks.

"Art class," Beverly says first.

"English," Richie says. "Learning about Julius Caesar at 8 in the morning gives me brain damage, but I prevail."

Bill smiles a little. "Ha-Has Mr. C-Cuh-Coyle sss..started the finals re-review yet?" Bill asks Richie, who only throws his hands up in a dramatic shrug.

"Guys, we should go," Beverly says as she watches the few students left walk up the gym steps. Richie hums and jumps into pace with Eddie, who looks at him out of the corner of his eye. Bill follows Stanley and Beverly down the hallway.

Later that day, Mr. Martinez waves a hand over the board, a finger ghosting over a blue line that represents the Tigris River. For the past few school days, a few teachers have been going over what they've taught throughout that first semester, while others cram the last chapter of material before Wednesday came and teachers were forced to review the semesters work.

Eddie breathed in deeply, lazily listening along. He's got all the notes down and also a vocabulary Quizlet from Bill, so he was set for studying later that night.

His phone buzzes from inside his pocket, gently tickling his thigh. He looks down at his legs, then looks back up at the board. He'll just check during lunch because even if Mr. Martinez is a chill teacher, he's still strict about cell phones. Another gentle vibrate. Eddie shifts his leg and a few beats later, he feels another.