ghosts & skeletons

inside eddie's head.

[EDDIE]

october 21, 1991

when eddie got home, he didn't care that his mother yelled at him for twenty minutes about being irresponsible and getting home so late. he was too happy to mind, he didn't hear a single word his mother had said.

he got up to his room and turned his record player on and began listening to The Clash again. the music filled his ears and he began to think about what a day his had been.

it had all started with history class. they were assigned projects but they could choose their partner so eddie ended up with bill and their topic was the second world war which made it easy since it was a topic both of them loved.

it was the only interesting thing that happened to eddie until lunchtime when beverly announced that she was going to have a halloween party.

there is no way mother will let me go, but if all of the other losers go, I might try to sneak out. no, I won't. maybe I will. only if richie goes, if not, it's not worth getting caught.

apparently richie had gotten trapped in his own thoughts because when the bell rang, he stood up and went to math class by himself, without waiting for eddie. at first, eddie had felt cast apart until he talked to richie in the classroom.

maybe he didn't leave me on purpose, it seems like he was actually thinking deeply and was actually unaware of where he was. I should give him a second chance, I can tell he's not lying. maybe I'm too clingy, why do I constantly need to be with him?

while dullman droned on, richie wrote something on a piece of paper which he dropped on eddie's desk and then left the classroom hurriedly. eddie still had that small scrap of paper in his pocket at the end of the day. the note read:

hey eds,
I really need to leave
can you meet me at the park after school?
ps: can you bring my backpack
- RICHIE

eddie couldn't believe it. richie was just going to leave school in the middle of math class just because he wanted to? eddie was still thankful that richie actually wanted to hang out with him. he was too much of a coward to ask richie because he didn't want to get rejected even if it's just a minor rejection, it would resonate within him for weeks.

or maybe richie just wanted his backpack.

after class ended, dullman asked why richie had missed the entire second period after just going to the bathroom. he had just panicked and told his teacher that richie had explosive diarrhea. apparently dullman actually bought it, maybe just because eddie didn't seem like a person who would lie.

thank god he didn't interrogate me more, I would have snapped under the pressure.

when he got to the park he spotted richie immediately, listening to music, lost in his own world. eddie sat next to him on the bench and handed him his backpack.

I'm dying to know what's inside but I can't betray his trust, I won't, I just can't.

richie offered eddie to learn how to ride his skateboard. eddie blurted out a few words that he regretted instantly but he did have a point. he was absolutely terrified and was richie really the person to teach him?

it can't be that bad, after all, I do trust him with my life, this is just skateboarding.

he made richie disinfect his hands and finally got on the board. when he grabbed richie's hand, eddie freaked out inside, he was actually holding his hands again.

it was a completely different situation than the last time their hands were grasped together which was something eddie was actually grateful for. the last time they had been running from henry bowers and eddie had been too terrified to even realize what was happing.

now he was perfectly aware of their intertwined fingers and eddie turned his head away so richie wouldn't notice his flushed cheeks. even if he was just holding on to him for support, it still made eddie behave like that for some unknown reason.

why did I have to blush, I mean, it's just richie, I've known him for years, why is it so different now, how can things change so quickly?

eddie began to get the hang of it and didn't fall even once. that is, until he accidentally went over a rock that made him lose his balance and fall right on top of richie who was walking next to him in case something like that happened.

they both fell to the grass next to the sidewalk and just rolled on the ground, groaning like the stupid boys that they were.

eddie turned his head and was met with richie's dark brown eyes only an inch away from his own.

"dude, where the fuck are my glasses?"

eddie couldn't find them and the two of them searched for several minutes until eddie saw them dangling from the back of richie's shirt.

"you're an idiot, you know that?"

"how dare you," richie laughed and put his glasses on. "I'm the smartest person on earth, look, these glasses prove it"

"having glasses on does not mean you're an intelligent person and you're the person who proves that"

richie stuck out his tongue at eddie, something that was becoming a habit to him. "just shut up, I'm not the person who just fell off the skateboard"

"but you've fallen a bajillion more times than I have, I've even cleaned up a few of your skate-related injuries"

richie didn't speak after that because eddie had outsmarted him, he always did. he got to his feet and dusted himself off. eddie grabbed his hand and got on the skateboard again but even more cautiously than before. he wasn't about to fall again.

they kept on trying again and again and by the time eddie left, he was as good as richie (which wasn't really good, to be honest, but at least it was something) and it had been a wonderful afternoon.

I guess this crush thing is getting out of hand. pun intended. we do hold hands a lot. I should stop making puns to myself. why am I like this? shut up you stupid brain.