golden boy : stozier

six

there were boring lunches, there were annoying lunches, then there was sitting with richie tozier's least favourite couple (other than his parents, if they counted) as they glommed onto each other.

beverly was practically lying in his lap, her head invisible to richie from the angle of the table. truthfully, to richie, it looked like she could be blowing him, but he brought that up once and she didn't like it very much, so he doesn't mention it anymore. bill doesn't looked like he's being blown anyhow, he looked more peeved at her presence. he always does.

richie hadn't said anything the last few minutes, so he'd been scratching at his thighs through his jeans. the top of his jeans had lightened from the wear of his numb scratching. it wasn't unusual for richie's thighs to be bright red and chafed by the end of the day.

sitting there was killing richie. mike wasn't at school that day, and though he'd said it was a doctor's appointment, richie thought he was skipping. he couldn't explain the feeling. either way, he was forced to sit here, hungry but without food (he'd forgotten his cash at home, and he'd rather die than ask bill or beverly) watching bill obnoxiously eat a bowl of chili. a secret part of richie wanted him to spill a bit of it on beverly's face and burn her.

not like, seriously burn, just a little. he might laugh.

it wasn't that he hated bill and beverly, he just thought that not only were they horrible for each other, but they also just weren't good people. not that he considered himself a good person. richie couldn't really blame either of them. contrary to popular belief, richie listened to what they talked about.

he knew how shaken up bill was about georgie and how he might be for the rest of his life. how every time he zoned out in conversation, that he was probably thinking about his brother, missing presumed dead, for probably the rest of his life.

he could tell why beverly held onto bill like that. it wasn't unusual for her wrists to be a little bruised, and he knew bill didn't hold enough strength to do that. he watched her rush into the school, like she was avoiding something.

that didn't mean he liked them. bill didn't try at all to like anyone except mike, where it seemed to come natural. the two had been meant to be best friends in richie's eyes. he wished he had one of those. and beverly wasn't any better; she had no personality without bill, and her personality with him was whiny and pissed richie the fuck off.

"richie!" a voice disconnected richie from his thoughts and he turned his head to see stanley. stanley waved, and every ounce of annoyed in richie's mind dissipated. he smiled gently and waved back. he watched as stanley walked towards him, and he heard beverly mutter.

"who's talking to him?" she murmured to bill, who shrugged. richie thought that if she wanted to know so bad she could just sit up. alas, she did not.

"hi stan, i totally forgot you go here, actually," richie could tell that his voice sounded apathetic, but stanley's smile didn't fade in the slightest. stanley, slinging his backpack off of his left shoulder, sat down with richie. he seemed to not even notice bill and beverly. richie wished he had that luxury.

"it's 'cause i'm in ib, i think, i'm always in the same four classrooms," stanley explained, shuffling through his bag. "oh, i went to the gas station today and i was hoping i'd see you, i got you some chocolate," stanley pulled out a chocolate bar and casually passed it to richie.

richie was at a loss–he wasn't sure he could say words even if he wanted to–and just nodded. that stanley would think so offhandedly of him. he could see bill in the corner of his eye, his expression furrowed. beverly still had yet to sit up. curiosity had not killed the cat, it seemed.

"i was–this is gonna sound a little funny–i don't really text people that much, i'm more of a phone call person, so i was wondering if we could call sometime? make plans to hang out when my parents aren't around, or something?" stanley suggested, a pen suddenly appearing in his hand. richie found the fact that stanley was doing the most of the talking irregular. then again, he was going to bite his tongue off if he wasn't careful.

he nodded again, taking the pen and looking for something to write on. after a moment of not finding anything, stanley pulled out a little sheet of paper from air, it seemed. richie scribbled onto it, and stanley stayed silent.

207-867-5309 rich :)

stanley smiled and exhaled through his nose gently. he gently folded the piece of paper and put it in his back pocket. "thanks," glancing to bill and beverly and then back, "uh, i got to get back to... anyway, i'll talk to you later."

richie gave him a meek wave as stanley left. richie shuffled back around his seat and looked to bill and beverly. bill's mouth was a little agape. he could see beverly now–she had sat up–and she was also a little shocked.

"what? i have other friends," richie said, and it was a bit of a lie, he'd only met stanley recently, but richie now believed he had the capacity to make friends.

"oh," bill said, looking down to his lunch. beverly leaned her head on bill's shoulder. they seemed hurt. richie nearly laughed.