Meanwhile
From where they were, the dancers seemed vulnerable tiny little people. The slow song was still playing, providing them of enough time to prepare the final step of their malevolent plan. Henry had elbowed Vic because he was being too noisy and crawled until he could stand on his feet, as well as his friends.
With an evil smirk, he looked down but, as soon as he spotted them, his smile disappeared like it was never there before. He couldn't believe his own eyes: Richie and Eddie, dancing, together. They were too close to each other to be dancing as friends.
"Look at that." Henry told Patrick with disgust. "Stupid faggots. Can't keep their hands to themselves."
Patrick said nothing. He knew Henry was saying all of that to disguise his real self but he thought he was going too far. It didn't seem fair to Patrick and, as time passed by, he was regretting more his position.
//
Eddie's head was still resting on Richie's chest when the music stopped, giving the attention to the student standing on the scenario.
"All right, everyone, take your seats. Take your sits. It's now time to vote for your King and Queen of the prom." everyone started applauding and cheering, included Richie and Eddie. "All right. Ballots are on the table. Everyone gets their own, please. Guys, take your seats."
Richie and Eddie did so, walking to the same table they were before the dance.
"Here." Richie pulled the chair back and waited for Eddie to sit on it. Once the boy was sitting down, Richie did the same thing by his side.
Beverly, Mike, Stan, Bill and even Ben were already there, looking at their ballots.
"Make an 'X' beside the candidate of your choice." the boy kept telling. "Let's have the best prom ever. Whoo!"
//
With his accomplices, Henry put the bucket filled with the pig's blood on top of the scenario and tied it up with a rope. Henry checked their location and made sure the blood would be spilled in the prom queen's place when he pulled the rope.
Hockstetter tried to leave without the rest of them noticing but Belch stopped him.
"If we get caught, then we're all going down." he told him.
Henry turned his head around and looked at Patrick, not surprised but disappointed.
//
There were a few couples written there, so Eddie just expected to vote for any of them without caring too much.
But it wasn't until he read all the names when his anxiety came back.
"Richie, we're on here." he said, with panic in his voice.
"Don't you want to be on there?" on the other hand, Richie sounded pretty enthusiastic.
"Do you?"
"Why not?" he laughed softly, checking their ballot again. "If we win, the only thing that happens is we have to go up there on those thrones, wave a scepter around while they play the school song, and then, uh, do a little dance so everyone can see how idiotic we look."
Eddie looked at the thrones, standing imponent in the middle of the scenario. He could see them shining, calling his name while he was staring at their glamour.
"They are beautiful." he finally admitted, still looking at them.
"You're beautiful." Richie told him with a lovely smile. Eddie turned back at him and blushed, loving how good Richie made him feel.
Eddie was staring at him when he remembered they weren't alone. He shook his head, trying to get the scene of Richie saying that out of his mind, so he could focus on the ballot.
"So, who do we vote for?" Eddie asked him, checking the names again. "I guess they're more your crowd than mine. I don't really have a crowd."
His smile went down when he said that. Richie felt his heart stabbing him, realizing that Eddie didn't have much friends. Actually, apart from the Losers, Richie didn't have much either.
"Well, I think we vote for ourselves, right?" Richie was about to take the ballot to mark themselves but Eddie grabbed it from his hands.
"No. No, don't vote for us."
Richie, not giving up, put his hand on Eddie's ear, looking at him with heart eyes. Eddie tilted his head.
"Eddie..." he caressed his hair, making Eddie chuckle. "Come on. To the devil with false modesty." finally, Eddie nodded. Richie stole the ballot back and grabbed a pen. Then, he proceeded to tick them and, with a sigh, he stretched on his chair.
Eddie wanted to rip it down but he couldn't. Something inside him was telling him that's what destiny wanted. He bit his lip and smiled, looking at the ballot again.
"To the devil." he finally said.
Richie smiled back, and then, looked at his friends again.
"So, who are you voting for?" he asked them, proud that him and Eddie had the opportunity to be prom kings.
"Well, for you, too, duh." Stan had ticked the box before answering.
"Is that even possible?" Ben asked. "I mean, two prom kings?"
"Oh, you wanna discuss homophobia, Benjamin?" Beverly talked, glaring at him.
"I'm just saying that that's not what the rules say."
Richie put his hands on the table and, without giving Ben time to react, he stole his ballot and marked themselves too.
"Hey, that was mine!"
"Yeah, but now it's not." Richie teased him, showing the marked paper.
Ben sighed angrily and stood up from the table, deciding to go to another one.
"You shouldn't have done that, Rich."
"What?" he looked at Eddie. "He was being an asshole."
"But that was his vote. Not everyone has to support us, you know?"
Richie did not want to think about that. He just wanted to assume that everyone supported them, even if it wasn't true.
//
Now, it was too late for Patrick.
The only thing the boy could do was stare at Henry grabbing the rope, getting ready to pull it later. He wanted to stop him so bad but he knew that would get him in even more trouble. So, instead, he just stayed there, looking at Eddie with guilty eyes.
"This is gonna be good, guys." Henry said, looking at the bucket and then at Eddie, too.
//
"All set?" a girl told them, carrying an urn with her.
"Oh, yeah." Richie grabbed his ballot and put it in.
The girl smiled and looked at Eddie.
"Good luck, kids. You've got my vote." and then, she left too. "Ballots. Can I have your ballots, please?" she continued to recollect them. "Thank you."
Once Richie looked at Eddie, he could see the boy following her with his eyes.
"Everything okay?"
Eddie lifted his head and nodded.
"Yeah."
//
The girl walked discreetly towards the scenario and hid behind it.
There, her boyfriend was holding the fake ballots.
She opened the urn and changed the ballots for another pile that he had prepared there.
They started making out so nobody would suspect and, after it, she walked away with the urn filled with the prepared ballots.
Nobody could see her except from Henry, Patrick, Belch and Victor.
They could recognize her: they've paid her to rig the votes. They had to made sure Richie and Eddie won so their prank could work.
Patrick hadn't said anything for a while until she saw her.
"As soon as that bucket goes, we run." he told Henry, who looked enchanted. "We don't stick around for the laughs or the screams or anything. All right?"
Henry didn't answer. He just stayed there, looking at the girl walking away.
"You got it?" Patrick insisted. "Are you listening?" but he wasn't. So, he got closer to him so Henry could see him. "Hey."
"What?" Henry still didn't look at him.
"When they get up there, what's happening? You're pulling the rope and when the bu-"
"Shut up so I can hear." he tried to shoo him away.
"Hey. Listen to me. Listen. If you get caught and you say anything about what we did, I will fucking kill you." Henry looked at him, finally. Patrick was starting to get more nervous, not being able to control his words. "This isn't what we did in the locker room. This is criminal assault. This is fucking jail time if we're caught."
"I get it." Henry replied, getting keen on his bucket again.
//
"A drum roll, please." the same student announced, in front of the crowd. "By one vote, our winners are..." everyone was looking at him, reading the names of the winners. "Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak!"
The students and teachers started applauding. No matter how loud the applause and whistles were, Eddie couldn't hear anything. He didn't expect him to win.
Then, he felt Richie holding his hand and that's when he was able to listen again. Richie was smiling at him and raised his fist up in the air, feeling like a real winner. They weren't losers anymore.
Eddie was stuck in his chair, feeling overwhelmed with everyone looking at him. He searched for the rest of his friends, who were also smiling at them.
"Come on." Richie encouraged him.
"Way to go, Eddie!" Beverly shouted, cheering him.
Eddie smiled even more and finally stood up. Richie walked with him, hands on the boy's waist. Eddie could see everything in slow-motion, even his PE teacher was there, proud of him.
They walked between the crowd, everyone stepping back so they could walk freely and got on the scenario. The thrones were there, still the same, but for Eddie they were bigger than before. They weren't calling his name anymore: it was written on them.
The music played seemed to be sang by angels. Some students received them and gave Eddie a bouquet of flowers, which he accepted with sincere happiness. Richie stood by his side, refusing to let him go. He could feel his boyfriend's joy and that's all he needed.
It did surprise him that they had won, knowing that not a lot of people knew they would attend together but he let it go.
After all, Eddie was happy. And that's all that mattered.
"Derry High," one member of the student council informed. "I give you your newly crowned Kings of the prom, Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak."
Eddie looked at Richie with the biggest smile his lips had ever formed. Richie also stared at him, loving how good Eddie was looking.
But then, before their heads could feel the crowns, Beverly looked up. She quickly stood up, pushing away her chair. Stan noticed it, concerned about what she was looking at.
Beverly was now shaking, looking like she had seen a dead body.
"What?" Stanley asked.
Beverly said nothing. All she needed to do is point on top of Eddie's head to make Stan see it too.