"i'd just like to apologize in advance, because it will totally be awkward. it's not your fault, i want you to know that, we're just sort of a weird group." richie was pacing out front of his house, stanley sat on the step of the porch. stanley fanned himself with his hand in the heat as richie broke a sweat himself.
"that's totally fine, richie." stanley pat him on the leg as richie walked by. it didn't stop richie, who kept wandering. the touch briefly surprised richie, but he didn't mind. he glanced down at stanley as he continued to pace, watching the boy run his hand through his hair.
"but i think mike will like you! he's nice." richie continued, biting his nail.
"we can only see, i guess," stanley replied, though he felt that he didn't care so much about mike liking him as much as he cared about richie wanting mike to like him. he leaned back on the step, but as he did so, he watched as a car drove up to the driveway.
richie's hand made contact with stanley's shoulder, "shit, okay, that's bill's car. i'll sit next to mike for you." richie let stanley stand up and the two of them walked towards the car. richie swung the back door open and waved meekly.
"hi all, this is stanley, everyone say hi," richie talked in a monotone voice, and he shuffled into the car. he squished mike up against the door, but mike didn't seem to stay anything.
the group muttered their hellos like an alcoholic anonymous meeting. stanley nearly laughed, but instead let out a "hi" of his own.
"bill, beverly, and mike," richie pointed at each of them, though stanley could hardly see bill, sitting directly behind the drivers seat.
a song by john mayer that stanley vaguely recognized came on, and beverly reached up to the radio to change stations, but bill slapped her hand away. her hand clenched by her side. stanley heard bill utter a small, "sorry."
"so, stanley, you go to our school, right? i feel like i've seen you. who do you hang out with?" mike started a conversation, looking over to stanley with intrigue. stanley nodded vaguely, picking at his fingers.
"oh, uh, i mean i'm mostly by myself in classrooms or the library studying, but i talk to ben and eddie sometimes." stanley glanced from mike to richie as he spoke, like he worried that richie wouldn't approve. mike noticed, his own eyes glancing between them. richie was leaning his head back, allowing a line of sight between mike and stanley.
"eddie kaspbrak, bill talks to him too, that's cool! what kind of classes are you taking?" beverly turned around, her hands clasping onto the side of the passenger seat.
"uh, i'm in the ib program." stanley was, for some reason, nervous that they'd think he thought he was better than them. stanley wasn't sure how to balance making them like him and making richie like him at the same time. for the first time, he wasn't quite sure how to be two people at once.
there was a moment of silence before mike snickered.
"so... the complete opposite of richie." richie punched mike in the arm for that, bringing his head off of the car seat.
"well, yeah, he's smart, mike. look at me," richie mused, motioning to himself as beverly giggled. stanley let out a semblance of a laugh himself.
"shop kid... but you had potential once upon a time," stanley grinned, richie rolling his eyes.
"richie never had potential," beverly chimed in, even bill laughing a little as he stared forward onto the road. at the sound of bill's laugh, both mike and beverly's head turned towards him. from the way mike smiled, stanley gathered that that was a rather rare thing.
"yowza! marsh is red hot with insults!" richie pushed against beverly, the two play-fighting through the gap in between the front two seats.
"i agree w-wuh-with bev." bill commented, beverly giggling.
"wow, this whole car is attacking me right now." richie groaned, leaning back against the car. stanley smiled, bumping richie with his shoulder.
"hey, i never said anything bad about being a shop kid. some of my favourite garbage men were shop kids" stanley slung an arm around richie for a brief moment and moved him back and forth, only to slink back. richie was so surprised by the comment that his brain hardly registered the touch.
"WOW, ABSOLUTE CRUELTY IN THIS CAR RIGHT NOW," richie put his arms up into the air, stanley lowering them as bill complained about it blocking his mirror's view.
"it's okay, when we get to the beach we'll drown you and put you out of your misery," mike reassured him, richie laughing himself as he put his head in his hands.
"you know that mechanics make more money than doctors?" richie spoke from between his hands, and mike pat his back lightly.
"i highly doubt that's true," he said, a moment of silence falling over the car. stanley leaned back and stared out the window, watching beverly's reflection in the side mirror.
"anyway, it's impressive that you do ib, stanley. what's that like?" beverly broke the silence, leaning her head out from the side of the chair. stanley's head moved back to beverly inside the car, raising an eyebrow.
"oh, ass. absolute ass. but i survive." stanley said, scratching his arm. he hardly noticed richie looking down at him, gently watching him. a piece of stanley's skin was flaking off, and he felt fixated on it as he got rid of it.
"b-br-braver than our marines, s-stuh-stanley." bill said, making a right turn, and turning up the radio. beverly looked back out the window.
"thanks." stanley muttered. in a weird way, he felt justified in his choices in life as the few of them drove up to the beach parking lot. he glanced over his shoulder into the trunk, and counted the bags in the back. he looked back to the car, with mike pointing out parking spots as beverly yawned.
stanley had never felt more like a teenager in his life.
"okay, mike, since you're the muscles, you take the big heavy bags, bill and i will get what we can, and i entrust bev and stanley to the rest" richie pointed into the trunk as the five teenagers stood outside of it.
"sounds like a plan," stan hummed as he reached for a shade umbrella. the five, heaving and hoeing to the beach shore.
stanley watched as richie sped for the water the moment he'd put down what he was carrying. in an instant, his shirt was off, and stanley felt like he should look away, but he didn't. bill laughed as richie jumped into the water.
"he's really a sea dog, stanley, i can't lie to you." mike bumped into stanley's side, laughing as richie thrashed about in the water.
"i get it." stanley smiled and approached the water as well, kicking his shoes off and stripping off his shirt. richie cheered to see him coming to join him in the water. beverly was setting out a towel, but she was smiling.
"they get along." she commented slyly, bill nodding.
"it's a little w-wuh-weird, right? l-luh-like they have nothing in c-cuh-common," bill raised an eyebrow, watching the two of them with sincere interest.
"i don't know, they make a good pair," mike said, putting his bag against a log on the sand. beverly narrowed her eyes.
over by the water, the two of them were kicking and splashing water at each other, richie swimming under the water like a shark to scare stanley. the two were laughing wildly.
"you've got more of a scream than i thought you did," richie said, pushing him and causing stanley to stumble. stanley pushed him back.
stanley considered telling him that it was only really because richie was around, but he couldn't figure out a way to phrase it that didn't sound strange.
stanley took advantage of the opportunity, splashing a handful of water into richie's face, and richie had to cover his eyes. he was thankful his glasses were lying with his shirt, but upset they weren't there to block his face.
richie rubbed the water out of his eyes, "i didn't even know you could splash that much water by yourself," he said blindly. he was looking straight ahead, his vision slowly clearing to stanley smiling.
"it wasn't just him," a voice came from behind him, and richie turned his head quickly, gasping.
"MIKE YOU'VE BETRAYED ME!" richie yelped, mike laughing and pushing him back in.
later, as the sun set, the five of them sat down on a log together. richie and stanley each had a towel, though they were sitting rather close, as if that would help them dry off. mike, who'd already dried off, had put a shirt and jacket on and was next to richie. then bill, who'd only gone in the water once, sitting perfectly dry with an eye on their stuff, and beverly, lying down across bill and (to richie's surprise) mike's lap. she'd swam at the beginning, but had dedicated herself to tanning and finishing her book, so she was now more sandy than wet.
"i'm gonna go wash my feet off, i'll be back." richie announced, holding his towel tight around his shoulders and waddling off about 20 feet to the water. the moment he was out of earshot, bill turned to stanley.
"so h-huh-how'd you meet richie?" bill asked, stanley feeling nerves building in his throat. should he lie? he glanced out to richie himself, watching as richie bent over to splash water.
"hm? oh, the toziers had one of those like, fancy show-off-my-smart-child parties, and i'm always brought along, so... yeah." stanley played with his fingers, hunched over. bill furrowed his eyebrows, hunching over himself.
"the toziers?" bill asked.
"yeah, and my parents were all, 'don't talk to the boy named richard, he's bad news,' but i liked him, so..." stanley was now scratching the back of his neck.
"oh, richie's last name is t-tuh-tozier," bill muttered to himself, like it was a realization.
"you liked him?" beverly raised an eyebrow.
"uh, like i thought he was cool." stanley clarified. he hadn't thought that richie's friends would've assumed something like the insinuation beverly had just made. stanley now had to gulp, feeling a little caught in his throat.
"mhm."
richie was now waddling back, this time with flip flops on his feet. stanley looked down at them a little suspiciously, considering he wasn't really doing a great job of keeping his feet from getting sandy all over again. richie reached out and ruffled stanley's wet hair as he sat down.
"there is so much sand stuck under my toenails, i actually want to die." richie said, sighing.
bill laughed, "serves you ruh-ruh-right for throwing s-suh-sand at m-mike."
"hey! i didn't mean it in a mean way, just in a... not mean... way?" richie replied thoughtlessly, staring out at the sea. with all his focus on the sunset, he didn't particularly notice stanley's head turned, facing richie. stanley was just watching richie with interest.
as mike laughed, beverly lightly jabbed bill to look over at the two boys on the end. bill raised his eyebrows at beverly.