Morning rays peek out over Derry, marking the beginning of the day nicknamed "the worst day of the week": Monday.
Richie can understand why people don't like Monday's, he also doesn't like getting up early after two days of sleeping in, but he can never seem to find the same grudge. It's hard to hate something that gives him so much freedom. Especially when that freedom is from the one thing people usually don't want to leave.
Their house.
But that's nothing new, Richie long ago settled on the fact that he seems to enjoy things others tend to hate on. Monday's, school, (in some occasions) Beverly Marsh.. and more.. personal things. Identities, feelings.
The first three all have the same connection. They give Richie a reason to leave his house. To get away from all of the.. suffocating loneliness. It's hard swimming in a dark, empty ocean. Richie's surprised he's stayed afloat for this long because he knows, he can feel it in his gut that sooner or later, he'll drown.
Drown in loneliness. Drown in confusion. Drown in the weirdly comforting scent of perfume and cigarettes. Beverly's scent.
Beverly.
Then Richie remembers what he's supposed to be doing.
His eyes snap over to the girl standing next to him. Her head is leaning up against the chain-linked fence, eyes half-closed. White smoke blows with the breeze over her shoulder as she smokes her last cigarette before school.
They stand in the back of the senior parking lot, waiting out the time until the 5 minute bell rings. Without fail, unless it's raining or snowing, the two meet up before school to smoke or do last minute homework. Beverly is the one who usually has a cigarette firmly between two fingers, but every once in a while, Richie will too. She breaths out and Richie lifts his head.
"I took him to see Back To The Future last night," he says. Beverly's eyes flicker over to him and that Beverly Smile spreads over her face.
"How upset was he?" She asks and Richie raises a hand in the air.
"He's Eddie, the only emotion he knows is anger." He falls quiet, but a smile plays at his lips. Last night replays in his mind - blasting previews, buzzing red lights, flying popcorn.
"I made him laugh a few times, though," he says and shifts his weight to the other foot. "I accidentally made a your mom joke, right? And I thought he'd, like, hate me forever or some shit but he doesn't. He just shook his head but he couldn't resist my Tozier charm."
Beverly quickly pulls the smoldering stick away from her lips as she chuckles. "Of course you would let a your mom joke slip."
A loud brriiinng cuts through the air and both of their eyes snap up. "Fuck," Richie sighs and pushes off the fence.
Beverly drops the cigarette and snuffs it out with her heel. "I'll see you second period?" She asks and Richie forms his hands into finger guns, shooting them her way.
"You know it," he says.
~~~
A laminated restroom pass dangles from Richie's wrist as he continues down the deserted hall. A few classroom doors are open, chatter spilling out as authoritative voices try to smother them. He reaches the restroom and turns the corner.
"Oh, hi," Richie says, his footsteps halting. Eddie looks up, his curious expression falling when he sees Richie standing there.
"Hey."
Richie looks to the urinals and reaches up to adjust his glasses, telling himself he can go later. Between classes, perhaps.
"What are you doing?" He asks instead as he rounds the counter to the sinks.
Eddie motions in front of him and says, "some absolute idiot clogged the art room sinks and Mrs. Bennington asked me to clean them off here." His voice rings off the restroom walls and bounces out to the empty hallway outside. Richie hums and leans forward, observing the small pile of clean paintbrushes compared to the tub full of dirty ones.
Eddie taps one against the sink, high-pitched cling cling cling sounding out as water flings off the brush. "Need some help, Eds?" Eddie looks at him, ready to shake his head but Richie spoke up before he could move. "It can be an apology 'cause you didn't enjoy the movie last night." His voice dips in remorse and Eddie's gaze falls, guilt starting to weigh down on his chest. But that only lasts for so long until Richie adds, "But I can think of more fun ways as an apology."
His eyes roll and he turns fully back to the sink. "You're really something, Richie," he says and grabs for another paintbrush. Without a no from Eddie, Richie takes it upon himself to jump into the empty space next to him.
"You fuckin' know it, Eds."
"That's not my name."
"It is now."
Eddie shoots a glare Richie's way, which he returns with a smile. He opens his mouth to say more, but his voice is lost in his throat when Eddie quickly pushes a few paintbrushes into his hand. "No, no, no," he says, shaking his head, "More work. Less talk. Please." A short laugh comes from Richie and he runs the dirty brushes under the running water. He watches as pink, green, blue, and a gross brown mix of colors splashes down to the white sink.
"There's other ways to shut me up. Work is involved too-"
"Are you gonna be a horny teenager all day?"
And Richie almost chokes.
There's nothing to choke on, but the directness from Eddie was not expected. Not that Richie's complaining, of course. He gets ahold of himself, smiles, and leans down closer to Eddie.
"You gonna do something about it?"
Eddie looks up at him, his nose scrunching up in disgust. Horny teenagers isn't anything new to Eddie, but this.. forwardness coming from Richie is new. And Eddie can't tell if he likes it or not. Richie smiles, and Eddie knows his answer.
But his stubbornness is a barrier blocking his rational thoughts, and he tells himself he doesn't like it. Especially since it's coming from Richie Tozier.
Not saying anything, Eddie darts a hand up, a dirty paintbrush clutched in his fist. Richie darts away but not before he feels the wetness of watery pink paint smear on his cheek. He laughs out and takes the back of his hand to try and wipe it away. "Fuck you, Eds," he says as the other boy proudly beams. "You're really getting it now." The smile falters.
He lunges forward, attacking Eddie's arm with cool paint. "No!" Eddie shrieks, watching as green and orange smears onto his arm in fading streaks. But Richie doesn't stop there. He takes ahold of Eddie's shoulder, gently holding him in place as he smudges the paintbrush to his cheek. Eddie breaks out in giggles, not even trying to upkeep the "hating Richie" persona. Completely lost in the moment.
An angel's fucking singing could not compare to what just hit Richie's ears. Eddie giggled and Richie's heart melted. Along with Beverly's weirdly comforting scent and a few other, sadder things, Richie found another thing he could drown in: Eddie's giggles.
Eddie, unaware of the indescribable warmth that's spilling over Richie's heart, takes the pause to slap Richie's hand off his shoulder. He's still laughing and blurts out, "Fuck you, Chee."
Richie could've died.
"Holy fuck, Eds," he says breathlessly. He focuses on breathing, but each breath only makes the feeling swell farther up his chest.
Eddie is still unaware, completely oblivious, as his eyes flicker to Richie's, then to the tub, and back to Richie, who's still awestruck. "You're so childish," Eddie spits out and reaches past him to the tub. He holds it close to his chest and twists his body to shield it away from Richie's grasp. The movement makes Richie snap out of his light trance and he takes a step back as Eddie grabs more dirty paintbrushes. Richie holds his own out like a sword and Eddie's arm darts forward.
Their paintbrushes clang against each other. The oblivion fades away from Eddie's eyes and he watches as their paintbrushes smack against each other again. He doesn't want to believe he's doing this, playing sword fight in a school restroom. High school, too, not middle, not elementary.
He also doesn't want to believe the pull at his chest as laughter bubbles back up. "Childish, you say?" Richie asks, snapping him from his thoughts. Eddie flicks his wrist down and white smears over Richie's knuckles.
The two meet eyes and Eddie nods, smiling proudly. "So very childish."
Richie doesn't hold back, his laughs bounce around the restroom and if he isn't careful, Eddie is sure a teacher will hear and come investigate. "You're killin' me, Smalls," he wheezes out between breaths. Eddie clamps a hand to his own mouth to suppress his laughter.
The two relish in the others' laughter, pure happiness pouring out of the boys chests and out of the restroom. Eddie lifts his gaze, laughter rocking through his body as he watches Richie experience the same.
"This is so stupid," he says between giggles. Richie looks down at him behind those glasses and Eddie swears his eyes twinkled.
"Maybe," he says after taking a moment to catch his breath. "But you started it."
Eddie's mouth parts in slight surprise and a scoff comes out. "Richie," he starts but Richie interrupts him with, "What happened to Chee?"
Eddie shakes his head and breaths normally, finally coming down from his laughter fit. "Seriously, though." Richie's smile falters a bit, confusion sprouting up in place.
"Seriously what?" He asks.
"This is been a nice apology," Eddie finishes and the confusion leaves Richie's face.
"Well, anything for your forgiveness, my lord." He leans down into a bow, expecting eyes never leaving Eddie's face. Instead of a laugh, he gets a small smile and an eye roll, which he'll still take.
But Eddie isn't done. "As much as I don't want to say.. I owe you an apology, too."
And the confusion is back.
"I know I said I didn't like last night - the movies, I mean. But I guess.." he pauses and shrugs. "I guess it wasn't the worst night ever."
Richie breaks out in a grin and he bounces on his toes. "Well, well, well! Step right up, folks, 'cause it seems like Eddie Kaspbrak really can have fun!"
He breaths out a short laugh and crosses his arms. "Another Voice?" He asks and Richie nods.
"And more to come," he says before quickly adding, "Also! Apology accepted."
Eddie smiles and sets the paintbrushes back onto the counter. He looks down at his hands and arms, inspecting all the paint smears that he will have to wash off. He looks up to the mirror and instantly catches the red dot on his nose. Richie must've gotten it there somewhere during the paint fight, but Eddie couldn't pin point when.
The two catch each other's eyes in the fingerprint smudged mirror. "Wow," Richie says, "Very festive there, Eds. Rudolph would be jealous."
He rolls his eyes and turns the sink back on, water sputtering out the faucet. "It's your fault."
Now it's Richie's turn to roll his eyes. "Okay.." he says but it fizzles out when loud, panicked footsteps echo down the hall. Eddie pauses, his hand on the faucet as Richie stares at the entrance. The footsteps scurry past the restroom, pauses, then skids inside.
Ben heaves as he presses his back to the brick wall, not noticing the two other boys watching with confused looks.
Those confused looks melt into horror when they hear a slower, stalking set of footsteps.
"Benny?" A low, taunting voice calls out. Richie and Eddie meet eyes, apprehensive meets scared. "Benny-Boy? I know you're in there," Bowers sings. His voice is right outside the restroom and if Richie peeks around the corner, he knows he'd meet Bowers head on. Fear crawls up the tiled walls, seemingly restricting air as all three boys' breathing shallows.
Richie thinks it's pathetic for a should-be-senior (Bower's was held back a grade in elementary) to terrorize under and upperclassmen alike, but he's been this way since they were all kids. There's no changing Henry Bowers.
A foot steps inside the restroom and Richie prepares himself to throw a few punches. He shakes down an arm and clenches his fist. He looks tough, unafraid, but one look into his eyes and all is exposed. His heart beats out of his chest, eyes darting around as he waits for Bowers to appear.
From somewhere down the hall, high heels click clack click clack against the floor. Shuffling is heard from the entrance and the click clack click clack stops. "Henry Bowers," a female voice says. It's laced with expectancy and authority, something teenagers know all too well in Derry High.
"Principal," Bowers voice goes high in surprise, ringing around in the restroom.
"What are you doing out of class? And without a pass? Henry," she pauses, probably taking her glasses off as she sighs. "Come with me. We're calling your dad." Henry lingers in the restroom entrance and the high heels start down the hallway again.
"Now!"
Bowers mutters a string of curses but obliges. He leaves, and the fear that grips the air fades away. Eddie closes his eyes and breaths out, releasing the tension in his muscles. Ben goes slack against the restroom wall, his face flooding with relief.
"Ben," Eddie says.
The boy gasps, his eyes flying open as he looks to the two boys he's just now noticing. "Oh.. hi guys." He's nervous, his eyes glancing to the entrance. Eddie doesn't blame him.
"Hey, football star," Richie says, his smile returning to his face.
"Richie, right?" Ben asks and Richie nods.
Ben nods to himself, pleased he's correct. "What was Bowers doing chasing after you?" Eddie asks, detaching from the counter edge as he steps closer.
"Oh, Bowers was.. um.." he pauses and goes to grip the tip of his fingers. "Bowers was chasing me for lunch money."
Richie chokes out a laugh and instantly earns a slap from Eddie. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said and motions to Ben. "It's so fucking cliché! Bowers chasing a kid for lunch money?"
Ben shifts his weight and quietly says, "we're in the same grade.."
Eddie shakes his head and looks at Ben. "Don't mind him. He doesn't understand half the things he himself says."
"Oh- ho, ho! Eddie coming in hot!"
"Fucking- shut up!"
Eddie shoots a glare to Richie. "You can stay," he says to Ben before walking back over to the sink. Richie clicks his tongue and follows him.
"Why's a football star running from Bowers? Aren't you supposed to be like, jacked or some shit?" Richie asks as he tosses a paintbrush into the clean pile.
Ben looks up and his shoulders jump into a small shrug. "Oh, I was on my way to the library and I ran into him. He started going on about how he had no money and asked me for some. I said no but he.. grabbed me so I pushed him and started walking away. But he chased me down.."
Eddie stopped working on the paintbrushes and leaned away from the counter to look at Ben. "Bowers can suck it," he says. Richie's eyes flicker over to him, but his focus is on Ben. A small smile plays at his lips and he goes back to the sink, warmth filling up his chest and lungs once more.
"I guess so, yeah," Ben responds.
The bell rang soon after that. The three separated ways only for Richie and Eddie to come together again a class later. The teenagers couldn't care less about the lesson at hand, their minds trained on lunch only 20 minutes away.
But Richie's wasn't trained on lunch, but instead on a daydream. He replays the past few encounters in his mind, going in deep with what everything could mean. What everything could possibly become. Eddie seems like he's starting to warm up to Richie, and he's over the moon about it.
Eddie, on the other hand, knows he's warming up to Richie. After the bell rang and he sat through another boring class, he sobered up from his drunken happiness high and reality came crashing down. He's starting to warm up to Richie Tozier, the boy who's going to make him fail this final and smokes cigarettes. What teen smokes cigarettes in 2019? He's warming up to Richie, and he can't help but be scared about it.
Richie repeatedly taps his pencil on his notebook and finally tears his gaze away from the brunet across the room. This isn't Richie's first time catching himself staring at Eddie, and it definitely won't be the last.
But the deep brown curls of Eddie's hair is like a magnetic force on Richie's just as brown eyes. Every time he looks away, he finds himself letting his eyes float back over. It's been the same ritual since sophomore year. Richie would catch sight of Eddie around school; in the halls, cafeteria, and in his own classes sometimes.
His heart tugged with the idea of Eddie - a feeling he couldn't really put a finger on, but he wishes that it would never leave.
Mr. Martinez flicks on the lights, startling Richie and making him cast down his gaze to keep the brightness from hurting his eyes. "Bell is going to ring in a-"
brrriinng
"minute." His hands fall to his sides as the students scramble to gather their things into their backpacks. Richie looks up one last time to Eddie's direction, hoping to keep the sickly sweet feeling going but is sadly disappointed when his eyes fall on an empty seat.
Some other junior bumps into Richie's chair, grounding him back into reality. He stacks all his books on top of the other before shoving them into his backpack, slinging the strap over his shoulder.
The students start to file out and Richie goes to do the same. His eyes catch Eddie standing next to Mr. Martinez' desk as the two talk. Richie walks to the end of the line to get a better spot to listen in.
"Someone else has asked me," Mr. Martinez says. The line spills out into the hallway quicker than Richie likes, so he purposely slows his steps, idling a foot away from the end of the line. "So the offer still stands if you would still like to switch partners."
Richie's eyes narrow and he has to physically restrict himself from flipping around. He reaches the doorway, a hand gripping onto it as he strains his ears. switch partners? eddie wants a new partner? am i really that.. that bad?
He turns to look over his shoulder. Eddie takes a side step and looks to the doorway, turning too quick for Richie to flip back around. The two meet eyes, but only for half a second as Richie sucks in a breath and ducks out of the classroom.
Eddie's gaze lingers on the doorway. He breaths in and looks back at the waiting Mr. Martinez. All the memories he's made with Richie floods in and in that moment, his mind is made up.
"No thanks," he says, "I think I'll stick with Rich."
~~~
Richie sits down at the overcrowded table. There's no room for his books so he drops his backpack onto the floor near his feet. Without looking up, Beverly untucks her legs from under the table and spins around on the bench. Richie lifts his gaze and realizes she hasn't unpacked her lunch.
"You know Stanley Uris, right?" She asks before Richie could interrogate her with his own questions.
"Yeah?" He says as his mind flashes to the Jewish kid he's had a handful of classes with throughout the years.
He's also Eddie's friend.
"Well," Beverly continues as her eyes dart around the cafeteria. "We got partnered up for the World History project. He invited me to sit with him and his friends so we can talk about it."
"he invited me."
Dread tickles into his stomach.
Is everyone willing to switch him out?
He turns to face the table again. "Okay," he says as he slightly folds in on himself. "I'll be here, then." He breaths in sharply and closes his eyes. The bitterness wasn't supposed to leak into his tone, but it did, and he knows Beverly picked it up because she's Beverly and she picks up on everything.
He feels a light nudge on his shoulder. "The fuck are you talking about, Tozier?" She asks playfully. "You're coming with, silly." He has no time to interject, even if he wants, because Beverly's already slinging her backpack onto her shoulder and motioning for him to do the same.
The two weave their way around tables and mingling students to the other side of the cafeteria. "Why can't you just work on it after school?" Richie asks, a hand tightly clamped to his backpack strap to keep it from slipping.
Beverly scans the tables for Stanley before jumping into explanation. "He's Jewish so he has his religious duties and his father his pretty strict. He won't let Stanley out past seven."
Richie hums and the two approach the table. Three boys are clustered on the end and Richie locks eyes with Eddie. He smiles and Eddie gives a small one in return before looking away.
"Hey Stan," Beverly says. He glances up as if he's just noticing the pair.
"Hi," he says distractedly and he motions for Bill to scoot down. He does, but only enough for one person. Richie spots the empty space next to Eddie and drops down onto it.
"You guys know Richie, right?" Beverly asks as she shrugs off her backpack. Bill and Stan nod, the latter not bothering to look up.
"Welcome to our t-table," Bill says.
"Our side of the table," Eddie adds. The group's eyes trails to the other end, where a larger group of boys and girls talk loudly with each other - the populars. A small space separates the quieter and smaller group with the louder and rowdier group.
Stanley and Beverly jump into conversation, bouncing ideas for their project back and forth. Bill shifts in his seat, perfectly content with eating in silence and getting lost in his own thoughts. Richie watches as his eyes glaze over, a far away look swirling deep behind his eyes.
Eddie glances at Richie out of the corner of his eye. "Where's your lunch?" He asks, noticing the empty space in front of Richie.
He follows Eddie's gaze and says, "I forgot my lunch money at home.. guess Bowers had a good idea asking for money, huh?"
Eddie shakes his head disapprovingly. "No! Bowers never has good ideas."
Stan glances over at Bowers name, but returns his focus back to Beverly when he notices there's no panic needed.
Eddie pauses and looks down at his lunch. Yes, he's warming up to Richie, and as much as he hates it and it terrifies him, he can't let the boy starve.
He sighs and reluctantly pulls his sandwich apart, offering the smaller part to Richie. "Eds, no," he says, shaking his head. "That's your food! If I wanted to eat something of yours-"
"Richard, finish that sentence and I'll choke you with this sandwich."
He grins and swallows the next joke. "Thank you," he says and gingerly takes the sandwich. Eddie nods in acknowledgement and takes a bite of his half.
Richie's eyes lift up and they're met with the dazzling blue eyes of Beverly. She winks, a knowing smile already on her face. Richie shakes his head and bites into the sandwich to hide his smile.
Before lunch ended, Eddie asked if Richie was free that weekend to work on the project. "It's worth 100 points, you know," Eddie reminds as he continues his rambling, "We need to do well on it, Rich. This means no movies, no paint fights.. We're working."
"We're still partners?"
Eddie looks at him, watching as his eyebrows pull together in visible confusion. Eddie doesn't mirror that same confusion as his mind flashes to Mr. Martinez and the World History classroom. Mr. Martinez asked Eddie about the partner change. Richie was there. He overheard.
"Yeah," Eddie says and forces his eyes away. "Why wouldn't we be? We're a team in this." Maybe if he acts dumb then Richie would drop it. He keeps his eyes down on what's left of his food, hoping hard that Richie drops it.
And he does.
Richie quickly heads for the conclusion that Eddie had turned down Mr. Martinez' seemingly random offer. "I'm free whenever, dude. I'm always free. Not much going on in the life of Richie Tozier."
Beverly breaks from her conversation with both Bill and Stanley. "Mind rephrasing that, Rich?" She asks, gaining the attention of both Richie and Eddie. When Richie doesn't fix his mistake, she laughs softly and leans over the table. "Forget about our plans already?"
Realizations strikes Richie hard. "Oh fuck! I forgot. I'm sorry, Bev." She smiles, a silent 'you're okay, rich' that he easily picks up on. The two have many ways of silently talking to each other, a perk of being friends for so long.
"So.. you're not free this weekend?" Eddie asks and Richie shakes his head. "That's a no for Friday, Ed-o. Maybe late Saturday or Sunday we can meet up, yeah?" He asks. Eddie's eyes search the cafeteria windows as he thinks.
"Yeah," he says with a nod, "that works."
"Oh, hey," Beverly says and shifts in her seat. "Stan, you're free this weekend, right?" Stanley nods, an eyebrow arched as he waits for Beverly to elaborate. "What if all four of us go to the library together? We can help each other out, I can keep Richie on track.." she lists, trying to get the boys on her side.
"You had me at 'keep Richie on track'," Eddie says and earns a half-hearted glare from Richie.
"I'll go," Stanley says and Richie says that he seconds that.
Beverly's hopeful tone turns into an excited one as she says, "Oh, this will be fun."