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The definition of “meeting” was very loose in the Losers Club. Richie called meetings for the littlest things (he had called one yesterday so that they could help him pick out what shirt to wear that morning), and Mike would call it a meeting any time they were all in the same space. Ben called any clubhouse hang-out a meeting, and Eddie would call meetings for emergencies. Stanley had called this meeting, though, and he only called Very Important things meetings, so they were all set up in the clubhouse.
Richie and Eddie shared the hammock, playing on their phones and bickering. Ben and Mike were proofreading essays for each other, while Bev lay in Ben’s lap and doodled. And Stanley was sitting next to Bill, laptops open, hooked up to hotspots. Stan’s screen showed their joint bank account, Bill’s showed Zillow.
The Losers Club was buying a house.
Stan furrowed his brow as he looked at the statements and receipts, deposits going back to their sophomore year. Then he coughed and stood up.
“Losers? I have the final verdict.” Richie stopped his rambling argument and looked over, Eddie’s socked foot paused next to Richie’s ear. Ben and Mike shut their laptops, and Bev sta up to lean on Ben’s shoulder.
“We have enough money to put the down payment on this house.”
Cheers arose from the rest of the gang, especially Beverly and Eddie. Stanley was trying to talk over them about jobs and banking and financial support, but Bill could tell from the smile on his face that he knew he wouldn’t be able to get their attention for a while, so Bill joined in with the excitement. Once they had all calmed down, Stan spoke again.
“Bill will now tell us about the house.”
Bill stood up, balancing his laptop on his hand like a waiter with a tray of drinks.
“This two-story home boasts three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a cozy living room and dining room below, complete with a kitchen. A lovely fixer-upper, it is within walking distance from the corner store and most colleges in the city. Perfect for students or larger families.”
“Well,” Richie said, breaking the brief silence. “We’re a larger family of students, right? Perfect!”
“Fixer-upper,” Ben mused. “That means I’ll have to do repairs… paint it, maybe. I’ll need help… Eddie? Bill? You guys up for the task?” Eddie and Bill both enjoyed helping out with clubhouse maintenance, as well as any other projects Ben needed help with.
“Not going to lie,” Bev said, having crawled over to peer at the listing. “It looks a little rough, but we’re up for the task. We’ll have a front porch, I can spraypaint the railings.”
“We’re going to need to get jobs within the first week of moving there,” Stanley added. “But most of our parents offered to help pay for either our entire road trip or our first month in NYC as a graduation gift. I say we pick the first-month option.”
Richie, who was the unofficial road trip commander, thought this over. “Sure. Fine, I guess.”
“We also have Mike’s college fund and part of Ben’s because they have scholarships. Richie, you applied too?”
“Yeah, but I don’t find out for a month or so.”
“Enough with financials!” Eddie yelled. “Can we talk fun stuff, like for when we get there? Who’s rooming with who? Can we get bunk beds?”
“Ben and I will share a room,” Bev said immediately. “We’ll take one of the two smaller ones.”
“Bill and I can room together as well,” Mike added. “We’ll have good influences on each other’s sleep schedule.”
“That leaves Eduardo and Staniel with me!” Richie said gleefully.
“Eddie, if you want to share a bunk bed, that’d be fun,” Stanley smiled, ignoring Richie. “The bottom bunk is safer if you want that one.”
“Yeah, okay. We can look on Craigslist when we get there, maybe? Richie can have a twin bed.”
“Guys,” Bill interrupted. He had been watching this all unfold, and thinking of how he and Mike would organize their room, that he had forgotten the important thing about this meeting. “Should I call them to buy the house or not?”
“Um, ya duh!” Richie said. “Call ‘em, Big Bill!”
“Wait, Stanley, should you do it?” he asked, suddenly worried.
“Bill, you’re the leader of the Losers Club,” Stanley said with a small smile. “Call them, you have the number.”
So he did. With minimal stuttering and the rest of the Losers hanging on to every word, he called them and relayed the bank info, and then chatted awkwardly for a bit. Then he hung up the phone with a grin that hurt his face.
“Losers Club- we own a house! We can move in on the planned date, August eleventh!”
“The day before Bevvie turns eighteen!” Richie yelped. “Just like we planned!”
“Just like we planned,” Bill agreed.
Later that night, they’d go home. Mike would start discussing plans with his grandfather, and Bill would excitedly tell his parents (Georgie would start to get sad like he did whenever they discussed Bill going to college) and they would celebrate. The Toziers would ask Richie and Eddie, who was invited for dinner, every question possible and they would answer to the best of their ability. Ben would explain to the Hanscoms what they had of the plan so far and they would worry until he switched the topic to his excitement at the prospect of getting to fix up the house. Donald Uris would look proudly at his son as he presented spreadsheets of financial information, and Beverly would lock her door and lay on her bed in pajamas, grinning at the ceiling.
But right now there were only the seven members of the Losers Club, chatting and planning and looking forward to their future.