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“Psst, Ed!” Richie whisper-yelled at his friend sitting two seats away from him in the almost empty classroom. The only sound to be heard was light little drops of rain hitting the windows
Eddie, pausing his writing on an English assignment to look up, asked, “What?”
“I’m bored, you wanna see who can make the better paper airplane?” He questioned, an eager smile forming on his face while his knee bounced up and down, bumping the under side of the desk here and there. Eddie raised his brows, then quickly furrowed them. “We’ve only been in here for three minutes! Plus, I don’t want to do anything with you. You already got us stuck here for the next two hours thanks to your dumb mouth.” He replied, going back to his writing. His taller friend’s smile fell to the floor in disappointment. Richie had to be doing something, and God knows that won’t be homework.
He adjusted his thick glasses and continued to say, “It’s not my fault that Ms. Minus-Tits yelled at you for no reason. What did you want me to say? Encourage her to beat you with a ruler next?”
“No, but you didn’t have to say ‘While you’re at it, Ms. Mina, can you yell at him for fucking breathing? Maybe yell at the ground for existing!’. I swear, sometimes you can be so dumb.” Eddie sighed, trying his hardest to focus on the paper. His friend shot back with, “Hey, losers gotta have each other’s backs! You already have Jabba The Hutt at home waiting to ground you for the next year and a half, why should you let this bitch do the same shit?”
He sort of had a point. The teacher was in the wrong for simply getting angry at Eddie over the fact that he forgot his pencil bag at home. And as sweet it was for his friend to defend him, now they were both forced to be in the classroom for two extra hours. “You still didn’t have to cuss at her,” Eddie reminded.
“I didn’t cuss at her. I cussed around her.” He said with certainty. It lifted the mood a little, Eddie even let out a stifled laugh.
“Aha! You laughed, that means we’re good. Now build an airplane out of that retarded English shit, it’s probably the only useful thing it can do.” Richie said triumphantly, beginning to fold a piece of his homework into a plane. Eddie tried to argue, “That doesn’t mean anything, and stop ruining your homework! No wonder your grades are garbage.”
He scoffed playfully, “No, my grades suck because the teachers don’t like me.”
“Yeah, definitely not because you’re always hyper in class.”
“I’m not hyper! The classes are just boring.”
“Boring in the first ten seconds?”
“Uh, DUH!”
He decided to let his friend think what he wants and create his little plane. But he had to do his homework first, so Richie would have to wait.
Richie peeked over at his friend, who had not yet made anything. So, he made an extra one out of an old test he got back today. Once finished, he flew the airplane right at Eddie’s head, which jerked him out of his concentration. “What the- why did you make two?”
“One for you, one for me. Now hurry up! I wanna win this already,” His friend replied. Eddie sighed, picking up the airplane that previously fell onto the reasonably dirty floor, and flew it once Richie counted to three. He flew his pretty nicely, while Richie ended up watching his knock something on the teacher’s desk over and break it. As expected. “Well, fuck.”
“If you don’t clean that we’ll be here for another three hours.” Eddie told him.
Richie then got up from his desk and walked over to the mess, examining it before using his shoe to push it under the teacher’s desk. “Can you see it?”
Eddie looked up, noticing a few shards of glass on the ground. “Nope, you did great, Rich.” He said sarcastically. His friend groaned, kneeling down to pick up the rest of the pieces with his bare hands for whatever very stupid reason. Surprisingly, he cut his hand open. He shouted, “Oh, that’s a doozy!”
Concerned, Eddie stood up and walked over to see what had happened. He cut his hand, and he cut it deep. “You aren’t supposed to pick up glass with your bare heads, you dumbass!” Eddie yelled.
Richie kept his hand shut with his other over the cut. He snapped back, “I know that now, Edward. Come on, help me suck the wound!”
“That’s not how you fix a cut! Here- let me see your hand.”
Reluctantly, he opened his hand for his friend to see. The blood had pooled in the palm, beginning to trickle down his hand. Both of them panicked at the sight. “Oh, God! I’m gonna fucking die! In the most embarrassing way, too!” Richie shrieked, voice cracking mid-sentence. Eddie held his hand gently and reassured, “I have stuff in my backpack! Just keep the cut covered, and you’re not dying!”
He came back with gauze, a big white patch, and some material to clean the wound it seemed. This made the dark-haired boy more anxious, and now seeing that there was blood on the floor he felt like he was going to have a full-blown mental breakdown. His hands were shaking until he felt Eddie’s hands hold his. “Calm down, it’s gonna be fine.” Eddie said, looking up at his worried eyes with a comforting expression. Richie would be lying if he said it didn’t help.
The shorter boy began cleaning the wound carefully, making sure there was no blood left to sit and dry on his skin. Then he placed the white patch over the cut and tightly wrapped his hand with gauze. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had been this gentle with him. It felt… nice. Eddie finished wrapping his hand, then locked his eyes with the taller boy. He saw a light pink blush spread across his cheeks, making Eddie smile.
“Thanks,” Richie said, feeling hazy. He must have looked so stupid right now, with hearts in his eyes and a flushed face. However, Eddie found it cute. It was an odd but welcomed change from the usual obnoxious and loud attitude he held high and proud most of the time.
“The teacher is gonna come back soon, let’s get back to our seats.” Eddie said, standing after cleaning the droplets of blood off the floor. He cleaned his hands with disinfectant wipes then offered Richie a hand. He gladly took it, jumping up and shaking away the dizzy feeling that swelled painfully. Eddie laughed, “You shake like a dog,”
“Comparing me to an animal now, are we? Well, you , sir, talk like a chipmunk.” He teased, poking his friend in the cheek with his finger. Eddie scoffed, slapping his hand away. “Shut up, Richie.”
In an Australian accent, Richie adjusted his glasses while staring in amazement at Eddie. “Feisty like a cat! Crikey, what an interesting buggah we have found here! Let’s see what it does next,”
“It’s gonna kick your ass if you keep doing that voice,” Eddie warned.
“Ah! It’s in attack position, boys! Rally up the troops!” Richie shouted, banging on the table.
An idea popped into Eddie’s head. “I’ll show you an attack position!” He yelled, tackling his friend to the ground, pinning him easily. As Richie laughed beneath him, he smacked and swatted at his head.
“Oye, shit! It’s got me! Help!” Richie cried, still using that ridiculous accent.
Unfortunately, their fun was cut short by the sound of the classroom door opening, only to reveal an angry teacher. She rushed over, pulling them apart and keeping a tight grip on the back of their shirts. “Do you two want weekend detention?!” She asked, cheeks red from frustration.
“Aw, come on, Ms. Mina. Why you gotta play a brotha like that?”
Eddie glared at Richie, speaking telepathically, “Beep beep, Richie.”
“Then it’s settled. Both of you have to come back tomorrow at exactly twelve o’clock AM and stay for exactly one hour. I’m going to have a talk with both of your parents.” She said, releasing her grip. “Now sit!”
…
Finally, after a long hour of doing pretty much nothing except avoiding eye contact with the teacher, they were allowed to leave. Eddie’s mother drove to pick him up, so when they walked off campus they saw her waiting with an angry glare. She stepped out of the car, slamming the door and stared right at Richie. “Eddie, why do you keep staying around this boy?”
Eddie stammered, “I- because-”
“I don’t wanna hear it! Now get in the car.” She ordered.
Eddie sighed, staring down at his feet as he stepped over to the car. He paused, looking over his shoulder to see what his mother was doing. Right up in Richie’s face, she said, “Stay away from my son, you sick boy. I’ve heard about what you are.”
Richie’s eyes went wide while his mouth hung open. Immediately, he darted his eyes over to Eddie, then back to Sonia. She spat, “You disgust me.”
He tilted his head down in shame, covering his face with one of his hands. He walked away without another word.
When both Eddie and his mother were in the car, she began to speak, “I don’t want you around him, Eddie.”
He hadn’t paid much attention, as he was looking back at his friend in concern. She spoke louder, “Eddie!”
Eddie jumped, looking over at his mother wearing an angry expression. She continued, “He’s sick. I don’t want him getting you sick, too.”
“What’s he sick with?” Eddie asked.
“We call those with his condition ‘Queers’. If you stay around him, he might try something with you.” She explained. Of course, this explanation made no sense. So, naturally, Eddie questioned, “What do you mean?”
“He’ll touch you, Eddie! He’s sick in the head, people like him should be locked up so boys like you never get harmed.”
Eddie obviously knew what the word “Queer” meant, he was sixteen , but he never understood why they were so hated. From what he knew, queers were only people that dated the same gender, right? What was so bad about that? Weren’t they just like everyone else? Also, he wondered how his mother of all people somehow knew if Richie liked boys or not. Had this just been another rumor that spread around? But… even if it was true or not, Eddie didn’t really care. It didn’t change anything, really.
…
It hurt. Hearing someone’s mother call you disgusting right in front of them. Someone you loved more than anything. His chest felt tight, his eyes burned, his head throbbed, every step he took made his legs feel weaker and weaker. Maybe he wouldn’t have felt so bad if what she said wasn’t true. But all of it was.
Voices rung in his head of people shouting slurs and insults, memories of being beaten flooded to his mind. He wasn’t scared, just ashamed. He wished Eddie had been next to him, he would have comforted him. He did just by being there. Richie hated thinking like that, those thoughts were labeled as “Dirty”, “Weak”, “Gross”. There are plenty of people in this hellish town that’d agree.
Eddie’s mom probably convinced him that I’m a perv by now , he thought to himself. Funny thing is, his feelings for Eddie kept Richie from hurting him. He couldn’t ever hurt him intentionally. If by accident he did, say by kicking him in the leg while walking, he would feel worse than he should. Even though he knew Eddie was tough. Hell, he’d rather take a bullet to the face than do anything Sonia thought he would do.
He realized something.
He’d take a bullet to the face for Eddie. What was so wrong about that? Nothing. He knew there was nothing wrong with that. Even if everyone else on the planet disagreed. So, he took a deep breath, then picked up his pace. He ran. Not away, but towards his fears. He felt a smile form over his face as he yelled, “Fuck you, Henry! Fuck you, Ms. K! Fuck everyone! I don’t care what the fuck you think!” He felt the cool breeze hit his face as he ran, kicking up the fallen leaves on the ground. After all of these excruciating years of sorrow and grief, the huge weight on his chest had been lifted. Why should he care what other people think of him? They can say whatever they want, do whatever they please, but they can’t stop people from being who they are. The only person’s opinion he cared about was his own. And Richie was just fine with that.
He found a clearing in the area he ran through, flopping down on the dewy grass to look up at a clear sky. Gloomy clouds began to fade, the sun shone brightly. A faint rainbow even formed on the side, causing butterflies to flutter in his chest. He laughed at that.
…
Eddie hated this house. He hated the things his mother did. He hated feeling controlled and trapped. The only time he didn’t feel this way was when he was around his friends. That was when he felt free.
Sonia had fallen asleep maybe half an hour ago, Eddie staying up later. This energy had mainly been fueled by anxiety, both for Richie and himself.
And speak of the devil...
“Open your window, stupid!”
Eddie jumped up from his bed and over to the window, opening it slightly. He asked, “What are you doing here? My mom will kill you if she sees you!”
“Come with me! I wanna show you something,” Richie said with a wide grin. Eddie wondered how his mood increased so significantly in only a few hours.
“I don’t know. My mom might wake up.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Richie scoffed, “Fuck your mom, she’s a bitch. Come on, you’ll only be gone for, like, ten minutes.”
Eddie sighed. Even though he was still worried about his mother waking up, he really had to get out of this house. So, he gathered a few things, put on a jacket, then followed Richie out of the window.
The curly-haired boy lead them through a dark forest, trees illuminated only by the small light from the moon. Past the forest was a broken down railroad car, still fairly new.
“Um… why did you take us here?” Eddie asked, a brow raised.
Richie turned to him, eyes sparkling. “Watch,” He said, before climbing the ladder to the top. Eddie didn’t much want to touch that thing, but he supposed it wasn’t that dirty. He’s touched worse, for sure. So, he went ahead and climbed the ladder, up until it broke off. For a moment he tried figuring out what to do, then he saw a hand offering to help. Eddie looked up at Richie with a grin, taking his hand to climb on top of the car. Once at the top, he felt exhilarated. The dark sapphire sky, painted with stars really had him in a daze. You couldn’t see this much from the ground. Or maybe that’s just how you felt when you weren’t this high up.
“Woah...” Eddie drawled.
“Hah, you think that’s it?” Richie asked in a chuckle. His friend gave him a perplexed look.
In the middle of the roof, there sat a soft fleece blanket with pillows and a couple comic books. Eddie smiled, walking over to sit down with Richie. The blanket was so fluffy, so comforting. Richie nudged him in the side with his elbow, “Cool, right? No one can fuck with you up here,”
Eddie laughed in agreement. “You set this all up without your parents knowing?”
“Eh, I told them I was staying at the big a-hole’s house.” He shrugged.
“Bill’s?” Eddie asked.
Richie chirped, “Yep!”
It relieved Eddie to be up here, just with his friend. No teachers, parents, even bullies. He flopped down on a pillow, staring at the constellations in the sky. He felt Richie lay on his stomach, grabbing a comic book to read.
“I thought you brought pillows for a reason,” Eddie said.
“Who needs a pillow when you have a bowl of spaghetti?”
He snorted, shoving his friend lightly in the arm. “Jackass.”
They both stayed in comfortable silence for a while, enjoying their own activities. But Eddie had still been curious, so he asked, “What’s up with you? You’re way more happy than usual.”
“Moi? Why, Eddie! You’re right! It’s impossible for me to feel happiness, I must be coming down with something.”
Eddie groaned, “You know what I meant, asshole.”
“Yeah, I just like pissing you off.” Richie said with a smirk.
“I’m well aware,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes.
“I just started feeling happy. Even though your beast of a mom reamed me earlier about whatever the fuck.” He finally answered, flipping through the pages of his comic book.
“Sorry, Richie. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Eddie apologized.
“Don’t worry about it, Eds.” Richie said, giving his friend a warm smile. After, he put the comic book down and laid his head down on Eddie’s chest. This wasn’t a rare occurrence, Eddie would do the same too. Of course, if Eddie signaled that he didn’t like it, Richie would move. But no such thing happened.
Again, they sat for a while. Then Eddie spoke up, “I should probably leave soon,”
“Okay. Leave whenever you want,” Richie mumbled into the fabric of Eddie’s jacket.
Just the freedom he had right now felt powerful. He could leave, stay, do whatever he wanted. He sat up, listening to Richie scoff once he had to move from his comfortable position. For a moment, they locked eyes. Faces only mere inches apart, Eddie admired all of his friend’s features. Richie did the same, already knowing just how many light freckles he had on each cheek. As if on instinct, Eddie leaned in closer. “Thanks for bringing me here,” He said.
“Yeah… no problem, Eds.” Richie chuckled breathlessly. This had to be a dream.
Before he knew it, his glasses were being taken off by small hands. His vision blurred, he tried blinking back his sight but it worked to no avail. Eddie giggled, “Why don’t you wear contacts?”
“Right, because I’d rather have something literally touching my fucking eyes. Gimme back my glasses, you loser!” Richie demanded, laughing while trying to pry his glasses out of Eddie’s hand. Eddie had ended up throwing his glasses over the ledge, smirking. “Whoops,”
Smirking back, Richie said, “Oho, you’re dead, little man!”
Embracing the challenge, Eddie fought back by pinning Richie like he had done earlier that same day, sitting comfortably between his legs. The boy beneath him looked dumbfounded. “For someone who always plays Street Fighter, you really suck at fighting.” Eddie said.
“Pile it on, pile it on. I’m not the one who deadlifts his backpack full of ten textbooks every day.”
While Eddie laughed, his friend caught him off-guard and flipped them to where he was now straddling Eddie’s waist. Now it had been Eddie’s turn to look up baffled. “What the- hey! How is this fair?”
“What do you mean?!” Richie laughed.
“You weigh a ton! How am I supposed to get out of this?”
“Figure it out, Eddie boy. I can stay here all night,” He drawled, arms crossed victoriously.
He scoffed, then had an idea. An admittedly stupid one. He pulled Richie’s shirt so their faces were close, then quickly placed his lips over his, eyes shut tight. Sonia constantly told him kissing could give him multiple diseases, but he hadn’t believed it after seeing people kiss all the time. And right now, he didn’t want to listen to her, because it was his turn to be in control. Oh, and it felt good. The kiss probably didn’t look like movie material, but those warm lips over his own were all too perfect. He heard Richie squeak, then begin to kiss back hesitantly.
Eddie imagined, Damn, he must practice. Letting go of the grip on Richie’s shirt, he brushed his hands over his friend’s hips then thighs. The boy on top of him moaned softly at the touch, breaking away for air.
They each waited to catch their breaths. Once Richie caught his, he asked, “The fuck was that for?”
“This,” Eddie said, before shoving Richie off while he was still dazed.
“You ass,”
Eddie sat up, brushing himself off. “Let’s find your stupid glasses before they get carried away by a bunch of ants.”