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Richie and Eddie stood by the door, impatiently waiting for Maggie to stop fawning over them.
“Oh, you two look so cute!” Maggie squealed, tucking Richie’s scarf into his jacket.
“Mom, we’re going to be late!” Richie pulled away from his mother and walked towards the door.
“Richie, we still need to get some pictures of you both!”
Richie groaned, dragging himself back to where Eddie awkwardly stood.
“Say ‘Christmas’!” Maggie said, snapping pictures with her camera.
“Do we really have to do this, mom?” Richie complained. “I never look good in pictures!”
“Oh, honey, you’ll be fine. One day you’ll go through the photo albums and remember this day.”
Sighing, Richie finally smiled for the camera. Twenty years later, Maggie would see the picture and realize that he was subtly flipping off the camera.
“Alright, you’re meeting the rest of the carolers at the bus stop, right?” Maggie asked as she ran into the kitchen to set her camera down.
“Yep! Hey, are you okay with it if me and Eddie walk there by ourselves?” Richie asked. “It’s super close to here!”
“Sure, honey! Just be careful, the sidewalk might be iced over!” Maggie shouted from the kitchen. “Have fun!”
“C’mon, Eds, let’s go!” Richie grabbed Eddie’s arm and pulled him out of the house.
Richie and Eddie awkwardly walked to the bus stop where the rest of Eddie’s youth choir was waiting. They were weighed down by the insane amounts of winter gear their parents had insisted they wear. After a few minutes, they reached the bus stop.
“Hello, Eddie!” A tall, blonde woman wearing a flattering red coat walked over. “I see you’ve brought a friend to join us?”
“Hi, Ms. Birch! This is Richie, he’s one of my friends from school!”
“Nice to meet you! I’m really excited to get to sing with you all today, I used to sing backups in a lot of songs when I was in New York!” Richie eagerly shook Ms. Birch’s hand while Eddie smiled. He knew Richie had never lived anywhere outside of Derry.
Ms. Birch laughed awkwardly. “Nice to meet you, too, Richie! Let’s head to our first house!”
The group started walking, faithfully following in Ms. Birch’s footsteps. Richie and Eddie carefully fell behind.
“You really believe she’s going to think you’re from New York?” Eddie whispered.
Richie swung an arm over Eddie’s shoulders, causing him to almost fall over. “Eddie, my dear, you just have to believe in it yourself. Everyone else follows.”
“What the actual fuck does that mean, Richard?” Eddie shoved Richie’s arm and pulled his red hat over his eyes.
“Help! Help! I can’t see! I’ve been blinded!” Richie shrieked. Eddie quickly looked around for Ms. Birch but she was far ahead with the rest of the choir members.
“Get over yourself, loser!” Eddie called to Richie as he ran to catch up to the group.
“Eddie, don’t leave me!”
Richie eventually caught up to the rest of the carolers and tapped Eddie on the shoulder.
“What the-? Oh, hi, Richie.” He tried to sound annoyed, but his smile betrayed him.
“So, what songs should I know?” Richie asked, realizing that he would be expected to sing with the choir.
“I don’t know. Just pretend to sing and you’ll be fine. There’s, like, twenty other people here, nobody’s gonna notice if you’re not actually singing.” Eddie had no idea what songs the other carolers had memorized. This was likely due to him constantly skipping practice to sit at the church playground with Richie.
Ms. Birch rang the first doorbell and an elderly couple stepped out. The choir broke into a high pitched version of “O Holy Night” as the couple smiled. Once the choir finished, the couple clapped their hands politely.
“Merry Christmas!” The carolers bowed or curtsied before moving on to the next house.
“Richie! Richie!” Ms. Birch shouted.
“Yes, Ms. Birch?”
“I just wanted to say that you did a wonderful job singing back there! You know, you’re always welcome to join our choir if you want. We could use a few more members!”
“Really?” Richie tried to seem interested. “I’ll definitely ask my parents if I can join!”
“Oh, that’d be wonderful! We better catch up to the rest of the group!” Ms. Birch quickly walked to ring the next doorbell.
Richie fell onto Eddie, laughing.
“Get off me, you freak!” Eddie shrieked.
“She-” Richie inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. “She totally bought it!” He collapsed onto the sidewalk, giggling.
“You’re such a fucking weirdo, Richie.” Eddie smiled as a snowflake fell onto Richie’s nose.
“Hey,” Richie laughed, “Hey Eddie?”
Eddie sighed. “What?”
“You. . . You wanna go snow-me with me?” He giggled. “Like. . . Like home, but. . . snow” Richie cackled to himself.
“Come on, I’ll see if Ms. Birch is okay with us leaving.” Eddie helped Richie up and guided him to where the carolers were waiting for a family to answer the doorbell.
“Ms. Birch?” Eddie asked.
“Yes?”
“Is it ok if me and Richie head home? My mother doesn’t like it when I’m out in the snow like this.”
Ms. Birch looked suspiciously at them.
“It’s true, Ms. Birch!” Richie added. “When he was six he got a really bad cold from playing in a snowstorm! His mom would be super upset if he stayed out here.”
Eddie nodded enthusiastically.
“Oh, alright then. You two be careful, okay? Have a merry christmas!” Ms. Birch waved goodbye.
_______________________ Several Minutes Later:
The flurries picked up speed. Richie and Eddie relied on the streetlights to illuminate their way back to their respective homes. The streets were quiet and deserted.
Richie tried to catch snowflakes on his tongue. Eddie decided to join him, jumping into the air in an attempt to have one melt on his tongue. Finally, they approached Eddie’s house.
“Bye, Eds! See you soon!” Richie said. He suddenly stopped. “Fuck it.” He whispered, running back to Eddie.
“Ri-” Eddie was cut off by Richie’s lips clumsily colliding onto his. The two boys stood there, staring at each other.
“Um, merry christmas!” Richie finally waved and ran away, leaving Eddie standing alone in the snowstorm by his house.
“What the fuck?” Eddie shouted, his voice lost in the snow. “Merry christmas to you too, I guess!” Eddie smiled as he walked up to his front door.