Chapter 8

Thursday, 10th September, 15:12pm There they were, sitting silently in the tiny waiting room, three seats away from each other, on their way to have a talk with the principal, who was busy sorting out yet another fight between some 8th graders. Apparently accidental explosions didn't sit well with your chemistry teacher no matter how unintended they were. After the unfortunate...incident, no one had said a word, every pair of eyes had been on the two boys, the shorter so furious that you could practically see the smoke billowing out of his ears, and the taller one in a state of shock, his eyes wide and staring at the mess on their desk. 

However the science teacher did not hesitate to break the silence, first ushering everyone out of the room, and dragging the two boys out on to the foyer. Eddie had resolved to ignoring Richie after Mr. Clarke had spent 6 minutes yelling at them, about the how dangerously and recklessly they had behaved, ending his lecture by sending them both to the principal's office, as if it wasn't completely Richie's fault, after all he had gotten them Potassium instead of Lithium, and he was the one who said that he knew that he had the right metal. 

So, that's how Eddie ended up sitting on one of those old chair's, lined with fabric but with the stuffing falling out and the threads that once held it together, now undone, mindlessly staring at the dry potted plant on the desk in front of him, intent on not acknowledging Richie's existence. He partially blamed himself too, he should have known Richie had the IQ of a walnut and couldn't be trusted with something as important as finding the right bottle of the metal sample in a school chemistry lab, it really was a very difficult task. 

Very difficult. 

He breathed deeply through his nose as his eyes flicked over to the clock hanging just above the large leather desk chair, they had only been there for 7 minutes even though it felt like much longer. They didn't have anything to say to each other, not that Eddie wanted to say anything to Richie, he had noticed the few apologetic looks that had been cast his way but chose to ignore them, his mood couldn't be raised by Richie's puppy dog eyes, the boy would actually have to say something if he wanted Eddie to say anything back. ...

It was more of a mix of an angry and uncomfortable silence that fell on the two boys, Richie didn't have to think twice, he already knew that Eddie was more than a little annoyed this time. He blew some hair out of his face and glanced over to his left to see the small boy's downcast looks as he played with the straps on his fanny pack, eyes fixed on the floor. 

The guilt stirred in him, he felt really bad, it was mostly his fault that they had both ended up in the principal's office, and now Eddie was about to get a punishment that he didn't really deserve. Richie wasn't the best at apologies, and so he awkwardly looked around the room, not knowing what to do with himself and trying to put it off. He knew his was in the wrong though, but what could he say?

I'm sorry that I accidentally on purpose got the wrong bottle metal that blew up the test tube because I smashed the first one? That wasn't good enough, Eddie had explicitly warned him about making sure he had the right bottle, and what had he done? Gone and fucked up, that's what. He thought of what he could say to apologise, I'm really sorry Eddie, I honestly didn't mean to get the wrong bottle... no no, I'm really sorry Eddie, I read the bottle wrong, and I didn't think the metals would be that different? No..... I'm really sorry Eddie, I'll listen better next time, yes...that's good. Richie tapped his foot softly, gripping the edges of his chair and feeling a bit nervous, he took a deep breath before quietly saying,

"Cheer up Eds it's not like the world's ending,"

Well.

That wasn't really what he wanted to say, and sometimes Richie really wished his mouth would listen to his mind.

Eddie stared at Richie in disbelief,"Really? That's all you have to say?" 

"Uh well..."

Scoffing and rolling his eyes Eddie murmured,"I hate you"

"That's not what your mom said las- Ium.... " Richie cleared his throat, cutting his sentence short as theother boy glared at him, "I uh mean....I'm um....I'm sorry,"

Eddie didn't say anything but turned away fromRichie and carried on staring at the floor, twirling his fingers around a loosethread in the chair, trying to think of anything but his mother and the phonecall she was about to get, what she'd do to him when she found out he'd beenmisbehaving in the chemistry lab with dangerous chemicals. Eddie groaned at thethought, she'd probably tell him that he had another illness, that he was proneto misbehaving and should be treated immediately. 

He'd be rushed to the nearestdoctor, and his mother would wonder whether to ship him off to a juveniledelinquent boarding school somewhere halfway across the state. He ruled thatout though, after remembering how she'd never let her precious little eddiebear out of her sight. Sighing, he leaned back against the chair, head touchingthe wall and eyes closed, hoping that this was a dream and that he may or maynot be on the verge of suspension, maybe even expulsion.

  Richie sighed too, crossing his arms and alsoturning away to look out of the window on his right, well he couldn't haveexpected to be forgiven after that wonderful apology, not forgetting the partwhere almost threw in a mom joke, because that was the sort of thing that woulddefinitely win Eddie over. 

The door suddenly opened, its knob slamming againstthe wall and both boys jerked, startled by the noise, and then watched as theprincipal stormed in, shoving a file onto his desk and seating himself on thechair. There was visible surprise on his face when he realized who was sittingin front of him, and his brows furrowed in confusion, he looked as though hewas trying to figure out exactly how Eddie Kaspbrak fit into the situation, howhe had been pulled into the typical antics of Richie Tozier.

"Mr. Kaspbrak?"

Eddie cleared his throat slightly, sitting upstraighter in his chair, "Yes sir?"

The principal blinked, once again, eyes flickingbetween Richie and Eddie, still not entirely sure whether Eddie should even bein the office, "Would you care to tell me what exactly you and Mr. Tozierdid and how you were involved?"

The man waited for an answer, watching Eddiebite his lower lip and play with his fingers, "Well...we uh... weaccidentally put the wrong metal in-"

"Don't listen to him sir," Richie cutin, Eddie giving him a look that said 'What do you think you're doing?',

"It was actually just me that put the wrongmetal in the test tube, which is why it exploded, it wasn't Eddie, he didn'tknow, he just wanted to get the experiment done. Sir it wasn't intentional, Iread the label wrong, but don't blame Eddie,"

The principal took some time to consider this,looking from Richie's guilty face to Eddie's shocked one, he had a feelingRichie was telling the truth, because only an idiot would get themselves introuble instead of someone else, "Okay Mr. Tozier I believe you, as longas it was an accident,"

"Oh it was," Richie interrupted again,and earned himself a look from the man behind the desk, who then continued,"But, due to the severity of the situation, I'm afraid I will still haveto give you both detentions,"

"Hear me out first," He said afterseeing the boys' disgruntled looks, "Mr. Kaspbrak, you will only stay foran hour after school tomorrow, and Mr. Tozier, you will stay at lunch and afterschool for an hour as well, and if neither of you show up, we'll just have tocarry on the next day, with an extra hour, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," they both said in unison,surprised they had gotten off with such a light punishment. 

"Good, now go back to your classes,actually..." he paused, turning his head to read the clock behind himwhich read 15:20, "Classes end in 5 minutes anyway, you can get your bagsand go home, or whatever you kids do after school. And I don't want to see youtwo making anymore trouble," he called, watching them both exit the roomquickly, "Hang on, Mr. Tozier, come back here,"

"Yes sir?" Richie said, poking hishead back into the room

"I noticed you attended 2 more periods thanyou usually do on Monday's,"

Seeing Richie's confused face he added on,"I've also noticed, that you coincidentally seem to share that class with Mr Kaspbrak, as you do with today's chemistry lesson, which may I add, you haven't been attending very often," the principal paused, "Stick around with that kid, looks like he's doing something good foryou." 

This didn't ease Richie's confusion whatsoever, but he thanked theprincipal anyway, closing the door behind him and walking down the corridor,where a small figure was waiting for him. They stood in silence for a fewseconds before Eddie spoke up, "I'm sorry,"

"What? Why are you saying sorry?" 

"I know you were just trying to help,and..." Eddie looked at the floor before looking back up at Richie,"It was really nice of you . .. you know, what you did back there," 

Richie smiled, "One, I couldn't really begetting you in trouble for something you didn't even do, and two, didn't youhate me?"

"Well maybe I still do," Eddiemumbled, pushing Richie away as the taller one ruffled his hair playfully. 

"Well you can tell me just how much youhate me in tomorrow's detention,"

"Don't remind me," Eddie groaned,pushing open the double doors just as the bell rang, and the two boys walkedquickly back to the chemistry lab so that they could get their bags, and leaveas fast as possible. They rushed back down the narrow staircase until they wereat the entrance of the school, where lots of kids, who had managed to get outof class, were leaving too. 

"BYE EDUARDO!" Richie called, backpackslung over one shoulder, and running off to some red-haired girl that stood alittle way down the lane. 

Eddie waved back, before checking his wristwatch onemore time, and heading off in the opposite direction back home, dreading thedetention tomorrow, and exactly how he'd be able to tell his mother.

A/N

Helloooo a shorter chapter today that I haven't read through but I still hope you guys liked it! I love all your comments so like go crazy, I love knowing what you think so yeah :))

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Also guess what? NOW WE HAVE 9 READERS ok that doesn't seem like a lot but I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT READS THROUGH MY STORIES SO THANK YOU ALL OML 

Anywayssss early update here because I might be off wattpad for a little while because I'm a bit busy

I've just finished writing chapter 15 and 16 and I'm kinda excited for y'all to read that bit because ig its kinda more rElAtIonShiPy? No that's a lie, this book is kinda turning into a slowburn, so writing that part was a lot of fun 

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