(Richie)Chapter 1- Gold Specks

"Isn't this illegal?!" Eddie exclaims, grimacing at the rusted hubcaps at his feet. He nudges one with his worn sneakers, the shoelaces double knotted as always.

"Relax Eds," I tell him, turning and starting to rummage through the pile of car scrapes.

"What do you need so badly that you made me come to this shit hole at seven in the morning-And stop calling me Eds," Eddie complains.

"I told you, I just need a radio for this thing. Afterward, it's gonna be killer!" I say, excitedly, finding a small square piece with small square buttons and wires sticking out from the back. I turn to Eddie, holding up my trophy.

"See?'' I say, "I told you I could put this thing together without spending a million dollars."

Eddie rolls his eyes, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets," You know I'm never gonna get in that driving tetanus infection!"

I smile at his scrunched up nose, my heart skipping a beat. I shake it off, making myself focus on the radio instead of Eddie. I slip my backpack off, letting it fall to the ground. I crouch down, setting the radio down. I unzip my bag and slid the radio inside, glad I didn't bring my history textbook home last night. 

"So your bag is useful for something other than carrying the homework you never do," Eddie remarks.

I sling my now heavy bag over my shoulder and adjust it, getting ready to leave.

"Oh, shut it, won't you Eds?!" I sneer.

"Just saying, you could at least put in some effort, you know." Eddie sighs.

"That's not what your mom said to me last night." I chuckle at him.

Eddie gags at me, not finding my joke funny. I look at him for a second, observing his small red nose, cold in the early fall air. His hairs combed back neatly as usual, unlike my messy curls falling around my face. His eyes are tired looking, which is understandable considering I woke him up around six just to make him come down to the junkyard. He wears blue jeans and a purple t-shirt that makes the specks of gold in his eyes flare up among the brown. Over his t-shirt, Eddie wears a green jacket that I lent him when forcing him out the door.

"Can we just go, please? Were gonna be late to class, Rich." Eddie huffs, starting to walk back to the fence that we climbed over to get inside the junkyard.

Eddie starts to climb up the fence awkwardly, being careful at where he places his hands and feet. I start climbing up after him, keeping behind him, and checking to make sure Old Junkyard Chuck isn't sicking his dogs on us. Eddie stops all of a sudden, and I brush my arm against his foot, freezing up. I look up at him, confused.

"The Old Bower's Gang," Eddie mutters down to me.

I freeze too and then drop down to the ground. I look back up at Eddie who's still halfway up the fence. He looks down at me, terrified.

"Richie," He whispers, "help me!"

"What?!" I exclaim.

"I-I-I um-"

"Are you scared to jump?!"

"NO!"

"Well then jump, pussy!"

Eddie jumps down, falling unto me. We collapse to the ground, chests pressed against each other, legs tangled up. Eddie and I lock eyes, and my stomach flips as he adjusts my crooked glasses, a worried smile on his face.

"Look! It's the fairies!" Gordon shouts at us.

Eddie scrambles up, helping me up, and we start sprinting away to the other side of the junkyard past the office. I spot Chuck in the doorway, as he watches us run past. I keep running, getting ahead of Eddie. We reach the fence, out of breath. I start to climb up and glance back at Eddie to find him still standing on the ground, gasping for air, and frantically going through his bag. I jump down, starting to panic.

"I'm having a fucking asthma attack!" Eddie gasps, riffling through his folders for his inhaler. 

I remember something, and grab Eddie by the jacket, opening it up and going through the pockets. I pull out an inhaler and hand it to him. He shakes it and takes a deep breath of the spray. He quickly puts it back in his pocket and slings his still open bag over his shoulder. 

We both jump as a dog bark echos through the junkyard. I look across the lot to see Bower's old gang on their way over along with Chuck's dog trotting out of the office. I shove Eddie into the fence and we start climbing over. I sling myself over, falling to my knees but quickly recovering. Eddie climbs halfway down the other side just as the dog jumps at the fence, snapping its jaw at Eddie's fingers. Eddie let's go and falls to the ground. 

I grab him by the backpack and start running towards the tall grass. I stop, tripping over my own bike. I pick it up and jog out to the empty street. Eddie grabs his and follows. We start peddling down the street, zooming away, and feeling the wind numb our faces. I glance back to see Chuck now dealing with the dog and the Bower's gang. I turn back to Eddie and grin. He grins back. I wish I could save this moment. A frozen memory, never changing. Where it's just him and me, smiling at our poor decisions. But then my heart sinks as the words come up from the back of my stupid brain: He'll never love you back, Richie. 

My smile quickly becomes fake, and I turn my head forwards. I can't wait to leave this shit hole, leave Bower's gang, leave home, and leave these feelings too. But I can't imagine life at all without him. Without Eddie Spaghetti.

****

The first bell rings as we step inside, still panting from the bike ride. 

"I'll see you at lunch, Trashmouth," Eddie tells me, giving me a weak wave. I watch him walk down the hall, his still open bag flopping around with his stride. 

I can feel the all too usual pang of sadness hit me. I hate him. I hate myself. I don't even know what the fuck this shit is. But I hate it. I hate what I feel. But I just have to shove it down for now.

I start walking in the opposite direction, making my way to Home Economics. It's the best way to start the day in hell. I get to sit with Bev, make food, and mess around. Mrs.Sluth doesn't care, as long as we don't poison each other she gives us A's. 

I walk into the room and plop down in the back next to Bev who puts down her book. Her hair's grown down to her shoulders, since the summer we met. She has it pulled pack in a messy ponytail, showing off her pale freckled face. She wears a pair of overalls and a blue sweater underneath. She looks me up and down, clicking her old leather boots together under the table.

"You look like shit." She says, a concerned look on her face.

"Eds and I stopped by the junkyard this morning. Good news; I got my radio. Bad news; We got chased out by Bower's gang and Chuck's dog." I explain.

"Ooohhh," Bev nods, "So, am I coming over to help you finish it?" Bev asks.

"Yeah, can you bring some extra tools?" I question.

"Sure- Hey is Eddie coming?" Bev asks.

"Uh, I don't know. Why?" 

"I was just wondering," Bev says, sounding disappointed. 

"Did you want him to come over?" I question, suspicious of her intentions.

"Well...."

"Beverly Elizabeth{I just made her a middle name since she doesn't have one} Marsh!"

"You need to tell him, Rich!" Bev exclaims.

"Ssshh!" I shush her, scared someone might hear. I can already see the fingers being pointed, the names; Fairy! Fag! Homo!

"Sorry, just-well, Richie you just can't ignore your feelings." She tells me.

"I can and I will, it's no use. He-he doesn't feel that way. And it's not worth risking our friendship. And if anyone found out I'm a dead man! They'd surely try to cleanse me of my sin and then slit my throat!" I groan, sinking down in my chair. 

The second bell rings, the classroom now full. I sigh, rubbing my tired eyes. Then the thought of Eddie still wearing my jacket pops up and I hold back a smile. It'll smell like his stupid Gazebos when I get it back. And he'll probably forget his hand sanitizer in the pockets again. 

****

I sit down at the table next to Bill who sits across from Mike. Stan, Ben, and Eddie walk up to the table and sit down. We start eating, talking about what we're doing after school. Ben's going to the gym, Mike's working, Stan and Bill are going to the park(bird watching ew), and Eddie has nothing as usual. 

"Do you wanna come over and help me and Bev with my radio?" I ask.

"I guess. I don't have to actually help do I?" Eddie asks, cringing at the thought.

"Aw, is Eddie Spaghetti scared to get a little grease on his fingers?" I tease, pinching his cheek.

He shoves my arm away, "Beep beep, Richie." Eddie groans. 

I chuckle at him, turning to Bill and Stan's conversation. 

"Well, the birds are gonna be out more in the morning," Stan tells Bill.

"But at five?" Bill complains.

"If you don't wanna come just say so, Bill." Stan huffs, poking at his green beans.

"No, I want to come. I'll see you at five tomorrow morning." Bill tells him, smiling.

Stan looks up and smiles as he meets Bill's eyes. The two had grown closer over the years since IT. It only makes sense, Eds and I got closer and so Bill had to find a new best friend. Stan and him work together well though. But Bev and I think there's something more going on than friendship. But Bev loves to look for impossible romance, all except Ben's. Even after three whole years, Bev still has no idea that Ben is literally in love with her. Mike's the lucky one; not having to deal with most of this shit. 

Bev walks over, not carrying a tray. She comes up behind me and ruffles my hair.

"Hey, guys!" She greets the others.

A chorus of hi's chime up from each of us. 

"Rich, you wanna go out back and smoke one?" Bev asks, patting my shoulder. I look down at my food, suddenly not as appetizing as the taste of a cigarette. I grab my ham sandwich and stand up. I follow Bev out of the lunchroom and out the back doors, scarfing down my sandwich. She hands me a cigarette as my face hits the cool fall air. She sticks one in her mouth and takes out her lighter. She lights up her cigarette and then mine. I inhale the smoke, feeling my shoulders relax. Bev takes a drag and then puffs out the smoke in rings. She then plays with her lighter, her eyes fixated on the flame.

"Does it ever bother you, with Stan and Bill?" I ask.

She turns to me, a confused look on her face," What do you mean?" She asks.

"Well, it's kinda obvious their friendships close," I say, taking another breath of smoke, "I mean, Bill and you did date."

"Rich, that was forever ago, and a summer fling at most. We went out for a few months. We're better as friends, a lot of us are," She says, slyly.

"Bev, I already told you. I'm not going to risk it. I'll get over it soon enough." I tell her.

"That's what you said last year...and the year before that...and that one summer." Bev hums, inhaling her cigarette. 

"You know what? Beep beep, Beverly!" I exclaim.

She giggles at me, stomping her boots around. She pockets her lighter and huffs out the smoke.

"That's not how it works, Rich." She tells me.

It falls silent as her giggles die down.

"Hey," I say," how's your grandma doing?" I ask.

"Fine I guess, I mean some mornings she can't remember my name but the doctors said that she'll have a few more years. Is it bad that I hope she at least makes it to my eighteenth birthday?" Bev stares at the ground, a sad look on her face. 

"Bev," I say softly. She looks up at me, and I can see the tears welling in her eyes," If you ever need a place or just someone to look after you for once, let me know. My folks would love to have you. My mom wishes I was a girl all the time so maybe she'd like having another daugh-"

Bev throws her cigarette on the ground and hugs me tightly, burying her face in my chest. I let my cigarette fall too, scared I might burn her. I wrap my arms around her, feeling her warmth in the fall weather. And I'm glad. Glad that I have Beverly, who's like a sister to me. And the rest of the Losers who I know have my back no matter what.

***

"So I said; Charlie, look, I got a wife and two kids at home. So no, I can't take walk-ins at six o'clock when I'm locking up! That's why you call Darla to make an appointment! I swear, people in this town just don't understand sometimes." My dad complains, taking a bite of chicken.

"You're telling me, I ran into Stacey at the supermarket today and she couldn't stop talking about how her son's baseball game went when I clearly told her I needed to leave to go home and make dinner." Mom chimes in.

I look across the table to Steph and we exchange bored glances. We've both come to the agreement that Mom and Dad's stories are dry and make us want to blow our brains out. 

I look at her a little longer, thinking about how she'd react if Bev was to ever move in. Steph doesn't like Beverly, mostly because of all the rumors. Steph's in the popular crowd nowadays, and she's very careful about her reputation. She takes an hour each morning to get ready, making sure her hair is as big as it can be and her eye shadow reaches her thin eyebrows. It's not that big of a deal except for when I need to pee. 

To be honest I kinda miss when my sister and I were younger. She used to play dolls with me, going along with my crazy stories that usually ended in explosions and pool parties. But ever since she got into middle school she stopped hanging out with me. And high school got worse. She doesn't even speak to me at school. I'm a freshman Loser, and she's a grown-up Junior with a football boyfriend. 

"So, kids, how was your day?" Mom asks.

"Fine. I got a B on my math test." Steph replies.

"Good for you, Steph," Dad tells her, a smile on his face.

"What about you Richie?" My mom asks.

"Yeah, mine was fine. Uh, we watched a frog dissection in biology." I tell them.

"I'm sure Eddie loved that," Mom says sarcastically.

"Yeah," I chuckle, remembering his pale face and his scrunched up nose," He had to leave the room in the middle of it because of the smell."

"Why do you hang out with that kid?" Steph asks, almost sneering. I want to yank her hair out.

"Because he's cool, Steph. And not all stuck up like your stupid friends." I tell her.

"Hey, you two be nice. It's good to have friends, no matter what status! And Eddies a nice boy. Even if his mother is a bit controlling." Dad tells us.

"Pft, A little? She tries to get the pharmacist to hand over every medication possible. Greta even told me that all of his pills are placebos." Steph reveals, like it's some big secret.

"It's not his fault his mom's a nut case!" I yell at her.

"That's enough! Stop talking so poorly of people you two!" Mom shouts, banging her hands on the table.

We fall silent, staring down at our plates. Thoughts swirl in my head. And my heart throbs in my chest. I need to leave before I explode. I stand up and march out of the room.

"Richie!" My dad calls behind me. 

I sprint upstairs and slam my door shut behind me. I can't deal with this bullshit! With everyone constantly telling me what I need to fix about my life. I grab my walkman and throw on my headphones. I click play and collapse on my bed. The Time of My Life starts to play and I relax at the sound of Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes' voices.

https://youtu.be/4BQLE_RrTSU

I start to drift off to sleep, forgetting about everything. My parents, my sister, Beverly's grandmother, homework, Bower's old gang, and school. I forget about everything but Eddie.

His worn sneakers, double knotted. His stupid fanny pack that rattles his pills when he walks. His neatly combed back hair, never seeming out of place. I remember when he first broke his arm. Greta had written LOSER in sharpie. He held back tears as he showed me it, trying to shake it off by saying how stupid she was. I got out my red marker and scribbled the V down over the S. I then pinched his cheek and told him it now looked like his girlfriend had written on his cast. He smiled at me, and that's when it first hit me. How I didn't want to be his friend. I wanted to be his girlfriend. 

________________________________________________________________________________Hey there! This is just a small author's note I plan on having at the end of each chapter. They'll be short and quick, don't worry. I'll basically just talk about when I plan to update and maybe add some fanart or edits that I enjoy. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and there will be more where that came from soon. Bye!