"you sure he's coming, richie?" beverly asks, a little impatient. richie nods, and bill shares a look with beverly that says "i doubt it". richie had been telling his friends about stanley for about a week now, and he had invited stanley to come smoke with bill and beverly.
"he's coming! he probably got stuck opening and closing a door at home, he's nitpicky about those things," richie says, and bill looks to beverly again. beverly flicks her lighter aimlessly.
"you're telling m-muh-me he can't close a door in the wruh-r-r-wrong way but he smokes weed?" bill leans back in the computer chair he's sitting in, and beverly opens the window. she leans over the desk in the room, and richie knows she's rolling her joint.
finally, there's a knock at the door, and richie bounces to his feet. richie opens the door excitedly, and on the other side is stanley, standing there rather awkwardly. bill looks to stanley, and his eyes get stuck on stanley's face. it's okay, though, stanley's used to it.
"sorry i'm late, bus took far too long," stanley says, pulling his jacket further over his shoulders. beverly finally turns around, and she too is surprised a little. richie though, is still beaming. stanley admires the fact that he isn't ashamed.
i would be.
"uh-i'm bill," bill finally speaks up, blinking himself out of his trance.
"and i'm beverly," and then beverly goes back to rolling her joint. stanley steps a little further inside.
"nice to meet you guys. i'm stanley, obviously." stanley says, and bill nods. beverly spins around with her masterpiece in between her fingertips. she presents it to the group like it's a piece of treasure, and richie laughs.
"amazing job bev, now roll another fuckin' one," richie jokes, beverly punching him lightly and handing the joint to bill, while stanley's hands shake, thinking about washing his hands.
no. i can do that in ten minutes. i don't have to do it now.
beverly blindly puts her hand (holding her lighter in it) out towards bill, and bill snatches it. richie and stanley watch as bill lights the joint while it's still resting in his hand. he rotates the joint smoothly, and takes a small drag, coughing much more than normal on the exhale.
"bill here still can't breathe when he breathes out. been smoking for a year now. blames it on the stutter," richie tells stanley, who snickers while bill flips off richie.
"stutter?" stanley questions, and bill leans forward to give the joint to richie. richie inhales and exhales easily, and stanley watches him, less in awe at the smoking than richie himself.
"guh-g-g-got hit by a car when i w-w-wuh-was young, fucked up the v-v-v-- chords." bill explains, leaning back into his seat. stanley nods empathetically, opting not to say an out loud "i'm sorry." stanley figures bill gets enough of those as it is, and the stutter isn't necessarily a bad thing. it's something that sets him apart.
stanley briefly wonders what sets himself apart, and he is taken back to a minute ago, when both bill and beverly were stuck staring directly at his face, eyes wide and jaws slightly agape.
richie, rather than handing stanley the blunt, turns to him. "do you want me to hold it for you, so it doesn't have to touch your hands?" richie asks, and bill lets out a little snicker. stanley laughs softly too, but not for the same reason.
it doesn't really matter, stanley wants to tell him, the joint's touching my lips anyway, but he likes the idea of richie holding his joint for him. "sure." richie lifts his fingers up near stanley's mouth, where he takes a hit gently, and then breathes out a puff. stanley hates to admit this, but the non-stop buzz in his ears has already dimmed. it's a combination of the weed and richie, he thinks.
"well, since that was a such a sexually charged moment, bill and i will share the other joint, then!" beverly says, richie and stanley not aware that she had turned around. bill laughs at beverly's comment and watches as beverly takes a drag off of her newly rolled joint. stanley takes another hit and rolls his eyes softly, richie smiling softly at stanley.
"god, i w-wuh-wish eddie smoked weed." bill complains, beverly and richie laughing mockingly.
"we get it! you want eddie around all the time!" beverly takes her second hit and holds it above bill's head, though he easily takes it from her, being substantially taller. he hits her playfully, and she scoffs. stanley vaguely recognizes the name eddie as the 'germaphobe' richie had talked about. bill's about to respond when the door opens,
"hey guys. just letting you know, open that window more! it reeks from out here!" mike had opened the door, and he peeks his head inside as he speaks. he looks to bill and beverly, who are sitting so close together, and clicks his tongue once quietly while sighing.
"oh shit!" beverly scrambles to the window sill, opening it all the way. mike turns his head to richie and stanley, raising an eyebrow. he takes a moment.
"are you stanley?" mike asks, the first one of richie's friends to not get visibly fixated on stanley's appearance. stanley nods, and richie grins. "cool, i'm mike."
"i came here to ask where eddie is, but you guys clearly have no clue, so i will talk to you guys later." mike bids them adieu, but bill raises his hand (as if to ask a question to a teacher) before mike shuts the door.
"t-tuh-tell eddie i say hi, when you find him." bill says, and mike's gaze lingers on bill for a moment in confusion, and then clarity, and then neutrality, and he shuts the door.
stanley is staring blatantly at richie, who looks back at stanley, wiggling his eyebrows.
"rich," stanley whispered the nickname, feeling the need to laugh, "i have ocd, that's why i'm like this," he confesses. richie nods, lifting both his arms up as if to stretch. it seems out of the blue for stanley to say stuff like this, and it is, but he feels richie should know. he doesn't feel high yet. it hasn't been long enough.
"i figured," richie says, and stanley scoffs as he puts his head against the wall.
"cool." stanley mutters, a trace of a smile on his lips.
stanley has left the room now, he went home around 20 minutes ago, and richie is back from walking him to the bus stop. richie had come back to the dorm simply because he did not trust himself to walk up the stairs. how stanley was sober enough to step onto a bus, richie may never know.
"can we talk ab-buh-bout it?" bill asks, richie completely oblivious. beverly seems to know what bill is talking about, and richie turns to her for clarification.
"the fact that stanley's got like, more acne than the whole world put together!" beverly exclaims, and richie scoffs at her. bill raises his eyebrows, asking richie for a reply.
"it's not all acne, idiot. acne isn't even a bad thing, but he picks at his face, i think he's got a disorder of some kind or something. i haven't asked. not my business," richie replies, beverly shaking her head in awe.
"no-i'm not insulting him, but he was literally bleeding out of some of them while we were speaking, richie. that looks so goddamn painful," beverly says. richie sits on a chair in the room and clicks his tongue. bill nods, in agreement with beverly.
"i'm sure it is! but it's still not my business, bevvie, i feel a little uncomfortable asking him about it, y'know?" richie says, lying down on the bed bill was sitting on. bill playfully smacks richie on the stomach, "oof!"
"yeah, yeah, it was just kind of surprising. that's all. man," beverly comments, bill yawning and lying back on richie's legs. richie swats at bill's head, but it doesn't do much.
"he is cute, though," richie mutters.
