"You're what?"
Richie didn't know what to say next. He was moving, plain and simple. Today wasn't that day, but from the broken look on Eddie's face, it sure felt like it.
"Ah, I'm um, moving," he tried again. Eddie had been smiling moments before and Richie would've pulled out his heart strings to see it again. "Are you moving anywhere close? Like Bangor or Canada? I can convince my mom to let me drive up there next summer or something if i say i'm visiting or doing a project," Eddie rambled. They both knew that Richie wasn't going to be anywhere close to Derry and that Eddies mom would never let her precious baby boy drive to fucking Canada by himself. Richie shuffled around in the beanbag chair and swallowed thickly. "I'm moving to San Francisco," he mumbled. Eddie let out a quiet "oh" and stared at the ground.
Honestly, Richie hadn't meant to mess up the good mood. Eddie had settled onto Richies bed like he usually did, reached for one of Richies comics, and asked if the window could be closed. Richie had just forgotten to put away the big box labeled MOVING in big black sharpie, that's all. He was going to tell him, honest. He just wasn't going to do it any time soon. It seemed like a cowardly move, but Ben hadn't even said anything until his mom was already out of the neighborhood.
"Are you sure you're moving? This isn't one of your stupid skits or anything right?" Eddie asked. God, Richie wanted to say yes. He wanted to burst out in laughter as he pointed at Eddie and told him how dumb he looked, but he didn't. He was moving and he couldn't bring himself to say it. He couldn't bring himself to lie to the one person who still bothered to come around and love him unconditionally. "Sorry to break it to you Eds, but this isn't a joke. We're moving in August," Richie admitted.
Richie had begged his parents to reconsider, but they had shut him down. He used the excuse that no one wanted to be the new kid sophomore year, they promised him that it wouldn't be as bad as he thought. He used his friends, but his parents assured him he could make new ones. He even used Eddie being alone and therefore he would be all lonely with only Bev and Mike there to fill in the missing spots, they told him to go upstairs and finish packing his winter clothes up before they sold them. Richie had threatened to stay behind and live under the bridge in the outskirts of town, his parents reminded him that the front door was always open if he wanted to leave. He'd even threatened to jump out of the car and run back to Derry the second they pulled off, but his dad told him he would leave the backseats car doors unlocked just for him. Richie came to the realization that his parents were moving, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"I gotta go," Eddie mumbled. Richie heard Eddie sniff as he set down the comic and slid off of Richies bed. Richie wanted to remind Eddie that it wasn't even six o' clock yet, but he let it slide as he watched his closest friend leave him behind in the ever growing space in his room.
