【Ｍｅｓｓａｇｅｓ ＡＵ】- Reddie

2 - The new kid

warning: f slur  (p.s I'm very fruity) 

Richie sat down in English class, scrolling through Instagram when the teacher silenced the class for an announcement. Richie took no notice until he saw a short boy walk through the door and stand beside the teacher. 
Richie was mesmerised, he looked directly at the boy. His greyish blue eyes caught the sunlight coming in from the window, his perfect rose lips were puckered and he had the cutest freckles that Richie wished he had time to count. 
His thoughts were interrupted by the teacher saying his name, 
"go sit by Mr Tozier" 

Richie scooted over so Eddie could sit down. He smiled at the small boy and held out his hand, "my names Richie, Richie Tozier. you are?" 

Eddie looked at the tall boy nervously, he had big glasses covering most of his face and a messy mop of dark hair, there were bags under his eyes and he could smell cigarettes and alcohol all over him. His mama told him about people like Richie, their bad people never to be spoken to. 
So Eddie ignored Richie's hand and turned to face the front of the class and listened as the teacher started the lesson.  

Richie's smile dropped, why was the boy ignoring him? did he do something wrong? Was it his breath? Questions raced around his head. Richie didn't know what it was about the boy he was so interested in but he was determined to become friends with. 
For the rest of that lesson, Richie wouldn't stop staring at Eddie. He had managed to count every single visible freckle on his face and had picked up the way he chews his bottom lip whilst concentrating.  

Richie snapped out of his thoughts as the bell rang and all the students ran out of the classroom, including the new kid. 
Richie went to the lunch hall where Stan, Bill and Bev were waiting. 

"Sup trash mouth" Bev greeted him as Richie sat down on the opposite end, "How was class?" 

"We had this new kid join our class, he's really small and has greyish blue eyes, and freckles all over his face. but when I introduced myself he ignored me!"  

Bev giggled as a smirk grew on Stanley's face, "Sounds like you got a crush, Richie" 

A blush spread across Richie's face, "What?! No! I like girls Stan..." 

Stan rolled his eyes, "Sure Rich". 

The group changed the subject and started chatting about their summer holidays, Bev moved in with her Auntie and she was taught how to sew. Whilst Stan and Bill had gone on like a thousand dates. 

Richie however had stayed inside most summer, his mum and dad always fought and came back from work drunk. He smoked to numb his pain but it never worked, before the losers formed Richie was best friends with the school bully, Henry Bowers. But after he had saved Beverly from being murdered by Henry and his goons Richie switched sides. Now Henry hates all the losers, for taking away one of their best members. 

"Look, that's the new kid!" Richie jumped up, pointing to the short boy in the red shorts. 
Richie's face had lit up and the group could tell. 

"We should let him sit with us," Bev said, as she walked over to where the boy was. 

"Hey kid" 

Eddie, looked up from his lunch tray, greeted by a girl saying hello.  

"Oh hi" Eddie smiled shyly, the girl seemed nice 

"Wanna sit with us, our tables over there. the one with the boy with the glasses and the two sitting on each other's laps" She chuckled, pointing over to the losers table. 

Eddie followed where she was pointing to and saw Richie from English class, he blushed seeing the tall boy waving at him from the table. Eddie wanted to sit with them, but remembered what his mama had said, Richie was a bad person. Doing drugs is wrong, not to mention he's heard Richie being called a faggot. His mum says gay people are sins and should be killed. 

"Uhm, that's ok- I gotta go now!" Eddie shuffled off to another free table. 

Bev saw Eddie look wearily at Richie and she jogged back to the groups' table and raised her voice, "What did you do to the poor kid Richie!?" 

Richie was confused, "I didn't do anything, all I did was introduce myself" 

Bev sighed, "Well he seems to be scared of you, probably another one of Bowers rumours" 

Richie's face dropped, he knew how many rumours bowers made of him. That his sister committed suicide because of him. That he takes cocaine and weed, that he's a fag. 
None of it was true but people believed Henry and nearly everyone about from the losers hated Richie.  

"Come on Rich, it's PE next so we can skip" Bev suggested, putting her plate away. 

Richie nodded as the lunch hall emptied and Bev and him went outside behind the bins, lighting their cigarettes and taking a drag. Richie slowly inhaled and exhaled, his spare hand tracing shapes on the dirty ground as he sighed. 

Bev and Richie were there for around 10 minutes until they heard shouting coming from the other side of the bins. 

"You must be the new kid? Heard you got sat next to faggot Tozier!" 

it was Henry bowers, Richie knew his voice any day. It must have been another kid he was beating up, nothing new. Bev looked to Richie but he simply shrugged and the two continued breathing in the smoke. 

"I need t- that, please!" 

Richie recognised the voice, it was the kid from English. He put his cigarette out and sprinted towards Bowers, "Hey asshole! get away from him!"
Richie shouted as Henry turned still holding onto Eddie's sides, having his back pinned against the wall. 

"Aw has the faggot come to protect his boyfriend?" Henry spat, as he glared at Richie. 

Richie was red with anger, he punched Bowers in the jaw hard making him let go of the small kid. Henry fought back, punching Richie in the stomach as the two started wrestling in the alley.  

"You've gone soft Tozier!" Henry said, pining Richie down and smashing his face in as blood poured from Richie's nose and mouth, leaving him with a black eye and a bruised cheek. Henry walked off. 

Eddie was shaking in the corner, Richie had just saved him. Maybe he wasn't that bad, but he's heard things. Bad things, on the other hand, Richie was beaten to a pulp on the ground just because Eddie had been attacked.  
He kneeled down to Richie, taking wet wipes and bandages out of his fanny pack, "Stay still" Eddie whispered as Richie looked up at him with sad defeated eyes. 
Eddie continued to clean the cuts all over Richie's face and bandaged him up with a small smile. 

Richie sat up, "Thank you" he smiled. 

"No problem, my name is Eddie by the way. Eddie kaspbrak" 

Richie hugged Eddie, smirking "Cute name for a cute boy" 

Eddie blushed and helped the taller boy up, "You should go see the school nurse, the cuts could still be infected". 

Richie shrugged, "I'll be fine, probably should skip the rest of the day though"  

"But you can't do that, schools not finished!" 

"Relax Eddie-spaghetti, you can come with me", Richie said, putting his arm over Eddie's shoulder 

"One, don't call me Eddie-spaghetti, two I can't just skip school. My mum will kill me"  

Richie rolled his eyes, "Well I'll see ya tomorrow then, here's my number Eds" 

The tall boy passed Eddie his number, scribbled onto a bit of cardboard he found lying around and walked off, leaving Eddie alone with his phone number and a note written underneath. 

'Call me Cutie! ;)'