Meant To Be • Reddie

1.

Eddie Kaspbrak walked into the small high school, which was unfamiliar territory to him.

He had a timid stance as he wandered around aimlessly, his shaky hands tucked nervously behind his back. His brunette bangs bounced against his forehead as he continued through the hallway and towards the office area to retrieve his schedule.

It was his first day.

He was dreadful for another long year of bullying and torment, yet he was also grateful to be away from his overprotective, obsessive, annoyance of a mother.

Despite everything, he wondered what this school year would have in store for him.

Maybe things would change for the better this time around.

He always tried to keep a positive outlook on things, but it wasn't so easy with his paranoid mind.

He passed by several older students who sneered towards him, whispering amongst each other or laughing mockingly.

Eddie was rather small to be a high school boy. He was embarrassed and ashamed of himself sometimes, thinking he looked like a girl, but he knew that he had no control over his appearance. He accepted himself as he was, and told himself that no one else's thoughts or opinions about him mattered.

He finally opened the office doors, reluctantly stepping inside.

He glanced around curiously, noticing that a few other students were also lined up for their schedules.

Upon further inspection of the tiny office, he noticed a tall, slim, attractive male student sitting in one of the wooden chairs in a corner. He looked annoyed and bored. He had probably gotten himself into a mess of some kind.

Then, Eddie realized that he was very familiar.

The boy looked up at Eddie as he heard his sneakers squeaking against the tiled flooring.

Their eyes met by accident, and Eddie noticed that his classmate's cheeks were bright red.

He could feel a surge of heat in his lightly freckled face as well, and his head started pounding with anticipation of what would happen next.

Once he recognized the wavy dark hair and the iconic large glasses, he immediately knew who he was seeing.

Eddie simply sent a small smile his way, and the other boy returned the favor.

He then turned towards the secretary's desk, trying his best to ignore the crazy thoughts that were racing through his head as he started to relay some information to her.

Richie Tozier...

It was really him.

Eddie had been crushing on him since they were children. The funny, reckless, handsome individual had always given him warm, fuzzy feelings inside.

After the dramatic incident in which they helped kill a demonic entity named Pennywise that had taken the form of a creepy clown, their friend group, "The Losers Club" had parted and went their separate ways for the following years of their Middle School lives.

Now they were all freshmen in the same High School.

And Eddie was face-to-face with his childhood crush once again.

•••

- Eddie's POV -

I entered Ms. Samson's class, the first one on my schedule, once I had finally found it within the mess of surrounding rooms.