{COMPLETED} cherry cola 🍒 reddie

1

eddie took a deep breath. it was summer, about mid june. the weather outside was hot, very hot, and there was sweat trickling down eddie's forehead. he let out a deep sigh as he continued to trek on down the pavement. his friends, bill denbrough and stan uris, had asked him to come to the diner for lunch. eddie was going to bring up an excuse not to go, like his mom wouldn't let him (his mother was very protective over him, although he was now 17), or that he was sick again, but the other two boys had somehow talked him into it.

and, there he was, unbelievably lucky that his mother let him go somewhere by himself, and unbelievably disgusted by the sweat pouring from his freckled face. he took a handkerchief from his black fanny pack and dabbed his forehead with it, drying the sweat, but to no avail, as another layer of the fluid covered his face in no time.

the boy looked around to see if he was close to the diner, and was relieved at the sight of the chrome rooftop and white umbrellas. he quickened his pace, desperately needing to get inside to the air conditioning, to cool himself off.

when eddie entered the building, he let out a content sigh of relief as the cool air hit him. the little bell above the door gave a cheery jingle, and he was greeted by an employee working the bar. eddie raised a hand in acknowledgment, but said nothing. he scanned the tables to look for his two friends, spotting them in the back of the diner. he made his way to their table.

"oh, h-he-hey, eddie. we were starting to think you w-w-weren't coming." bill gave a warm smile.

"we already ordered, but we told the waiter a third person was coming." stan informed the freckled boy, who nodded and took a seat.

"you know when he's coming back?" eddie asked.

"he sh-should be here soon." bill informed his friend, who nodded in response.

after a few minutes of talk about nothing in particular, their waiter came back. "hey, looks like your third wheel showed up!" he joked. eddie turned his head to see a tall, slender boy, who had a head of dark curls, and thick, coke bottle glasses. he looked almost comical in his red and white striped shirt, and little white hat on the crown of his head. it took a second for it to register, but eddie recognized the boy.

his name was richard tozier, and eddie had grown up knowing his name. he'd always hear it over the intercom in school, "richard tozier, report to the front office, immediately," being a phrase the entire school knew entirely too well.

along with his name, he knew his face. they'd always had at least one class together since middle school, but the two never actually spoke. partially because they had such drastically different personalities, but also because richard intimidated eddie. the first thing he'd ever heard richard say was a long string of curse words that he'd never heard before, and it astonished him that an elementary schooler would have such a vulgar vocabulary.

but now, it was time for him to speak to richard. he looked less intimidating in his work attire; hopefully that would make it more bearable to communicate with him.

"so, little guy, what can i getcha?" richard asked with a smile.

"um.. just a cherry cola, please," eddie said, quietly.

"cherry cola, huh? nice," the taller boy commented, scribbling the order down on his notepad.

"uh, yeah.."

"your favorite?" he asked suddenly.

"what?" eddie tilted his head in confusion.

"cherry cola. is it your favorite?" richie has a smile on his pink lips, his head slightly cocked to the side as he rocked back and forth on his feet, heel to toe.

"um..." eddie looked up at richard, then looked down at his lap. "well, uh.. yeah.. it is," he said, plainly.

"gotcha. i'll keep that in mind." richard scribbled down again on the notepad, winking when eddie looked back up, causing his little brown eyes to widen slightly, and making him avert his gaze to the table. the tall boy laughed. "alright, i'll be back with that cherry cola, little guy." he said, turning on his heel and going into the kitchen.