just a bet | reddie

part vii

hey! im so sorry this took entirely as long as it did

i love every one of you so much and thank you for being patient

1 month and 29 days remaining

Richie was exhausted. His 'perfect' plan to tell Eddie didn't work and he was the definition of frustrated. He barely slept Sunday night and he didn't sleep the night of the date. His eyes were bloodshot and the circles under them were more prominent than he'd ever seen them. Richie let out a of breath out of his nose. He felt so disconnected and disappointed, which was odd. It wasn't like Eddie was mad. The date itself went well, it just didn't go to plan. Not that his plan was going to have a good ending, anyway.

Richie arrived at school, slowly walking into the building. The lady at the front desk, Mrs. Lambert, gave him a look that he identified as 'this kid is on drugs'. He ignored it.

"Damn, Rich!" Beverly chuckled as he approached the circular table their group sat at every morning before classes started. "High this early?"

Richie rolled his eyes.

Stanley leaned forward on the table, a playful smile on his face. "Geez, rolling your eyes at Bev?" You've clearly been spending too much time with Eddie McShortShorts."

Bill kicked him under the table and he chuckled. Richie didn't notice. He grumbled a half-assed insult and plopped down in the chair.

"You okay, Ruh-Rich?" Bill asked.

Richie had placed his head on his folded arms. He nodded.

"You know, that bet-"

Richie's head snapped up rapidly, so fast you could hear his neck crack.

"You have less than two months, you know," Beverly said, glancing at her freshly painted, glossy nails. They were a pale lilac color. It reminded Richie of the shirt Eddie wore last week. He didn't know why he remembered it, but he did. He'd really fallen for Eds, he'd realized. Why the hell else would a color remind Richie of someone. He never paid attention to detail, ever.

"I don't think he's listening," Bill mumbled softly, which projected Richie out of his thought bubble.

Beverly sighed. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

Richie shook his head no.

"I said, Eddie, is going to find out-"

"I'm going to find out what?" A familiar voice asked.

Richie felt his heart stop. His eyes went wide as he whipped around to face Eddie, trying to hide his obvious surprise.

Eddie had a soft grin on his face, but he still looked at the table members as if he were awaiting a response to his question.

"Beverly was talking about our soccer game this weekend." Stan supplied helpfully. Richie looked at him and nodded the tiniest bit, thanking him silently. Stan did the same.

Beverly scoffed, shaking her head. "Actually, I was talking about this b-"

Bill had placed his hand over her mouth before she could continue. Eddie raised an eyebrow questioningly. They were all undeniably acting odd. Richie sat up straight, nervously chuckling. Eddie was looking at Richie, a confused expression written across his features.

No one saw Ben approaching from behind until he was right behind Eddie. "Hey, Eddie." Richie could have died on the spot, Ben might've just saved him.

"Hey, Ben." Eddie smiled, gently wringing his hands together. "What's up?"

"I just needed you to look over this essay, if you could? I have to turn it in first period." Ben asked sheepishly. He always hated asking favors of his friends.