𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌

↱ 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖎𝖛𝖊; 𝖆𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖌𝖎𝖈 𝖜𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

"Let's go meet Bill!"

Do we have to?" Eddie whined, packing his Tupperware containers back into his lunchbox neatly.

"He's the new kid, Eddie Spaghetti," Richie laughed, shoving his now empty lunchbox into his cubby with sticky hands, the remnants of chocolate pudding smeared at the corners of his mouth. "He needs friends!"

"Fine," Eddie sighed, putting his lunchbox into his own cubby hole.

"Hey, there!" Richie shouted, startling the redhead who was closing his own lunchbox at his desk. "I'm Richie!"

"Um," Bill whispered, eyes wide as he stared up at the curly haired boy with giant glasses.

"And this is Eddie," Richie continued, trying to pull Eddie out from behind him where he was clutching onto back of Richie's shirt.

"Huh-huh-hello," Bill stammered, cheeks pink.

"Nice to meet ya," Richie grinned, sticking out his hand for Bill to shake.

Bill nodded with a shy smile, holding out his hand to Eddie in the same way.

"Oh," Richie laughed, listening as Eddie whimpered from behind him. "Eddie's a-scawed of gurms so he doesn't like touching new people."

"Oh," Bill muttered, face falling as he dropped his hands.

"I'm sorry," Eddie squeaked, pushing up onto his tip-toes to peer over Richie's shoulder at the other boy.

"That's okay," Bill nodded, giving Eddie a small smile.

"Wanna pway with us at wecess?" Richie asked.

"Sure," Bill nodded, eager to make new friends on his first day of school.

"Yay!" Richie cheered. "We're gonna pway with my brother Mikey and his friend Will too!"

"And this car goes super-fast!" Richie screamed, ramming his toy car over a bump and into the sand box energetically as he shared toy cars with the other four boys on the edge of the blacktop playground. "Almost as fast as my fast socks make me go!"

"That's stupid, Richie," Mike laughed softly, shaking his head at his brother. "Socks don't make you faster!"

"No, it's not!" Richie sputtered, glaring at his brother in shock. "They do so, wight Eddie Spaghetti?"

Eddie nodded, coughing into his elbow quietly.

"And, bwesides if they don't make me a speed wacer then why do you always steal 'em?"

"Because," Mike argued back, rolling his eyes at his brother and arguing over the sound of Eddie's hacking coughs.

"Are you okay?" Bill asked, placing a hand on Eddie's shoulder as his breathing became shallow and whistle-y.

"Eddie Spaghetti?" Richie asked, stopping mid-argument to turn his attention towards his best friend. "Awe you okay?"

Eddie shook his head, scratching at his neck as his chest heaved.

"Do you need your medicines?" Richie asked, crawling towards his best friend and reaching into his black fanny pack before Eddie could even nod.

"Mikey," Richie gasped, pulling the cap off of Eddie's asthma inhaler. "Go get the teach-uh!"

Richie shook Eddie's asthma inhaler as Mike and Will scrambled to their feet, preparing Eddie's medicine as he had watched his friend do numerous times before.

"Open up," Richie whispered, hands shaking nervously as he pushed the mouthpiece of the inhaler between Eddie's lips, holding his friend's cheek with his freehand. Richie closed his eyes, pressing down on the puffer to release the medicine into Eddie's lungs nervously. "Bett-uh?"