LIVE FAST | REDDIE

- 18 | LIVE FAST

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"I'm c-c-calling it right nuh-now. He's guh-guh-guh-guh-gonna walk in wuh-with a b-b-black eye." Bill was convinced the next day when Eddie had confided in him about the events of the previous morning that Richie would come to school bruised and broken. It did nothing to ease Eddie's worries, but it was Friday, so he supposed that if Richie wasn't in school then there was no reason for him not to storm the boy's house and drag him out for the weekend.

"If he does, then he's living at my house from now on," Eddie grumbled, eyes narrowing. Bill scoffed, making a face at him as they walked. Ben was nowhere to be seen. Usually his mornings were spent trailing after Bev like a lost puppy.

"He already duh-duh-duh-does live at y-your house, Eh-Eh-Eh-Eh-Eddie," Bill pointed out with raised eyebrows. "He suh-suh-sleeps there almost eh-every night."

"Shut up," Eddie grunted, cheeks darkening slightly. Discomfort seeped into his chest and he averted his eyes, biting his lip. They stopped at Bill's locker, leaning against the wall and facing each other. Eddie spotted Bev across the hall, and she saw him too, lighting up immediately and hurrying over.

"Hey, guys!" She greeted warmly. Ben peeked out from behind her with wide eyes bright with excitement. "Are you busy tonight?" Eddie hesitated, surprise settling in his chest.

"No, but wasn't the week's party last night?" He inquired, confusion lacing his voice. Bill's brow furrowed and he made a soft noise of agreement. Bev bit her lip, eyes dancing with anticipation.

"Yeah, but we're throwing another party with a more limited guest list. We're just thinking about trying it out, to see if it'll be worth turning it into a monthly thing. It'll be inside, I can get you the address by the end of the day. You don't have to bring anything, just yourself, and don't dress nice cause lots of people are gonna get wasted and I don't want you to spill anything on your white shirts." She laughed, poking Eddie's chest playfully. "There's only going to be like, 40 people there as opposed to the usual 80 or 90 that we fit into the lot. Wanna come?" She wiggled her eyebrows. Eddie found himself nodding immediately. Bill took a minute, but finally gave in and nodded as well.

"Sure, we'll stop by," Eddie agreed. "It could be fun."

"It will be fun," Bev agreed loudly with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Trust me." With that, she disappeared, tugging Ben along behind her and chattering excitedly with her friends. Eddie ran a hand down the side of his face, taking a deep breath.

"You don't have to come if you don't want," he told Bill firmly. Bill looked down at his feet, frowning slightly.

"You're guh-guh-gonna need a r-ride," the boy replied with a hint of a smile. "And l-like you suh-suh-said, it c-c-c-could be fun. I duh-don't have to duh-duh-duh-drink anything if I d-don't want to. Watching a buh-bunch of duh-duh-drunk people make f-f-f-fools out of themselves w-will be interesting, a-a-at the l-l-least."

"Alright, Bill," Eddie cheered, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're looking up about this stuff now. Anyway, a bit of a subject change, but did you happen to do the Biology homework?" He chuckled nervously when Bill's gaze narrowed at him with slight disapproval. Then the bell rang and before Bill could reprimand him Eddie was off, scurrying to his first class of the day.

Math and History went by in a blur, but French was rather eventful. The teacher wasn't there, so it was a substitute who obviously spoke little to no French at all. Eddie found himself doodling on a piece of scrap paper instead of doing the work left for them.

"Bonjour, beau garçon," said a new voice, sliding into an open seat beside Eddie. The brunette looked over to see Ethan Chase watching him with wide eyes and an even wider smile. "Tell me," he continued softly, "will I have the pleasure of seeing you at Miss Marsh's party tonight?" Eddie hesitated, cheeks becoming a light pink color.

"Maybe," he replied offhandedly. "Let's see if you can pick me out of a crowd." Ethan laughed at that, eyes lighting up, and they really were very pretty Eddie found himself thinking as he stared shamelessly. A smirk caused the corner of his mouth to lift up slightly, and he looked down at his paper, doodling over his scribbles.

"I think I could pick you out of a crowd quite easily," Ethan told him confidently. "You've just got that kind of face."

"Is that so?" Eddie asked incredulously. "I think I'm boring. I know I'm not ugly, but I think I look plain, like any random person you could pick up off of the side of the street, and you know, nobody is unique, because there's like, seven people in the world that look just like you." He shrugged, raising his eyebrows. "So I'm sorry to say that I don't believe you for a second."

"Then let me prove it to you," Ethan said, lowering his voice a bit and glancing around carefully. Eddie's heartbeat quickened and he tensed a bit in his seat, finally giving Ethan his full attention. "Tonight at the party!" Ethan insisted. "I'll find you before it's over. All you have to do is show up, and you can make it as difficult as you like by moving around and hiding in the most crowded areas." Eddie pretended to think about it, furrowing his brow and smiling.

"Alright, you're on. What are the stakes?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. Ethan grinned, and his voice got even lower as he leaned in a bit.

"If I find you, then you have to let me take you on a date." Eddie shivered, biting his lip a bit in anticipation. "And if you win," Ethan continued softly, "you earn the privilege of a date with me. How's that?" Eddie snickered, nose wrinkling as he smiled.

"So either way I get a date, is that it?" He mused, stroking an imaginary beard. "Sounds like a lose-lose situation to me, but I guess I'll take it. Desperate times call for desperate measures," he teased, giving Ethan a once-over and pretending to look indifferent, but inwardly, fireworks were going off.

"Cool!" Ethan agreed. "Although I wouldn't call all of this a desperate measure," he added slyly, gesturing to himself. "I'm pretty awesome." Eddie laughed, nodding his head slightly.

"So it would seem," he agreed. "So I'll see you at the party tonight, then?"

"Or you won't," Ethan replied with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "But either way, you'll see me Saturday night at eight on your doorstep with your favorite flowers and two movie tickets, so what does it matter?" Eddie smiled, looking down with rosy cheeks and a racing heartbeat.

"I suppose it doesn't."