problematic ➳ reddie

39

october ❀ age 12-13

"hey guys" bill sat on the lunch table, where stan, richie and eddie were already sitting.

"where's bev?" stan asked.

"wuh-we broke u-up" bill said bluntly and set his tray down.

"what?!" richie choked out. "when? why?"

"l-last night" the stuttering boy sighed.

"but why? you two were so lovey dovey at one point" richie quiestioned.

"wuh-we juh-just duh-don't feel the s-ss-same" bill shrugged.

"still doesn't answer my question. where is she?" stan spoke up.

"o-over there" bill pointed at one table, where indeed, beverly was sitting, talking to some girl, which nobody knew.

"why isn't she sitting with us?" eddie frowned.

"shs-she thought it'd buh-be weird if she suh-sat with us"

"maybe you're right" stan sighed.

"what? no! no that's not right! she can sit with us, broken up with bill or not" richie spat.

"rich, calm down" eddie put a hand on richie's arm.

the boy with the glasses exhaled deeply before shooting bill a nasty glare. "you could've just kept dating her. who cares about feelings?"

"eh-everyone" bill tensed up. "ih-i'm not going to buh-be with suh-someone who I don't l-love"

richie groaned and threw his hands up in the air. "yeah of course you're not"

"leave him alone, richie. let bill like who he wants" stan defended.

"yeah yeah, sorry" richie sighed and looked down at his tray.

eddie frowned and leaned towards richie. "are you okay?"

"no" richie let out a breathy laugh. "i'm not"

"why? what's wrong?" eddie asked.

"can we talk about this later?" richie asked quietly. eddie nodded. "i'll come to your place after school"

richie nodded and sucked his welling tears back in, turning his gaze to stan and bill who were sitting in front of them. they were faces towards each other, stan waving his hands around, while explaining another lecture of birds which move out from derry during the winter time.

"Bill, how can you keep listening to stan's boring bird stories?" richie asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"they're nuh-not buh-boring" bill said. "they're inte-t-teresting"

"see? there are actually people who want to listen to me" stan said to richie who flipped him off.

"hey richie"

they all turned around to see betty smiling at the four kids, mostly looking at richie. "can I join?"

richie scooted over and gave room for betty to sit next to him. "absolutely. what brings you here?"