✓ 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐲 ━━ 𝗋𝖾𝖽𝖽𝗂𝖾.

x

eddie went to school, but he ended up being late for his first period by twenty minutes. he wasn't gonna go at first, but then he worried if his mom found out he wasn't in the cell anymore. she had to know by now, she would've checked. so eddie made his way to his class, handing the slip to the teacher.

he sat beside stanley, the only person he knew in the class, setting his backpack on the floor next to the chair. "hey." stanley greeted like he did almost every day. eddie just gave him a small smile.

stanley hesitated before sighing. "are you okay?" he had asked, mentioning the previous night which only made eddie tense. "i'm fine..." a pause. "why?" he quietly asked with curiosity. stanley couldn't believe him, wondering as though he must have dreamt it all. "well, richie-" eddie shushed him.

"never bring up his name here." eddie warned as he looked away, glaring at the board in front of them. stanley furrowed his brows, staring at the side of his head before giving up and began to pay some attention. eddie sort of felt guilty for cutting him off, but he really didn't want to have a conversation about last night, including the certain someone.

once the class ended, everyone packed up their things, shoved them in their backpacks and went out the door, probably to talk to their friends. eddie had watched carefully as stanley patiently packed his stuff up, actually putting his papers in all his folders rather than shoving them in, a chance of crumbling or ripping the paper. he was a neat kid.

eddie did the same, quickly zipping his backpack as he followed stanley out of the classroom. "hey, do you think i could...spend the night?" he asked very quietly, embarrassed for asking. he knew they were friends, but he felt it was an out of place time to be asking for these kinds of favors. stanley listened.

"it's just that i don't know if my mom is gonna be home or not and i don't want her to find me there if she does get there." eddie rambles, trying to explain the situation of what could happen. stanley nodded, facing him. "sure." he agreed, even if he was holding a bit of a grudge on eddie for snapping at him like that. eddie smiled toward him in relief.

"thanks." he sincerely said. stanley rolled his eyes at him, hitting his shoulder gently. "see you after class. bye." he waved off before walking to his next period. eddie walked to algebra, pausing as he saw patrick hockstetter and henry bowers in front of the door. the two now looked at him a bit weirdly.

at first eddie didn't know why, but then he glanced down to patrick's hands and saw a bag full of stuff he wasn't so sure he wanted to know about. henry went up to him, grabbing him by his backpack straps. "listen, if you tell anyone what you saw, you're a dead man walking." he threatened. henry pushed him away by his shoulders before walking off. eddie glanced at patrick with a bewildered look.

not because of henry's words, but because of his rattling actions. he grabbed his shoulders so harsh it felt like he almost lost his balance. patrick didn't say anything to him, only gave him a sympathetic look before stuffing the bag into his jean pockets and walking off. probably skipping or something.

eddie shook it off, entering the classroom which the last bell rang as he did so. he took a seat and pulled out his binder, looking around the room with a bit of a frown, wondering where ben was. usually he had a class with him. he was sure it was this one.

eddie, it's very hard to explain...i'm really sorry.

the chestnut haired boy glanced down, seeing the words written on a piece of paper in his binder. his eyes widened as he covered them with his arms and peaked his head over so he could read it over again.