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𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵

𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳!
!𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒓.𝒄𝒐𝒎!
𝑬𝑵𝑱𝑶𝒀!

☾✰☽

Eddie could see it clear as day: how Richie was slowly distancing himself from the group, and how, when he did hang out with the losers, his jokes were getting more and more frequent. The rest of the losers couldn't see it as well as Eddie could, but they just didn't know the older boy the way that Eddie did.

It was a Friday afternoon and the losers were doing what they had been doing every Friday since they met: sitting by the quarry in a circle, passing around bags of lollies, making up jokes, and telling each other stories from their week at school.

Everyone was sitting criss-cross on the small rocks by the water, dust and dirt spread all over their legs. Eddie, though he was sat in the same position, had a towel placed underneath him to avoid anything out of the ordinary touching his skin.

"Did you guys hear that rumour that Henry spread around?" Beverly said, her head turning side to side and looking at each person in the group.

Richie kept his head down, staring at his hands in his lap as if he'd never seen anything more interesting in his entire life. However the rest of the group all shook their heads no and motioned for Beverly to continue.

"He's been telling everyone that he read Richie's journal and in it he said he was gay!"

"What!?" Ben exclaimed. "What a stupid rumour!"

The rest of the group nodded their heads and laughed along, yet Richie simply didn't move once. Eddies giggles slowed down when he noticed this, and he moved closer to Richie.

"Hey, it's just a dumb thing that Henry made up," Eddie said as he placed a hand on Richie's knee, attempting to cheer the older boy up. "No one believes it, don't worry!"

"Yeah, man," Mike jumped in. "None of us believe the shit that comes out of Bowers' mouth."

Richie's head snapped up and he stared intently at Mike. The look on his face wasn't happiness like Mike was expecting, however it wasn't a look of sadness or anger either. Simply a look. And as fast as his head has risen, Richie was up and running through the trees and out into the street.

"Well, th-that was weird," Bill pointed out. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement except for Eddie. The small boy was still staring at the spot in the trees where Richie has disappeared into, and suddenly it made sense. Why Richie hardly ever hung out with everyone anymore. And why, when he did, he was so far away, like he wasn't even listening to what people were saying. He'd just crack his inappropriate jokes, then leave as fast as he had arrived.

But Eddie had put it together. It was true - the rumour. It was the only explanation.

"I'll get him," Eddie said quickly. He didn't bother waiting for anyone to protest and he dashed off into the trees in search of his friend.

As he exited the trees, he was expecting to have to run all over town in an attempt to find Richie. What Eddie wasn't expecting though, was for Richie to be sat on the pavement directly across the road. He had his knees shoved underneath his chin, his hands pressed into his face and a pair of violently shaking shoulders.