Richie's been struggling with his sexuality for years, unsure of what everyone would think of him when they found out his secret. After defeating Pennywise with the other losers, he's clueless as to where his life is leading him.
Little does Richie...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
All throughout Richie's English class, all he could think of was the fact that Eddie was in the next room over doing chemistry and the next room after that, Will was doing Spanish.
They were reading 'To Kill A Mockingbird' and if Richie could be honest, it was kind of boring. The only thing that the book was good for was the insult he sprung upon Greta Bowie. He called her Boo Radley. He was proud of himself for that one even though it didn't get through her thick skull.
Richie could admit to himself that he was jealous of how close Will was to Eddie. Will had only known Eddie for a month and they were just as close as Richie and Eddie had been.
Eddie and him used to double up their hammock time by laying on it at the same time, which the losers chose to ignore. Richie tried to hide it, but every time they were in the hammock together, he would blush. Richie never blushed.
"Everyone, please read chapters 4 and 5 by tomorrow, we're having a small test to refresh your memory." The teacher spoke with authority, causing a few kids to groan and talk amongst each other.
The bell rang in perfect timing, so Richie grabbed his book and his bag and began walking to his next class, mathematics, when he bumped into someone.
"Ouch!"
"Benny boy?"
Even with the time apart, Richie's nickname for the boy never wore off. Ben Hanscom was an adorable, chubby boy with an amazing brain. He studied in the library most days and secretly ate his lunch in there. He still wasn't over his massive crush on Beverly Marsh and he still wasn't over the missing children. Ben was preparing himself for the worst he could think of. When everyone was older, he wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible with the least amount of casualties.
After the group split up, Ben returned to the books and resumed his life before Pennywise came into it.
"Richie, it's been ages!" Ben smiled. He was actually a little taller since the last time Richie had seen him. He even lost a little bit of weight.
"Where have you been, Haystack?" Richie adjusted his huge glasses, looking at Ben with joy that he could see a familiar face that wouldn't tease him.
"Library." He laughed.
"Oh, Benny boy, what a strapping young man you've become. What a lovely chap!" Richie used one of Ben's favourite impressions, the British guy.
"I've missed your stupid voices."
In the clubhouse after the rock war, most of the losers talked amongst themselves.
Richie was alone in the corner, thinking about Pennywise and how to defeat him.
"Hey, Rich, you okay?" Ben had walked over with a shower cap on his head from Stan, not feeling embarrassed at all. Ben really could be the heart and soul of the losers club on occasion.
