Confident

Not The List

Song: Forever Young by Rod Stewart

November 5, 1993

"I cannot fucking believe I'm walking into school with a giant ass bruise." Eddie's nostrils flare in anger.

Richie glares at the boy. His swollen eye had gone down a bit. At least enough for him to finally open it up. "At least you can see with both eyes." His voice is soft, obviously just joking about.

Still, Eddie groans. It only makes him more pissed off. "Man, fuck those guys." His free hand reaches for Richie's as they walk into the school.

Despite having just been threatened and beaten for being together, they still manage to find comfort in one another. Neither wants to walk into that school without knowing they can rely on the other. Eyes will be on them all day long, and of course everyone will know why. They're not going to let one bad thing ruin them. Nor will they let others think of them as weak. They'll not be pitied.

"Fuck them indeed." Richie sighs before following Eddie through the doors.

Each keep their head down. Eddie thought he'd be embarrassed because of the uniform, instead it's because of the injuries that cover him. Luckily one of the many sets of eyes that fall on them is Beverly. She's quick to hurry over, Greta and Linda close behind. Her hands reach up to take hold of Eddie's chin. Beverly examines the boy's face gently before moving onto Richie.

"Care to explain?"

The boyfriends look to each other before turning back to their friend. It's just occurred to them that none of the Losers had been alerted of their situation. Questions are sure to be asked. And the boys dread to answer them.

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Eddie is sat on the bathroom countertop with Beverly standing over. Richie's leaned against the sink next to Eddie. Greta and Linda are stood next to the stalls with fearful expressions.

Beverly had led everyone to the west wing girl's bathroom, insisting that no one ever used it. Everyone complied and piled in, though they all complained about cutting first period. All except Richie. Of course the redhead just shook her arms and promised to think of some excuse for the group.

Now her hands work quickly on the boy's face. Luckily Greta always keeps a set of makeup in her bag. Not to mention how close their warm skin tones are to each other. It's sure to match perfectly and erase that black eye for good.

"You gonna tell us or are we gonna sit here worried all day?" Greta, though trying to seem unbothered, is still very much concerned.

Richie looks to Eddie and shrugs. How do you even start a story like this one? The small boy sighs before speaking up. His eyes are now closed, due to the concealer being placed on the top of his eyelids.

"It happened last night. After Patty's."

Greta and Linda eye each other before leaning even closer. Beverly pauses the makeup routine before letting her eyes drift shut for a moment. They all know what went down, they're just too afraid to actually hear it.

Richie's next to speak up. "I knew it'd happen eventually, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, ya know?"

Smoke swirls through the room. Greta's cigarette hangs from her lip. She's a bit shook up for obvious reasons, though she's never really said what those reasons are. No one asks. "I had a bad feeling about it."

"I never thought it'd happen here. Especially not to Eddie. I mean, fuck, he's Eddie!" Linda has taken the cigarette from Beverly and placed it in between her own lips.