𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 (𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐙𝐈𝐄𝐑)

iv.

♡

Stan walked to school a lot quicker than usual. He made sure everything was perfect, all the way from his wrinkle-less clothes to his extreme avoidance of puddles. He'd even brought a few things to give to Richie when he saw him.

"There he is! Junior boy! Was sneaking back in your house a success?" Bev pointed in his direction as he approached them, throwing her arm around his shoulder when he got close enough. Stan shook his head and pursed his lips.

"Nope, my parents caught me almost immediately. Not only am I grounded for 2 days for staying out past two a.m., but I am also grounded for 5 more for coming home under the influence." Stan explained, making everyone sympathetically wince. Stan finally looked at the people and realized he didn't see Richie anywhere. "Does anyone know where Rich is?" He finally asked, looking around to see if he could spot him himself.

"Oh, you mean The Bowers Gang's step stool? He's over there talking to his new boyfriend and his knucklehead friends." Bev answered and pointed into a completely different direction than Stan was looking at, but sure enough there he was, laughing and smiling brightly as he looked over at some blonde guy who seemed to be too busy laughing and joking around with his friends to even look back at Richie. It broke Stan's heart a little. "When the fuck did this happen?"

"Wow, I don't think we've ever heard you swear before." Bev said with a gasp, a sort of proud look on her face. Since Eddie didn't think she was going to answer he rolled his eyes and decided to take matters into his own hands. "Last night, apparently. Richie was walking home and bumped into Victor. I guess they started talking, they had some things in common, then boom! Instant love. I have no clue why since Henry and his minions have been bullying us since the 3rd grade, including Victor."

"What's cookin', good lookin's?" Richie walked up and asked, catching everyone off guard. Everyone also noticed Victor right next to him and it grew awkwardly silent. Apparently Richie must of understood why that was, and very quickly at that.

"You gotta go, baby. They're not comfortable with you here." Richie mumbled lowly as he turned to Victor and pouted, placing a hand on his cheek. Victor glanced at the other losers before looking back at Richie and leaning in to whisper something in his ear. When Victor's whispering came to a stop he smirked then smacked Richie's ass and walked back over to his friends. Whatever he whispered left Richie standing there watching him go as he bit his lip and he took some time to finally look at the others. They all looked utterly disgusted.

"What?" Richie questioned cluelessly. The losers collectively rolled their eyes. "O-out of all p-p-people, Richie?" Bill stammered and shook his head slowly.

"Vic's not like his friends, Bill, he's really nice. I can really feel a connection between us." Richie said with a smile that made Stan sick to his stomach. Not because he thought the smile was disgusting, but the reason he was smiling was disgusting. "A connection? You mean you feel a connection with the same guy who held Ben down as Henry cut an H into Ben's stomach?" Mike questioned judgmentally. Stan grimaced and glanced over at Ben who was now looking down at the ground.

"He apologized for that and everything else they've done. He said he really feels bad. We get into deep ass topics and conversations all the time." The boy with glasses stammered and pushed up his glasses, his face beginning to turn red. He was clearly growing more and more frustrated with his friends. Bev scoffed loudly as he went to lean against the lockers. "How? You guys have only talked for like 5 minutes." Bev asked mockingly, not even trying to hide the fact that she was laughing.

"Well we can't really talk much when usually my dick is halfway down his thr-" Richie started, getting cut off by Stan putting his hand over his mouth. He stuck his tongue out and licked Stan's palm, making the 17 year old boy yell in repugnance. As Stan was repeatedly wiping the saliva on his hand onto Richie's arm, he noticed Stan was holding some sort of gift bag. "Who is that for? What is is?" Richie quizzed with excited, wide eyes. Suddenly, Richie gasped dramatically. "Oh em gee, do you have a crush on someone?!"

Stan hurriedly went to open his locker, tossing the gift bag in there quickly and closing behind it. "No one." Stan muttered sadly in return before he speed walked to he and Richie's shared class. This was smart because the bell rang almost right after. The rest of the losers just glared at him before dispersing, walking in the directions of their first period class. They left Richie confused as to what he did wrong, but eventually he just headed to class.