Eddie steps into his first class of the day, English. Surprisingly, he loves this class. Perhaps it's because ever since he got his journal all he can do is write. He'd rather write for himself, though.
The brunette walks over to his desk with small steps. He sets his bag down on the tile floor, his keychains rattling around and hitting one another. "Hi, Eddie." His English teacher, Mr. Perkins, greets. Eddie smiles softly. He's taken a liking to this teacher. He isn't like any other teacher he's had. Mr. Perkins—in his mid-30s, white, short brown hair that appears to be falling, square shaped glasses— is the kind of teacher everyone thinks they'll dislike, but they end up liking him anyways.
He's funny in the 'dad jokes' kind of way. But he's genuine. That's what Eddie likes. One day, Eddie had walked into class looking sad. Are you alright? Mr. Perkins had asked him. Eddie had nodded, though he wasn't alright. When the class ended, Mr.Perkins had asked him to stay after class for a short while. Eddie, nervous and uncomfortable, had obliged.
Mr.Perkins had motioned for Eddie to come up to his desk. He had asked what was wrong, that Eddie didn't have to tell him, but that he was there to listen and to give his advice. That he wouldn't judge. Eddie didn't answer. Instead, he stared down at his hands. 'Just know,' the man had said, 'you can trust me.'
"Morning, sir." Eddie smiled, going up to his desk and handing his teacher a little bag with a croissant inside. "Wow, thanks! Isn't this from that new café downtown?" Eddie nodded, "Yeah, it's really good. They've got really great pies." Mr.Perkins chuckled and put the breakfast aside. "Thanks, kiddo—"
He took a sip, of what Eddie guessed was coffee, from his mug. "Oh, I'm moving seats, by the way. But, you can pick yours out, I won't tell anyone." Eddie nodded and looked around the room for a desk that was appealing to him. He chose the first one in the middle row. He always liked sitting in the front, mainly because he couldn't see when he was behind the tall people.
He'd always have to ask things like, 'Can you move your head down, please?' or, 'I can't see, move to the right.' Sometimes, he'd raise his hand and ask to move to an empty desk in the front of the room.
A blond girl walked in. She had pink streaks in her hair, uneven throughout her hair that Eddie knew she had done it herself. He could tell she had dyed her hair before, fully, as her blonde hair seemed discolored and faded.
She made her way to the back of the classroom where she usually sat. "Nope, kid." Mr.Perkins said and the girl turned back in annoyance. "New seats, you're up here, next to Eddie."
"Who the fuck is Eddie?" She exclaimed and Eddie thought it was a stupid thing to do, considering he was the only person in the classroom. He turned around and met her piercing grey eyes. She sighed and walked back to the front. When she was halfway to her desk, she threw her backpack on the ground so loudly that Eddie jumped. She hopped down into her chair and slouched. Eddie decided to not look at her and instead stared at the board, waiting for the classroom to fill up.
"Sup." said the girl , craning her neck to look at Eddie. "Hi." he answered awkwardly. "'M Riley. Obviously I know your name already, so." Eddie didn't know what to say, but he thought, I don't like you.
"Don't think I've ever seen you in here. You new?" He rolled his eyes, how could she not? He was always participating in this class, his name was always being called out, how could she not know who he was. Eddie didn't say anything for a while.
Riley, she seemed like the type of girl that smoked weed with her older boyfriend. The kind that stole from convenience stores and her own parents. She was dressed in some long T-shirt with some punk band Eddie didn't know of. On her wrist she had some kind of yarn bracelet, lots of them actually. She had barely noticeable freckles, but Eddie could tell because of his own. She was breaking out and Eddie noticed her discomfort when she scratched at her nose and accidentally poked at one of her pimples. Her pants, black, known as Dickies, had dirt marks and a shoe print.
"I like your hair." He said after a while. Riley grinned, appreciatively, "Thanks."
"So.. is pink your favorite color?" He put his chin on his hand, resting it there as he looked at the girl.She had a kind of sleepy smile on her white porcelain-like face. "No, I actually hate it." Eddie's smile turned into a frown, "Was that sarcasm?"
"Nope."
She stuck her hands into the pockets of her pants and rummaged around for something. She pulled out something black in the form of a rectangle.
For a second, Eddie thought it was an oddly shaped portable charger since it had a connector or something like that on the bottom. But the more he looked at the thing, it hit him. It was a vape. He'd seen them before in Richie's room. When Eddie found out, he was freaked out. Richie had excused himself to the bathroom and Eddie had grabbed the thing and chucked it out the window. When Richie came back, he was looking around nervously. When Eddie had asked what he was looking for, Richie had replied nervously, 'Nothing.'
"You're not gonna tell on me, are you?" She asked, without worry. "Why would I do that?"
"Because" — she turned back so that Mr.Perkins couldn't see her taking a hit— "teachers pet." She blew out the smoke the opposite direction of where Mr.Perkins was seated. "I am not!" Eddie shrieked, offended. "Chill, man. Just joking, I'm not tryna bust your balls."
Bust your balls. He'd heard this before. From Richie. He felt he and Riley would get along. "Wanna hit it?" She smirked, holding the vape out for him so that he could put his mouth on the mouthpiece. "No." Eddie muttered, turning away from her. "Come on, it wont hurt you."
"Look," he replied irritably, "I just don't want to, alright? I don't like those things."
"Geez, sorry." Her voice was soft but hyper. It was a soft kind of loud, like Eddie's voice.
The class was suddenly full and Mr.Perkins had started teaching. "You'll need to work in partners." He was explaining. Eddie looked over at Bill, expecting Bill to look at him back but he wasn't. Instead he looked over at Mike and smiled, mouthing, 'Let's work together?'
For a while now Eddie felt there was something going on between Bill and Mike. Times where the losers were supposed to be doing something together, the two were always absent. Or they both had plans. Eddie figured it wasn't a coincidence.
Eddie looks down, biting his lip at the thought of having no one to work with. He looks at his friend Matteo, but he's already working with someone else. "Hey." He hears Riley say. "What." Eddie answers rudely. "Wanna work together?"
He ended up agreeing, after Riley's begging and explaining on how she was failing this class and she thought he was smart so he could help her out. When the class ended, Eddie stayed back to put his books back into his bag, very fucking slowly, the blonde noticed. Riley just crammed them into her bag and swung it over her shoulder.
"You're pretty cool, Ed." She smiled before waving goodbye and walking out the room.
—
i apologize for the long hiatus. unfortunately, i am not sure if i should continue writing for this story. currently i have around 6 chapters drafted that i may or may not post. the reason for my hiatus was that i had some problems going on and when i came back i had simply lost interest in the It fandom and writing for this story. while i do have ideas for this book, i don't have the same passion as i did before. i'll see how things turn out. i'll try to post the remaining chapters soon,
riv.
