𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒇𝒆 ❀ 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆

𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"eddie!"

a high pitched voice called from across the hallway. eddie had been locking the door to his dorm and making his way to first period linear algebra. out of pure shock from the stimulus of the calling of his name, the little male jerked his head backward, brown ringlets bouncing behind him as his eyes fell upon the source of the voice. it was will byers, the boy he knew since the beginning of middle school. the two inseparable friends had grown up in the barren streets of west derry for all their lives. will hadn't been alone there either; he was accompanied by the wildflowers' lead guitarist, stan uris.

"william," eddie cheered, briskly walking over, "oh, hello to you to, uris."

"pfft, i was expecting you not to acknowledge me at all. it seems we're becoming friends, eddie, darlin'." stan, the bassist said with a grin.

"save the pet names for bill," will joked, nudging eddie, who reddened in response of his short laugh. stan was silent as he looked to his shoes.

bill denbrough was stan's roommate. they lived just two little doors down from eddie and ben. stan always seemed to be a disaster around bill. whenever bill was there, eddie noticed, his cheeks would flush the brightest neon red, or he'd thread his fingers between his wild, light curls, avoiding his face at all costs. eddie had encouraged him multiple times to invite him to a show at bev's café, but his shyness got the best of him every time. this, thought eddie, was even more proof of fairytale endings and loved at first sight. the lead singer would ask stan to invite bill to a show once again in only a moment.

"for the last time you guys," said stan, "i'm not into denbrough." he began walking down the stairs toward their first period writing class.

"and for the last time, urine," the shortest brunette, eddie joked, "i can see straight through you. invite bill to the café at 7. he'll like it, i swear."

"yeah, it's not weird, i show up every night," the byers boy encouraged, "come on, stan."

he only scoffed, quickening his pace down the barren wooden stairway. eddie and will shared a look of disappointment and disapproval, opening the door to room 203, writing and immigrant literature.

"hey, guys!" the drummer of the wildflowers whisper yelled from across the room. dustin henderson had his textbooks spread across three seats for the trio who'd just arrived. stan, eddie and will waved at their best friend, and dustin clumsily and frantically moved his belongings so they could take their seats in the gargantuan lecture hall. students shuffled in their seats, chewed on their pens, scribbled on their notepads. there were over one hundred tired pupils seated in their green cushions. the grey-haired professor at the podium began his lesson.

the history of love by nicole krauss. it was the book that began their sophomore year. it was the book that led eddie to read, to write songs. he'd read it in high school. and so, it greatly excited him that that book, the book he'd loved so well, was the first book of the year. but, it was now october, and for three months, their professor had been teaching it. eddie was ( and this was unlike him, indeed ) bored of class. he flipped open his notepad and smiled at the song he wrote last night.

"new song?" dustin inquired, looking over.

"yup," eddie whispered back, "ben and bev inspired it." he handed the baby blue notepad to his friend beside him.

"ah, ben and bev. a beautiful love story. when are they gonna get married and have quintuplets with names all beginning with b?" dustin replied chuckling, looking down at the words inscribed in dark ink. eddie laughed and agreed.

"this is a really cute song, eddie k," the curly-haired male said. he looked up and his sea eyes sparkled with happiness. and so, eddie giggled and will began talking to them about tonight's show.

for the best friends in the smaller of the two universities, that being derry university, the day had felt oh-so very long, especially for the young, hopeless romantic, eddie. just across the street, at the same moment they'd been speaking, the boy who didn't believe in love, richie tozier and mike hanlon sat beside a pretty redhead who owned the little coffee shop nearby.

richie pulled up one of those low wooden chairs right beside her and flashed her his goofy, toothy grin. that was richie for you. "beeverly right?" said the boy with the glasses. mike laughed and sat beside bev. max and lucas were talking lowly in the corner of the room; richie was curious, but hadn't said a word yet.

"beverly," she corrected, "and you are... richie tozier."

"how--where you know me from?" richie said; he pushed up his coke-bottle goggles.

"everyone knows you," said beverly marsh, "and you're mike hanlon, right? i've seen you around with richie."

mike smiled and shook the girl's hand. "nice to meet you-- well, i've seen you before. hey, you own that café down the street, correct?"

the red-haired girl nodded and smiled at him. "yeah we're actually hiring... if you or anyone you know is interested."

"what am i, chopped liver?" richie piped in, sniffling for a moment, then taking off his glasses to clean them with the hem of his band tee.

"no, actually, richie's the one who wants to work. he's been a barista in high school, y'know? he could use a job to set his life straight. see, bev, we're really worried about him. do you think you could help him out?" mike whispered the last part. he didn't want richie to hear it.

bev was smiling and chuckling, taking a lock of fire between her little fingers. the four-eyed boy slumped in his seat like a child and blew some of his hair out of his face.

"how much experience do you have, rich?" asked the girl.

"enough to call myself an epic coffeemaker, red! please, red, i need this job, i'll be amazin' i swear. i'm great with people as you can see. i can make a damn good caramel richiato, i promise bevvy!"

there was something about richie, bev thought, he was stubborn, stupid, hilarious, an all-around dumbass and-- he was the opposite of eddie in every possible way.

wait, he was perfect for him.

"uh... side question, richie," said the girl with the orange waves, "uh, what's your sexuality?" richie raised an eyebrow.

"he's bi," mike answered, "why do you ask?"

"no reason," said bev. tonight would be fun.