1989 (reddie)

1

eddie always dreaded summer time.  The temperature outside always made you feel like we're in an oven.  the heat was one of the main reasons he stayed inside,  but even when he was inside he always felt trapped because of his mother. eddie had two friends,bill, and stan, but whenever he was around them he felt he was third wheeling.  bill and stan were the only openly gay couple at school.  eddie and bill became friends back in second grade when he helped eddie who was having an asthma attack.

eddie was always kind of jealous of bill.  bill was really attractive. he had piercing green eyes and chocolate brown hair.  he was tall and athletic.  eddie always had somewhat of a crush on him.  when bill told eddie he was also gay eddie thought that they had a chance of being together, but bill didn't feel the same way.  they didn't let it put a damper on their friendship though.  eddie was really happy when stan and bill got together, but the feelings were always kind of there,  atleast on eddie's end.

eddie walked outside into the smoldering summer heat and made his way to the library.  he was going to meet bill and stan there and they were going to their hangout spot, the barrens,  to relax and smoke.  what they usually did.  as eddie walked,  he noticed a moving truck in a driveway. 
"new neighbors"  he thought to himself as he walked by. the people moving in looked like a mother and a son.  the mom was kind of short.  she had long wavy brown hair and thick rimmed glasses. eddie's heart thumped a beat when he saw the son.  he was tall,  thin and extremely handsome.  he had beautiful brown eyes,  shiny curly brown hair and adorable freckles.  eddie didn't know he had stopped and was staring until the boy waved at him.  eddie gave an awkward wave and quickly walked away.

"he was so cute oh my gosh you should've seen him!" eddie said as he hopped over a crack in the sidewalk. 

"what did he have on? does he know how to dress?" stan asked.  eddie nodded.

"he had on a blue flannel with palm trees on it, a white tee shirt,  and blue jean shorts." eddie began to blush just thinking about him.

"d-did you g-go and say hello?" bill stuttered out. eddie shrugged.

"well,  kind of.  he caught me staring and waved and i waved back and ran off."

stan snorted. " you're such a wuss ed." eddie rolled his eyes.

"am not! i just didn't know what to do, and don't call me that.  you know i hate it."

the boys walked into the woods and made their way to the barrens. they had stuff from their last trip already there.  eddie left a blanket because he didn't want to sit in the dirt. bill and stan left a couple packs of cigarettes and some lighters. 

"so l-lover boy," Bill started. "do you think he's gay?" he lit a cigarette and handed the lighter to stan. eddie shrugged.

"hopefully he is,  because you need someone else to focus your attention on after mike hanlon broke your heart." stan said.  eddie and mike had been flirting with each other all school year.  eddie developed feelings and asked him out,  to which mike replied by laughing and revealing that he'd just been toying with the poor boy. eddie didn't leave his house for a week using sickness as an excuse.

"we don't talk about that asshole." eddie said as he lit a cigarette.  he knew he shouldn't have been smoking but it calmed him down. he had so much havoc going on at home he had to find a way to cope. he knew of the consequences that came along with smoking a cancer stick,  but he didn't care. sometimes it felt good to break the rules.

"oh my god eddie, georgie caught me giving bill a blow last night. " stan exclaimed.  eddie bursted out laughing. 

"what did he do?" eddie asked once he could finally breathe.

"i t-told him to g-g-get out!" bill said. they continued to talk until they all realized they were hungry. 

"where should we eat?" stan asked.  bill shrugged.

"waffle house!" eddie suggested.  "their waffles are so good!" eddies mouth watered at the thought of the crisp golden waffles.

"well,w-waffle house it is!" bill exclaimed.

they arrived at waffle house and took a booth in the back.  bill and stan sat on one side and eddie on the other,  facing the door. his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when the door opened and he saw shiny curly brown hair,  brown beautiful eyes,  and adorable freckles.  it was the boy from down the street.

"guys!" he exclaimed,  interrupting stan and bill he were making out instead of looking at the menu. 

"there's the kid i was telling you about!" bill and stan both poked their heads out from the side of the booth.  stan turned back to eddie and jokingly fanned himself before turning back to look. after a few seconds they turned to look back at eddie.

"he's a l-looker." bill said. giving eddie a thumbs up. 

"we should invite him over to chat!" stan said.  eddie shook his head no,but it was too late.  stan had already began to flag him down. the kid noticed and began to walk over.  eddie felt his face heating up as he came closer.  the boy finally reached the table and stood there awkwardly.

"h-hey man!" bill said. the boy waved shyly.

"You just move here?"  stan asked. the boy nodded. 

"yeah,  me and my mom did.  we came from  new york." he looked at eddie and furrowed his eyebrows.

"hey don't i know you?" he asked. eddie nodded.

"yeah,  you moved down the street from me." he could tell that his face was bright red.  the boy smiled which caused eddie to melt.

"that's so cool! im richard,but everyone calls me richie." he said,  pointing to himself.

"well I'm eddie, that's stan and that's bill." he said pointing to the two. "we're what people at school call the loser's club."

"why do they call you that?" richie asked.  everyone shrugged.

"well you guys definitely aren't losers.  fuck whoever says that about you guys." eddie said.  everyone busting out laughing.  if richie was going to be around them all summer,  maybe it wouldn't be so bad.