lisp [e. kaspbrak]

thirteen

start song— born to run by american authors

richie walked next to eddie. school had just gotten out, and they were headed to the river. they were meeting everyone else there. richie watched as his friend toy with the lock that hung around his neck. his brown eyes seemed distracted. not all there.

"whatcha thinking about?" richie spoke, lightly nudging eddie as they walked.

"nothing," the younger boy sighed. richie rolled his eyes.

"cut the shit eddie, you haven't been acting the same lately,"

"kole is avoiding me," eddie murmured, keeping his head down. richie's playful smile fell from his lips. he scrunched his brows up. he had just talked to kole. then he remembered the note.

"she's not avoiding you eds."

"yeah she is richie. we used to hang out everyday after school. now she isn't even talking to me. is it because we aren't art partners anymore— i bet it is!" eddie rambled out, stress lingering his words. his fingers crawled up to his hair, letting the chain go.

"eddie listen to me, she isn't avoiding you. she isn't going to stop being your friend. maybe she just needed space," richie tried his best to explain. trying to not spoil the secret he knew.  eddie stayed quiet, not looking up from the ground. richie sighed. he didn't know what else to say. "eds I promise you that—"

eddie stopped walking, his gaze fixated on something in the distance. richie looked at him, and tried to see what his friend was looking at.

"what?"

"that's koles bag and skateboard," eddie pointed towards a black fence. richie shrugged.

"maybe she climbed the fence and is exploring."

"no— she would only leave her board if she was in trouble. richie she's in trouble," eddie mumbled, running towards the fence. leaving richie behind.

"eds! eddie!" richie ran after him. soon meeting up with him by the fence. eddie was peering through the fence, his fingers sticking through it. he could see far out in the distance what seemed like a group of boys.

eddie frowned, before looking around him. and he found what he was looking for. henry bowers car. parked close by. eddies eyes widened, as he dropped his back pack. he started to climb the fence.

"eddie what are you doing?" richie asked slightly scared. the blue camaro had also filled his sight.

"she's in trouble rich," was all eddie said before hopping the rest of the way over the fence. richie protested, trying to grab the boys ankles.

"eddie you can't-"

"richie i love her! i have to," eddie yelled, the confession rolling off of his tongue. "let me do this."

eddie took off running through the dead grass. toward the group of boys.