[sunshine] // reddie (temporarily discontinued)

eleven

Eddie Kaspbrack was finally sixteen. Sure the sky was darkened and the ground was ice, but he was sixteen.

And the television said that every good thing happens to you at age sixteen.

He stepped into the school building and was immediately greeted by his best friend and a gift box. Ben shoved the box into his arms and led him to their lockers.

After a few years, Ben had started to grow into his weight. He was still big, but standing at a solid six foot, it was more of a stocky kind of big. People liked him now- for the most part, that is- and he had a good group of friends. But Eddie would always be his best.

"Okay, open it!" Ben grinned.

Eddie laughed and opened the box, his fingers shaking softly. It had been a while since someone other than his mother had gotten him a gift.

His jaw dropped when his eyes landed on the object inside; a leather-bound journal decorated with the constellations.

"So you can track the stars." Ben whispered, nervous about ruining the moment.

"It's beautiful!" Eddie replied in tears. He launched himself into Ben for a hug with so much force that he actually drove Ben backwards.

Ben laughed again and hugged the smaller boy back. Above them, the bell screeched. The boys separated and Ben left for his locker with a wave.

Eddie turned to his and spun the lock. He opened it, his focus on his new journal, and was drowned in paper as it spilled from inside.

He yelped and stepped backwards, slipping and falling. He laid on the floor surrounded by paper as people stepped around him.

Sitting up, he reached for the nearest piece and flipped it over. Scrawled on it in smudged black ink, was an intricate drawing of him bent over a workbook. He set it down and reached for another. This piece, he assumed, was some form of poetry.

You.
Your smile.
Your laugh.
The way you eat your food- nothing's allowed to touch.
The way you cover that beautiful smile when you laugh too hard,
And how your nose scrunches when you don't.
The way you rock that fanny pack.
I love the littlest things about you.

Eddie's fingers gripped it and blushed. Frantically, he gathered the pieces and searched them over. Drawings of him, poetry, love notes, his name scribbled in different fonts. The list of items went on and on.

If Eddie had been anyone else, in any other time, he would have thought this was creepy. But right now, being him, with his hands full of physical love, he forgot how to breath.

The bell yelled again, reminding him where he was. He stood up and shoved all the paper back into his locker. He slammed it shut and took off in the direction of his next class.

He slipped in through the door just in time for the last bell to ring, earning a quirked eyebrow from his teacher.

Eddie Kaspbrack was never late.

He sat in his seat exactly three above and one to the left of Richie Tozier. He knew this because he counted. Even after the years they hadn't spoke, his "crush" still remained. Ben told him once that if a crush lasted longer than three months or so then you were in love... But Eddie Kaspbrack refused to be in love. So he faced forward and ignored the boy behind him.

It was hard for anyone- even totally straight and not in love people- to ignore Richie.

First of all, the boy was actually built like a blow-up balloon man in front of the car dealers. Eddie was sure he could walk the entire length of the football field in one step. (Ben assured him that this was impossible.) Second, he never stopped existing- at least that's how Eddie described it to Ben through a mouth full of gluten-free cheese sandwich.

He was always talking. And if he wasn't talking then he was tapping or shaking his hands or bouncing his knee. Once Eddie had glanced over at him during clas, and caught him finger spelling. Granted, he had no clue what Richie was saying, but he was sure that that's what it was.

And then he had the thing with the music. No matter where he was, he had headphones on or around his neck. His music went everywhere with him, like a form of security.

Before he knew it, the bell had rung... Meaning, he had just spent an entire lecture thinking about Richie Tozier and his knack for existing.

He stood and bent to grab his textbook, which he had slid under his chair. When he stood, however, hot breath met the back of his neck. He shivered, completely prepared to get himself beat up by Henry Bowers. Instead, the heat of the figures precence shifted as they leaned forward.

"Happy birthday, Sunshine." The person whispered against his ear.

Eddie turned on his heel, hoping he could catch the person. Too late. The door shut behind them, leaving Eddie alone in the room.

But he didn't need to see them to know who it was. He didn't need a confession to recognize the line work in his locker. He didn't need a degree to put two and two together and solve the case.

Right there, alone in the classroom, Eddie paced back and fourth, his autumn skin alight with literal fire. He paused and shuffled through his fanny pack for his inhaler. The trigger clicked and relived him of his panic. And then he burst into giggles. Schoolgirl laughed filled his lungs. His heart beat at a dangerously high rate and all he could think about was telling Ben at lunch.

Richie Tozier knows my birthday.

***

Hey there,
Sorry for the wait on the update! I lost inspiration to write and had no clue where this would be going. But after that long break, I am proud to announce that I actually have a plot to this! So, if you're enjoying it so far, stick around. It's not over yet.
Cricket