5555 reddie (Completed)

The end!!

hii just wanted to say, good luck folks ;)

continuation of the story:

There is a group of five teenagers his age posing with Goofy, and the sight makes Richie crack a smile. They are doing a group pose; some ridiculous arrangement must have been explained previously. He watches the group and looks at each of them. They all are different in height and style, but they each wear a rambunctious smile. There is one girl, with short curly red hair. She's awfully pretty. And her arm is swung around a taller boy who is a little chubby. He's got short light brown hair that swoops across his forehead in an interesting fashion. The three others are crouching on the ground near Goofy, gesturing up at the costumed dog in a hilarious way, as if they can't believe it's the Goofy. The boy on the right has a mop of tight brown curls atop his head, the boy in the middle has straight auburn hair that is slicked back gorgeously, and the last boy has dark skin and cute short black hair. The last boy's smile seems to shine brightest.

The group finishes their photo with a howl of laughter. They speak to Goofy briefly before breaking away, yet Richie still cannot bring himself to tear his eyes from them. These teenagers seem like a group of kids Richie would spend time with in school, had he not been an outcast at Derry High. He wonders what their names are, and if they're locals, or if they're traveling far like himself. He supposes he must look too long, because the girl meets his eyes and flashes him a charming grin, a grin that says caught ya looking.

The girl turns to her friends and says a few words before she toddles over to Richie. As his eyes widen, he wonders if it is too late to act as though he hasn't been studying these teenagers for the past few minutes, if it is too late to walk away like nothing happened. And it is, because the girl puts her hand on his elbow and stares up at him. Richie towers over her and cannot do anything but smile back at her, because while she is behaving strangely, she is also being polite.

"Hey," she says. "Couldn't help but notice you checking out me and my friends over there."

It is in this moment Richie realizes he has only been speaking to Eddie (himself?) for the past year, and he thinks he must have forgotten how to speak with other people. Panicking, he thinks quick, say something fun so she won't go away, so she won't go back to her friends without introducing you first.

"What can I say?" Richie says. "Goofy kicks ass. I'm jealous of that picture, is all." And the girl parts her lips, and she is laughing. He's making the girl laugh, and he feels a spark of happiness in his gut.

"Goofy does kick ass," the girl agrees, humming. "Well, does this number one Goofy fan have a name?"

"Richie," he says. "What's your name?"

"I'm Beverly." Beverly turns away from Richie then, and for a split second, Richie thinks maybe he's bored her, and she will return to her friends. But to his surprise, she waves her friends over. The rest of the group approaches with wide smiles, eyes locked on Richie. "Guys, this is Richie." They each introduce themselves, and they're so nice. There is Stanley with the curls, Bill with the soft eyes, Mike with the pearly smile, Ben with the reserved grin. And this is the best Richie has felt in a long time. While these people are strangers, he believes they will not always be.

"What're you doing in Disney by yourself?" Mike asks, and there is the question Richie had not realized he had been dreading. He doesn't know what to say. His hands clench into fists at his sides, and his throat is tight, jaw clenched. What do I say to that? What do I say?

"You came alone?" Beverly echoes.

"Nah," he says, and he thinks of Eddie and the angel number 5555. He thinks of the experiences to come with these new friends, about the impact they are sure to have on his life. He hopes to stick around them for a long time, and he thinks they wouldn't mind, because though they only just met, there is something about this group that makes Richie feel more at home than he has felt in a full year. Perhaps Richie is not okay, like he so often tries to convince himself, but he has faith that one day he will be. And so he manages a smile. "I came with a friend... but he had to go."