Summer of '93 - Stozier

32

Almost a full hour later, Stanley was pacing in his room, muttering to himself.

"No no no no, this cannot be happening right now. I don't like Richie! Hes a boy! I don't like boys!" He whispered, almost as if he was trying to convince himself more than state a fact. "And- even if i did like him- which I don't!- He wouldn't like me back? Okay?! I mean he did kiss me- twice- Both on accident, right?! And-and he was kissing Eddie- they're like- probably dating- plus- hes like- my best friend-"

"Stanley?" His mothers voice spoke from the other side of the door, stopping Stan in his tracks. She knocked twice. "Who're you talking to in there?I can hear you whispering."

"Uh- N-no one, ma! Just- Reading aloud..?" Stan mentally slapped himself for the dumb excuse.

"Okay.." His mother said, sounding a little unconvinced "Well- get to bed, Its midnight."

Stan waited, listening to the sound of his mothers footsteps walking away from the door. He let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding in and walked over to sit down on his bed.

"I don't like Richie." He whispered firmly to himself, laying down with one hand under his head and the other on his stomach. "I do not like him. Hes- hes messy, unorganised, loud, ..funny, nice, pretty-" Stan shook his head and clamped his eyes shut. "I- I mean- Hes- reckless! And hes not funny! I mean- the same your mom jokes over and over again?- And hes a boy! I like girls. Just girls."

Looking back, that last statement was probably a lie. Sure, girls were..great! And Stan had definitely liked a few of the pretty girls in his class at one point- Fuck, he might've had a (very short lived) crush on Beverly at one point. And Stan had never really been good at showing his feelings to people, hence the eye rolls and snide comments, but he did remember almost every time he did roll his eyes at a certain persons comment, he'd also wanted to laugh or- maybeholdtheirhand?
He may have also had a small (also very short lived) crush on Mike during the summer of 89'.
Point being, maybe Stan didn't 'just like girls'.

Stans thoughts drifted from worrying about him liking boys (Richie, specifically) to worrying about The Bowers Issue. That's exactly what he was going to talk to Richie about when he saw him and Eddie- Stans stomach turned just thinking about it.

Maybe I should call him.. for The Bowers Issue- obviously.. He thought and sighed, turning his head to look at his telephone, which sat on his bedside table. He was already dialling the number before he could have any second thoughts. It rung twice before a cheery voice was speaking from the other end.

"Sup, this is Richie Tozier speaking."

Stan cleared his throat, ignoring the butterflies flapping around in his stomach. "Hi, Richie-"

"Oh! Hi Staaa..-" Richie trailed off, turning the name into a cough. "Hm? Its- no one, Eds. Shoo! Leave! Bye bye!"

"Eddies there?" Stan asked, trying to sound more surprised than disappointed. His real question was 'Eddies still there?'.

"Um- yeah, he was. He just left. Had an.. issue that needed.. dealing with.. Anyways- Whats up?"

"So- um- I need you to do me a favour." Stan said, now realising he didn't really have a plan.

"What can I do for ya, lad?" Richie asked in some sort of weird light scottish accent.

"Uhhh.." Stan thought for a moment, deciding on what he should do about The Bowers Issue. "Well- So- Henry and his gang are going uo to bangor tomorrow for a few hours, and I need you to get the losers to meet in one place.-"

"You're gonna tell them?" Richie asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yeah. Well- thats if Eddie doesn't start throwing rotten tomatoes at me the minute i enter." Stan joked, earning a laugh from Richie that made him blush. He really needed to get a grip on this stupid crush- Not that he had one, anyway!

"We could tie him to a chair, no big deal." Richie chuckled. "No, really, this is great! I might get to hang around with my bestie again!" He squealed, sounding like a teenage girl.

"Yeah.." Stan smiled.

"Wait- What about when Bowers comes back-"

"Im still thinking about that. I think Im gonna try and take the photos without him noticing." Stan furrowed his eyebrows in thought, trying not to ponder on what was on the photo for too long, feeling as if his stomach might burst with the amount of butterflies swimming around in there.

"Oh! Great! The losers can help!" Richie suggested.

"I- Uh- maybe? If they even forgive me in the first place." Stan let out a nervous chuckle.

"They will, Stanny! They'll understand. Eddie might hold a grudge but he'll get over it at some point." Stan could hear the smile on Richies face if that was even possible. "Also you should probably make apologising to Bill a top priority. Eds is pretty pissed about that."

"Right." Stan nodded, ignoring the pang of jealousy when Richie said 'Eds'.

•*•*•*•*•*•*•

By the time Stan got off of the phone, his face hurt from smiling and lauging, even more than it usually did when he spoke to Richie.

His hand hovered over the phone for a moment, his grin slowly fading to a small smile before he flopped back onto his pillow, staring up at the dark ceiling, smile fading completely.

"Fuck, maybe I do like Richie."