Act VI

Beachboy  |  McCafferty

"Okay," Stan drops his hands onto the table, settling into his side of the booth. "What do we remember from last night?".

Richie and Beverly sit casually on the opposite side of the booth, Richie playing with his fingers idly as Bev waves her arm to call out to a waitress.

After getting their bikes back earlier, they decided on the diner to eat at for the perfect variety of choices. Breakfast, or lunch. Or both. It was the one closest to the school, and unsurprisingly closest to Stan's house too.

Richie hums, "Well-"

"Aside from you know what," Stan glares.

Beverly snorts. Richie rolls his eyes, "Well, I don't remember that much to be honest. I remember getting there, of course, and then like, immediately getting high" he chuckles.

Stan looked to the ceiling, seeming trying hard to remember anything more from last night.

"I think I was a little high at first, and then Bill followed me around for a long time till he said he was gonna play that stupid drinking game" Stan said. His expression seemed deviously blank at the mention of Bill, and Richie felt bad.

"Eddie and I were jamming out in the living room for a long time," Richie chimes, changing the subject. "It was somewhere around there that I blacked out, I don't remember much from after that" he chuckled, shrugging sheepishly. It's only partly embarrassing, the forgetting part, because Richie tends to pride himself in remembering certain things (while sober, of course).

But the worst part about it was that he wasn't lying.

Not that he usually lies during their memory sessions together. It's almost always spot on (or at least he thinks it is) and he just never really has secrets. He's only ever lied a few times, specifically on times when either Beverly or Stan may have embarrassed themselves and forgot, or when he himself does something idiotic, remembers, and refuses to tell either of them.

"Beverly?" Stan perked, and both boys turned to her. She bit her lip and though for a second.

"All I really remember was sitting around with Ben the whole time," she shrugs with a frown.

"Holy shit, last night was the most anticlimactic thing ever" Richie sighs loudly, slumping into his chair with defeat.

"Well, you know, aside from that" Beverly notes, and Richie elbows her under the table playfully.

Then a waitress strolls over and asks for their order. Stan orders a vanilla milkshake, odd choice as a first meal of the day. Beverly politely declines anything at all, and when Richies turn comes up, he's struggling to make a decision.

"Bev, what's that thing that takes away hangovers?" Richie whispers over to her. The waitress sighs impatiently, and Stan gives her a visibly annoyed smile in response.

"Um water?" she retorts with a giggle, and Richie nods with a small 'ah'.

"I'll take a water, and... do you guys serve tater tots here?" when the lady nodded slowly, hesitant with confusion, Richie smiled cheekily in the charming way he does and she walks away.

When she's finally out of earshot, "What the actual fuck was that" Stan says, a hand over his mouth, probably stifling a laugh.

"What? I want some fucking tots!" Richie argued, although a smile was plastered onto his face.

"No, I agree Rich, you are insane. That- that's such a weird order-, dude, why?" Beverly nodded with Stan, and everyone laughed.

"Oh yeah, so we're just gonna ignore that Beverly is eating air this morning, and that Stan ordered a fucking milkshake for breakfast. And I'm the weird one."

Beverly: Yes! You weirdo, I haven't had tater tots since like, the second grade.

Richie: Hey hey hey, I didn't say I was sharing.

"Fuck you", Beverly giggled, punching him on the shoulder.

And so they had breakfast. Or at least their modified version of it. And continued talking about random things, avoiding the subject of their old friend Bill. At some times, they'd try to remember some more from the party that wasn't that part.

There was something missing though, he knew that well enough. There was some kind of crucial piece that he couldn't quite put his finger on from last night. One that keeps screaming important important! in his brain. It's frustrating to say the least, because he's never really felt so determined to remember such a night as this one.

Just then, as he pops a tater tot in his mouth, a rushing wave of déjà vu hits him. Uh, when has this happened before?

A flash of someones giggle perks into his mind, and a sudden memory of spaghetti-sauce stained lips smirking at him cuts in. And oh, it was Eddie, of course. They'd gone to this exact same diner, and the booth they sat at was merely a few feet away as Richie stared it down. He smiled. It was Eddie, of course.

Well, nevermind that, let's get back to the important stuff. What was he forgetting from last night?

___

The weekend passed by in a rush of haziness, Richie was rarely home at all. The trio spent the majority of their Saturday and Sunday at Stan's house, kicking back and watching their marathon of Back To The Future movies (along with a little Breakfast Club, of course).

When Monday rolled around, they dreaded going back to school. Mostly because they weren't exactly sure how it ought to work without their daily schedule made up of the rest of the Losers, assuming things weren't going back to the way they once were.

The three settled on arriving to school much later, and hanging by Richie's locker until the bell rung. It'd be weird for them to show up to the library or anything like that.

First period was a drag for Richie, as usual. And for a minute it almost flew over his head that he'd actually have to see Eddie for second period today. Like every other day. But surely the previous events of the party hadn't tainted their friendship at all, right?

Wrong, Richie thought to himself with a grimace, staring Eddie down from tables away, who was laughing and chatting with Myra and Invidia.

When Richie had gotten to second period, he awaited the arrival of the Kaspbrak boy, eager to get his input on a certain line he needed to deliver in an upcoming scene. How foolish of him to think that Eddie and him wouldn't be affected by this unfortunate detour for the Losers club.

He clicked at his pen over and over, almost too aggressively, as he watched Eddie simply chat (and probably even gossip like they always do) with the stupid girls that he hates (and specifically the one girl that he hates more than anything else ever).

Okay, it's official. Eddie may as well have been plotting Richies downfall with Myra from the getgo.

He'd almost forgotten about that little theory of his from before. After a bit of thinking (by a bit, that meant an entire nights worth), he came to the conclusion that it just couldn't be possible. Eddie and Myra are two completely different people! Sure they're both just as feisty and short as one another, and have at some point hated Richie with a passion, but that doesn't mean shit. It doesn't!

...

Okay maybe it does, but still, Richie had analyzed everything and nothing could point to proving his insane theory. And that relieved him more than ever.

All that relief left him entirely at the sight of Eddie fitting in so well with the girls. Sure, the theory was wrong, but there's still every reason for Myra to be currently manipulating Eddie into fucking Richie up even more. I mean, what is it with her and finding everything that ticks him off? First it was Eddie, then- well... Eddie!

Or maybe he's overthinking things again. That's more likely than anything he's thought at all today. Maybe he just needs to chill out and fix the more apparent issue at hand.

The empty seat beside him radiated cold air today. Lonely air. When Eddie arrived, he just up and zipped past Richie and his previous seat, being easily welcomed by Myra and her female goons.

But Richie is stubborn, the last thing he would do is just go up and ask him about it. Hell no. He needed to get his attention somehow...? Make him jealous.

Well shit, that ought to be the best fucking idea Richie has had in years.

But... uh, how exactly would he do that? Richie is not exactly one to make people jealous. But it's fine. Two can play at that game, right? He just needs the right tactic, the right... person.

The door suddenly bursts open, and it's as if the gods have answered his prayers. A miracle. A goddamn miracle of some kind, and the universe has decided to be nice today, because Connor walks through the door.

Him and a few other people stumble through the black box door, and he's holding a big chair. The others are holding different types of things, and quickly, the director scurries over and thanks them.

"Some of our first set pieces came in!" the director announced with celebratory tone, and a few students cheer jokingly in the midst of their rehearsing.

Oh. So Connor is in woodshop, huh?

Richie watches, stunned and still not able to believe his luck, as Connor and the students set down the furniture pieces for the show by the teachers desk. This seriously is having Richie question if fate is real. Destiny? It's just too obvious. Or maybe that's also reading into things, and actually just pure luck and insane thinking.

Before Richie runs out of time and Connor leaves, he has to find a way to approach without being weird. Oh god, that's one of Richies definitive weaknesses. Not being weird? Fuck.

One of the woodshop kids is giving the director something to sign, and this is his moment. He has to do it now.

Quickly, before Richie can stop himself, in a rush of necessity, he whispers Connors name. He has to do it at least three different times until Connor actually hears it, and with a confused, raised eyebrow, he rushes over to Richies table.

"Uh hey," Connor smiles, laughing a bit at Richies hurried manner.

"Hey Connor, what's up?" Richie leans his head into the palm of his hand, smiling in that charming way of his.

"Not much. I didn't realize you were in this theatre period" he says, and Richie responds with an 'ah' and a shrug.

"Anyway, what is it that you needed?" Connor asks, unsure. Uhh.

Oh god. Think. Think. Think, you idiot.

Abruptly, Richie coughs into his fist, loud, and subtly glances Eddies way. He does it again, then looks back up to Connor, who's confused as ever.

"Do you have an, uh," Richie quickly glances somewhere, fake confusion on his face, causing Connor to look the same way, and allowing him to throw the pencil that rested on his ear across the room by the time he looks back.

"Ow!" he hears Jason exclaim from afar.

"Do you have a pencil I could use?" Richie asks politely, then feeling oh so guilty when Connor actually scrambles around to find one for him.

"Sure yeah, here!" he says when he finally finds one on a desk nearby. Richie thanks him gratefully, and soon Connor is called back to his classmates from woodshop.

Richie sighs in relief once he's out the door. That was a shitshow.

Just as Richie thinks he's lost all hope, and that it was a horrible idea from the start, his breath nearly gets caught in his throat at the figure in the corner of his eye looking at him.

He doesn't look back, and has to hide his growing grin by going back to working on his script. Well, mission successful, Edward Kaspbrak. Two can play at that game.

The remaining classes till lunchtime fly by in no time, and soon, Richie finds himself in the lunch line, gazing out into the cafeteria in search of his friends.

When he finally gets his tray, he spots Stan and Beverly at their table. He rushes over to them quickly.

"I think they're shunning us" Richie overhears Beverly saying with a full mouth as he sits down. She's turned over in her chair, watching a different table from afar.

Confused, Richie looks the same way and finds the familiar bright sight of Eddies hair. Except it's facing away from them, and so is Bill's, and Ben's.

A crashing wave of déjà vu hits him, and suddenly it's early November again, and he spots Eddies blonded head of hair for the very first time.

"Yes, Beverly, and that's what we're supposed to be doing too" Stan says stubbornly, huffing. That's when Richie notices that Stan has been sitting there, food untouched and rigid as ever, refusing to look in the direction of the table.

Beverly scoffs and turns around finally. "That's pretty petty of them to all have to look away from us" she says, clicking her tongue before going back to her food.

"That's literally what shunning means" Stan says, turning to her. "Also, what the fuck does petty even mean?".

"You know, when someone is being childish or... yeah, immature. Petty" she repeats, shrugging and moving around her broccoli with a grimace.

Stan nods, "Oh, well then I agree" he says, and Richie laughs. He takes out his thin binder of English work, and flips Stan off when given a funny look. What? Theatre has made him fall slightly behind on work recently.

And so the three of them sit in the table that used to be seven, and go about their lunchtime.

It's not like this was unexpected, Richie knew things wouldn't be the same. But still, he felt the extreme off-ness in the air due to the lack of presence of the rest of the Losers Club. Where was Mike anyways?

Things felt weird, and he knew that they felt it too.

"I dunno, all I'm saying is I think you guys are over-exaggerating a bit, don't you think?" Beverly says.

Stan abruptly drops his spoon and fully turns to her. "Beverly, here's thing," he places his hands on both her shoulders.

"Bill and I have been arguing all fucking month," he reminds her, staring deep into her eyes for dramatic effect.

"I'm... I'm glad he's gone" he says with an affirmative nod, though Richie could still sense the hesitation in his tone.

Beverly rolls her eyes, "I can bet that Bill is probably acting-"

"-the exact same way" Ben shrugs timidly, sighing in defeat at the way Bill glares at him.

"Don't say his name," Bill tells them in a nagging manner. "Besides, the difference is that you can't blame me for acting the way I am. He started it".

Eddie chuckles from beside him. "You sound like an actual 4 year old" he states with a shake of his head. Bill scoffs.

"Don't pretend like you didn't act the exact same way with whatever dumb feud you and Tozier had before" Bill reminds him.

Eddie scoffs, "It wasn't a feud, and it was only because he was being an annoying dickhead at first." He rolls his eyes with a smile at the reminder of Richie.

"I rest my case" Bill gestures with his hands.

"At first?" Ben comments, giggling.

"Oh shut up," Eddie laughs.

"You were the one who told me not to talk to him anymore in the first place, now tell me to my face that that isn't childish as fuck" Eddie retorts, elbowing Bill in the side and causing him to let out a giggle.

"He's on the enemy's side! What more is there to say!" he responds, shaking his head.

"Whatever, I only agreed because I'm a good friend" Eddie points out.

He'd only really felt a tad bit guilty at first when Bill told him that Richie was technically evil now (to them, at least) and that he forbade Eddie from seeing him ever again.

It was fairly easy to agree to such a thing, considering Eddie was still a bit angry that Richie had left a drunk, forgetful Eddie at the party on his own. After the argument, it took Bill and Ben about 10-15 minutes to find Eddie at last, sprawled out on a bed, sound asleep upstairs.

Although, Eddie had to admit that it became more difficult to keep it up today when he was met with a sad puppy dog face as Richie noticed they weren't sitting side by side anymore. Then again, it felt good to see him give the death glares toward him and Myra at the same time.

Generally, messing with Richie is a fun thing to do for Eddie. He'd found that out the very day that they first met. Whether it was teasing the hell out of him one second, or provoking him for absolutely no reason the next.

Richie really is the most dramatic person on Earth, so evidently, it tends to get a kick out of you.

"Hey, who knows, maybe Stan told him to do the same with you" Bill says. Eddie doesn't respond.

"It's a possibility, that's all. The unspoken one telling your boy toy to-"

"-stop talking to you" Stan shrugs idly, watching how Richie gasps loudly and looks at him as though he's been deeply betrayed.

"What!? No, Bill would never do that" Richie shakes his head. "Telling Eddie to ignore me is just childish!" he says.

"I. Rest. My. Case! Petty!" Beverly comments in a sing-songy tone, and both Richie and Stan roll their eyes.

When no one says anything else, Beverly huffs. "Look, we've all been childish. But this needs to end soon, or else" she warned.

Stan scoffed. "Or else what?". Beverly shrugged, and the three of them laughed it off.

But Beverly was right. The entire Losers club was being childish and immature, and although it was understandable to be mad at one another at this time, they didn't realize that they'd soon be dragging this out for much longer than expected. Bad things were coming for the Losers Club, and it was simply too late by now to be warned at all.

"Tell me, was Eddie acting a bit off today in class or what" Stan asks.

Richie opens his mouth, seemingly about to protest, until he thinks a second longer and frowns.

"Sorry Rich, but I rest MY case" he retorts, merely receiving a middle finger to the face as Richie returns his full attention to his schoolwork.

After a few more minutes of Beverly and Stan bickering some more, the bell rings.

Richie curses under his breath as he scrambles to stuff the contents of his backpack inside again. Stan and Beverly say their goodbyes and disappear into the crowd of teens filtering out of the cafeteria.

As the last of the students leave the lunchroom, Richie suddenly senses someone coming up behind him. Before he can even react, that someone is sliding a note onto the table toward Richie, before quickly skipping away and out of sight.

Just before the someone disappears around the corner, Richie knowingly gets the glimpse of blond hair from a distance.

He finally gets his backpack zipped and thrown onto his shoulder , and he really can't help himself, can he?

He snatches the note from the table, making a loud smacking sound in the silence of the room, and opens it up.

Suspense.

His eyes squint behind his large lenses to be able to see the adorable handwriting.

298, Old Cherry Road

12:00, loser

His breath caught in his throat.

298, Old Cherry Road

12:00, loser.

Hope you liked this! Not much happened this chapter,, but I'm excited for whats to come next!! =))) love you all!

- author

p.s. and yeah, the end of this chap was based on cmbyn ;)