mixtape (reddie)

Chapter 45

The next Monday, Richie is a little more quiet when getting ready for school. He doesn't laugh at Bill's jokes, nor does he comment on the music that Mr. Denbrough plays as he drives the two boys. Beverly had some sort of emergency that morning that resulted in her being unable to pick the two up, so they just left twenty minutes early with Zack on his morning commute to work. Bill didn't particularly notice Richie's silence, but then again, everyone was quiet that day. The storms they faced over the weekend have yet to subside, creating a gloomy atmosphere before the town clock can even strike eight a.m.

Richie heads to his locker quickly, desperate to get away from Bill so that the old leader doesn't pry into what's bothering the old trashmouth. When Richie pulls the door open, he watches a loose note flutter to the ground like a leaf falling from a tree in the late autumn. Richie glances at his surroundings around him, looking to see if anybody's waiting for his reaction. His second week, an empty locker, and he's already got notes? Who would have the ability to find his locker so quickly?

Beverly Marsh would, apparently. The note reads in her big, swirling handwriting, complete with doodles of flowers:

Meet me in the library b4 class :)

He lets out a shaky breath, but he wouldn't mind finding solace in the library. In fact, a quiet place lacking teenagers sounds exactly like what he needs. So, he takes the route he knows by heart to his private safe haven, hoping to find his lonely table still hidden in the books of seclusion.

His lonely table is not there. Not there at all.

Eddie Kaspbrak is there, however, and his face hardens the second the library doors swing open and he sees who is entering.

Richie flinches away, considering stepping backwards and just waiting outside for the girl. He turns on his heel, but then he makes eye contact with the librarian and feels guilted. Richie takes slow steps into the library, trying to find a table as far away from Eddie but still visible to Bev. The little one's face doesn't move away from Richie as he crosses the library, he just stares with the same intensity as always.

Richie sits, patting his hand on his leg over and over in a smoothing manner. He read in school once that neglected, anxious individuals will nurture themselves to provide some of the comfort they were never raised with, and it has caused Richie to despise himself any time he catches himself going through the motions.

A paper is thrown on the table, the same vanilla colored sheet that was folded into Richie's locker. When Richie looks upwards, he sees Eddie Kaspbrak standing in front of him. The table between them used to be too much distance, and now it doesn't seem like enough. The older one's eyes see those autumn trees inside Richie, the ones with pirouetting leaves falling all around him, and those bright brown eyes set that forest ablaze. The fire inside Eddie never extinguished, its only grown and spread. Richie is the kindling that Eddie needed to burn.

"I should've known," Eddie scoffs. His voice is different, it's not as squeaky as it used to be. In no way is it smooth, but it's less girlish than how Richie would hear it in his dreams. "She never wants to see me. Not for years. I should have known this was a setup when she stood me up in the gym yesterday."

Richie quietly glances back down at the paper, reading the words that Beverly wrote as neat as the letter he also received. Nearly the same letter, just addressed to Eddie instead of Richie.

"I didn't-" Richie begins to say, his voice as soft as always.

He looks at Eddie, only to find the other one looking a little surprised. Richie coughs in embarrassment, attempting to clear his throat so he may say with a bit more confidence "I didn't write this to you."