teenage dirtbag

VII: bill & stan

Bill arrived at school the next day, his feet were heavy and his back hurt for the awful night he had had. He could barely get any sleep, let alone do his homework or whatever he had to do for school for that day.

For the first time since Richie got his car, he didn't join the daily carpool to school. Bill knew that Stan will be there, and he didn't want to ruin his day from the very beginning. He got a chance to wear his headphones and to take out his tape deck, the portable one. He never got a chance to wear it since he was always with one of his friends, he never got two blocks away from his home alone, now that he thought about it.

It wasn't an easy morning for Stan either, he was sitting in Richie's car, hearing him and Beverly shouting the lyrics of Dancer.

"Ain't got no black coat, ain't got no tie!" Beverly sang.

"I gotta shape up now. Come on, baby! Youuuu gotta know WHYYYYY!" Richie mimicked Freddie's voice as well as he could. "COME ON STAN THE MAN, SING IT!"

Stanley didn't have enough energy to perform such a song, he was so, so tired, he even looked gloomy. Looking down all the way to school.

They picked up Eddie just after him, Stan was glad Richie will have something to distract himself from him. Maybe even Ms. Perfect Marsh will be too busy nosing into other people's lives to care about what was happening to Stan.

He knew that this wasn't Beverly's fault, she really had nothing to do with this except that she was just... A badass with a heart of gold. She was fucking great. Her firey hair, her blue eyes, her I don't give a fuck about idiots attitude, but her caring part that only came out when she was with them... Ugh. Of course Bill will like her.

"This  is easily their WORST song!" Eddie commented.

"You just say that because you are a fucking prude! You're the life and soul of the 'funk-tion', it took me ALL night!" Richie teased him.

Stan looked at them poking at each other, saying 'I hate you!', 'You don't!', with longing eyes. He never saw Richie acting like that, and he really wanted to be happy for him, but it was an awful day.

They all got to school almost at the same time as Bill. Stan couldn't get himself to say hi to him. Instead, he walked with Eddie, not saying a word to him either.

Bill was dying to at least wish him a good morning. To him, Stan was the best thing from school. He yearned for that good morning kiss, handshake, hug since he woke up.

But of course, Bill will respect Stan's need to stay away from him for that day. It was fine, some time alone will never kill him, he still had Richie, Ben, Mike, Bev, and now Eddie, it wasn't like Stan was the only person he could talk to...

But... He was the only person Bill wanted to talk to right now.

It hurt him deeply, of fucking course. His heart was swelling in his chest, he could feel how it was tearing apart a bit more every second.

"Bill..." Beverly started to walk slower, falling behind with Bill. "What's wrong? You are... Off today. Did something happen with your dad yesterday?" She asked very concerned about Bill's wellbeing.

"Yeah, just..." He couldn't come up with anything to say. "I want to be alone today, is that okay?" He asked, rubbing his forehead. He didn't mean to come up as defensive, but it was just not the moment for her to care so much now.

Lunch was so fucking awkward, not even Richie was joking like he usually did. Everyone was so silent. Eddie was so lost, but he managed to read the room quickly enough to not be mean with them... He knew Richie will explain it to him later.