Just friends // Reddie

21

School went by quick without having to worry about Bowers trying to do something. Richie somehow managed to be civil with Carter at lunch, which eddie thanked him for once the lunch hour was over. He was just glad he finally gets to talk to Mike about the letter he got this morning.

Normally, he would have told eddie and the other losers first thing when he got to school. But they weren't that close anymore. He couldn't help but think it was his fault. If he didn't have feelings for eddie, all of them would still be close and he wouldn't have a problem with Carter.

But he wasn't going to think about that now, right now he was getting in Mikes truck.

"You'll never believe what fucking happened today Mikey." He said before Mike could even say a hello.

Mike raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Well first off, happy birthday Richie, second what happened?" He asked as he started driving.

Richie smiled and nodded towards his friend as a thank you. "Well a lot happened actually. Bowers is in jail apparently for some sort of drug use-" that news has spread like wildfire already throughout the school and probably the town. "I managed to have a decent conversation with Carter at lunch, eddie kissed my cheek this morning! And and get this, my mom thinks I'm dead." He said and sighed softly.

Mikes eyes widened slightly and nodded slowly as he listened to his friend. "Wait wait wait- what?" That was a lot of stuff to take in all at once. "That's good you were nice with Carter, uh Bowers had it coming- eddie kissed you? Your mom... what?"

Richie bit his lip and looked out the window. "Eddie told me happy birthday and kissed my cheek before he walked off to class." He said and played with his fingers. "I know it was just a friendly kiss but he still kissed me." He mumbled and sighed.

Mike nodded slowly and stayed quiet. He didn't want to upset Richie with saying the wrong thing, but luckily he moved on quickly.

"Anyways, you know how I always get a letter from my grandma every year for my birthday? Well apparently the letters have been from my mom. I guess I just assumed it was my grandma because she always signed it M. Bell. Maybe it's her middle name or her maiden name I don't know." He said, ending with a sigh.

Mike pulled into his driveway and parked the car before turning to his friend. "How do you know she thinks you're dead?" He asked softly.

Richie dug through his bag before handing Mike the letter he got this morning. Mike red the letter and looked at Richie. "Okay I get it now." He handed the letter back and sighed. "But why does she think you're dead?"

Richie shrugged a little and carefully put the letter back in his bag before getting out of the truck. "I don't know. But I'm calling the number at the bottom. Can I use your phone? I don't wanna risk it at my place." He said and sighed.

Mike got out as well and nodded as he walked inside his house. "Yeah of course. Go right ahead, I'll make some cocoa." He said and pointed to the phone that was in the living room before disappearing in the kitchen.

Richie nodded and let out a sigh. He walked into the living room and set his bag on the couch before standing in front of the phone. He bit his lip nervously as he dialed the number he had memorized from the card.

He had thought about all day what he would say if someone answered the phone. He found the whole situation weird. How could his own mother think he was dead? It didn't make any sense to him.

He held the receiver to his ear and played with the cord as a distraction as he listened to the ringing. After about three rings, a lady answered the phone.

"Hello?" The voice asked softly.

Richie didn't say anything.

"Hello?" The voice asked again.

Richie hung up quickly.

He groaned and rubbed his face. Why did he just do that? He had every word planned out. He just needed to breathe. He paced around the room, running a hand through his hair as he pulled himself together.

Richie picked the phone up and dialed the number again. It only rang twice before the same lady answered.

"Hello? This is Maggie speaking, who is this?"

"Hi- uh Maggie, my names Richie Tozier and I believe I am your son." He said softly, his eyes closed as if I case something went wrong he could pretend it wasn't real.

The other side of the phone became quiet, quiet enough Richie thought the woman hung up. But he knew she hadn't because he would've heard the dial tone and then static.

"I think you think I'm dead. I don't exactly know the whole story but my uhm dads name is Wentworth Tozier. I've been getting the letters you've sent every year. I always thought you were a grandparent I never met but then the one today-" he was cut off.

"Wait wait wait. Slow down." The lady whispered. "I- my son died. You can't..." she trailed off.

Richie knew there was a lot going through the women's head but he didn't know what to say to calm her. He hadn't thought about this.

"How do you think your son died?" He asked softly, biting his lip as he awaited her answer.

"My son died an hour after I gave birth to him."

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whaaAt
this is crAzy

Also classes started up for me again and my one professor is deciding to be a bitch and assign over 100 pages of reading for every class :)))) so I'll probably updated every two weeks (hopefully)