golden boy : stozier

eleven

stanley's ears were ringing, like someone was talking about him. for the first time, he wasn't sure he minded. instead, he was focused on thinking about how long richie's eyelashes were. he could see them particularly clearly this close, looking through the side of his glasses.

the two of them were sitting against the back of a shed in the school field. richie had a cigarette in his hand, blowing smoke out of his lips in the heat of the sun. stanley was sitting next to him, outstretching his legs. he was pretending like his parents wouldn't be getting a call about him missing class. it was something he'd never done, but he couldn't refuse richie when he asked.

he couldn't say he enjoyed the smell of cigarette smoke, but after spending an inordinate amount of time with richie, he'd come around to it. he was fascinated with watching richie put the cigarette up to his lips so gently.

he squinted as richie inhaled once more. richie glanced at him, but only briefly. stanley let his gaze flicker up to richie's eyes.

"whaddya want?" richie said, an overexaggerated voice he always used to make stanley roll his eyes. this time, though, stanley kept looking on.

"can i try one?" stanley drummed his fingers by his side. it was richie's turn to squint, his eyebrows furrowing. at first, richie seemed to be willing to hold his cigarette out to stanley, only to retract it.

instead, he placed the cig between his teeth as he dug into his pocket to grab a second. for some reason stanley couldn't discern he was a little upset that richie hadn't just shared his.

nevertheless, he waited for richie to hand the lighter, but richie shook his head, "just put it in your mouth, trust me," and stanley did. with the cig between his lips, he watched as richie leaned in to light stanley's with the cherry of his own cigarette.

this makes up for it, stanley thought. he wasn't really sure what he meant. he stared right into richie's eyes, and he was focused on the speck of gold in richie's eyes. any closer and he would've hit richie's glasses.

stanley forgot entirely about inhaling and richie had to nudge him in the side with his hand. stanley took a shaky inhale and cringed at the taste, richie backing away as stanley coughed through the cigarette.

he lifted the cig out of his mouth and spat on the ground, richie smoothing his hand over stanley's back.

"that used to happen to me too. anyway, take it as a lesson. tastes like shit, right? almost like it's trying to keep you from smoking." richie said, taking the cigarette out of stanley's hands. "y'know, they say it tastes worse half smoked, and that may be true, but it's never stopped me."

richie put the barely smoked cigarette out and then back into his box, stanley thinking about richie smoking it tomorrow. his chest felt warm at the idea of richie seeing the cigarette and thinking of him.

"yeah, i think i'm good. thanks for letting me try, though." stanley fumbled with his fingers, not sure where to put them. richie pushed his glasses up his face with the palm of his hand and nodded.

richie scratched at his neck, pushing his hair out of the way. stanley noticed the entire left side of his neck was bright red, like there was a rash. he said nothing, though, as he looked the other way. it felt too intimate to be looking at richie's neck.

"what are you going to tell your folks?" richie suddenly asked, stanley turning his head back to him. "about not going to class," richie explained as he blew smoke. stanley waved the smoke away from him and richie laughed, "sorry."

"uh, some bullshit about studying with... i don't know, ben, or something." stanley shrugged, looking up to the sky. he could see his mother seething, but his ears were ringing hard enough to block it out.

"the perfect golden boy, even when he's skipping class he's doing homework," richie ran a hand through his hair. stanley tried to ignore how warm his face was.

"shut up." stanley replied simply. richie couldn't wipe the dumb smile off his face.

"never." richie began to scratch his neck again, "ss-ow! fuck." he clasped his hand over his neck, the red patch brighter than ever.

"what happened to your neck?" stanley bit the bullet, his head against the fence. richie chuckled nervously. he took the cigarette out of his mouth and held it near the ground.

richie glanced at his cig before speaking, almost guiltily, "uh, i went to this party with bill, and there was this girl... her lipstick gave me a rash, i think." richie kept scratching at his neck, stanley swatting at richie's hand.

stanley gulped. he couldn't imagine richie flirting with someone, let alone making out with a girl at some random party. the very idea felt foreign to stanley. he wondered where richie had put his hands while kissing her. he wondered what she looked like.

"do you... do that often?" stanley could feel the look on richie's face without looking up, and he decided it would be best to look away. he was allowed to leave things awkward, right? when he did look up at richie, he could've sworn richie was almost smiling.

"well, not really if i'm honest. i don't have a rash on my dick if that's what you're asking," richie couldn't help the grin growing on his face, and he elbowed stanley as he leaned into the fence. stanley groaned.

"that is clearly not what i meant, fuck off." stanley stared down at the ground, feeling richie's shoulder touch his own. he glanced back up at richie, unable to stop imagining him kissing someone, unable to stop wondering where he put his stupid, stupid hands.

stanley gulped, looking back downwards.