hard times// eddie + richie // IT

trick or treat?

"let's get spooky!" richie cheered from the hallway. i pulled the last of my costume over my head and looked in the mirror. richie opened the door, causing me to turn around abruptly.
"i could've been naked!" i shouted. a mischievous grin crossed richie's face.
"i wouldn't have minded," he teased, smirking. i rolled my eyes.
"i look stupid," i stated. richie gasped.
"we are peanut butter and jelly! best sandwich ever!" he exclaimed. i sighed.
"i don't know, don't you think we're a little old for trick-or-treating?" i asked him.
"your mom never let you though! you missed every halloween! this is making up for it!" richie begged, giving me puppy eyes in the process.
"i'm coming, okay?" i assured him. he smiled and turned to run to the kitchen. i admired my bulky jelly costume in the mirror before following richie. when i reached him, richie threw a pillowcase to me.
"for your loot," he explained. he waved me over to the kitchen table, where he was leaning over a piece of paper.
"this is a map of derry. all the houses with red circles around them give out king size bars. stay away from the house with the blue circles." richie shuddered.
"the blue houses give our raisins."

richie and i arrived at the first red house, just as the sun was starting to set. i knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, a young man answered the door.
"trick or treat!" richie and i chanted in unison. the man smiled and gave us two king sized hershey bars.
"score!" i cheered. richie grinned mischievously.
"notice how there's only four red houses," he showed me. i nodded.
"that means there's gonna have to be more than one richie and one eddie," richie explained. i gave him a confused look. he pushed me around a corner, and then revealed a large pocket in his peanut butter jar costume. inside the pocket, there were multiple costumes.
"we're gonna go to the same houses in different costumes?" i asked him. richie nodded.
"i've done it every year." so, with that, we found a bathroom and changed into our new costumes. richie came out dressed as a vampire, and i was a ghost.
"spooky," richie stated. i laughed. we went back to the same house we started at.
"make sure to change your voice a little," richie whispered, right before the door opened.
"trick or treat!" richie and i cheered, in slightly different voices. the same man smiled and gave ya two king sized butterfingers. i stated at richie in awe.
"i cannot believe that worked," i told him. he smirked.
"brains and beauty," richie teased.

so, richie and i ran around town, scoring multiple full-sized candy bars from each red house. i have to admit, i had a lot of fun. after coming out of another house, i turned to grab richie's hand.
he wasn't there.
"richie?" i called. no answer. i turned around slowly, expecting to find an angry candy-giver or something like that. instead, i found richie, hovering over me with a huge grin on his face.
"i got movies!" he cheered, like a happy child on christmas. i groaned.
"you scared the shit out of me!" i yelled. richie grinned, wider than before.
"i got all my favorites! we can eat our candy and watch them!" he yelled, before grabbing my hand and running towards his house.

i had never seen a real horror movie before, my mom said they would give me anxiety. so, i was quite nervous to watch one. but i knew i had richie with me, and he made everything ok.
when we arrived, richie dumped the contents of his pillowcase onto the ground in between us.
"your turn, eds." so, i dumped my bag on the floor too. richie pulled out a tape from its box.
"aw man, halloween is the best! let's watch it!" he cheered. i shook my head and sat down next to the candy.

why my mother never allowed me to do things like eat candy or watch scary movies, i will never understand.
richie hid under my arm for half of the movie, and then admitted he had never seen any of the horror movies he had picked out.
i loved them. the action and violence of it all blended perfectly into things i had never experienced. even after richie went to bed, i continued to stay awake and watch movies.
i also ate half of the large pile of candy. i felt quite sick for a while. i missed out on so much of halloween, i felt like this one was supposed to make up for it.
i had a really great day, and then i got to rub it in richie's face that he was a giant scaredy cat.
that was easily the best part.