Temptations • Richie Tozier (2)

4

Saturday August 29 - Sunday August 30, 1992

Julia awoke to the smell of pancakes and bacon. "My Dad made breakfast." Greta said. "Oh, I'll be right down. I'm gonna change first." Greta nodded and threw the lipstick at her. "Don't forget this. I really don't want it." Julie caught it and shoved it into her bag. Greta waved and walked out of the room.

Julie sighed and put on her clothes. The tiny mirror reflected just a fraction of her face, but she could still see the smudged red lipstick. She wiped it off with the back of her hand. "Julie!" Greta yelled. She sighed and ran down the stairs.

"Finally. You take forever." She laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, sorry."

The rest of that Sunday was filled with constant chatter, that is, until Julie went home. Her parents were gone and she had nobody to talk to.

But the rang and for once, she answered. "Hello?" Someone cleared their throat. "Uh... hi." Long pause. "I- is this Julie Walker?" Julie frowned. "Yeah." The man on the other line inhaled deeply. "I'm not sure if you remember me." Julie stared at the clock. It read 5:15. It was going to be dark soon. "Who is this?" She asked suddenly. "Eddie. Eddie Kaspbrak." She smiled. "Oh! I didn't even recognize your voice. Why'd you call? Do you need something?" She heard him sigh again. "I think... do you wanna go out with me? Not like a date— shit. Do you wanna get ice cream or something?" Julie couldn't stand being alone in that house. She knew her parents would be furious if they came home and she wasn't there. "Yeah, I'll go."

Eddie watched as she sipped her chocolate shake. She looked so different. The red lipstick stood out the most. "How've you been?" She asked with a smile. "Good. You?" She nodded. "Good." He sighed. Could she tell he was nervous? "Have you talked to Richie in a while?" She asked. He shook his head. "Richie... we were all friends with Richie. It's just that Joe Warren moved here and we didn't like him. Richie did though." Julie knew that wasn't what happened. You don't just ditch your friends because they hang out with someone you don't like. "Why'd you leave him though?" She asked defensively. "Because— well why did you leave him?" Her mouth fell open. "Well— I didn't have a choice." He scoffed. "Yeah, but you could've wrote. You didn't just leave the town, you left his life."

"I didn't—" she was cut off by Mike Hanlon, who sat next to her. The girl he had with him sat next to Eddie. "Julie! I didn't even know you were back." She smiled at him, completely avoiding the conversation she had with Eddie just seconds before. "Hi Mike." Eddie muttered. "This is my cousin, Emma. She's gonna start at Derry next week." As if on key, Joe and Richie walked in. Eddie sat back and sighed. "It's nice to meet you, Emma." Joe pulled up and chair and sat on it backwards. "Hey, I'm Joe, and you are?" He asked, staring at Emma. Mike and Eddie made eye contact and rolled their eyes. "I'm Emma." For a moment, it was silent. "So, what was everyone doing here?" Mike asked. "Well Rich and I were gonna head to the arcade. We wanted food first though. Do you mind if we eat?" They all shook their heads as the waitress walked over. "Two cheeseburgers, two chocolate milkshakes, two large fries, and a side of onion rings. What do you guys want? I'm paying." Their jaws dropped. There was no way he could eat all that.

"No... but thank you, Joe." Julie spoke after no one else did. A chorus of 'no's' rang around the circle. "So, Eddie, why were you two here?" Eddie shook his head. "Doesn't matter. We were just gonna leave anyway. Leave a tip please, Joe. I don't want the waitress thinking I'm an asshole." He threw a wad of money down and gave her a look. "Bye. It was nice seeing you all again." She said, trying to climb over Mike and Richie.

After they got out of the diner Eddie stared at her. She started walking away. "Where are you going?" She huffed. "Home. It's almost seven o'clock."

"Let me walk you home."