streetlamps | richie tozier

chapter two

"Hey," says a voice from behind me as I head out the gymnasium doors.

I turn and come face-to-face with the big glasses. He's about as tall as me. His shaggy brown hair reaching the top of his glasses. The brown eyes hiding behind the thick frames are warm and welcoming. He's not the most incredibly attractive person in the world, but I have to admit, right away there's something incredibly charming about him that pulls me in a little bit.

"Hi," I stutter, "your name's Richie, right?"

He nods. "Yeah, and you're Spencer. We were in the same middle school. Don't think we've ever had a class though."

"Yeah, you seem like the kind of person I'd remember." I say smiling.

He laughs. "What's your schedule?"

I pull my bag off my shoulders and take out a slip of paper and hand it to him. It's the third day of school and I'm nowhere near memorizing all my classes. There's a smile broadening on his face. "Good news," he says, "we have four classes together."

"Cool, what ones?" I ask.

"Gym, Science, Home Ec and English. Home Ec is next period."

"Alright, I guess we're walking together then." I say.

He holds his arm out to me. "May I escort you to your next class m'lady?" He asks me in an awful British accent. I'm laughing as I take his arm.

"You may, Sir Tozier. It is Tozier right?" I ask.

"Got that right m'lady. Now off we go!"

I feel like I've known Richie as a close friend for years by the time we've reached our class. There's a kid sitting at a table with curly hair that Richie immediately takes off towards. I hesitantly follow him.

"Stan! Stan the man, how you doing?" asks Richie enthusiastically, giving "Stan" a massive whack on the back.

"Good Richie." he says. He looks over at me. Standing next to Richie, not quite sure what to do. "Who's your friend?"

It takes me a moment to register that the friend that Stan is referring to is me. I step forward awkwardly and hold out my hand to him. He smiles and shakes it.

"Spencer, this is Stanley Uris. Stanley, Spencer." says Richie.

I look closely at Stan during class and take note of some small band-aids on his cheeks. Peeking out from behind them are small scars. I try not to stare but they're weird looking and I only stop staring when Stanley turns and meets my gaze for only a second.

After class Richie offers me to have lunch with him and his friends. I agree and find myself grinning stupidly as I refrain from skipping down the halls to my locker.