kk (the story of how eddie met richie)

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kindergarten
it was six a.m. and i was rudely awoken by my mother shaking my shoulder.
"it's the first day of school, kiddo!" she said excitedly.
i walked into the school building, clutching my mother's hand tightly. my heart was in my throat, tears brimming in my eyes. i didn't want to be here alone. i'd never been away from my mother.
i had dissolved into tears went she left me; the teacher had sat me in the corner to calm down.
it didn't help, so she just left me there in the corner. all alone.
until, a boy by the name of richard tozier came and sat down beside me.
"hi i'm richie!" he exclaimed excited.
i wiped my eyes. "i'm eddie," i told him, smiling.


first grade
richie was my bestest friend. and today was valentine's day!
i had made him the biggest valentine ever for him.
i had cut out a big, vibrant red heart with scissors, and glued ruffled golden paper around it. then i drowned the whole things in pink sparkles.
richie beamed when i face it to him; in return, he pulled a neon pink card from his backpack with my name scribbled across the top. on the paper, richie had drawn the two of us holding hands, surrounded by hearts.



second grade
richie and i were deemed 'the troublemakers' by all the teachers, and they began to separate us in class.
we didn't let that stop us; we would partner together to study our spelling words, and we always ate lunch together.
richie was a role model to me; he was stong, funny, loud, outgoing, and knew almost everybody in our grade. i wanted to be just like him.


third grade
my dad died.
life didn't make sense anymore. my mom said it was because of cancer, but i didn't know what that meant.
she tried to explain it to me, but it just didn't make sense. it was a sickness that killed people. killed people.
but richie was there for me, wether it was to crack a joke or just to ice me a shoulder to cry on, he was there by my side.
and i loved him.


fourth grade
richie and i had our first sleepover. we were at his house, and we ordered pizza for supper.
richie and his parents were both shocked to learn that i'd never tried pizza before.
i thought it was amazing. warm cheesy bread with sauce in the middle. but i didn't tell my mother about it; she said 'junk food' gave ya obesity, which also killed people. just like cancer.
richie and i had shared his bed, even though i had brought a sleeping bag. richie had convinced me to sleep with him.
i didn't tell my mom about that either; she strictly told me love was between only a man and a woman. and i knew, deep down, that i loved richie more than my mom would approve of.


fifth grade
this was the year richie and i had met our new friends: bill and stanley.
like us, the two of them had been friends for forever.
we all grew close over they school year, sneaking off to the pharmacy for ice cream floats after school, watching movies at the aladdin, and sleeping over at each other's houses.
over the summer we had met bev, mike, and ben. we all became a tight knit circle of friends, but through it all, richie remained my best friend.
when we weren't with the rest of our friends, which we now called ourselves 'the loser's', richie and i would spend all of our time together.



sixth grade
i had finally found a term for myself. gay.
it meant boys liked boys. and personally, this boy liked boys.
but i was scared to come out. i was scared of myself.
i couldn't seem to concentrate, but at the same time, my brain couldn't seem to shut off.
i was so scared my mother would find out, so i tried to hide myself. i wore dark clothes, i didn't talk unless somebody talked me first, and i never made direct eye contact with anybody, as if i were afraid they would be able to see right through my bed of lies.
richie stayed right beside me though, not seeming to mind that i was no longer myself. the rest of the loser's did too, but we'd never been that close anyway.


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