"Anything divided by zero is…what, Bill, what is it?"

"I-it's undefined, R-Richie."

Richie shook his head. "That…oh boy. You know, math shouldn't be this complicated."

"I agree."

Bill and Richie decided to meet up at the local library, and for the past few hours, they have been studying for tomorrow's exam.

Now and again, Richie would look up from his textbook and see Bill look downtrodden.

"Hey, Bill," Richie decided to finally ask, "are you okay?"

"N-no. Ever since Eddie m-m-mentioned that baby stuff comment, I k-keep seeing G-Georgie."

"Oh, Bill," Richie said, shaking his head, "you shouldn't feel down about that. It's been quite some time since—"

Bill shut his textbook and set it aside with a thud, then sighed.

"It's h-hard, okay? He would have been f-f-finishing up the first g-grade right about now. There w-would have been times where he would ask for m-my help…"

At that, Bill allowed some tears to fall from his eyes.

Richie got up from his seat and squatted down next to Bill, wrapping a tender arm around his back.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that. You miss your brother, and that's all normal."

Richie rubbed Bill's back smoothly as he continued, "You know, being a guy sucks! We're supposed to hold things in and act tough, but there are times where we should be able to showcase our emotions."

"R-Richie," Bill said as he wiped his face, "where did y-you hear that?"

"From my old man; we had our…little talk a while back, and let me tell you, it was fucking awkward."

Bill chuckled. "I h-hear you on that."

As the boys decided to call it quits, they gathered up their materials and headed outside towards their bikes. Hopping on, Richie turned towards Bill and said, "Thank you for helping me; I don't know how tomorrow will go, but I feel more confident."

"That's g-good to hear, bu-buddy."

Once they departed, Richie knew there was one more thing to do…

As he dialed Eddie's number, Richie hoped that the boy would answer as opposed to…

"Hello?"

His mother.

"Hey, Mrs. K. I was wondering if Eddie was home?"

"He sure is – hold on one minute."

Richie heard Mrs. K holler for Eddie on the other side, and he nearly froze.

'Alright, this is just like any other conversation; stay relax.'

"Hey, Richie."

"Hey there, Eds. What goes on?"

Eddie sighed. "How many times do I need to tell you—"

Richie heard his friend stop as he was discussing something with his mother.

"I'm taking this upstairs to my room, give me a few."

The teen counted to ten, and soon after, he heard Eddie again.

"Now, where was I?"

"You were going to call me out for—"

"Oh, yeah – dude, you need to stop calling me Eds! You know how pissed I get."

Richie chuckled. "All right, dude; I thought you liked being fucked around?"

"Only when I initiate it, you ass."

The teen shook his head, "Okay, so anyway, studying today went fantastic."

"Oh, good to hear,"Eddie said, "Sorry I couldn't join; my mom thought it would be better for me to do absolutely nothing these last two days. It's so boring!"

Richie nodded his head, "I agree on that."

Both boys were silent for a few seconds before Eddie spoke.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one excited for summertime?"

"Dude, are you kidding? I can't wait to get my arcade on."

"…For real? That's how you're spending your time?"

"Well, it's better than the alternative."

"You know, if my mother were to walk in here and hear us discussing things with her, she'd flip her lid."

"Oh, like I will after you end your call?"

Both boys froze at the sound of Mrs. K on the phone downstairs.

"Mom! I told you to hang up when I got to my room."

Richie stifled a laugh as he covered his mouth with his free hand.

"See you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye."

As Richie hung up, he let out his laugh as he laid on his bed.

'Well, another thing to be grateful for – my own phone line. And that wasn't too bad; I can still banter with him without—"

Your still chickenshit for avoiding the obvious, trashmouth

Richie sighed as he heard his inner conscience call him out.

'Again, the whole summer – it's not time yet, so chill!'

Not wanting to battle his inner self, Richie retired to sleep, hoping that this summer could reward him with some answers.