The rest of June happened for the Losers without anything too major occurring. They each were concentrating on their own thing they called fun during the two weeks that they introduced Mike into the group.

All but one was thrilled about the summer so far.

"God, I am so bored!"

"Watch your tone, mister."

"…Sorry, Mom."

Eddie was moseying around the house for the umpteenth time, completely bored out of his mind. He had no other hobbies or interests, and all of the other Losers were busy doing their own thing.

'I wonder what he's up to…'

"Mom, I'm heading out for a bike ride."

As he made his way towards the front door, passing his mother who was sitting on the recliner watching television, she hollered.

"Hold it! Aren't you forgetting something, dear?"

Eddie slumped his shoulders as he made his way over to her and gave her a goodbye kiss.

"Behave yourself," she said, "and be back by supper."

"Will do!"

As Eddie embarked on his quest, he knew the exact route to take. Swerving through back alleyways wasn't his forte, but he wanted to be there in the quickest time possible.

Setting his eyes on the nearby arcade, Eddie grinned.

"This is going to be fun."

As he approached, he hopped off his bike, locked it at a nearby rack, and entered.

Right near the entrance, at the Street Fighter game, was Richie, pounding buttons like no tomorrow.

"C'mon, you son of a bitch," Richie said before he raised his hands in victory.

As Richie turned towards his left, his smile diminished as nobody was there to congratulate him. Turning towards his right, he felt himself flare up as he spotted Eddie.

"What the – Eddie?"

"Yes, trash?"

"What the hell are you doing here? Did you make a deal with the devil?"

"Yes, I need to be home by supper."

As Eddie approached Richie, he asked, "So, mind showing me around? I never really dabbled in here before, and I figured you are the king of the arcade realm, so—"

"Me, a king? Please, I'm more of a peasant than anything. The only thing I'm good at here is what you saw me defeat with a new high score."

"Well, maybe we try something new…together?" Eddie said with raised shoulders.

"I…I mean if you want to, I'm down for that."

Reaching into his pocket, Richie grabbed a wad of game quarters and clutched them in his fist.

"Okay, so the bowling game is one that I've been desperate to try."

Eddie smiled. "Count me in."

As the duo made their way over to the machine, they looked over the groundwork that the game had to offer.

"So, we're just chucking balls into those holes and see who wins?"

"It's, I believe, that simple," Richie responded as he placed a quarter on Eddie's machine.

As the two inserted their quarters, the balls rolled on down the small, thin alleyway.

"Geez, these balls are pretty…umm…"

"What, not your preferred size?" Richie asked Eddie who was blushing like mad.

"Your mind is firm in the gutter."

"Yeah, along with a few other things."

The first game went to Eddie, as he surprisingly got the gist of things pretty quickly.

"So, it's all a matter of the firmness that you grab your ball and how you roll it."

"Dude – this is just a game."

"Okay, Street Fighter extraordinaire."

Richie shook his head as he grabbed two more quarters. "Best two out of three."

The best two out of three quickly turned into five out of nine, which then turned into a near afternoon of Eddie learning the basics of Street Fighter and climbing up the ranks, which turned into the duo battling each other best five out of nine.

The afternoon swept away from them, and as Eddie and Richie looked around the near-empty arcade, they wouldn't want it any other way.

"Wow, that was something else, huh?" Eddie said as they exited the arcade.

Richie nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it."

Before Eddie could head on home, Richie spoke up.

"Hey…"

The youngster turned around to see his friend scuffling his feet on the cemented sidewalk.

"Thanks for hanging with me – it can sometimes be lonely playing by yourself, and I think the others are feeling this too."

"Yeah," Eddie said, "I thought of hanging with you since the others were either working hard or not doing anything in particular."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you have Stan practicing for his Bar Mitzvah, Ben was probably fantasizing about history, who knows what Bev and Mike were up to, and then Bill…"

Eddie shook his head solemnly. "I feel the worst for him. I don't think he ever got over the loss of Georgie, and it's driving him mad."

Richie slowly nodded in agreement, then asked, "What do you think Beverly is up to now?"

"Probably finding a way to not let us check her out if we're being honest."

"You mean at the quarry?"

"Dude, we were all passing glances at her…at first, I felt awkward doing it, but then it…I don't know, felt normal, almost like it was supposed to be done."

Richie cracked a small smile. "You'll have those feelings encompassing you soon enough, buddy."

Eddie groaned. "Please don't remind me."

"Okay, fine…here."

Richie approached Eddie and embraced him in a long hug, neither one wanting to let go.

Eventually, Eddie pulled away, and as the two bid their goodbyes, Richie was alone with his thoughts.

'Today wasn't bad after all. I have to admit, being around Eddie more and more makes me feel confident that I'm not one of those—'

Oh, don't sell yourself so short, four eyes.

'Four eyes – really? That's the best you can come up with. I've been called that since elementary school!'

Whatever! Your love for him is only blossoming, haven't you noticed your inner feelings?

'I tune it out. When I'm around him I—'

And there's the problem; you're tuning yourself out when you should be listening to what your heart is saying.

Richie shook his head furiously and sighed.

"I'm not one of them," he whispered all the way home.