Eddie knew where he was heading, and Richie didn't, meaning two things were inevitable.
He was going to be the first to arrive at Mike's house for the sleepover, and Richie was going to trail him the whole way there.
Sure enough, with every look back, he saw Richie a good hundred feet behind.
It would take time – twenty minutes to be exact – but Eddie needed all the time in the world.
To ponder.
What just happened to him.
'I was…seen as…some sort of side-piece? Oh, my Mom would be fuming if she knew about this.'
Eddie looked back and then shook his head, pedaling faster to gain more distance.
'She was right all along…it was not good to go back out. Because it led to…this!'
'C'mon, Richie – you got this! Just remain in good sight and then take it over in the end.'
Richie continued to pedal on the street, seeing Eddie nearly a hundred feet ahead of him.
'Mike's house cannot be that far out…and if it is—'
So what? You need to beat Eddie so that he doesn't control everything.
His conscience was non-stopping all throughout the ride, driving Richie to the brink of insanity.
'I've listened to you long enough, don't you think? Making me believe that anything real could happen?'
It still could! Don't give up because you swung one time.
Richie chuckled softly, "Yeah, and ended up striking out."
The boys saw the house in the distance, and knowing what was at stake, they pedaled as though they were in a sprint.
Eddie reached the house first and rang the doorbell.
"Perfect timing!"
He turned to see Richie pedaling up next to his bike, parking it and hopping off.
"You better not—"
Before Richie could finish, Mike answered the door.
"Hey, it's good to see you two! Please come on in, everyone is down in the basement."
As Eddie walked right in, Richie was left frozen.
"Uh, Richie," Mike asked, "aren't you coming in?"
The teen shook himself from his trance. "Ye…yeah, I'm coming now."
As Richie entered the house, he made a straight beeline towards the basement, where the rest of the Losers were sitting around in a circle, a singular glass bottle in the center of the circle.
'Oh, fuck no…' Richie thought as he nearly went pale.
Eddie was already sat down next to Stan, and as he waved Richie over, the teen continued to stand still.
"Hey, Richie – are you okay?" Ben asked as he saw his friend's pale face.
"Uh, I need some water."
'Yeah, that'll be good. Slowly drink it so you don't choke to death.'
…Why are you telling yourself that?
Richie ignored his conscience as he saw Ben hopped up to gather a glass and ended up filling it with water from the tap; deciding to meet him halfway, he finally walked over to the group and sat down close to him.
"Here you go," Ben said, returning to the circle and handing the glass to Richie.
"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's continue on with the game."
"Game? What game?" Richie asked, his hands shaking causing some water to spill onto the floor.
"It's a take on Spin the Bottle, with Truth and Dare…each person spins the bottle, and whoever it lands on, that person has to either take a truth or a dare."
"One point to make; if it's Bev's turn, just take the dare."
"Oh, like your truth was that bad," Bev said to Stan.
"This sounds like a lot of fun!" Eddie said, his eyes lighting up.
As Richie sipped on his water, he kept his stare at Eddie; Bill, sitting in between them, was the only line of defense should things take a turn for the worse.
"Okay, I say Richie should go first."
As Bev said his name, he nearly had a spit take, causing Eddie to laugh.
"Gee, you two are more obnoxious than ever," Ben said.
'Oh…you have no idea.' Richie thought as he took the bottle and gave it a good spin.
It landed right on Bev.
"Okay…I say dare."
"Are you sure about that?" Bev asked to which the boy nodded in confidence.
"Okay…you have to kiss me for five seconds."
"Ooh, that's what I love to hear!" Eddie exclaimed, clapping his hands together in jubilee.
Richie flushed as he turned towards Stan.
"Look, my truth was much worse than that."
As Bill wrapped a comforting arm around Richie, he fixed his glasses before stuttering in saying, "Y-y-you know I've never…kissed anyone, right?"
Bev said, "You know the saying, there's a first time for everything."
"Yeah, what are you waiting for, trash?"
Richie gulped as he crawled towards Bev, and as he tilted his head and leaned in for a kiss, he slowly counted towards five, wanting this night to already be over.
"See," Bev said as they pulled apart, "now was that so bad?"
"I don't know, but his rosy cheeks sure tell a story," Ben commented, to which Richie blushed even more.
As the teen made his way back to his spot, it was Bill's turn.
"Ac-actually, I want Eddie to g-go before me."
"Really, you sure?"
As Bill nodded, Eddie happily spun the bottle a bit too fast, and it went around a full two times before it landed on him.
"Oh, do I get to go again?"
"Actually," Mike said, "we made this a house rule – if it lands on you and if you spun, you get to choose."
Eddie's smile went wide as he looked as menacing as the Grinch.
"Ooh…I choose Richie."
"But I already went."
"So? What will it be…truth or dare?"
Richie was put in a tough spot and had to think things over.
'If I choose Truth, it'll be endgame…so there's only one other option…'
"Dare."
"I dare you to tell us your truth of your greatest fear."
The group was left astonished, not knowing what to say.
"So, it's not clowns?" Stan asked.
"No, it's something much more sinister than that."
As Richie adjusted his glasses, he looked down and trembled.
"Aww, does the little baby have to go potty?" Eddie asked.
"N-no!"
"Good, then answer the question."
As Richie looked at Eddie again, seeing his smug face drew him over the edge; sneering, he picked up his glass of water and flung its contents towards Eddie.
"Dude, what the fuck!"
"You deserved it, asshole!"
As Eddie sat down, water dripping off his face, he turned towards Mike and asked, "May I please be excused; I need to get dressed for bed."
"Yeah…maybe it's a good time for us all to do that."
As Eddie raced up the stairs, Richie sat in complete shock.
You son-of-a-bitch, I can't believe you did that…to your—'
"Are you okay?"
Richie turned his attention towards Bill.
"Ye…yeah, no, I don't know anymore."
"Ta-take a deep breath…it's just a g-game."
'If you only knew, Bill…'
Ten minutes passed by, and the Losers were all in their pajamas, sitting around in a circle.
"Okay, do you guys want to continue?"
"Yes," Eddie said without a second to waste.
Richie sighed. "Okay, fine…my greatest fear would be…people finding out that I like to dance alone."
Bev's eyebrows raised, "Really? Why would you be afraid of that?"
"He doesn't need to explain," Stan said, "I think he's been through one hell of a night."
"More like one hell of an evening," Eddie added.
"Alright, Bill! Your turn," Ben said, to which Bill spun the bottle and it landed on Eddie.
"Truth me, please."
"Wh-what would you say w-was the worst e-experience you had?"
"Anything? Like, from forever?"
Bill nodded towards Eddie, to which the youngster pondered.
"Say, Mike," Richie asked, "where's your bathroom?"
"Upstairs, straight across from the door that leads down here."
"Thanks," said Richie as he bolted towards the stairs.
"Aww…poor little Richie," Eddie mocked to which Richie paid no attention.
As he shut the door shut and locked the bathroom door, he sat on the toilet seat and allowed himself to cry.
'He…he's doing this on purpose! He's toying with my emotions, my feelings…why!'
He doesn't want you to—
'Shut the fuck up! I don't want to hear from you!'
As the tears continue to fall, Richie saw no point in continuing on.
Not in tonight's eyes, at least.
Tonight…has been rough on him.
And it was about to get worse.
Way worse, before it got better.
Just like how his conscience warned him.