richie ended up showing up to class, despite his state. people stared and murmured a good portion of the class, despite how hard all the losers club would glare at them.
eventually, lunch came, and they all sat down at their natural lunch table.
stanley hadn't really gotten a chance to drop it on them that he had a girlfriend now, so he hadn't. he hadn't seen betty since that morning, anyway, so he didn't have to worry about it.
richie was the last to make it to the lunch table, talking to the teacher after class. he sat down at the table and stretched his arms out on the top, placing his head down in them. sort of as a comforting thing, stanley gently placed his hand on richie's back. richie tilted his head a little bit, just to look at stanley. the two made eye contact and stanley pursed his lips.
he was thinking about answering a question bill had just asked ("when is our french oral exam happening?") when a surprise set of hands landed on his back.
stanley basically jumped out of his seat, turning around. to his surprise, and a little bit his discomfort, betty was there, her hands on his shoulders. his shoulders tensed a little.
"oh, hi betty," once he had fully turned around, betty leaned forward and left a little kiss on his cheek. he could've sworn he lit up red. he could hardly even imagine the looks on his friends faces (they had all stopped talking).
"stan, are you free tomorrow?" she didn't wait for him to answer, "let's do something, okay?" she smiled sweetly. he nodded, sort of subconsciously, and she rubbed a thumb across his cheek. she then hurried off to her own table with her friends.
stanley slowly turned back, facing his friends, face red. beverly's mouth was agape, and the rest of them seemed about the same amount of surprised. to stanley, it looked like richie hadn't moved aside from digging his hands in his hair. bill ate a fry, in shock.
"so, something really happened between you two last night?" eddie said. richie sat up and looked over at stanley. glancing slightly towards him, he noticed how richie's eyes were hardly open. he looked away.
ben's eyes got caught on the hair tangled in richie's hands. he'd been ripping out pieces of his hair. richie tossed the pieces of hair off the table, off his fingers.
"uh, yeah. i guess technically i asked to be her boyfriend last night, and she said yes, so..." stanley trailed off.
"wow, stanley finally gets some," beverly chuckled, the rest of them laughing quietly.
richie scratched his head.
