When Eddie called that night, Richie bragged about his new friend, saying that they provided much better competition. Eddie, of course, was not convinced by this.

"Oh, really? What's your friend's name."

Richie hesitated, reflecting about the time you two spent over the game before realizing that you two never actually asked for names. "Uh..."

"That's what I thought," Eddie said triumphantly. Richie could practically see the victorious smile on his face.

"No! We were just so caught up in the game that we didn't really ask each other." Eddie hummed, not believing his best friend for even a second. "I'm being fucking serious," Richie pleaded over the phone, "She said that she would be at the arcade tomorrow too."

Eddie rolled his eyes, "Sure, so if I go tomorrow then I'll see her there?"

"Yes!" Richie spoke confidently.

"We'll see," Eddie laughed, "Now I have to go, it's bedtime."

Richie shook his head at his friend before wishing him a good night.

At dinner your mom asked you if you had made any friends while you were gone. That morning, you wouldn't have guessed you would actually make a friend. Your mind was so caught up over what you had lost instead of what was in front of you. However, that arrogant asshole brought you back to the present and you were ready to destroy his pride. But as the game went on, you two exchanged some small talk and you found a bit in common with one another. You both like video games (that's a given), you both enjoyed good competition, and you both didn't mind each other's company.

"Yeah, I did," You responded, the corners of your lips tilting upwards.

"What's their name?"

You opened your mouth to respond before shutting it suddenly. Holy crap you don't know his name! Your eyebrows furrowed as you wracked your brain for some sort of answer. "Uh, I guess I didn't really ask."

Your mom tilted her head in confusion. "You didn't ask each other your names?"

"No," You let out a light hearted laugh, "We were so caught up in the game that I guess it didn't really matter."

Your mom wasn't very pleased but didn't say much after that. The rest of the dinner was pretty quiet, your dad talked made a few comments about his job, including a teenager being arrested for his father's murder, but nothing else that really caught your attention. As you traveled to your bedroom, you held your breath, wondering if you should ask about tomorrow or not. Your mom wasn't too happy about you not knowing the name of your new friend, but at least you were making friends. Letting out your shaky breath, you turned around and walked back to the kitchen, head leaking over the corner.

"Hey mom?" She hummed in response. "Can I go out tomorrow too?"

Her head lifted up as she faced towards you, putting her hand on her hip. "Of course, why would I keep you inside of the house?"

"Oh," well maybe because there's missing children "Right," You smiled, turning back around and walking to your room.

You were late. Well, you didn't set an exact time to meet up, but Richie assumed that you would be at the arcade by noon. It was 12:30 and Eddie was starting to get restless. He had played a dozen rounds of Street Fighter with Richie, his fingers monotonously skimming over the same buttons. At this point, Eddie was starting to believe that Richie just made his new friend up just to have some company.

"Did you lie to me so I'd play with you?" Eddie questioned, eyes half closed as he stared at the screen.

Richie hesitated, allowing Eddie to get a few hits on his character. "No, I didn't, Eddie Spaghetti." To be honest, Richie was starting to doubt you would show up. He wondered if you stood him up and acted like you were having fun playing with him the day before. Although he didn't want to admit it, the boy was embarrassed, thinking of what he would say to Eddie if you didn't walk through the doors.

Thank goodness he didn't have to wait that long. You strolled into the arcade with pockets full of quarters that rang every time you took a step. You asked your mom earlier to exchange some of your money for quarters so you didn't have to keep entering it into the machine at the arcade. Thankfully, she did, but not without going on a whole rant about actually learning about the person you're spending time with.

You stood there as she lectured you, eyes focused on the wall clock as seconds turned to minutes. "Okay mom, I have to go," You announced, grabbing the quarters that she pulled out before zooming out of the house.

When you arrived at the arcade you were not expecting for someone else to already be playing Street Fighter with the familiar brunette. The person you met from yesterday was still there, eyes glued to the screen as he bit his bottom lip in concentration. The kid beside him looked bored, eyes half lidded as his fingers skimmed over the buttons.

A part of you felt like leaving, thinking that he doesn't need you because he has another person to play with him. You shook the thoughts out of your head when you remembered that he was the one that invited you today. Stalking up to the arcade machine, you stood behind the brunette with thick glasses.

"Are you trying to replace me?" You spoke up, making the poor boy jump.

His head swung around, eyes wide behind his glasses. As Richie's attention was focused on you, Eddie took it as a chance to finally beat his opponent, jamming the buttons in front of him until he knocked down Richie's character.

"Ha! Told you I could beat you!" Eddie cheered triumphantly, a wide grin adorning his face.

Richie tore his eyes off of you and back on the screen, where his character was lying on the floor. "That's not fair, Eddie," Richie whined, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Since when did you care about fair?" Eddie mused, head held high.

Richie rolled his eyes at his friend before turning around to face you. "What makes you think I could replace you, sugar?"

You crossed your arms in front of you like yesterday, tilting your head slightly. "Looks like you have a different partner."

Eddie's eyes shot between you and Richie before remembering what Richie said yesterday. "So Richie didn't lie to me," He spoke up, coming up next to his friend, "You're the girl that he was talking about."

Your eyebrow rose, eyes staring into Richie's. Richie tried to keep his cheeks from heating up, elbowing his friend in response. "I told you I wasn't lying."

"Aw, you talked about me?" You cooed, the corners of your lips turned up in amusement.

"He sure di-" Eddie was interrupted by a smack on the upper part of his arm that was not covered by his cast. "Ow!"

"I mentioned you," Richie admitted, sending a glare to his short friend, "He didn't believe me though."

"Oh," You said, uncrossing your arms, "Well, here I am."

Eddie squinted his eyes and he looked at you, wondering if you were putting up a facade or not. Most people in Derry didn't want to associate with them, so why would you?

Before he could question you about it, you pulled a quarter out of your pocket and rounded the arcade machine. "Are we going to play or are we just going to stand here and stare at each other?"

Richie instantly turned around, tugging at the control stick to choose his character. Eddie stood back as you two occupied the arcade machine. "What's your name?" Eddie spoke up, hoping Richie wouldn't scold him for interrupting the game.

"Oh, that's right," You laughed, fingers still dancing over the buttons, "I forgot to tell you, I'm (Y/n)."

Richie stole a glance at you before switching back to the game. He hated that you were able to distract him.

"Well, I'm Eddie and that's Richie if he didn't tell you already," Eddie said, sending an annoyed look to his friend. You nodded and jammed your finger into the red button, successfully knocking Richie down.

"Looks like you need some more practice," You grinned at your opponent, making Richie's blood boil.

"Don't speak too soon, sugar," He spat back, grabbing a quarter that he placed on the machine earlier. "There's plenty of time to change that."

Eddie rolled his eyes at the trashmouth and continued to ask you questions. Most of them were pretty innocent. He asked you about your favorite food, favorite color, and other generic things you ask when first meeting a person. When he asked his next question, you froze. Richie took that as a chance to defeat you, knocking down your character with his special move. He was about to celebrate until he looked up, realizing that your focus wasn't even on him.

"Why are you spending time with us?"

Your eyebrows furrowed at his question. Was there something wrong with spending time with them? Did they have a bad reputation? Did Eddie not like you or something?

Although Richie was happy that he won the round, he sent a glare to Eddie. He didn't want to win because you were too focused on Eddie's questioning than the game.

"Why do you ask that?"

Eddie was confused by your confusion. Everyone in Derry knew that they were the outcasts. Even though Henry is locked up, they still get ignored by other people. No one wanted to spend their time with them, that's why the Losers club was so close to one another. They could only truly confide in each other.

"Because, we're losers," Eddie stressed, causing you to let go of your control stick.

Richie groaned and slid his hand down the machine. Why does Eddie have to ask questions like this? He's going to scare her away.

"Losers?" You questioned, turning your body to face Eddie, "I don't know what you mean by that."

Eddie's mouth fell open as he deadpanned at you. How could you not know about them? "Everyone in Derry knows to ignore us unless you want to be harassed by Henry and his goons."

You thought about his words for a moment. If you were caught associating with them, these so-called losers, then you were going to be teased by this guy named Henry? That sounds ridiculous. "That's stupid," You scoffed, "What did you do to Henry to make him such an asshole?"

The boys looked at each other with slightly widened eyes. She should realize by now that they were talking about none other than Henry Bowers. "Have you been here for the past 10 years?" Richie inquired, taking his spot next to his friend.

"No, I moved here a couple days ago."

Their eyes widened with realization. Eddie let out the breath he was holding, his body visibly untensing. At least now he knew you weren't just messing with them. You weren't getting his friend's hopes up just to leave him in the dust.

"Who wants to move to a fucking beaver camp?" Richie blurted out, earning a harsh smack on the arm from Eddie. Richie slapped his hand back, letting his friend know how offended he was.

You smiled at the teenagers, shaking your head slightly at their mini argument. "You tell me. I definitely didn't want to come here with the amount of children that go missing."

The two friends froze at your words, flashbacks of the clown replaying in the back of their heads. Richie swallowed thickly, willing the thoughts back. "Why did you move here then?"

You narrowed your eyes at their sudden stillness before brushing it off. You did bring up a pretty disturbing topic. They have probably experienced the disappearances first hand. "My dad got transferred here. He said the police force needed extra hands."

Not anymore. Richie and Eddie exchanged some more glances before looking back at you. "Well, I'm going to leave you two to the game. Sorry I interrupted," Eddie apologized, taking a few steps back.

You shook your head, stretching out your hands in front of you. "It's no problem. We probably needed a break anyways." Your focus turned back to Richie before you smirked. "Ready for round 5?"

Richie grinned, holding up a quarter that he dramatically inserted into the Street Fighter machine. "Just don't cry when you lose, sugar."

You scoffed at his comment, stretching your fingers one last time before placing your hand on the joystick. "I should be the one saying that to you, trashmouth."

You both were once again enveloped by the game in front of you, taunting each other when you had won. Time flew by as quickly as the day before, making you almost sigh from disappointment.

"Looks like I need to go," You announced, looking at the wall clock.

Richie deflated a bit but nodded his head as you grabbed your leftover quarters from the surface of the machine.

"See you tomorrow?" You asked, crossing your fingers behind you in hopes that he would say yes. Despite how weird it sounds, you enjoyed his company and wanted to spend more time with him.

Richie opened his mouth to say yes before immediately closing it and shutting his eyes. "Actually, my friends and I are going to the quarry tomorrow."

You tried to not let the disappointment on your face be noticeable, putting on a small smile as you clutched the bottom of your shirt. "Oh, well I hope you have fun."

Before you could walk out of the arcade, Richie stopped you, clutching onto your forearm. "Actually, do you want to come with us? Bev will be there too so you won't be the only girl."

Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked back at his eyes through the thick rimmed glasses. Was he inviting you to spend time with his friends? A real smile graced your face and your body relaxed. "I would love to."

"Ah, cool," Richie said, nodding his head in silence. After a few seconds, he realized he was still holding onto your arm. Instantly letting go, he shot his hand back, cringing at himself. "I'll meet you here at 10?"

"Yeah, sure," You said, waving at him before leaving the arcade, "See you tomorrow!"

"Really fucking smooth," Richie cursed under his breath, the urge of slamming his head against the wall becoming almost unbearable.