The Girl That Floats // Richie Tozier

Chapter One: The Beginning

a/n: I do not own 'It' or it's characters, though I do own Beatrix, James, Florence, Douglas, and any other minor characters mentioned in the story that were not mentioned in the book or movie by Stephen King.
I'll try to add music for y'all to vibe to while you read, so feel free to listen!

Warning: this book will involve heavy language, assault, mentions of self harm and suicide, abuse, and the majority of events mentioned in the 'It' book and movie.

I'll try to post fairly often, but I can't promise any strict schedule at the moment. I hope that's alright!

Well, without further ado, let's begin! I hope you enjoy!
-Lyra, author of "The Girl That Floats" <3
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     Beatrix Knox sat in the back row of her final hour honors math class, watching the clock tick away and bouncing her knee mindlessly below her desk. Bea had always hated math, but she was good at it, so she would just finish her work early and spend the rest of class spacing out.

     Today was different, though. Today, a hot, humid mid-June day, was her last day in the hell that was her school. The teacher, Mr. Wilson, had been droning on about staying safe over summer break and preparing for the next years math classes, which would apparently be much harder than they had been this year. That didn't worry Bea though, because she knew for a fact (by her 98% average and record high test scores in every class) that she was one of the smartest people there.

     She looked back to the front of the classroom from her fixation on the clock to see her best friend, Richie Tozier, flailing his skinny arms from his front and center seat in a poor attempt to get her attention. Widening her eyes and lifting an eyebrow, she quickly mouthed 'What?' Before averting her eyes from the teachers view. He began running his mouth silently about who knows what, and while all Bea could see was gibberish, she knew he was enjoying himself.

     'Ahem.' The teacher said, loud enough to catch both of their attention. 'Is there something the two of you would like to share with the class?' Silence. 'Ms Knox? Mr Tozier? Anything you'd like to share?' He repeated. 'OH, yeah! I was just telling Bea about my HUGE-' 'No sir!' Bea cut in, trying to avoid an unnecessary punishment on the last day of school. Richie rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed at her boring reaction, but still shifted in his seat to face the teacher once again.

     Just a few minutes later, the end of the day bell rang it's deafeningly loud ring and the whole 7th grade class jumped up from their seats and left the classroom like their lives depended on it. Mr. Wilson called out to them, trying to tell them what he always did at the end of the day, 'The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do', but everyone had already left in a stampede of summer-ready nerds.

     As Bea ran out with the rest of the class, she grabbed Richies warm, soft hand and intertwined their fingers, swinging both their arms back and forth dramatically. "Summer's finally here!" She said jovially, a big smile on her face. She then realized that the rest of the classes had left only a few seconds after hers, and doors flung open as a hoard of rowdy 6th, 7th, and 8th graders spilled out into the halls like sheep. Books hurled in the trash, lockers emptied out, papers strewn all over -- summer is officially commenced.

     Richie and Bea immediately melt into the action. Running towards their lockers, they ripped their backpacks from the blue metal prisons they had been stuck in all day, then sprinted to their mutual friend, Bill Denbrough's, locker.  As expected, two of the three other members of their self-proclaimed 'losers club', Eddie Kaspbrak and Bill Denbrough, were already standing there, deep in conversation.

     "So.. how's it work?" Bill asked Eddie, completely unaware of the other two's presence. "I heard they slice part of his dick off" Eddie replied, dead serious. As soon as Richie heard that, he jumped into the conversation, unable to control himself, and laughed out "Yeah, but then Stanny Boy wouldn't have anything left!". Appearing behind Bea and grabbing her free hand was Stanley Uris, immediately throwing in a sarcastic "That's a real knee-slapper Richie. So funny I forgot to laugh". "Well? Which is it? A knee-slapper or you forgot to laugh?" Richie shot back, trying to get a reaction out of Stan and failing miserably. "F-for real Stan, what happens?" Bill asked, seeming genuinely interested. Bea opened her mouth to tell them what she knew about it from her parents, but Stan replied before she could start. "I don't know, I read some stuff from the Torah and make a speech and then suddenly I become a man." Richie opened his mouth up into his big goofy grin, and replied with "That sounds like a lot of work. I became a man by banging Ed's mom...". "Richiie!" Bea said in a fake whine. "I told you, she's mine!" "Nuh-uh" he said, invoking a preschool-style argument that the two of them had on the daily. "Richie, that's gross." Stan said, somehow not noticing Bea's provocative response.