𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙗𝙞𝙖 ➹ 𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙯𝙞𝙚𝙧

14.

FOURTEEN.

❝I NEED TO TELL
YOU SOMETHING.❞

WE BOTH WALKED THROUGH the upstairs hall till he stopped at the last door beside the window. He creaked open the door, revealing a small bedroom. The room was mostly plain aside from the Street Fighter poster on the wall.

Clothes were thrown in places and it was slightly messy, but I didn't mind. Richie let go of my hand and leaped onto the bed. Following, I sat down at the side of the bed and the boy lay his head on my lap, gazing up at my eyes.

I took the frozen veg from his hand and placed it where he started to bruise. "Shit, that's cold," he hissed. "Sorry, Rich. Does it hurt?"
"No, it's alright."

He sat up from my lap and I gave him the frozen veg bag. He placed it on his bedside table while he sat beside me. My eyes were pointed towards my lap where he previously lay before the boy spoke up.

"Y/n? I," he took a deep breath before continuing. "Uhm, I need to tell you something." His hands fidgeted with his fingers and he seemed nervous. My nails dug into my palms when I started to grow nervous with him, anticipating what he needed to say.

"Hey. Don't do that." He noticed my habits and settled his hands upon mine, preventing me from jagging my skin. "Sorry," I apologised.

"No, it's okay. Well, don't do it but-Nevermind." We were now holding eye contact and it seemed like I couldn't break it; I didn't want to anyway. I loved to stare into his soft brown eyes, and if you look close enough, there's specks of brown and green filtered in through them, hints of black as well.

"What-What I wanted to say is," his voice cracked as he spoke, but he cleared his voice. "Go on, Richie," I ushered him with a soft tone. "I think y-you're really fun to hang out with, and you're so pretty and-"

My cheeks heated up, turning a tinge of red from his words. Richie thinks I'm pretty? Butterflied erupted in my stomach from the thought. He broke the eye contact and looked down to his lap. "Uhm. I just wanted to say that I really like you, Y/n. You don't have to like me back, I just had to get it off my chest."

His hands quickly retracted from mine and he let out a sigh. A large, bashful smile grew on my face, making me look like a Cheshire cat. This was the first time I really thought about how I felt about Richie; it didn't take long for me to piece my feelings together.

"Richie, I think I like you too." His eyes darted back up to mine and his mouth was slightly agape. "Really?" His mouth molded into a wide, shock-filled grin. "Of course." I suddenly gave him a small peck on the cheek, leaving him shocked. "I like your messy hair, your annoying humour, especially your eyes,"

"You know, if you look close enough, your eyes have specks of green and amber through them."
"Really? How do you know?"
"I guess I just looked close enough."

Richie and my bond seemed like it grew ten fold in the minutes we spent at his house. Unfortunately, it started to get dark which meant my Mom would be getting paranoid if I wasn't back on time.

OVER THE WEEK, I didn't do much aside from hangout with Richie at the arcade and sit at home. No one had really talked to each other since the big fight. I did attend Stanley's Bar Mitzvah in support of him as I was still on good terms with him.

That day, I showed up to the ceremony in a short, flowing dress. It had slightly puffed shoulders and a well made neckline; I adored it. My mother couldn't attend because she had work so she made sure to drop me right up to the door.

People crowded into the seats as the clock ticked closer and closer for the ceremony to start. My eyes scanned the room for a place to sit when I spotted a boy I recognised.

The brunette wore a light blue suit with a kippah placed at the back of his head. He noticed that I was standing by the entrance door so he decided to wave me over, moving in his seat to make room for me. I made my way towards him, excusing myself as I passed others sitting down.

"Hey,"
"Hi, Richie."
"You- You look nice, I like the dress. Yeah, it's nice."