cash in. (au story)

chapter 1: grouping.

"i'm going, i'm going!" richie shouted.

"better be.." wentworth mumbled under his breath.

richie sighed as he slammed the front door to his house, walking over to his bike. he hopped on, not exactly prepared for his new job.

the cold breeze outside danced through the trees, making them sway with the wind that whistled through richie's ears as he biked. the cool wind felt nice on the hot summer day, refreshing the sweat that dripped down his forehead.

upon arrival, richie put his bike in one of the bike locks, whistling as he ambled into the pharmacy.

a boy, seemingly around sixteen, perked up at the noise of the bell, watching richie as he walked up to the counter.

"you must be richard, correct? tozier?" he asked.

"richie, please. and yep," richie corrected, causing the boy to nod.

"right this way," he said, leading richie behind the counter. "this your first job?"

"if doing your mom doesn't count, then yes," he answered. the older boy made a vapid face, shaking his head as if it were to shake the joke away.

"yeah okay. don't.. talk like that anymore," he said. richie shrugged.

"whaaatever," richie sighed. the boy stopped.

"alright. this is basically the storage room, it holds all of the extra medicine or supplies that we need for restocking."

"i'm gonna be the cash register though-? why do i need to know this?"

"in case we're low on staff, dipshit. and part of being a cash register means you're going to have to retrieve the items if no one else is with you to," the boy said as if it were obvious. "just stay quiet while i show you around unless you have an actual important question."

"aye-aye, captain!" richie shouted, saluting the boy, who sighed.

"dear god."

"oh! fuck, i'm so sorry," beverly yelped as she accidentally ran into someone at the library.

"oh, no it's all good," said the boy, who chuckled and knelt down to pick up his books.

"here, let me help," beverly offered kindly, kneeling as well and grabbing two, the boy only grabbing one. she handed him the two, and he looked up at her, immediately blushing. "so sorry."

"no it's okay! i'm ben," he said, standing and holding a hand out to her.

"oh, cool! i'm beverly, nice to meet you," she said with a grin. no smile could be wider than ben's, however. "soo, whatcha doin' this summer, ben?"

ben was amazed at the fact she was actually having a conversation with him. he tried to say something, but was too blown away by the fact that an actual girl wanted anything to do with him.

"uh.. well.. i guess just hanging out in the library," he uttered.

"what? summer is so much more than that!"

"yeah. i don't really have any friends here," ben chuckled.

"that's so sad! i'll be your friend! and since i'm your friend, you can be friends with my friends! and since we're your friends, we're all gonna have the best summer ever," beverly said. ben's eyes widened.

"you mean it?"

"of course i do! they're actually all over there, if you wanna come with me to meet them?" she suggested.

"o-oh, sure! i'd love that!" ben said. beverly smiled.

"great!" she led ben through the rows of books, but the one thing nagging at him was meeting new people, something he wasn't at all good at.