𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲¹; Richie Tozier

𝐱𝐱𝐢. apology gifts

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Chapter twenty-one:
Apology gifts

Falling asleep that night felt quite literally impossible for Josie. But after an hour or two of tossing around and weeping, she finally managed to doze off.

When she woke up the next morning, her eyes were all puffy and her cheeks were stained with tears. She looked up at her alarm clock, which wrote 10:50 on it.

Rolling out of bed, Josie went over to the bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth, and comb through her knotted hair, She quickly threw on an outfit, which consisted of a pair of black low waisted cargo pants and a red baby tee, and paired it with her converses.

She called up Beverly and Mike, asking them to meet her up at the park in ten minutes. She wasn't really in the mood to be around Richie after the fight, and she figured he wasn't either.

As she approached the staircase, she heard video game sounds coming from the living room. She tiptoed down the steps, praying Richie wouldn't see or hear her.

When she made it down, she saw Richie sitting on the couch in the living room, playing his Atari. But to her surprise, two other people were there as well—Bill and Eddie.

She heard muffled conversations taking place between the three, but didn't take much notice to them and snuck out the back door, venturing off to Derry Park. She figured the next people she would break the news to were Beverly and Mike, since they were her two closest friends out of the losers. And she was sure, or at least hoped they wouldn't react as badly as Richie had.

Richie sat on the couch, angrily fidgeting his thumbs on the controller. Video games had always been his way of escaping reality; which was one he currently wanted out of so badly.

"I mean, can you fucking believe this chick?" Richie rambled, his eyes focused on the game, "after everything we've been through this summer, she's gonna just leave like nothing ever happened?"

"I'm sure she duh-doesn't want to. I-I mean, I w-wouldn't wanna stay in a town with my abusive dad, either," Bill shrugged.

"Yeah man, I gotta agree with Bill on this one," Eddie added. "Josie's been through hell these past years. If anyone deserves to get out of this town, it's her."

Just then, Richie died in his game, making him go into a fit of rage. He threw his controlled on the carpet, facing the two boys. "Seriously? You guys are on Josie's side? I mean, what happened to 'bros before hoes'?" he retorted.

"Josie's not a hoe, she's your girlfriend," Eddie gently corrected the four-eyed boy.

Bill chimed in, "Point is, Juh-Josie's leaving, w-whether you think that's selfish or not. So instead of wasting the last week being pissed, why not make the most of it?" He felt like Richie's personal therapist; well expect of course doing it for free.

"So, what you're saying is I should apologize to her?" asked Richie. He was planning on being petty for the rest of the time she was there, but maybe the guys were right.

"Yes!" Eddie and Bill both shouted in unison.

"Fineee!" Richie groaned, sprawling out on the couch. He didn't like admitting that he was in the wrong, but Josie mattered a lot to him. He sat back up, saying, "What should I do?"