𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫

✩ 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎, 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 ~ 𝚛.𝚝. ✩

pairing: richie tozier x (fem)(older)reader

warnings: none

word count: 1259

song preference: linger, the cranberries

requested? [yes] [no]

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ʀɪᴄʜɪᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴋᴇᴅ ʜɪꜱ ʙɪᴋᴇ outside of the high school with a nervous expression on his face. He was afraid, to say the least. I mean, this was his first year of high school, for crying out loud. He had his friends, sure, but they all had different schedules than him and he was certain he wouldn't have a single class with any of them. Instead, he stood, frozen but practically shaking with fear outside of those doors.

"Richie? Is that you?" a female voice called, making Richie turn his head. Behind him with a two boys and another girl was [Full Name], a cute girl that Richie knew because they went to school together and their parents were best friends. Richie blushed heavily, embarrassed that she had seen him so afraid outside of the high school, like he would be back handed across the face for even stepping foot inside.

"Your first day ever, huh?" she asked. That was another thing about the gorgeous girl that made her so unattainable to Richie; she was a year older than him. She hardly acted like the two were any different— at least, that's what Richie remembered from middle school— and she was friendly and relatively nice.

"Yeah," he responded, blushing a little more when [Name]'s friends started staring at him.

[Name], noticing his sudden interest in her friends, gasped and smiled. "Oh my gosh, sorry! Guys, this is my friend, Richie Tozier. He's a freshie." The sophomores nodded and smiled at him, making him feel slightly less uncomfortable. "Richie, this is Daniel, Becca, and Mitchell."

"Hi," he said weakly, waving a little.

"Here, let me walk you to your first class. I'll let you guys go," [Name] said, watching her friends walk off to their own classes before looping an arm around Richie's shoulders and walking through the front doors.

Richie's heart was racing at a mile a minute. Holy shit, the girl he had liked since the sixth grade was walking him to class?! Who cared if she was a sophomore. She was freaking walking him to class. Without shame.

"So, uh—" Richie started, clearing his throat after and awkward voice crack that made his friend laugh a little. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"I know! You've changed so much," [Name] said, poking him in the chest and smirking. "You've gotten very handsome, Rich."

He blushed harshly but tried to keep his cool by shrugging and smirking a little. "Word on the street, you know."

[Name] laughed a little and then finally stopped in front of his classroom, releasing her hand from his shoulder. Richie felt a little sad that her presence would be leaving his vicinity soon, but he was also curious as to why she knew his homeroom number.

At the odd look, [Name] smiled. "You're mom told me what homeroom teacher you have."

He nodded and the pair stood there for a second before [Name] smiled. "Alright, well. I should go before I get marked tardy. I'll see you around, Rich." She leaned down a little and planted a kiss on Richie's cheek, making red flare up his neck and heat boil on his face.

"See you," he sighed as she walked away into the slowly emptying hallways. Richie had had it bad before, but never had someone made him feel so woozy with love.

"[ɴᴀᴍᴇ]!" ᴀ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ from behind the girl. She turned to see Richie smiling and walking briskly toward her, looking happy and confident. She waved and turned away from her friends to meet the younger boy.

"Hey, Richie," she greeted him in return. "What do you need? Are you okay?"

Richie blushed at his concerns for him and waved her off. "Of course I'm alright. Especially because you're here."

Richie had been working on a line like that all day, and usually he was smooth with coming up with them on the fly. However, this time he really wanted to practice and pack the right punch, so he made Eddie practice with him in the bathroom until he was certain he was ready. Richie had never been so flustered by a girl before in his life, but this was [Full Name] we're talking about. Cool, popular, and above all, interested in talking to him? No questions about it, Richie was guaranteed to be smitten.

"You flirt," [Name] laughed, and although it wasn't the reaction Richie was really looking for, he didn't exactly hate it. He smiled even more boldly and shook his head, trying to clear the blush from his cheeks.

"It's the truth," he said, making [Name] laugh again. She smiled at him and he just stared at her for a second, absolutely in love with her. And she was eating up every second of it. Sure, it was kind of douchey to play with his feelings like that, but Richie wouldn't care, anyway. After all, [Name] had watched him do the same to dozens of girls before, playing with their heartstrings like a puppeteer.

"Listen, I might need some help on my Algebra 2 homework, will you call me and help me out after school?" Richie asked, smiling kindly at his friend in hopes to get her number.

"Of course!" she beamed, taking a pen from him and writing her number on the inside cover of one of his notebooks. "I'd love to call you later," she whispered, winking and then turning heel to talk to her sophomore friends again. Richie almost passed out as he walked away, but he was certain this one was for sure. He would be the coolest guy in the ninth grade.

ʀɪᴄʜɪᴇ ꜰᴇʟᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ new man. Only a month into school and he was calling [Name] every other night, making an excuse about homework or needing to catch up. They hung out after school all the time and shared almost everything together. Richie was certain there was some flirting happening between the two, although to be honest, he knew next to nothing about girls.

He walked into the school building a month after he first did, much more confident and much more sure of himself. He smiled at people in the hallway and waved to upperclassmen he had become friends with through [Name]. In fact, he was on his way to meet her in the stairwell where they usually met, but today he was met with a new sight.

[Name] was standing with a new guy, who looked much hotter than Richie, and much nicer, and probably was her age, too. He was standing extra close to her, and just as Richie was going to look away from the scene to save his fragile heart, the boy leaned in and kissed her quickly on the lips, making her blush and grin.

Richie speed-walked in the opposite direction, as fast as he could toward the boys restroom where he sat in a stall until homeroom started ten minutes later, holding back tears and debating whether or not to burst into tears or puke.

He just wanted to say good morning to her.

Oh, screw it.

He just wanted her.

ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏꜰ first period, when [Name] went to her locker in search of an extra pencil and her notebook for her next class, she saw something square and yellow drift to the floor. Curious, she picked it up and read a sentence that both made her confused and extremely guilty.

We were a maybe, never a must.

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sorry this one is a little angsty... but just pretend it isnt. part two is coming very soon so please stay tuned! drink some water and get some rest all <3