"God, will you ever stop smoking?"
"You're very funny, Tozier."
Holly Taylor and Richie Tozier had never associated with one another, it just wasn't normal. But when summer starts, she befriended them in the oddest wa...
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Tuesday, July 18th, 1989
"I'll be back soon!" Holly yelled, running out of her house, Dreams by Fleetwood Mac playing through her ears. The girl was currently off to Keene's Pharmacy to pick up some new lipstick and crayons for her god-daughter. She hopped on her bike, tugging at her white denim shorts. Her long, fading red hair was blowing around behind her. It had been a month since she'd done it.
She got to Center Street quickly and ran into the small pharmacy. It was basically empty, as it was ten in the morning. Looking through the makeup aisle, she finally found her signature shade and picked up two sticks. After grabbing a twenty-four pack of Crayola crayons and a new coloring book, she asked for a pack of Marlboro Red at the counter. Mr. Keene arched an eyebrow, but gave them to her anyway. Her change was $4.52, which she stuffed into her front pocket.
Riding back down the road, she rode by Derry Park, in which she remembered how her and Richie had ice cream. Passing by the hardware store, she remembered how Richie didn't believe they had acrylic paint. Passing Bassey Park, where they went to watch a daytime concert. Kissing next to the Standpipe. Holding hands at the Derry Theater during Saturday matinees.
Three days. It had been three days since their huge fight. Why did it hurt so much? They were kids. It shouldn't matter that much. But as Holly rode through town, everything reminded her of him. On Sunday night, she couldn't help but think about him even with her friends. She dreamed about him.
He felt the same way.
Finally, Holly had enough. She rode to the payphone on the wall of the hardware store. Using her two quarters, she dialed Bill's number, which was embedded into her brain at this point. He picked up, and before he could say anything, she spoke. "Richie's address. I need Richie's address." she said.
"Holly? W-what's wrong?" Bill asked. "I need to go see Richie. Give me his address." holly breathed out. "O-okay." Bill gave her an address. "Thanks. I'll call you later." Holly said, hanging up. She hopped back on her bike and rode over to Kossuth Lane, which mean she had to go over over Main Street Bridge. Ten minutes later, Holly arrived in the yard.
It was a small, cute house. It was narrow and two stories with a porch and a nice white fence in the front, one of the stairs was broken. You could see which room was Richie's, the curtains were open and a blue wallpaper was shown in an upstairs window. Holly walked towards the door and knocked on it. She could hear someone shuffling on the other side, and the door cracked open a bit.
"Hi." said Holly quietly. The house was dark, and reeking of alcohol. "Hi." Richie replied. "Can I come in?" Holly asked. Richie nodded and opened the door. All curtains were drawn, Holly could only see Richie's face. He had a black eye as well as a split lip, but Holly didn't say anything. She followed close behind Richie who sat down on a couch and she followed in suit.
