someone taps my shoulder and i turn around to face Richie. "hey, come to my house after?" he grins. "uh. as long as you don't rape me" i say. he scoffs and says, "pff. i won't RAPE you. i just wanna talk" i roll my eyes and respond with a 'fine'.
after school i bike to Richies. i knock on the door and it surprisingly swings open. "Richie?" nothing. "Mrs Tozier?" nothing. "hello?" nothing. "Richie! i'm going upstairs!" i say, walking up Richie's wooden stairs. i turn to face Richie's closed door. on the outside there's caution tape reading 'keep out' and by the doorknob there's a 'knock first' i knock on the door and nothing responds. "Richie. i'm coming in" i say and turn the doorknob. the rooms empty. "okay. very funny, come out now" i place my hands on my hips. "Richie." "Richie c'mo-" something catches my eye on the floor. i go toward it and pick it up.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
i stand there for a second, in shock. he couldn't have been taken by IT. he couldn't have. ....right? i clamber down the stairs, cursing. i get on my bike and bolt to Bill's.
*ding dong* the door is opened by Bill. "y/n? hey" he says. "hey... are you okay?" he notices some of my tears that are falling out of my eyes. i say nothing but hand him the missing poster. he takes one look at it and looks up at me. "i found it... in his bedroom. i-i think IT took him" Bill says nothing and i start to full-on cry. "w-whoa whoa whoa. it's gonna be alright. we're g-g-gonna find him" he hugs me. i nod and he pulls back from the hug and places his hands on my shoulders. "we are g-going to find him. you hear m-me? we are going to find him" i sniffle and nod.
we gather up the Losers and head to the Well House.
as we pull up there, i see a familiar figure sitting on the stairs to the house. blackish shorts. bowl-cut hair. hawaiian t-shirt. buggy glasses. Richie. i look at him, confused. he suddenly bursts into laughter. "did you see the poster? did you fall for it?" he says between laughs. he gasps and says, "you totally fell for it!" i clench my fists and grit my teeth. nobody says anything except Richie, who's still cracking up. i throw down my bike and storm off. "way to go Rich" Beverly says, walking after me. Bill scoffs and follows them. so does everyone else. leaving Richie. "wait you guys"
Richie manages to catch up to all of us. "what'd i do?" he says "that was a r-real Jackass thing to do" Bill spits. i barely turn my head toward them. Richie glances at me, with my hands in my face. Beverly rubs my back. "c'mon let's go" she says and helps me inside my house. she sits me down on my bed and goes to get me some water.
*knock knock* "come in" i say, assuming it's Beverly, but instead Mike comes in with Richie. Richie's head is down, looking at the floor. Mike speaks up, "listen, so, we talked to Richie and he's really sorry. he just has a really bad sense of humor" there's a little chuckle coming from Richie. he sees that i have no reaction and speaks up. "what can i do to make it up to you?" he says as Beverly comes back into the room with a glass of water. i turn away from him and say nothing. he sighs and walks toward me and sits down. "there's gotta be something" i wipe my eyes and think. "you have to scream out to the world 'IM A FUCKING JACKASS'" i chuckle lightly. he smiles and whispers into my ear, "i'm a fucking jackass" i turn toward him. "i SAID the world" he smiles and says, "but you are my world" i cant help but smile, "smooth tozier. smooth." "yeah i know i am VERY smooth" he says, wiggling his eyebrows. i shove his shoulder, playfully. "way to ruin the moment."
