ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ᴘɪʟʟs ~ it/ st oneshots

red: reddie

richie's p.o.v

when dad came home one day with a new bright and shiny red car, i didn't know what to expect. but i couldn't say that i particularly cared, when exactly 48 hours later we were seated in it and zooming down the highway. i pushed my bulky glasses further up the bridge of my nose, silent as i watched cars and trucks drive down the highway in the opposite direction. i let a loud yawn slip passed my chapped lips, bored and fatigued after not having moved in hours. i didn't know how long for exactly, as i hadn't looked at the clock when we left. ma told me it'd only been an hour, but i thought it was more and she was just lying to make me complain less. not that i'd been complaining at all. i fiddled absentmindedly with the end of the bandaid on my right thumb, which had lost it's stickiness and gathered dust. it was covering a sore hangnail, that i'd been too much of a pussy to rip off. i decided to busy myself by counting the red cars that drove by, as there weren't too many and they were easy to spot.

one. " why don't you take a nap honey? it'll be a little ways longer." ma said, her wavy blond hair swaying in the corner of my eyes as she turned around to look at me. i didn't turn to look at her, focusing on the cars passing by beside us. " or i have some snacks in my bag: apples, those fruit gummies you asked me to buy last week." she rambled, although i wasn't really paying attention, more interested by the people driving around us.

two. " no thanks ma." i said quietly, pressing down on the side of my bandage that had lost it's stick to try and get it to reattach itself to my thumb. i knew myself well enough to know i wouldn't be able to coax myself to sleep in a moving vehicle, and that i'd probably throw up from eating in the car. i heard ma mumble something and presumably turn back around in her seat, to which she proceeded to whisper something to pa who whispered something back. i was  sure they were slightly uneasy, with me being so quiet and all. i was normally the motormouth of the family: pa yelling at me to shut up while ma would turn up the volume on the radio until it hurt my throat too much to talk over it. but on that particular car ride, i was dead quiet. and i wouldn't really have been able to tell you why.

three. upon spotting my third red car, a large pickup truck with orangey rust gathering around the bottom, a large jolt of our car made my head snap forward and my eyes look away. i looked between my ma and my pa, who looked just as shocked as me. pa started turning the wheel rapidly to the right, the car notably slanted to the left as we drove out onto the small amount of dirt beside the highway. i watched cars zooming by, in the same direction we'd been going originally, and tried to spot another red one. the familiar buzzing of the engine was suddenly gone, and i heard pa open his door and climb out of the car. when his door was opening, the roar of other cars engines and the stink of gasoline was stronger, and then he shut it again and it was back to how it was before.

four. i kept my eyes fixated on the blur of cars driving past us, seeing some movement outside of my window to my left which i could only assume was pa examining the tires of the car. i heard him shuffling around outside, my vision obstructed for a second as he passed by my window. but he soon moved away, and i continued watching the cars speed by in a blur.

" richard, get out." ma said, my eyes peeling away from the cars zooming by to look at her. she was still sitting in her seat, her bulging backpack resting on her lap. her face looked thinner and paler then normal, her eyes seemingly more sunken in and dull looking. or maybe that was just how she looked on the daily. " one of our tires burst." she said, her voice rough and not motherly sounding. " step outside and get some air. " she then turned away, her dark eyes leaving mine, as she got out of the car and shutting the door. i sighed, grabbing my backpack and exiting the new vehicle.

the overbearing smell of leather was immediately switched with that of overbearing gasoline, my face scrunching up at the putrid scent. i slipped the left strap of my backpack over my shoulder, the rough material momentarily scratching my bare arm, before the thin material of my band t-shirt my skin from it. band t-shirts always felt a little different then regular t-shirts: a little rougher, a little less comfortable. but i didn't like wearing normally shirts, always having found them too hot. that day i was wearing a black band t with elton john's jump up album cover design on the front. i matched it with some bulky cargo shorts that had belonged to pa at some point, the thick and bulky material hanging far too loosely over my scraggly thighs. they made me look even thinner then i already was. i slipped my shoulder through the other strap and returned my eyes to the road.