IT Chapter 1 - Continued Ending 🎈

Chapter 12 - That Was Unexpected

Bev stood up from her desk and pinned the drawing onto the wall. She loved it so much. It was so detailed and Bill had obviously spent a lot of time on it.

The phone rang from downstairs and she dashed to answer it.

"I'll get it!"

She reached the wall that the phone was hung on and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Bev...?" a small, teary voice came from the other end. Bev couldn't figure out who it was. Was it one of her friends?

"Who is it?" she asked, as politely as possible.

"I...It's Richie," he sniffed.

"Sh*t, sorry Richie, I didn't know who you were for a second!"

Bev expected Richie to yell when he called. She thought he would be mad at her for not telling him when she was leaving. But, that wasn't how he was at all. He seemed...sad.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked when she heard him sobbing softly.

"No..."

"What's wrong?"

"Bill's leaving tomorrow..."

"Richie, he'll stay in contact with you, you know that r-" Richie cut her off.

"That's not all."

"What is it, Rich?"

"E...Eddie just called me. I got worried because he was crying and he sounded like he'd just had an asthma attack. He told me..." Richie burst into tears.

"Hey, it's okay. Calm down, Richie. You can tell me."

"How am I meant to calm down when two of my best friends are leaving town soon?!"

"Wait, Eddie's leaving?"

She couldn't see, but Richie nodded on the other side of the phone. Bev could tell she was right because Richie sobbed even harder.

"Oh my god, why?"

"His mom's got a new job. She said there was nothing in Derry for Eddie anymore. She said we weren't his real friends. She has no idea how much we care about him. Eddie said he just yelled at her and ran up to his room."

"Sh*t, has he told anyone else?"

"No, he said he's going to tell the others tomorrow."

"When Bill leaves? Wow, that'll be sad."

"Yeah... I won't be able to sleep tonight."

"Try, Rich. Like I said, it's not like they're going to stop talking to you. I bet Eddie will call you every day."

"He told me he would."

"He will, Richie. I promise."

"Thanks Bev," he took a deep breath and began to calm down. "I've got to go, my mom's calling me."

"Okay. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do, thanks again."

"No problem, Rich. Bye."

"See you."

When the line went dead, she hooked the phone back onto the wall and sighed. All of her friends were being separated. It can't have been a coincidence that three of them were leaving within just a few weeks of each other.

🎈 🎈 🎈

Richie put the phone down, not bothering to put it back in its place. He took a deep breath and wiped the tears from his eyes. He felt like his world was falling apart. He thought it was all his fault. He felt he had done something wrong, and that his friends were leaving because of him.

Richie always felt like he was a burden to the others, and that his jokes made things worse. Sure, sometimes they would be annoyed if Richie was trying to be funny at an inappropriate time, but what Richie didn't know was that they loved him for it. The Losers' club wouldn't be the same without the Trashmouth.

Bill loved how he had somebody who made fun of his stutter without being mean.

Stan loved having 'friendly debates' that were more like irrational arguments. He loved it because nine times out of ten, he was right.

Bev loved how he didn't treat her differently just because she was a girl, and how he always playfully annoyed her like he did the others.

Ben loved always being asked about history, even if the history that Richie was interested in was very strange.

Mike loved when he gave inappropriate names to his sheep, and was so thankful for how he had saved him from Bowers on multiple occasions.

Eddie loved all the nicknames Richie gave him, even if he denied it. He always knew something was wrong when Richie didn't call him something irritating like Eds or Eddie Spaghetti.

Richie Tozier was funny and dumb, but also really serious and smart when he had to be. The Losers loved him, and he was not the reason they were leaving.

When Richie finally convinced himself that none of this was his fault, he walked into his bedroom and sat on his bed, rummaging through his top drawer for any spare change. The arcade always made him feel better. He just hoped Henry wasn't going to be there, or his younger cousin. He couldn't take that again.

He found several quarters in his drawers and shoved them into the pocket of his dark green shorts, before running into the bathroom to check his appearance in the mirror. He didn't want anyone to know that he had been crying, so he splashed water onto his face and dried it with a towel.

'Good. I look somewhat normal,' he thought.

Richie forced a smile onto his face before leaving the bathroom. He pulled his sneakers onto his feet and tied them loosely, then ran out of the door.

"I'm going to the arcade!" he yelled as the door slammed shut.

🎈Well, that update took a while. After the next chapter, the style of the story will be changing. You'll understand when I upload the next part.🎈