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twenty&seven - curious

"happy valentine's day," richie whispered in my ear, making me jump. i was putting my backpack into my locker quickly so i could sit in the cafeteria with my friends a little bit before school starts. "i hope you didn't get me a gift," richie held out his hands, "because i didn't get you one!"

"i didn't," i shook my head with a smile. i saw his nervous smile fall as he let out a sigh of relief. his fingers brushed through his curly hair smoothly after a tiny piece sprung out of place. there was no surprise that we didn't buy anything. the fact that richie didn't like holidays like valentine's day or st. patrick's day was very apparent, and i didn't mind. the romance of richie tozier was already enough to last me a lifetime of happiness. "let's go sit with the rest of the lucky seven," i suggested, starting to walk away from my locker. richie closed it for me and started to walked behind me.

when we sat down, beside each other, we immediately noticed the hot pink envelope sitting in front of stanley. his name was written on the envelope in bill's handwriting, and the top was opened carefully. stanley stared down at the item fondly, resting his chin on his hand.

"well i'm glad someone around here celebrated valentine's day," beverly looked over at richie with a teasing smile; her blue eyes hit the envelope again like everyone else.

"haven't you heard?" i laughed, "valentine's day is for losers only this year."

"oh," beverly said in a higher pitch than her regular voice, "so you two aren't sitting with losers, are you?" we started to laugh in unison for a second. it felt like one of those laughs that weren't forced, but just a natural noise to make afterwards. nevertheless, it ended the quick conversation as we started talking to people about different things. stanley, we found out, had given bill a small, small teddy bear and a heartfelt note. they were always the romance story waiting to happen, so it wasn't a surprise that they were sappy on the day made for love.

i felt richie's hand land on top of mine; his thumb laced along my pinky rhythmically. a small smile formed on my face from the slight touch. i looked over at richie for a moment. the loose piece fell in front of his face again, but he didn't seem to mind. he scanned me quickly before looking at my eyes again. they dilated for a quick moment, probably from the light.

"so," mike spoke up, "is anyone doing anything special for today?"

everyone except for bill and stanley shook their head no. the two of them explained that they were going to watch a couple movies until they fell asleep. bill's parents were out of town, so the house was empty (not that it made much of a difference volume wise). everyone else, however, just nodded and listened, not seeming to mind listening to them dribble on and on. once bill stopped explaining their plans, he looked at richie and i, "s-so yuh-you guys really aren't going anyth-thuh-thing?"

"no," i shook my head, "it's just a normal day. we're going to act normal."

"and that's a promise," richie confirmed, resting his elbow on my shoulder. if i had been honest, i wouldn't have nodded my head the way that i did and made that vow of normalcy. i didn't mind forgetting that it was valentine's day, i just didn't know where normal stopped. what counted as romantic?

beverly opened her mouth to let out a witty comment, but the bell rang loudly before she managed to speak up. instead, she just rolled her eyes and walked alongside ben. "have fun during first hour," richie squeezed around my shoulders lightly before dropping his arm and leaving. i went my separate way to first hour, balancing all my objects in my hands.

"bye," i said quietly, not bothering to yell across the cafeteria. i began walking towards my class that was in the junior hall.

"you know," a voice said from beside me. the sound of gum popping made me jump slightly. looking beside me, i saw greta, holding things she needed for her first hour class. she spoke again, "your group really is a bunch of weirdos."