𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘆𝗼𝘂 | 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝘇𝗶𝗲𝗿

2

NYU. That's where Richie was heading. He felt sick. Leaving Georgia was something he'd never really thought about doing, but now here he was, in the passenger seat of an old, beat up pick up truck, his best friend Mike behind the wheel, miles away from his home.

He could faintly hear the music from the radio, muffled by his own thoughts, they'd left at around 6am this morning, and Richie hadn't slept the whole night. He didn't know whether it was the nerves or the excitement that kept him awake. A bit of both, he supposed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Richie spotted a green sign that said, 'Welcome To New York, The Empire State'.

Oh God, this was really happening. Shit.

It was kind of funny, really. If you'd told thirteen year old, bucktooth, squeaky-voiced, 5'2 Richie Tozier that he was gonna grow up and study history at NYU, he'd have laughed in your face. Yeah, well who's laughing now, dickhead?

It definitely wasn't Richie.

Jesus, he was gonna throw up. He hadn't been this nervous since he was six, standing outside his mothers bedroom, too scared to tell her he had wet the bed or something like that.

Okay, maybe that was an understatement, but you get the idea.

Mike had barely spoken the whole ride, but they were both tired, so it wasn't really a big deal.

Thoughts like, 'what're the classes gonna be like? Fuck, what if I fail all of my classes?- Well, I don't really wanna be a history teacher anyway- but- fuck my moms gonna be so disappointed! What's my roommate gonna be like? Are they gonna like me? What if they hate me? What if i hate them?' and so forth.

He shouldn't have to worry, He was a straight A student in highschool, after all, college shouldn't be so bad.

Richie had dozed off at some point during his inner breakdown, only to be snapped back into reality by Mike, gently shaking his arm.

"Rich, wake up, man." Mike whispered, laughing when Richie batted his hand away, humming a noise of annoyance.

Mike noticed his discomfort and he gave a sympathetic look.

"We're gonna be fine! just, relax and don't think much of it. Alright?" Mike pats Richie on the shoulder.

Richie sighed and stayed silent as he looked out of the truck's window.

The clouds were a dusty pink colour, indicating that the sun would soon set. Jesus, had they really been driving for a full day?

Richie stepped out of the car after Mike, his joints cracking all at once as he did, creating horrible popping noises.

He sighed in satisfaction after cracking his knuckles, pulling one of the boxes labeled 'Richie's Stuff' out of the trunk of the pick up truck and following Mike towards the building.

"You aren't getting your own boxes?" Richie asked Mike, noticing that he was carrying one of Richie's boxes and not his own.

"Nah, my dorm's on the other side of the campus."

"Shit. I forgot about that."

After wandering aimlessly for around 10 minutes, someone eventually pointed them in the direction of Richie's dorm.

It only took three trips to and from the truck to successfully unload all of his boxes and suitcases, but considering the fact that Richie refused to use elevators, it took a while.

He hugged Mike goodbye at the door, almost tripping over his suitcase as he dragged himself into the bedroom.

He didn't bother brushing his teeth or changing before he flopped down onto the bed on the right side of the room, hygiene and hunger was a problem for future Richie, right now all he wanted to do was sleep.

There was no way his roommate would arrive this late, so he didn't feel the need to unpack any of his things yet. It could be done in the morning.

He shot his mom a quick text, letting her know he had arrived and that everything was fine. Not bothering to wait for a text back, he fell asleep comfortably in his new bed, wondering of what awaited him in the weeks to come.

•*•*•*•*•*•*•

written by bug
edited by marlene
08/12/20