Delusional. {IT 2017}

9.

Richie woke up the next morning, his throat and mouth dry. He sat up, glancing over at the blaring clock. Sucking in a breath, Richie stood shakily, stretching and heading to the bathroom.

He nearly passed out cold on the floor. Richie had gotten absolutely no sleep, falling asleep a minute before his alarm went off. His stomach felt empty, his throat burned, his eyes were strained and red, and he felt weak. Richie didn't want to do anything that day.

But, as his family enforced, he was off to school anyway, body still slightly aching from the hangover.

"Hey, Rich," Eddie said with a welcoming grin as Richie walked up to the group, hands in his pockets. He nodded at Eddie and tried to join in on the conversation.

"Ugh, finallyyy!" Beverly complained, falling into Richie and hugging him. He winced hard at the ache in his bones, trying to ignore it and hug his friend back. "Ya good?" she asked, pulling away.

"What? Yes?"

"You're shaky," she whispered, trying not make a scene in front of their friends. Richie just shook his head.

"Just the mornin' tremor. I'm so tired, dude," he chuckled, playing it off smoothly. Beverly nodded understandingly.

"Ah, I get it. I fuckin' hate the morning, they should start schools much later," she said with a shake of her head.

"Yeah. Apparently in 2026, all schools will start at eight and end at three," Richie informed, speaking over the bell. Him, Beverly, and the rest of the group began walking towards the building.

"Oh really? Cool. Only gotta wait three more years," she said with sarcasm, and Richie chuckled.

"Yeah, true."

Silence washed over the two, but it wasn't comforting as it normally was. It was awkward, and Beverly could sense some odd aura from Richie. She looked at him, studying his expression.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked genuinely, and he looked at her.

"Yeah, Bev! Why?"

"You seem.. off."

"Off?"

"Yeah, not Richie-like."

"Well okay then?" he laughed, and she shook her head.

"You know what I mean though, right?"

"Yeah yeah, just givin' ya a hard time."

"Okay.. but tell me if something's up, Tozier. I've been worried about you lately."

"Worried? About me? Why..?"

"Oh please. There's many reasons."

"No there's not."

Beverly gave him a pathetic look that he refused to even glance up at.

"Your.. dad? Family in general? You've also be-"

"Okay, Bev, I get it. I don't want to hear every single thing that you believe is wrong with me."

Beverly sighed. "I'm sorry, Rich, I'm just worried about you."

"It's fine, Beverly, you shouldn't have to worry about me." Beverly swallowed at that and Richie sighed. "I'll see ya later, Marsh."

"Bye, Rich," she said with a small smile, and he entered his class, her walking off to hers.

Richie sat in class, staring at the edge of his table. His ears rang incredibly loud, and with every whisper he jumped. He felt uncomfortable, in this school and his own skin. He no longer felt safe anywhere, and the horrors of the haunting voices drove him insane every day.

He didn't understand why any of this was happening. He could only plead for it to end, it felt like an ongoing nightmare that he couldn't escape unless he was to get drunk, or knock himself out so he was actually able to sleep.

Richie loved sleep. It got him away from the world. He had always loved it. But he didn't love the silence. Especially now that every time there was even just a little bit of silence present, voices were heard everywhere, sounding like they were coming from different places at once.

"TOZIER."

Richie jumped out of his thoughts, eyes wide with slight pant as he looked up at his teacher, kids snickering behind him.

"W-What..? Sorry, ma-"

"No, I'm not doing this with you today. You haven't been paying attention on purpose, if you don't want to be in this class, then you can leave," Mrs. Genis rambled, scribbling words onto a small sticky note. Richie huffed, grabbing his bag and standing.

He glared up at the woman, snatching the note out of her hand.

"Bitch," he mumbled.

"Repeat that?!"

"Bitch."

The class silently lost it, and Richie stood still, glaring at the teacher.

"You do NO-"

"I don't care, you already kicked me out, so fuck your class and fuck you too," Richie said, flipping her off and walking out casually. She glared at his back in anger, turning and writing a referral for the kid that wasn't even in her class anymore.

"Damnn," a boy laughed from the back.

"EVERYONE BE QUIET," the teacher screamed, and the students snickered and laughed silently.

"She pisses me off," Richie grumbled, picking at his pencil.

"You probably shouldn't have said shit to her though," Stanley pointed out, and Richie rolled his eyes.

"Not like I'm gonna get punched this time for it," he mumbled, and Stanley stared at him with sympathy. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm.. really sorry about the dad thing. If you don't want me bringing it up, just say so, but know that I'm here for you."

"Yeah thanks, Stan," Richie said, not meaning to be sour. He had just heard that sentence so many times that it pissed him off now. "I'll be fine. And don't bring it up anymore."

"Okay, I won't," Stanley said, giving him a small, reassuring smile. Richie just nodded and sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

'This is so repetitive.. so tiring.. but I can't leave yet. I can't leave Eddie, I can't leave Ellie, or Jessie or any of them. I can't leave the Losers. But I just want to get out of here,' Richie thought, visibly exhausted mentally as he stared at the wall ahead. He was bored of what was going on. Every day was just becoming a big blur.

Except for,

"HAHAHA!"

"Five days.."

"PLEASE."

"You're never alone. Never."

"Don't ignore me.."

"Hello?"

"He's coming."

"RICHIE!"

"Faggot."

"Your fault."

Richie felt insane.