Thanatophobia || Richie Tozier

[three]

~YOU GUYS ARE FUN TO BE AROUND

angelique's point of view.

After Eddie had fixed the new kid, we all parted ways. Well-- everyone except me and Richie. We both walked towards my place, holding onto our bikes.

"You know you didn't have to walk me home, right?" I said, shaking my head and giggling softly.

Richie only shrugged, "yeah well I wanted to. I needed to make sure the princess got home safely, right?" He gently nudged me and I rolled my eyes playfully. I noticed we arrived at my destination, my house, causing me to turn to the male. "We're going to the quarry tomorrow. Do you want to come with?" The brown-haired male asked, eyes slightly wide.

"Sure... why not," I answered.

He nodded and so did I, leaning my bike against the garage before heading over inside the house seeing as it was unlocked. My eyes only widened though and I cursed under my breath.

"Who's this?" The man asked, his attention darting over towards me as I stood frozen by the front door.

My poor eyes.

"That's my stupid daughter," my mother slurred out. My eyes darted over to the bottles of beer on the table causing me to curse even more. I only grew angry though. "Why are you here?" She asked, frowning at me.

"Because I live here," I rolled my eyes. Suddenly the man walked over towards me, his junk hanging loosely right in front of me.

"Don't treat her like that you brat!" He yelled, his hand raising before it connected with my cheek. A whimper left my lips before I darted over towards my bedroom, shutting the door loudly and locking it. I hid in my closet, tears streaming down my face.

I must've been there for a while as there was a knock on my door. "You better unlock the damn door right now, Angelique!" My mother yelled. I only whimpered more, bringing my knees up to my chest.

There was a small sigh beside me causing me to jump, head snapping to the sound. "Are you okay?" The boy whispered.
I was beyond confused though. What was my brother doing here when he was supposed to be in the depths of hell. I scurried out of my closet, trying to stand but my legs were too weak so I only ended up falling onto the floor. "Y-You're supposed to be--" my voice got cut off.

"Angelique... sweetie?" My father's voice could be heard and I tried searching for him but I couldn't see him. I looked around like a crazy person. I pushed myself up when I saw Theo's eyes start changing colour making me shake my head quickly. I fell onto my bed after seeing a balloon float up behind him before it eventually popped loudly.

When the next day came around, I was quick to awake and get dressed. It wasn't anything special as it was was just a plain black dress.

I pulled the dress over my head before brushing my hair, slipping my shoes on before rushing downstairs.

"What's the rush for?" My mother's voice filled the silent room.
I slowed down and looked over at her, clearing my throat. "I'm just going to go meet Beverely, momma," I said nicely as possible.
"Right," she nodded, bringing a hand up to her head. "Anything else you need to tell me?" She asked, massaging her temples. I wondered if she had a headache.
"Oh! I'm sorry for yesterday momma. I didn't mean to be a brat..."

She nodded her head which caused me to sigh in relief quietly before running off. I got on my bike, riding towards where the quarry was. Eventually arriving, I noticed Beverly in the distance causing me to squeal softly with happiness. "Bev!"

The girl turned around with a wide smile and suddenly a small gasp left my lips. "Wow... you know, I'd smash--"
"Hey!" Beverly playfully slapped my shoulder before we both just giggled.

third point of view.

As the five boys stood over by the cliff, staring down at the water that was meters away -- none of them wanting to go first of course.

"Who's first?" Bill asked, pointing down at the water. They all kept their gaze on the water though, not hearing the small footsteps of the two girls walking over. They both gave each other looks -- trying not to laugh.

"We'll go!" Beverly said after about what seemed like a minute of silence from them. Their heads snapped over towards the two girls, their eyes widening at the fact they were undressing now.

Unlike Beverly, Angelique had a nice white lace set underneath. They both smirked before running over to the edge, holding hands. A small scream left the younger girls lips as they jumped into the water. The brunette couldn't help but giggle as they reached the surface, hearing a familiar 'what the fuck!'.

"Come on!" Beverly called out after Bill, Stan then Ben jumped off. Eddie seemed to of slapped Richie before he jumped off.
"Richie!" The brunette yelled out, "jump!"
The boy shook his head, "no thanks!"
The girl pouted and her best friend noticed. "She'll kiss you!--"

The girl didn't need to say more as the boy was quick to jump down, screaming high pitched. When he came up to the surface and they all finished laughing, he swam over towards Angelique. "M'lady," he smirked.

Rolling her eyes, she knew she had no choice. Well, maybe she did but if she was being honest, she did kind of want to do it so she just leaned over and pecked his cheek. It was enough to send Richie blushing though.

They all had a fun time as everyone played chicken, splashed around and even Richie and Angelique had a conversation without bickering back and forth. As time passed they decided to go ahead and dry off, the boys stiffly sat on rocks while the two girls laid together trying to somewhat tan.

angelique's point of view.

Feeling the boys gaze on me and Bev, we both turned around and sat up. I reached over and slipped my dress back on, almost failing to catch Richie's whine. "You know, you guys are fun to be around. You aren't plain and boring like everyone else calls you... you're cool losers," she smiled.

"T-Thanks," Bill chuckled.

Eddie nodded, "yeah you too. You're fun to be around when you're not around with elder men." He snickered. The mood instantly dropped though and I rolled my eyes.
"How'd t-the rumours even s-start?" Bill asked bravely.

I raised my eyebrow at him before sighing, slipping my shoes back on. "Greta and I used to be friends way back when we were kids. Shocking... I know. I would tell her about my family because I thought we'd be fifty and still be friends. Turns out she was just using me and she went behind my back and told everyone about my family. Especially after the big accident with my father and brother."

"Like the car crash accident?" Ben asked, widening his eyes. "That stuff still goes around the newspaper saying how sorry they--"
I couldn't help but cut him off. "No one is sorry Ben. This town is just a whore for attention... anyways, it didn't exactly help me either."
The boys stayed silent for a second and Beverly spoke up. "She has Thanatophobia," she shrugged.

I looked over at the boys who had looks of confusion on their faces. "It's the fear of losing someone you love."