Don't You Dare || Richie Tozier

The Barrens

richie sat at the dinner table with his parents and sister as they ate their all american frozen meals.

"this tastes like shit..." richie said with disgust.  his family said nothing and they continued to eat their meals in silence.  richie sighed and went to his room in protest.  he looked at himself in the small, full body mirror.  his thin arms were like toothpicks and the big, back, heavy glasses that sat on his face magnified his eyes just a little, making him look bug-eyed.

disappointed with what he saw, he dejectedly changed into his pajamas and went to bed.

✧THE NEXT MORNING✧

addison woke up on the beige carpet of her room, drool coming out of her mouth.  she sat up and looked at the small clock that sat on her nightstand.  10:24.

"shit!" she exclaimed, grabbing random clothes and running to the bathroom.  her sister's door was closed which meant that she was still asleep and her mom was definitely at work by now.  she looked at herself in the mirror and saw the imprint of the carpet on her face along with small cuts and bruises on her body.  addison quickly showered and got dressed.  she wore a guns and roses tee-shirt which was cut at the bottom and a pair of high waisted shorts.  the girl did her best to hide her cuts and bruises with concealer and then she put on eyeliner, mascara, and a subtle shade of lipstick. the living room clock read 10: 48 when she ran out the door towards her bike.

addison was almost there when she ran into bill and stanley.  they were a few yards ahead of her when she turned on to the street and yelled their names.

"BILL! STANLEY!" she called.  they turned around and she momentarily took both hands off the handlebars and waved.  they slowed down as she sped up and they biked together the whole way there.

"why the barrens? is this where you usually hang out?" addison asked as they dropped their bikes.

"it's the o-o-only place juh-juh-georgie could b-be," bill explained.

"oh," addison said.  all three of them walked down to the barrens and saw richie splashing eddie with the dirty water.  eddie yelped as it hit him and richie laughed.

"hey, tozier! leave the poor chap alone!" addison yelled using a british accent, a grin plastered to her face. richie slowly came to a stop as he watched addison walked down the hill towards them.

"okay, what's the plan big boy?" eddie asked richie quietly.

"ask her if she wants to go see a movie," he replied as he looked at the water.

"you got this," eddie reassured.

"yeah! i got this," he told himself.

the three kids got to the bottom of the bank and started walking. richie and addison trailed at the back of the group.

"so addi, i-i was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie after this," richie shyly asked. "with me," he added.

"i'd love to but i don't have any money," she explained. addison didn't go out often due to her financial situation. unlike her older sister, she understood that they couldn't afford most things.

"don't worry about it. i'll pay," richie offered.

"i don't want want to impose."

"don't worry about it."

"are you sure?"

"absolutely."

addison looked at the boy and agreed to see the movie with him. richie's smile grew instantaneously and soon they realized that the rest of the boys were dead silent. realizing that they were listening, addison blushed.

"that's poison ivy, and that's poison ivy, and that's poison ivy," stanley said as he pointed to a bunch of different plants.

"where? where's the poison ivy?" eddie asked as he gestured to his surroundings.  he sounded slightly worried.

"no where! not every fucking plant is poison ivy, stanley!" richie exclaimed.  addison snickered along with richie and bill.  they walked across the shallow stream and stood at the entrance of a sewer system.  bill, richie, and addison started into the tunnels but stanley and eddie didn't continue.

"aren't you guys coming in?" addison asked.

"nuh-uh, that's grey water," eddie protested.

"what the hell is grey water?" richie asked as he rolled his eyes.

"it's basically... piss and shit! so i'm just telling you, you guys are splashing around in millions of gallons of derry pee."

addison scrunched her nose but there was nothing she could do about it now, her vans were now covered in literal shit. 

richie picked up a stick that was floating in the water and smelled it.

"ugh richie, don't... stop that!" addison protested.  richie, however, ignored the girl and continued to smell it.

"doesn't smell like caca to me señor!" he replied in a strange voice.  the girl chuckled and reached for the stick.  richie pulled it away and eddie continued the battle.

"i can smell that from here," eddie said as he gaged slightly.

"it's probably just your breath wafting back into your face," richie shot back.

"have you ever heard of a staff infection?" eddie asked with the tone of his voice becoming increasingly worried.

"i'll show you a staff infection," richie threatened as he waved the stick around like a maniac.  richie picked up a piece of trash with the stick and chucked it at eddie.  the poor boy let out a yelp as addison started for the stick. everyone stopped when they heard bill's voice.

"guys!" bill yelled. 

eddie and richie stopped bickering and everyone turned towards him.  addison saw this as an opportunity to take this stick from riche.  she reached over and threw it back into the water.

bill turned around and pointed his flashlight to the shoe he was holding.

"shit, don't tell me that's..." stanley trailed off.

"n-no.  juh-georgie wears galoshes," bill said as he walked towards us.

"it's betty ripsoms," addison and richie said in unison.  there was a dreadful silence before someone said anything.

"ah shit! fuck!  i don't like this!" eddie cried.

"how do you think betty feels?  runnin' around these tunnels with only one fricking shoe!"  richie joked, trying to lighten the mood. addison smiled a bit and richie saw, causing him to blush.

the three of them started to walk further into the tunnels.  everyone started to argue about whether they should go in or not when suddenly there was a huge splash.  addison instinctively grabbed richie's hand when she first heard the sound.  as they walked to the stream, she let go and saw 'the new kid' bleeding out in the water.

"holy shit! what happened to you?" richie screamed as eddie ran into the water.  addison was right behind him and soon they got him out of the water and were on their bikes, headed for the town.

richie was right behind addison as they rode down the familiar streets. his stomach felt like there were a thousand butterflies fluttering around inside and his adorable smile couldn't be wiped off his face.

song of the chapter: cheerleader by omi

WORD COUNT: 1127