The Trashmouth [Richie Tozier x Reader]

8: The Quarry Pt. 2 & Ben's House

After we were done swimming, we decided to relax on the rocks on the bank of the quarry. The boys sat on the rocks, listening to music. Beverly and I laid out on the rocks sunbathing and pretending we didn't notice all of the boys staring at us. Boys are gross sometimes. Actually, most of the time. I could practically feel Richie's eyes on me.

"Y/n," Beverly whispered quietly so the boys couldn't hear.

"Hm?" I responded quietly.

"Turn over and look at them in five seconds," She explained softly. I nod. After five seconds, we both turn over onto our stomachs and look over at them. The boys all look in different directions, trying to cover for their obvious staring. Except for Richie, he makes direct eye contact with me and smirks. I just shake my head and roll my eyes.

"News flash Ben, school's out for summer!" Richie says in a newscaster voice, pretending to hold a microphone in his hand. He starts rummaging through Ben's backpack.

"Oh that, that's not school stuff," Ben replies.

"Who sent you this?" Richie says laughing and pulling out a postcard.

"No one!" Ben replies quickly, snatching the card from his hands.

"What's with the history project?" Eddie asks, looking at the folder stuffed with papers Richie pulled out.

"Well, when I first moved here, I did't really have anyone to hang out with, so I just started spending time at the library," Ben explains.

"You went to the library? On purpose?" Richie asks seeming genuinely confused as to why anyone would do that.

"I wanna see," Beverly says, standing up and sitting next to Bill.

"Me too," I say getting up and following her. I was going to sit next to Richie, but before I can sit down, Richie pulls me by my waist onto his lap. I look at him with my eyebrows raised in confusion, and he just smiles at me with fake innocence. Too bad his smile is basically my weakness, so I couldn't bring myself to stand up. I roll my eyes in mock annoyance, but I honestly didn't mind sitting on Richie's lap. The other losers glance at each other, trying to talk with their facial expressions, suspicious as to why I didn't get off of his lap.

We pass the folder around, looking at the interesting contents inside. It's full of murders, missing kids, explosions, and basically everything tragic that's ever happened in Derry.

"What's the black spot?" Stan asks.

"The black spot was a nightclub that was burned down years ago by that racist cult," Eddie explains.

Bill looks at Beverly like she's the prettiest girl in the world. "Y-y-your hair..." Bill tries to say.

"Your hair is beautiful Beverly," Ben interrupts.

"Oh," she says, tucking it behind her ear, "Right, thanks."

Ben and Bill awkwardly glance at each other. The next few seconds are quiet and tense. It's so obvious they both have feelings for Beverly...awkward.

"Here, pass it," Richie says, reaching for the folder. He opens it and we both look inside.

"Why is it all murders and missing kids?" I ask.

"Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before," Ben describes. "They did a study once, and it turns out, people die or disappear six times the national average."

"You read that?" I ask worriedly.

"And that's just grown-ups. Kids are worse, way way worse." We all look at each other worriedly. Our fun day at the quarry just turned very dark.

"I've got more stuff if you wanna see it." Eddie quickly shakes his head no, but everyone else is intrigued. We put our clothes back on and bike over to Ben's house.

"Wow!" Richie says as we all walk in to Ben's room. It was a small room with the walls covered in pictures and posters, just like what he had in his folder.

"Cool, huh?" Ben asks.

"No, no nothing cool," Richie responds. We all look around the room at the different items.

"This is cool," I say to Richie, pointing.

"No, no it's not. It's not cool," He replies.

"What's that?" I ask Ben, pointing to a signed piece of paper on the wall.

"Oh that, that's the charter for Derry township." Ben explains.

"Nerd alert," Richie scoffs.

"No actually it's really interesting," Ben defends himself. "Derry started as beaver trapping camp--"

"Still is, am I right boys?" Richie interrupts, holding up his hand for a high five. Everyone gives Richie an annoyed look and I shake my head at him. He drops his hand.

"91 people signed the chart that made Derry," Ben continues. "But later that winter they all disappeared without a trace.

"The entire camp?" Eddie asks in disbelief.

"There were rumors of Indians, but no sign of an attack. Everybody just thought it was a plague or something. But it's like one day everyone just woke up and left. The only clue was a trail of bloody clothes leading to the well house."

"Jesus, we need to get Derry on Unsolved Mysteries," Richie jokes.

"W-where was the well house?" Bill asks.

"I don't know. Somewhere in town, I guess," Ben answers. "Why?"

"Nothing," Bill answers.

———

A/N-Ben's house scene was suuuuper short, so I just added it to this chapter. This chapter was kinda boring tbh but it's important to the story line. The next chapter will be so much better.

~word count: 873~