Secretly Yours

1

*beep beep*

Richie Tozier was woken up to the sound of his alarm clock like every morning. Richie groaned as he rolled over to turn it off. He slowly made his way out of bed, trying not to break into tears as he remembered what today was. The first day of school.

This woudn't have been a big deal if they didn't move away. Richies only friends. He used to do everything with them. They were a set of triplets, Jackson, Jacob, and Juliet. They all understood him, put up with his jokes, and never asked about the bruises on his arms, never told him to shut up, and just comforted him when he cried and never asked why because they already knew.

One day, they were going to surprise Richie for his birthday. They rode their bikes to his house and when they made it to the door, they heard yelling and glass breaking from inside. Jacob suggested they leave but Juliet wouldn't. She slowly opened the door to check what was happening. Once the door was open enough for all three to see, they saw something they wish they hadn't. It was their best friend being thrown around and yelled at by his dad while his mom watched and insulted her son. Richie just sat there and cried without fighting back. Jackson quickly but quietly shut the door and looked at his brother and sister.

After a moment of just standing there in shock, they made their way down the stairs and rode their bike back to their house. The next day at school, Richie had cuts and bruises, but still made tons of jokes and had a bright smile on his face. They all knew why Richie was the way he was, they understood so easily and that's why Richie loved them so much.

Once summer rolled around, they told Richie they were moving away a week after school ended. Richie was beyond devastated. His world crumbled, they were the only people he had left and now he has nobody.

To make things worse, it wasn't only the first day of school, but the first day of High School. By now, Richie was dressed and brushing his teeth in the bathroom as tears rolled down his cheeks. He had a t-shirt and shorts on, but of course he changed. Richie was unhealthily skinny for a boy his age, and his being tall only made it worse. He was taller then most people his age, but he's only 5'8. He has yet to reach his growth spurts. On top of being skinny, he had bruises on his arms and legs from the night before, along with cigarette burns which he made himself.

He put on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt over his t-shirt. The mornings were always cool and his school was always freezing no matter what time of year it was, so he knew he'd be okay.

He lightly combed his hair and quickly made his way out the door, not wanting to get stopped by his dad who was awake for work. He jogged to his garage, grabbed his skate board, and made his way to school. Luckily, he made it away from his house without being stopped. At least one thing went right this morning.

Right before he was about to turn off his street, he realized his left his school stuff in his room. He quickly turned around and made his way back to his house. Once he made it back, he went in from the back door, which was closer to the stairs. He ran upstairs, grabbed his bag, and jumped out his window. He landed in his mothers garden, luckily not ruining anything. He grabbed his board and made his way to school, once again.

Once he made it, he put his board in his locker, along with his bag and pulled out his schedule. First period was room 210 so he made his way to the stairs, along with a crowd of other kids. He made it to the room right before the bell rang, and took his seat in the back of the class. He did that for the rest of the classes except for eighth period. When he made it to room 105, most of the seats were taken, there were only two left. To Richies dissapointment, they were in the second row. He slowly made his way to the table, sitting next to some girl he didn't recognize.

Once Richie sat down, he starting examing the girl, realizing how beautiful she is. Long brown hair, freckles, bold lips, tan skin, and beautiful blue eyes.

She noticed Richie looking at her, giggled a little and stuck out her hand. "Hey, I'm Stephanie." Richie smiled as he shook her hand, "I'm Richie." She nodded, "I've heard a lot about you Trashmouth. I'm new here btw." Richie's stomach dropped. How has she heard a lot about him if school just started today? Richie knew he had to change her mind about him, assuming she's heard bad things. "Hey, do you wanna maybe go on a date this weekend?" Richie was shocked by what he had said. Of course she was gonna laugh in his face and humiliate him in front of everyone.

Instead, she smiled and said, "Yes! How about Saturday at Scoops Ahoy? 6, after dinner?" Richie was taken aback by her answer and just nodded. He had a huge smile on his face the rest of the class. Maybe things were going to be okay.

Once school ended, Richie pulled out his skate board, and instead of going home, he went to the mall. He bought a nice oufit, nothing too dressy, casual, but not his normal style. Richie couldn't deny that he was excited for the date. He couldn't stop thinking about having a beautiful girlfriend, hopefully understanding, most likely become friends with her friends. Everything would be okay, he wouldn't be alone anymore.

While he was shopping and trying on clothes, he realized how unatractive he was. Huge bags under his eyes due to the lack of sleep, no muscles and no body fat, and messy, unkept hair. He sighed, realizing the date would probably go horribly wrong. She'd see all the flaws that she didn't see when they first met. Today was a Thrusday, meaning he had one day left until the weekend, then he had their date.

His anxiety started to rise, his hands started trembling, he couldn't stand being in there anymore, he quickly got a shirt and pants, went into the dressing room, took the tags off, put them in his bag and left.

He quickly got out a pack of Winstons and his lighter, he quickly lighted one and made his way home. When he got home, he made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As he was about to get his water, he saw a note on the fridge.

Richie,

Clean your room, I don't understand how you survive in there.

Stop smoking in your room, too. It smells.

Love, Aunt Erica

He smiled once he read the last part. Whenever Aunt Erica stays, his parents don't hit him and actually treat him like their child. He made his way up to his room, throwing his dirty clothes in his hamper, taking it down to the laundry room. He made his way back up to his room, and as he got in there, his aunt walked out of his bathroom. She smiled when she saw him but then frowned when she saw him wearing inappropriate clothing for the temperature it was outside.

"Aren't you hot in that kiddo?" She made here way to where Richie was sitting on his bed. "Oh, no not really, it's pretty cold in my school," Richie said as he made room for her to sit next to him. She nodded as she sat down, getting in a comfortable position. Richie and Erica are close, she knows his parents beat him, she knows about his ADHD, she knows he isn't as happy as he shows himself to be.

"Well, how was your first day of school?" she said as she tried to lighten the mood. A small smile grew on Richies face, "I got a date with a really beautiful girl." She positioned herself so she was sitting in front of him, "that's great darling! What's her name?" she said as she grabbed his hands. "Stephanie," Richie said as a blush grew on his freckled cheeks. "Anyways, how long are you staying?" Richie asked not really in the mood to talk about the date he was nearly to insecure to show up for. "Well, I sadly lost my house and my job, and your parents said I could stay as long as I wanted. So I was thinking a year, I could get my life together and you'd have a break from them and we get to see each other like every day," she said as she giggled.

Richie's smile only got ten times bigger than it already was. "Really?!" He said getting extremely happy. "Really!" she said in excitement.

Things were really turning around for Richie.

*

Hey! I know I have my other book, but I really wanted to write a Reddie book.

Also, I appreciate the idea for my book from @kindredlover <33