IT Imagines

Speechless (Richie)

1st Person POV (MOVIE)

For the last couple of months, it would be me and the boys. We call ourselves the Losers. We are losers. Bill, Stan, Eddie, Richie, and me.

Then we found a boy who looked a little dead on the outside, fixed him up, and took him in as our own. It was the least we could do. His name is Ben. Ben is pretty cool.

That same day, we ran into Beverly. That same day, I got jealous. I got jealous, because I am no longer the center of attention for being a girl. All the boys had a new girl to drool on, and honestly, it sucks. I love being the center of attention. Richie always made jokes to make me laugh. Bill and Stan respected me as my own person, plus they love how kind I am. Eddie is basically my best friend. Should I mention Richie again? The boy I've had a crush on for the last year?

Trust me, I have no clue why I am attracted to that trashmouth of a boy, but I really can't help it. So that day he started making the same jokes towards Beverly, I got jealous.

My jealousy didn't help when they all invited her to go swimming with us at the barrens tomorrow. I literally had to excuse myself from the alleyway to kick a trashcan in a different alleyway nearby. A few rats crawled out from under them, which was disgusting, so I left that alley to go back to the gang in the original alley.

"Huh-huh-hey, Y/N, you stuh-still coming to-tomorrow?" Bill asks me just as I walk around the corner to see all my friends again.

"Yeah, I've been looking forward to it for weeks, there is no way I'm backing down." I say with a little too much enthusiasm. The enthusiasm comes from the jealousy, I make everything seem alright and dandy. Maybe a little too dandy.

"Aye, Sweetheart," Richie shouts in Jersey accent, or at least it sounds like a Jersey accent. "You still wanna go to the arcade after all of this?"

I smile at him, at least I still got the charm on Richie. My hand grabs the small bag of coins and I jingle it in front of my face to let him see. For the last two months, I have been saving up to go play arcade games with him. His favorite is Street Fighter, so I plan on playing that one a lot with him.

"Hell yeah," I say a little quietly. It didn't mean to come out like that, but it made our conversation a whole lot more dramatic.

"Tip top, Cherio Darling, let's go," Richie walls up to me and holds out his arm. Sometimes, he does a little more than accents, but he acts like his accents too. So for a very proper British boy, he holds out his arm and acts like a true gentleman. Nobody sees that side of him very often. Just as we pass Beverly, Richie tips his invisible hat at her. Dammit.

Once the group is out of earshot, Richie drops the act as a proper British boy and stuff his hands into his pocket. I drop my arms too. So much for being close with Richie for once.

"Are there any specific arcade games you want to play when we get there?" I ask Richie, looking at him with a side glance. His eyes flicker over at me, he almost looks excited, but he quickly covers it up a very strong kick to a rock. It seriously flew at least ten feet.

"Well, there are a couple of bullshit ones, we will ignore those ones for sure. My personal favorite is Street Fighter, but there is also PacMan, Galaga, and Frogger." Richie counts off the names of games off his fingers, only getting to four. He could clearly think of more, but those four were the important ones.

"Sounds like fun to me," I put my hands back into my own pockets, feeling the money around with my fingers. We are quiet all of the rest of the way there. It isn't awkward silence. It is comfortable silence. It is comfortable for a while, then Richie starts to talk to himself in different accents and I can't help but laugh at him.

Richie and I finally make it to the arcade. Like the gentlemen he sometimes is, Richie opens the door for me and points in the direction of Street Fighter. I think I'm going the right way, then I realized I wasn't when Richie grabbed me by the arm and dragged me in the complete opposite way.

"Here is the best game of all time: Street Fighter. Pay close attention, I'm going to show you the controls, then we are going to fight to the death." Richie let out a crazy laugh, then jammed one of his quarters into the machine. From there, the boy is going on and on about the game.

In conclusion, I am now slightly more attracted to him than I was before.

———

Off in the distance, I can see all of my friends (including Ben from the alley) standing in their underwear, staring at the water below them. At this moment, I don't see Beverly. Looks like she couldn't handle us. My jealousy is showing again.

"Hey, when are you losers going to jump in?" I shout over the running water and loud trees brushing against each other. They all turn back to see me standing in shorts and a shirt.

"Look who decided to show up," Eddie squeaks from the edge. It looks like he is in a spitfire mood. His eyes are wide, hair is messed up, and his bottom lip is tucked under his teeth.

"Why wouldn't I, Eds?"

His wide eyes roll at me, "don't call me Eds!"

No one says anything for the next couple of seconds. They still don't talk when I decide to rip off my clothing and sprint past them to jump into the water. The only thing they heard as I jumped off the cliff was me calling them pussies. Honestly, they deserve it.

As for the boys above, they don't even notice Beverly arrive to the barrens. Bill's mouth is wide open, Stan's mouth is wide open, Eddie is taking a puff from his inhaler, Ben can't even fathom what just happened, and Richie is speechless.

Richie is speechless. That never happens.