Lover | Richie Tozier

Chapter 70.

The metal confinement that was once filled with overly-used sheets of notebook paper & stacks of voluminous textbooks was now an empty locker staring back into the face of Elle with it's ongoing depth. The vacancy brought an awareness to the sadness that she had been harboring, but she dismissed it with a heavy exhale. Everything that was once inside of it was now anchored to the bottom of her backpack, building up along with her heartache.

But... this is where life had led her. It had led her there and it had taken her away in return, continously spreading her butterfly wings. She was becoming what she'd spent so much time locked inside of a chrysalis for. And in less than a week, she'll spread those lace wings for the first time amid the sky, swimming into the air and leaving behind her sweetest flower: her first love.

She looked down on the cosmetic bag in her hands for longer than anyone would have ever consider to. She didn't put it into her backpack for the last time until she had traced over the pattern with her thumb. Not so much for the aesthetic of it, but for the memories.

["Alright. Get to class safely. And try to avoid licking your lips or rubbing at your face, the powder I put on will come off," Elle informed candidly.

She had taken full reign over her cosmetic bag in the locker room, doing everything she could to cover Richie's gashes and deep blue welts that would only darken over the next week.

When she did this and inched closer to his face, placing herself in between his bruised thighs, Richie's breath caught in his throat like a piece of glass. Nobody had ever been this close to him and been so gentle.]

Elle tucked the smaller bag inside of the larger one, making sure it was covert and untouched between two notebooks. It was likely the only thing that would be able to ground her when Seattle didn't feel like home, so she assured over & over again that it was safely put away. Her left hand brushed against her jeans as she used her right one to prepare to close the locker door so she wouldn't have to continue looking into the black hole of her past.

"It wouldn't be right if I didn't sneak up behind you at your locker one last time before you're gone, would it?" A voice gently pattered from behind her, tapping on the silence in the hallway like fresh rain.

Elle abruptly turned around after unhooking her tense shoulders. No matter how many times somebody did this, she still hadn't grown accustomed to it. Her mouth opened slightly, allowing a shallow breath to float out and add to the stillness of everything. "Beverly?" She astonished fragilely.

Beverly nodded, not being able to help the worry that made her flinch. "Yeah. I, uh," her throat cleared with a weak scoff, "I thought I'd come see you before you move." Her shoes rocked back and forth against the floor as she fidgeted anxiously, still wincing back as if she was waiting for a bomb to explode.

The girl across from her relaxed her grip on her locker. Her frame, covered by hair that reflected the sun shining through the windows, had presented itself so beautifully once she turned to fully meet Beverly's blue eyes. Elle let herself take in the air before carefully asking, "How'd you know about that?"

Beverly felt as if she'd never spoken to her before. The unfamiliarity that they held in their tone suppressed any of their past. But, the feeling of unfamiliarity is still a little bit familiar. "Wheezy's been crying all day. I asked him what was wrong just to be courteous," she explained, tipping her head back from the classroom she likely came from. "He's real upset. I can't blame him. I am too."

Silence tangled them together into a distant bond. Elle wasn't sure what to say, almost amazed that Beverly thought she even possessed the right to be upset. Almost 10 months of disdainful glares and verbal malice and she was still bold enough to stand here in front of her and express her low spirits.