hope ur ok || richie angst book 👍

Feels Like A Lifetime Just Tryna Get By While We're Dying Inside.

Richie left second period, red face, sniffing, and wiping at tears. He kept his head down as he walked through the halls, not wanting to be spotted.

He plopped down in his seat and crossed his arms, sinking into it. Richie tried to cover his face and not let it be shown to his classmates and friend, but it was hard. He had just cried for forty-five minutes straight and didn't stop when he left.

Mike sat down next to Richie and let out a sigh. "Worst class of the day, here we go," Mike mumbled to Richie with a chuckle. Richie didn't answer, causing Mike to look over. "Wo- are you okay??"

Richie glanced up. "Me?? Of all people, you're asking me that question?" Richie asked as if he didn't look like he'd been crying for hours.

"Yes! You look miserable!" Mike pointed out, fully turning to face Richie.

"Mikey, how rude! Control yourself!" Richie joked around, trying not to make Mike upset. He had already worried enough of his friends today.

"You look like you just cried for twenty-four hours.." Mike uttered, putting a hand on Richie's shoulder, who was holding back sobs.

"No, I'm amazing, Mikey! Don't worry about me," Richie lied, trying to pull off a smile. Mike shook his head.

"We're gonna talk after class," Mike sighed. Richie took a deep breath and turned to the front of the room, still feeling Mike's eyes on him. "What's on your wrist?"

"A wrap," Richie mumbled. Mike scoffed.

"Duh, why's it there? What happened?" the taller boy asked.

"I-.. was-" Richie stuttered. He sighed. "Henry stabbed me in the arm with his stupid fucking pocket knife aaaand I wrapped it up in the nurse's office."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"Have you seen it, Michael?" Richie asked pathetically.

"No, it's wrapped, doofus," Mike chuckled. Richie shrugged. "But.. I didn't think Henry was here today."

"He's not," Richie accidentally blurted out.

"Exactly."

"I ran into him outside on my way to school. That's why I was hugging Bev when I came to you guys. I was upset," Richie fibbed. Mike nodded.

"Ohh," he cooed. "I'm sorry, is your arm okay?"

"Oh, no it's fine! It wasn't even deep anyway," Richie choked on a half-hearted laugh.

Mike stared at him for a moment and sucked in a breath. "Okay," he breathed out.

The teacher began the lesson and Richie tried everything to get Mike's worry and pity off of his ass. But Mike saw right through him. Richie ran from Mike after class before he could get the chance to talk, and scurried off to his next miserable period.

And of course, fourth period consisted of Eddie and Beverly.

Richie walked into the glass, immediately being stopped by Eddie and Beverly, who stood in front of him.

"Hi," Richie greeted, acting clueless.

"Where'd you go first period?!" Eddie blurted out, and Richie felt his heart jump.

"Bathroom?" Richie chuckled awkwardly, about to push between Beverly and Eddie.

"For forty-five fucking minutes?" Eddie exclaimed. Richie just ignored him and walked to his desk. "Y- You can't just ignore me like that!" He and Beverly walked over to where Richie had just sat.

"What's going on with you today? What happened this morning?" Beverly asked genially. Richie stared at the floor and shrugged.

"Why's your arm wrapped?" Eddie asked, about to start freaking out.

"Bowers.." Richie mumbled.

"What the fuck did Henry do this time?" Beverly asked, looking like she was soon to beat someone's ass.

"Just stabbed my arm with his pocket knife, nothing much. I'm fine, just leave me be. I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone," Richie uttered and covered his face once done talking.

"Are you okay?!" Beverly asked, offering her hands.

"Let me see the cut!" Eddie offered.

"NO!" Richie yelped. He immediately regretted it, seeing it had sounded very unnecessary.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Eddie asked, concerned.

"Just.. go sit down. We'll talk later, okay?!" Richie exclaimed. He felt like crying, once again. Beverly and Eddie exchanged looks, both sighing. On the way back to walking over to their seats, Beverly rubbed Richie's shoulder. Richie felt a tear roll down his cheek, but he didn't remove his hands from covering his face. He just sniffed and let it go.

Lunch came around, Richie was zoning out the entire time. Everyone was concerned. This wasn't like him. At all.

"Maybe something happened at home," Stanley suggested.

"He said it was Bowers," Beverly whispered.

"What did Bowers do or say to him to make him act like this? Because this isn't Richie," Bill said, looking over at Richie, who's head was lied on the table.

"Something horrible, that's for sure," Ben sighed.

"He said Henry only stabbed his arm, but I'm not sure. Usually, Richie doesn't act like this from being physically hurt. He still tried to make us ha-" Beverly went on to explain.

"Wait- what happened?" Stanley interrupted.

"Right, he didn't tell you two, did he?" Beverly asked.

Stanley and Bill shook their heads. "I had no idea either," Ben added.

Beverly nodded. "Mike?"

"Yeah, I knew. He was trying to act happy in Civics but I could tell he was about to start crying," Mike admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Crying..?" Ben asked. "I feel so bad."

"I really wanna know the entire story," Beverly sighed, rubbing her face.

The entire time, Eddie couldn't keep his eyes off of Richie. He sighed and poked the boy's shoulder.

"Rich? What's wrong?" Eddie asked. He didn't get a response. The boy looked under to table to find Richie's asleep face.

Richie about slipping forward from the table due to the fact he was asleep and could no longer support his body. Eddie caught his torso, bringing the taller boy onto him and leaning into Eddie's shoulder.

"Sleeping?" Stanley chuckled. Eddie nodded, closed his eyes, and leaned his head against Richie's. He interlocked fingers with the curly haired boy's and sighed out.

"This is gonna make me cry, I literally feel awful for him," Beverly admitted.

"It's not your fault, Bev," Bill reminded her.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish we could've been there to help him," Beverly chuckled, trying to play off her guilt with a simple laugh.

"Maybe he didn't sleep last night, then ran into Bowers, who stabbed his arm, and maybe he biked away and got to school all upset because he already didn't sleep, which automatically brings your mood down?" Ben tried to figure out the situation to help Beverly out.

"Or maybe he's lying about the whole thing and something's going on at home that he's just not telling us and the cut on his wrist isn't Henry's fault," Mike suggested quietly, which sure did silence everyone at the table.

"I really hope you're wrong about this one," Stanley uttered.

"Worst part is, Mike is usually the one right in any situation," Beverly shrugged.

"Crossing fingers he's not?" Ben tittered, trying to lighten the mood, and crossed his middle and index finger.

Beverly offered him a smile and crossed her own fingers, presenting them for him to see. He exchanged a loving smile.