a quiet battle. (richie tozier angst 😘)

fuckyou.

richie sighed, entering the arcade at around 1:45 PM. obviously, matt wasn't there yet, so that gave richie a chance to play before he had an actual human opponent.

he exchanged his money for coins and made his way over to the machine, inserting the coins and starting his game.

the sounds of punching the buttons and the fighting in the game used to soothe richie's nerves. but right now, they were too familiar. too similar to gun shots.

and there he was. back in that wretched bathroom. where all of the screaming and crying was, and where the bullets were being fired from left to right. he imagined seeing that girl with brunette locks that sits behind him in ela getting shot straight in the head, and her friend screaming before getting shot as well.

it was awful. the game had ended due to the fact that richie had just froze in place, caught up in the flashback.

after a hot, overwhelming minute, he felt a hand on his shoulder. richie jumped, snapping him out of the trance. he was breathing heavily and snapped his head towards the hand.

"i know. it's scary. come here," said matt, bringing richie into a hug. richie took deep breaths, hugging him back.

"pfft! look at these faggots!" henry hollered. matt glared up at him, and richie pulled out of the hug, more upset than before.

"go fuck yourself, henry," he said, still not breathing steadily.

"we've done this dance before," henry said, shrugging. "and i thought i told you that faggots like you aren't aloud in my arcade."

"i don't see your fucking name on it," richie snapped.

"you know what i see your name on?" bowers teased, stepping closer.

"richie, we should—" matt whispered.

"what's that?" richie asked, trying to sound intimidating.

"go check for yourself, fish face," henry chuckled, shoving richie backwards. richie flipped him off. "you're starring in the new movie."

"wha.." richie mumbled. he and matt exchanged looks, and richie swallowed, storming out of the arcade and looking up at the movie sign. his face paled and dropped, and matt came running out after him.

"ri— what—?" he asked, looking up at where richie's wide eyes were. "woah?! what the fuck?!"

'richie the faggot tozier; shouldn't have escaped the shooting' was written in sloppy letters. richie felt tears crowd his eyes.

"wh.." is all richie could get out. he looked back through the arcade window to see bowers and his friends laughing their asses off. "i-i gotta.. gotta go.. i'm really sorry, matt."

"wait, richie!" matt called, but richie had already run off. matt sighed, feeling awful for richie. he glared at henry and stormed back into the arcade. "what the fuck is your deal?!"

"are you seriously talking to me like that?! HAH! you're funny, new kid," henry huffed.

"you're an asshole!" matt screamed. henry's smile dropped.

"say that again and i will fucking ki—" henry started, storming up to matt. but, the red-head tripped henry, slamming him to the ground.

"you got a problem, kid?!" patrick yelped. matt punched the guy in the face, kicking him in the balls and shoving him over. belch and vic exchanged looks before running out of the arcade.

"take that fucking down before i beat your ass six feet under," matt threatened, picking up a metal pole that was previously a piece of one of the arcade game machines.