CYNOSURE | RICHIE TOZIER

IV

"Do they think we can't see them?" Eliza whispered to Beverly, lightly giggling.
"Yeah, I wish they'd be a bit more subtle."
The two girls were sunbathing in only their underwear as Stan, Ben, Richie, Bill and Eddie gawked.
"On my cue." El grinned and Bev nodded, signalling she understood.
"Now." She muttered and they sat up in unison, turning to face the boys.
Eliza struggled to conceal her amusement as they panicked and attempted to hide that they'd been staring.
"Something wrong?" She smiled sweetly.
"No! No, nothing wrong!" Eddie tried to laugh it off, his voice breaking.
She giggled.
"News flash, Ben! School's out for summer!" Richie announced in one of his terrible accents, turning the attention to himself.
"Oh, that? That's not school stuff." Ben replied.
Richie continued to search through his bag, coming across a postcard.
"Who sent you that?" El lightly teased, getting up to sit with the boys.
"No one!" Ben exclaimed, scrambling to snatch the card out of Richie's hands.
Blowing it off, Richie pulled a folder out next, "What's with the history project?"
Eliza took the folder from him and began to flick through, frowning, "Shit."
"When I first moved here I didn't really have anyone to hang out with..." Ben explained, "... so I started spending a lot of time at the library."
Beverly joined the group and held her hands out, "I wanna see."
El obliged, handing it over. Bev read a few of the newspaper articles and looked back up at her, grimacing
"Here, pass it." Demanded Richie.
Bev gave it to him and he read them himself. They all took turns to study the gruesome stories, passing them around until they made their way back to Eliza. She briefly looked through again before closing it and placing it on her lap.
"Why is it all murders and missing kids?"
"Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before." Ben muttered, "They did a study once and it turns out that people die or disappear at six times the national average."
"You read that?" Bev gasped.
Ben nodded, "And that's just grown ups. Kids are worse."
El shivered, suddenly becoming very cold. She rubbed her hands against her goosebump-covered arms and bounced her legs in an attempt to warm herself up. Richie noticed.
"Here." He whispered, giving her his shirt that had been sat on the floor by his feet. Reluctantly she accepted, thanking him quietly. She buttoned it up but as she expected, it didn't do very much. It was light and baggy and she felt just as cold, but still kept it on, not wanting to offend the boy as it was a nice gesture and she suspected it wasn't something she'd get often from him.
"I've got more stuff, if you want to see it?" Ben offered.
Eddie shook his head as El nodded, almost in sync.

Her eyebrows shot up as she walked into the room, each wall covered in photographs, news reports and missing people posters. She looked to Bill, worry plastered across her face. The sinister fog that hung in the air was making her feel queasy and she couldn't imagine what was running through Bill's mind with the reminder of Georgie. He nodded, easing her slightly.
"Wow." Richie mused, stepping to her side.
"Cool, huh?"
Ben stood proudly as the rest of the group studied the room.
"No, nothing cool." Richie retorted and El punched his shoulder.
"Don't be a dick." She muttered and he put an arm around her shoulder.
"You really can't stop thinking about my dick can you?"
She threw him off in disgust, "You wish, Richard!"
"Yeah, I do." He smirked and she shook her head, deciding to just ignore him.
"Oh, this is cool!" Richie exclaimed, pointing to something, "Oh, wait. No it's not."
"What's that?" Stan asked, pointing at something else.
Ben followed Stan's gaze, "That's the charter for Derry township."
"Nerd alert!" Richie yelled.
"What did I tell you?!" Eliza scolded, glaring.
"Sorry, Mum." He grunted and she rolled her eyes.
"Actually, it's really interesting. Derry started as a beaver trapping camp." Ben explained.
Richie looked to Stanley, "Still is, am I right boys?!"
He raised his hand for a high five but El pushed it back down.
"Where is the well house?" Bill blurted, grabbing everyone's attention.
"I don't know, somewhere in town I guess." Ben shrugged.
"Why?" Eliza questioned, noticing there was something odd in Bill's eyes.
"N-nothing." Bill stuttered, turning away.
But she knew it wasn't nothing.

Sorry for the short chapter! I've been kinda busy and I had to try and struggle through a minor case of writer's block. This week is gonna be a busy one for me so I don't know when I'll have the next chapter out but I'll try and write as often as I can. :)