sweet ♡ richie tozier

chapter five

"Shh, Richie," she said, putting a finger to her lips. "Just... shh."

To break the awkward state, she asked Bill, "Can I see again?" Bill handed her the folder, and she flipped through the pages. With her lollipop dangling from her mouth, she asked, "Whys all this stuff so creepy? Doesn't anything good happen in Derry?"

"Not since you moved here," Richie snorted. She almost face palmed, but her face still heated up.

"Derrys not like any town I've ever been in before," Ben said. "They did a study once. As it turns out, people die or disappear six times the national average."

Adelaide gripped her lollipop. She never realized how scary of a town she lived in.

"You read that?" Beverly asked.

"That's just grown ups. Kids are worse. Way, way worse."

Hesitantly, he asked, "I've got more stuff, if you wanna see it."

—

Frankly, Adelaide did not want to see it. Sure, she was curious, but not if it would give her nightmares at night.

"Hey, Addy. I've got something else you can suck on, if that lollipops running out—"

"The lollipop is good!" She practically yelled.

"You sure? 'Cause—"

"Oh, look! We're here!" She exclaimed, trying to sound happy, even though she was pretty freaking not.

They walked into the house, and Richie and Eddies rambles actually made her a bit glad to be there. "I heard he has, like a roller coaster and a pet chimp—"

"And, like, bones!"

"An old guys fucking bones!"

Though, their excitement was short lived as soon as they walked through the door to Bens room. "W-Wow!" Richie breathed, pushing up his glasses.

"Cool, right?"

"No, nothing cool."

Adelaide couldn't argue with that.

To be honest, the walls almost reminded her of a serial killer. Paper was hung up with written notes all over different copies of newspapers, missing signs, and articles.

She scooted closer to the group of boys who looked at the walls. Richie turned to her and asked, "Wanna hold my hand?"

It was a genuine and real question, and Adelaide knew that. Although her gaze softened and a smile was brought to her cheeks, she shook her head and tilted her gaze to the walls.

Ben, looking at one specific page, said, "Yeah, Derry started out as a beaver trapping camp."

"Still is, am I right, boys?"

Adelaide pushed Richies hand down with a disappointed sigh.

After a while of looking, or, in Adelaide's case, walking around and pretending to be interested, Bill asked, "Where was the well house?"

"I dunno. Somewhere in town, I guess. Why?"

"Nothing," Bill muttered.

Adelaide finally nudged Richie. "I'm going home now. Ready?"

Richie nodded, and they said their goodbyes, walking out of the house and hopping on their bikes. On their way home, Richie asked, "Say, why do you always read outside?"

Adelaide shrugged. "I'm claustrophobic. I hate being in my small house."

Richie nodded.

It was silence the rest of the way.

Richie didn't know what to say. Hell, he's in love with the girl. Thinking about her made his heart race and his blood heat up in nervousness. Usually, it was easy for him to send her a pick up line. But when it came down to conversation, he wasn't exactly a pro at it.

When they pulled up to her house, she paused before she swung her leg over the bike and walked it up the front lawn. Looking back at him, she said, "I'll be on my porch again tomorrow, by the way."

"So, you want me to stop by?" He asked suggestively.

She only smiled and began walking up her front steps. "I never said that."

"You never not said it."

She laughed a bit and opened her front door. "I had fun at the quarry," she said, raising her voice so he would hear from across the lawn.

"Good. I enjoyed your black panties!"

She flushed red. "Richie!" She scolded.

He smiled. "Okay, yeah, but I had fun chicken fighting, too, I guess."

She repeated, "Good." When she heard her sister inside, she said to Richie, "See ya later."

"See you, sexy. I'll be waiting for my kiss!"

She walked in her house and shut her door, a warm smile on her face as she walked up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a small note.

Working the late shift! Spaghetti in the fridge. I'll be home by 10
Love Maggie

She furrowed her eyebrows and dropped the note. She heard someone upstairs.

She ran downstairs and grabbed the baseball bat by the garage door, hesitantly walking upstairs. She gripped it behind her ear and walked as slowly and as quietly as possible as she heard movement in her room. Slowly, she pushed the door open with the bat and took a look inside.

None other than a red balloon floated easily and steadily across her room, her eyebrows furrowed and her breathing shallow as she stared at it. It continued until it hit her closet door, ultimately stopping.

She took a few deep breaths before walking towards it cautiously. She grabbed the closet door and opened it wide, looking into the pitch black space. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips parted when she noticed there was nothing unusual.

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, orange eyes appeared in the darkness, and her breath hitched in her throat as she stared at them, frozen in fear.

Without a second thought, an arm, extending out to a length that was in no way natural, grabbed her hand and pulled her deep into the darkness, the door shutting behind her as soon as she hit the wall. She screamed as she turned around on the ground, banging on the door. "Hey! Let me out!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Sobbing and trying her best to breath, she grabbed her head. "Get me out, get me out," She repeated over and over.

Her closet was extremely small, and dark, and she's claustrophobic.

Panic.

That's all Adelaide felt.

She felt like she was falling and there was no end to it, only continuous panic and the inability to catch her breath. Suffocating and freaking out.

She got on her back and used her feet to push against the door, screaming at the top or her lungs in panic and fear. She kicked the door continuously and as hard as she could, hoping that she could find a way out of this torture.

When her legs kicked a small hole in the door, she wiped her tears and crawled out, sprawling out across the floor as tears streamed down her face.

When the balloon popped beside her, she let out one last scream before everything was silent.

—
1660 words<<
A/N<<
HA WOAH i did that
addys encounter with pennywise: complete
i am pretty content with how this ended up. i wasn't sure if i would like the fact that she was scared of small spaces, but im rolling with it
<3 maya