ghosts & skeletons

ghost alarm clocks are very annoying.

[RICHIE]

september 2, 1991

richie tozier was having a nice dream, an occurrence that hadn't happened very often ever since he nearly died at the hands of a fucking clown. in the dream, he was just biking around derry, feeling free, and for some odd reason, eddie was there.

it had been the most soothing dream the boy had ever had, which is why he was extremely pissed off when he was rudely awoken.

"richie, wake the hell up, or I swear I'll throw a glass of water to your face."

"you evil motherfucker," richie grumbled as his eyes adjusted to the light streaming in his window which had been covered by curtains seconds ago. he fumbled for a pillow and threw it to the last place he had heard the voice come from. "why do you even bother to wake me up."

"why do you even bother to throw a pillow at me when you know it can't touch me."

"ok, you might have a point, but honestly, fuck you."

•

the walk to school was uneventful, but richie was preoccupied that his sophomore year might be hell. he reached the building that was the same as always, upperclassmen everywhere with their stuck-up expressions and freshmen trying to find their lockers and classrooms desperately, not caring about the means they had to implement to do so.

by the time richie found his locker, he had managed to collide into a dozen freshmen and had barely escaped from bumping into bowers and his gang. in the sea of stressed people, he managed to find a familiar face, eddie kaspbrak's, who stood only two lockers away from him.

richie sneaked up behind the boy and whispered "boo" in his ear, making eddie jump.

"you idiot! you know that if you keep doing that you're going to make me have a heart attack someday and then i'll die, and it's totally going to be your fault and-"

"it's nice to see you too, eddie"

"oh no, you don't get to say that after trying to scare the shit out of me."

"whatever, you probably missed me a lot, I know your mom did."

eddie stopped putting his bajillion pills into the locker to turn around and frown at richie. "why are you like this."

"it's a gift."

before eddie had a chance to scoff at that, beverly appeared right next to him, hand-in-hand with ben. "hi guys, have any of you seen bill?"

"no, but it sure is nice to see both of you. I haven't seen you in a month!"

it was true that the loser's club members hadn't seen each other in a long time since they all went to do their own things. richie had spent all summer at the arcade, playing street fighter over and over, and ended up staying inside all summer.

he hadn't been the only one who hadn't received a drop of sunlight since eddie had been inside his house those warm months. his mother didn't let him go outside for over an hour, even with sunscreen on, for the fear that he might get sunburnt. eddie now was an expert at solitaire, scrabble and monopoly since he had played them too many times for it to be possible. he also now knew Back to the Future by heart, which was something he'd never use in his life. at one point he had gotten so bored that he tried to learn russian but only ended up learning cyrillic. at least something's something, right?

meanwhile, beverly, ben, bill and mike had been much more outdoorsy, but bill started showing up less and less, making mike the third wheel, so he eventually stopped hanging out with them as well.

thankfully (or awfully) for richie, school was back in session meaning that the six of them were forced to spend six hours daily in the same building, something that usually helps you connect with people since all they do is complain about it, and all students can relate.

•

after the most boring history, biology and english lessons in existence, richie was ready to leave the fucking hell hole he was currently in, but he had lunch, probably the only reason why he had stayed. he found ben, beverly and eddie at a table but he hadn't seen either mike or bill all day. mike was still homeschooled, which is why richie didn't worry about it, but bill? who the fuck knows what happened to him! he had drifted away over the summer, and now he didn't even show up at school? something must've happened to him, but no one had a clue to what.

beverly was attempting to make small talk as he sat down, asking about how their classes had been that day. she must've regretted it because it sent eddie into a rant.

"why is it called health class if the dummies you're supposed to do CPR on were so unsanitary? it's like they want us to catch diseases and die before graduation!"

richie, knowing that he was about to make eddie madder, smiled slyly before saying "if you hate the dummies so much, why don't you just perform CPR on me."

"richie, do you even know how absolutely disgusting you are? you probably carry more germs than an infected sewer rat, and the reason you use dummies is that you can break ribs performing CPR."

richie just snorted upon hearing those words. "I highly doubt you can break one of my ribs, let alone crush a bug."

"oh, you'd be surprised to know how easily I can break your nose," eddie raised a fist, and at that moment, beverly decided to intervene.

"since no one has seen bill, I suggest we should look for him, does anyone volunteer to search today?"

"oh, I'll definitely do it, my mother has a friend over who's the definition of a walking toad. she is also the devil, so I can't go home" eddie said, surprising everyone. he usually was the last to volunteer because he was either worried about his mom or the health risks it would entail. richie supposed looking for bill isn't a dangerous job, he's probably just at his house.

the bell rang, indicating it was time to go to class, so he and eddie headed to their math classroom. it was the first class of the year, and the teacher was droning on and on about rules. his voice was so monotonous, richie actually fell asleep at one point, and was only woken up when the final bell rang, and he was finally free.

when richie reached his house, he just threw himself on his bed and stared at the ceiling. of course, that's when he decided it was time to annoy richie.

"come on, richie, you have to do your homework."

"no, go away staniel."

"that's not my name, you absolute bitch."

"fuck you."

"I love you too. so, how was your day?" stan said, sitting next to richie and throwing a pillow at his head.

"you sound like my mother" richie informed him while trying to catch it but failing miserably, so it hits him on the face and nearly falls off his bed."

"well... just tell me about your day!"

"fine. it was boring."

"is boring as talking to me?"

"you wouldn't think so but talking to a fucking boy who died two years ago is actually not as boring as english"

"but you're good at english; you love reading and writing!"

richie scoffed at that. "that's where you're wrong, staniel. I love rewriting stupid things and making them better, like the bible or romeo and juliet, but I don't like to write essays about the oxford comma or how william shakespeare's plays are works of art and not things to mock."

"well, I'm going to leave you alone now, goodbye, you are boring me."

"where the hell do you have to go? you don't even have any friends!"

"that's rude. I am now abandoning you because of your meanness."

"stuck up ghost" richie muttered under his breath as stan left his room.

"I heard that!"