summer camp

Two

 "Ugh," Beverly sighed, stepping forward to hug him and rest her head on his shoulder. "That's horrible. You'll be back at the end of June, right?"

The Losers all sat around him in despair, wondering what their summer was going to be like without Richie Tozier. Of course, he wasn't going to be gone for the entire summer, but they didn't care about that. Richie was one of them, and any of them going away for a while was a tragedy. If one of the quieter members of the group had to leave, say, for instance- Stanley, or Ben, the Losers would mostly get along fine. But this was Richie in question here, the loudest one of the group. He was always the one to raise the Losers' spirits when they were low, or distract them when something horrible happened. Even if Richie didn't know it, he helped each of them in his own way. And now he would be leaving for a little under a month.

"I know," he mutters, sticking his arms out straight and hugging her limply. "Mom said I'd be back June 26th, but it still sucks."

Richie's parents decided that he'd been a shithead during the last school year. Sure, his grades were fine- he almost made straight A's if it weren't for gym class, which was almost entirely behavior and participation based- but he'd been suspended twice, had attended many detentions, and got yelled at by multiple teachers pretty much daily. As much as Wentworth and Maggie Tozier loved him, it had to be done. Camp was inevitable. He very much dreaded being apart from the Losers, but he knew he would get along fine- that was, if he could make friends of equal quality at camp. He would be able to entertain himself, sure, but missing out on all of the sleepovers and adventures in the Barrens was the worst. They had made so many plans for this summer, and with Richie gone, there was no point in pursuing them.

The one thing Richie wouldn't miss, though, was Henry Bowers and his gang. He felt bad for his friends who would probably have to endure a lot from them this summer, but he felt a guilty kind of relief that he wouldn't be there to experience any of it.

"W-Wuh-We're going t-to muh-miss you." Bill stepped forward and hugged Richie from the side, making Richie grin from ear to ear as all of the Losers surrounded him in one huge group hug. Richie's parents would drive him later that afternoon, and he had already packed begrudgingly right after he woke up and showered.

Richie had told himself repeatedly that it wasn't fair. Sure, he'd been a nuisance to not only his teachers but other students, but his grades were fine! Paying attention was a struggle for him, as was most things, but he applied basic common sense to the majority of his tests and passed. Maybe he cheated a few times here and there, but after all, who didn't? Most of his school days were spent talking to the Losers and doodling on his math worksheets, but when he wasn't doing that, he thought about how he could get sent to the principal's office to get out of class or how he could run away to Texas with all of his friends in his mother's ugly minivan.

It was far fetched, and he knew it. None of his friends could drive yet, except for Mike, who was 16. The rest of them were 15, way too young to be living on their own. Richie just wished he could be an adult already, even if he didn't end up going to college.

But college and living on his own were both far away from him. Now he had camp to worry about.