➶ love in vain – robert johnson ➶
y/n woke up with her face sheened from the thin sweat from the sun's summer heat, clutching the pillow in her arms. she groans as she removes the blanket off of her body, seeing beverly sleeping on her back looking uncomfortable because of the hair rollers on her hair that she used as her pillow, her face facing the window. y/n look at her clock on her nightstand, it's quarter past eight but this morning's heat was so much hotter than the other past few days. since it's a friday, she thought that her mother is out early to take care some papers.
the y/h/c haired girl quietly slips off her bed, eyes were still droopy from staying up late. she lazily opens her mirror's door to get her toothbrush and toothpaste, she squeezed the bottle to the right amount she needed. her hair was a little messed up with the hair rollers for moving too much in her sleep, and a sticky circle of toothpaste over her acne, which she read in the magazine that it was a secret ingredient to reduce the largeness of a zit. they thought it's worth a try.
she did her morning routine quietly to not wake up beverly from her sleep, but then, startled her awake from a loud rang of the telephone. y/n mentally curse the person whoever it is.
y/n heard beverly answer it as she taps her face with the face towel before yelling, "y/n, it's your boyfriend!"
y/n blushed hearing it, putting back the cloth back to its place before going back to her room, to be greeted by a smug look from beverly. she took the phone from her hand, putting it on her ear.
"okay, what?"
"jeez, sweetcheeks. are you really that grumpy every morning?" richie asks on the other line, y/n's pretty sure he was grinning. "we're going to the clubhouse around . . . ten, i think. can i at least join a girl's bike ride to the clubhouse?"
"i'm sick of seeing your face, richie, maybe we'll include you. . . never." y/n jokes.
➶➶➶
y/n finished hanging up the last poster on the wall of the clubhouse with beverly's help. the both of them arrived early to set up a few things to use to make the clubhouse a little safe and clean. her eyes landed on the hammock they've put in earlier when she's patting some dust off her shorts and legs.
"i'm just gonna take a nap for a bit, bev." y/n yawns, sitting down carefully on it. "wake me up when they're here."
beverly nods before turning back to the book that y/n let her borrow. "i don't think i need to when richie got here and started to open his mouth."
y/n laughs in response as she removes her shoes and plop down slowly in the hammock, laying down on her back. she used her hands as a pillow before closing her eyes for a quick nap.
the other losers arrive shortly after fifteen minutes y/n started dozing off the hammock. surprisingly, y/n didn't wake up from a particular member of the group that has a motormouth when as soon as he moves his lips, came inside.
richie stops on his tracks when he saw the girl sleeping peacefully on the hammock. he slaps the nape of eddie's neck for talking too loudly, pressing his pointing finger on his lips.
"quiet down, dickwads." richie whisper-yells, making eddie scoff.
richie quietly walk towards y/n, smiling as he thought how cute she was sleeping. he kneeled down beside the hammock, hearing the soft snores that passes her lips as the other losers were deciding their roles of who's going to clean what.
"wake up your girlfriend, richie."
"i think i'm a bit sleepy too," richie lied, removing the tie on his shoelace and sat down on the hammock. he carefully lays down beside her, praying that the hammock won't tear down from their weights.
"if she woke up and started to beat the shit out of you to your death when she realized you're sleeping beside her, i'm not going to say anything." eddie said, rolling his eyes before turning back to the group's conversation.
richie gave him a middle finger after successfully putting y/n on top of him without waking her up. he let his other leg to dangle on the air, pushing his foot on the floor to softly swing the hammock. he heard y/n sighing as she nuzzles deep into his chest, making him blush.
stanley walk towards the two, holding up a blue plastic jar, a yellow paper taped on it with a handwriting of "use of losers only – stan". richie noticed this, scrunching his nose in confusion as he rubs circles around y/n's back. stanley stuck his hand inside and hold up a colorful haircap.
"you look ridiculous," richie said, snatching the haircap from stanley's hand, looking up at him. "the fuck is this?"
"so, you don't get spiders stuck in your hair when you're down here." stanley answered.
"stanley, we're not afraid of fucking spiders." he huffed, shoving it back to stan. richie looks at the other losers and noticed they were all wearing it. "i stand corrected."
"that's a first." beverly laughs after puffing up a smoke, putting the book on a makeshift chair she sat on earlier.
"touché," he replied, then looks at y/n dearly. "wait, wait, wait! give it back, i think y/n's afraid of spiders."
stanley made his signature eye roll before giving back the haircap to richie.
richie started toying with y/n's hair, he was putting it into a ponytail but then he realized she doesn't have a hair tie with her so he just made a funny knot then put the edge of the shower cap on her hairline and on the nape of her neck, completely covering her hair. richie grins before wrapping his arms around her, forcing himself not to squeeze her and suffocate her with his tight hug.
"hey, it's my turn now." eddie says as he struts towards the two in his red shorts.
"what do you mean it's your turn? she's still asleep. go give yourself a blowjob or something as you wait for your turn, eduardo."
"we're setting up a new rule here. it's gonna be ten minutes each."
"well then it's gonna be twenty minutes for us since the two of us are here. you didn't even help y/n and bev put this thing up, don't you dare."
"no shit. it's time's up."
"really? yeah, no shit too— wait. what the fuck are you doing? dude, you're waking her up." richie panics when eddie removed his shoes and started to climb in on their opposite side. he felt y/n shifts on his chest as the hammock was moving, swinging, wildly. "c'mon, man. i haven't had thirty minutes with my girl and you're ruining it— oh! good morning, babylove."
y/n's head perks up from richie's chest, blinking as she studies her surroundings, the other losers were looking at her—placing bets with their mind of how they think she'd react. she looks behind her to see a wide-eyed and very still eddie who just stops from moving, then to her front. y/n was greeted with a cheeky grin from the dark-curly head boy, she could see clearly how bright his doe brown eyes due to his glasses and being only inches apart. y/n returns a lazy smile, happy of how she was woken up but then jumps violently off the hammock with a loud thud on the floor.
"shit!"
as if nothing happened, she scrambled down to look for her sneakers, putting it on as the other losers were asking if she's were okay or was just laughing. y/n stand up, trying to look confident. she tried to comb her hair to look presentable but was confused.
"the fuck is this?" y/n asks them, pulling the shower cap's band, when it snaps back to her skin, she lets out a wince in pain.
"so, you don't get spiders stuck on your hair," stanley answered sweetly. "richie put it for you."
she hesitantly turns around to look at richie, her face was flushing red. "thanks," she said before turning around to look for something that she thinks she'll be useful with when she uses it.
"anything for you, doll." richie winks, shooting finger guns. "wait—holy shit! what are you wearing? you look hot. you're giving me baby houseman vibes. i'll be your johnny castle and let's dirty dancing in my room, whaddya say, sweetcheeks?"
"beep beep, richie." beverly laughs when she saw how red y/n's face is.
"wanna live with me in catskill resort, my love?" richie started to make a kissy lip at her, then shoves off eddie's sock foot off of his face, angrily. "y/n won't kiss me if my mouth catches your foot, eddie. anyways, i'd do anything to get the hell out of derry. where do you want run off, love?"
y/n didn't answer him, turning around to find something interesting and grabs the hammer off the table and picking up a nail from a jar.
"man, when i graduate, i'll go to florida." mike piped in, sitting down on a swing that ben just blow his hammer with.
"what's out there, mike?" beverly asks.
y/n listen to the conversation as she nailed down the wood on the ceiling where it fell yesterday, just to make sure it won't happen again.
"i don't know. . . i guess it's just the place i wanna go." he shrugs.
"stanley, you should go with mike in florida." richie said. "you already act like eighty. you clean up with all the grandmas." he teased, laughing along with the losers.
"d–do you guys think we'd still be friends?" stanley asks, "when we're older?"
"what? why wouldn't we be, stan?" y/n asks, standing a few feet away from him.
"do your any of your parents hang out with their friends from middle school? i mean, things might be different then," he paused. "we all might be different."
"wuh–we'll all still be friends. i duh–don't think it'll j–just go away because we're older." bill said.
"yeah, stan. i could see us bird watching together to kill time when we're older." y/n added, standing beside beverly, inhaling the smoke she puffed out – making her scrunch her nose.
"c'mon, stan. you don't have to be so . . . sad." beverly said.
➶➶➶
y/n lays down on her bed, with a book on her hand that she learned that it helps to send her to sleep easily. just as her eyes were completely shut down, her telephone rang softly on her nightstand, the girl jerks her head up from the sound.
the girl covers her mouth as she yawns, reaching for the phone, she didn't even guess who the person it'll be as she answer.
"richie? if this is you, i'll literally kill you when i see you, i was about to drift off," she stayed silent for a while as she waited for him to answer.
"sorry, love." he chuckled from the other line. "i just want to let you hear my voice before you sleep, so i'll be the only guy you'll dream of."
"i'm pretty sure you'll be giving me nightmares, rich." y/n replied, propping against her bed's headboard, interested of how is it going to go.
"well, at least i'm still there," richie said. "didn't you said you were about to sleep?"
"i did."
"kiss me goodnight, yeah?" he cheekily spoke on the other line, y/n's pretty sure he was batting his eyelash on the phone.
"if you were the boogeyman in my dreams, maybe i will." y/n joked, shutting her eyes as she listens to his sarcastic forced laugh.
"okay that's cute or what–fucking–ever, sweetcheeks." richie scoffed. "sweet dreams."
"sweet dreams, richie."