➶ everywhere – fleetwood mac ➶
the losers were scattered around the clubhouse with heavy hearts, already looking lost as they were bored to death since they arrived. they stayed at bill's lawn for a while right after he and his family left, drying out the tears in their eyes before relocating to the barrens, hopefully to make themselves feel a little better. but it just made it worse because of seeing bill's things that he left messily scattered on a makeshift bookshelf.
y/n and richie were swinging side to side on the hammock because y/n was pushing her foot on the floor, while studying the look on each and every one's faces.
ben is bopping his head from the beat coming out from his boombox, chin resting on his palms and waiting for richie to tell him which cassette tape he should put in next. mike was trying to amuse himself in the swings. eddie is sitting on a tree stump, tapping his foot while his lips are pursed. stanley has his back facing y/n with a book on his hand, it was something about birds of course but y/n's pretty sure he wasn't reading because he's been on a certain page for a while now.
y/n gulped, thinking of something to say at first then spoke, "do you guys wanna do something?"
the losers perked their heads up to her voice, it's like they were waiting for someone to say something—dying for someone to say something—because it was always bill who initiates what they would do in a day. he was their 'go-to' person if they don't know what they wanted to do. they were always looking up at him, waiting for him to lead the group for safe adventures.
the losers grunt as a response of saying 'yes'.
"i don't know. . . like let's play a board game or something like–like—monopoly!" she added, she turns to her side in the hammock, fully facing the losers. her eyes drifted to the stack of boxes on one of bill's things, particularly to the one with large bold letters of "operation" that he bought in mr. lowe's shop for y/n to enjoy—because he thought that she would like it because it's funny.
"as long as stan's not playing, i'll join." mike said.
"what?" stanley closed his book, looking at mike in an offended way but jokingly. "it's not our fault that we're good with money, mike."
the losers burst out of laughter. stan's right, it was a challenge for y/n—and all of the losers—to beat stanley. it was like he owned the game.
then the losers went quiet again after the laughter died down.
"i think i saw a play having a rerun in aladdin. you guys wanna watch that?" y/n tried to start again. as if she was trying to turn on a stove with an empty gas.
"which play is it?" richie mumbles on the pillow they were resting their heads with.
"it's stephen sondheim's 'sunday in the park with george', rich—"
richie sat up abruptly, as if he got caught doing something obscene, but he was just excited. "george?" richie whispered in her ear but loud enough for the losers to hear. "helloooo, george? there is someone in this dress!" he sang, doing dot's accent.
"no, we don't want to! because he always does this!" mike shakes his head while pertaining to richie's impersonation of dot.
"now the foot is dead—" richie adds, then turned his head to his friend with a goofy grin,
"no! what i meant was talking about you doing this—"
"ha! i knew you love that play too!" he tapped y/n's shin repeatedly like an excited child, telling her to get up. "c'mon, let's watch it."
y/n always waited for a film or play that she thought richie would love to watch, she kept the time where richie told her his love for film in mind. and of course, his love for doing impressions. "it won't start until five." y/n checked the time by pulling richie's wrist to look at his watch. she said they still got two hours before it starts.
richie flopped down beside her, making her grunt when his arm laid lazily over her stomach, then he groaned loudly like a spoiled kid.
"great, now we have to listen to richie's impersonation of the characters for two hours." ben sighed.
"i wasn't thinking about it until you mentioned it, ben. thanks for the reminder." richie got up, untangling his arm from y/n's waist, clearing his throat.
it was the losers' turn to groan.
➶➶➶
y/n squinted her eyes towards the light that was illuminating under the covered road by the kissing bridge, hearing a soft 'click' from a distance. as she got nearer, the sound got more prominent, sounding more like someone was snapping their very dried fingers together. she realized that it was a flickering of a cigarette lighter.
her squinting eyes seconds ago widened when a bright blue flame roared as if it was coming from an invisible dragon's mouth. a soft gasp came out of her mouth, her cheeks were flushed when she realized what they were doing, before she turn around to trot away—
"hey! get back here!" y/n heard the older boy calling out for her, making her freeze from taking another step. she could also hear the clicking of a belt's metal as she heard their stomps.
y/n's embarrassed and flushed demeanor suddenly changed, she was facing them with no any hint of it in front of henry bowers and his gang. she noticed that victor and belch were trailing behind him, pants disheveled.
"you dumbass, i thought you said no cars pass by here during times like this—" victor smacked belch's back, while huffing a little when he caught up behind henry. he looked up to see y/n. "y–you're not gonna tell on us, are you?" victor gulped, strands of his blonde hair (soon to be bleached lighter in the next few years) sticking on his forehead because of sweat trickling down his temple.
the boys tried to look not intimidated by the girl in front of them—she's younger and shorter, easy for them to bully, and yet, they try not to get in her way because of her family status in derry and she has this effect that the look on her face could threaten anyone anytime she wanted to. everyone in derry would always either try to befriend her, not get in her way, or treat her like she's majesty.
y/n quietly giggled under her breath when victor was scared of her spreading true rumors about them, caughting them red-handed, flickering their lighters near their butthole to create an enormous angry dragon's roar. then sharing an amused laughter.
"i won't." she said.
the boys sighed in relief but not noticing the mischievous grin on y/n's face. they've made a few deals with y/n before, it was just small things that the small girl would ask for them to do in return for helping with their essays in their summer classes. or just simply some motherly things that they crave for like giving them her extra packed lunch.
"but in one condition." y/n took a step forward like a business woman, confidently offering a deal. henry raised a sassy eyebrow at the girl, looking up and down at her.
henry slapped the back of his hand on victor's chest to keep him from grinning widely, then victor hit belch's back as if they were a domino. "in what condition?" he gulped, then his eyes trailed down to what's in her hand.
"you teach me how to skate." y/n drops the skateboard on the concrete. the boys jumped at the sudden sound. that skateboard has been sitting under her bed, untouched for the rest of the winter and was just let out when the spring starts. she tried to learn by herself behind the school grounds until she decided to finally seek some help.
henry, the leader, was obviously contemplating. and of course, it wasn't left unnoticed by y/n.
"you guys know how to skate, right?" she asks. "and i heard mrs. dubose is going to fail you, which of course—it means you're going to have summer class. again." y/n adds, tone like a scolding mother. "i'll help you with it." y/n sighed, "it's like i'm doing you a favor for nothing now."
"if you say so," henry grinned.
belch grabbed the skateboard off the ground, smiling widely as if he was the one who got the present. "man, this is sick! i dreamt of having one of these before." he said, smoothing out his hand on the colored patterns on the skateboard's deck. "where did you buy this?"
"i don't know. . . an anonymous person gave that to me as a gift." she shrugged as she watched henry take it from belch and step a foot on it, like examining it using his feet.
"what's anonygous?" belch asks.
"it's anonymous, dumbass. it means there's no name." henry answered.
"you want us to find it out for you?" victor piped in, looking up from the floor.
"no, thank you." y/n said, as much as she wanted to, she knows these three would just scare the shit out of them if they find the kid. "are you going to teach me now or you're just going to show off, henry?"
henry jumped on the skateboard, letting it bring him towards the tunnel before pivoting his way back to them—not forgetting to do a duck walk, from what y/n heard from one of the two it's called. "wearing that?" he stopped in front of her, pointing down at her dress.
y/n admits that she's wearing clothes not so appropriate for skating. there's a party happening right now in their house because her mother decided to throw a frivolous party out of nowhere, it is mandatory to wear a dress and play the piano for the guests, and after that you have a busy mother, she had time to escape the house with the skateboard in her hand. "yeah, i'm wearing shorts underneath."
"take off your shoes, vic." henry held out his hand.
"what—"
"she's wearing—i don't know, some fucking girl shoes, it's going to be ruined if she used that. sorry for swearing by the way, y/n."
y/n now stood up after wearing victor's shoes, it wasn't too big for her actually, and stood beside her skateboard.
"you've tried skating by yourself before, right?" henry recalled from what she said earlier as she tied victor's shoes.
"i did." y/n answered.
"let's see what you've got."
"just the basics, ya know, like riding it and doing the caveman." she replied, resting her foot on it.
"the caveman? a beginner? doing a caveman? you, you are a fu
cking show off!" richie yelled out at the end of the street, face red flushed a little. "but i fucking told you to wait for me and not skate before i—"
y/n perked her head up from her skateboard with a toothy smile. "babe, babe! check it out again." she looks down at her board, doing the trick she's been trying to perfect for a while but her misplaced foot was unnoticed.
her skateboard slipped under her feet, sliding down towards the shade under the tunnel. she watched it riding away from her as she torrent the rough cement. y/n felt pain on her arm as it was being squished between where her cheek rests and the ground.
"i thought i fucking perfected it!"
richie threw his bike down dramatically after he reached near the spot where her things were. "i fucking told you to wait for me, toots." he helped her up to sit on the curb.
he was confused why y/n was giggling. but she was just masking the pain on her arm with it. "oh, wait! my skateboard!" she exclaimed, ready to stand up but richie pulled her good arm down.
"just sit, i'll get it." he left her, running towards her skateboard.
y/n couldn't help but to put a grin on her face because of how cute richie looks speeding towards her skateboard, with his big hair floofing—if that's even a word—in the air. he turns around jogging back to her with his teeth biting his lips in between, showing off the bucked ones in front. and it even made her grin widely.
"don't you smile at me like that, baby houseman!" richie collapsed on top of her, smiling. "you do know that biking around town during summer with my school bag on is like, social suicide." he sassily flipped his hair on her face.
"well, that's cute." y/n pecked his cheek, which obviously made him blush. "what'cha got in there, toots?" she nodded towards his backpack.
richie unzipped the zipper and went through his things, shoving something in the way before he brought out her pink knee, and elbow pads. "i told you not to skate until you wear these!" he scolded, putting it on for her like she was a kid.
richie bought the protective gear from the only sports store in derry when he saw y/n fall off her skateboard a few months ago while she was skating towards him, not noticing the small rock on the ground that would twitch a wheel and make her plummet down the floor. he used his money he got from mr. lowe after helping him out in the store to buy those ridiculously hot pink knee and elbow pads, the only color available for her size, and swearing that one day he'd buy her a helmet too because his money wasn't enough.
"you left it in my house the other day."
"jesus, i can take a fall and not cry like a baby. and i don't fall off my skateboard often, rich. i was just distracted by you earlier because you're so freaking handsome—"
"beep beep, y/n." he shut her up shyly, his cheeks turning bright red, shoving y/n's hands that were trying to squeeze his cheeks. "if you don't fall off often, then tell me where you got this—"
"ow!" y/n yelped when richie tapped a fresh wound on her shin that she got the other day. "is it your turn to play doctor now?" she jokingly asks as he rummages in his bag again. it was y/n who played doctor all the time when richie got hurt when they hung out or went on some small dates, it was just mostly him being clumsy on his bike.
"you got that right, doll." he took out a small pack of bandaids from his bag, picked out the matching hot pink color with her protective gear and put it over her wound. "now you show me that trick again." richie pushes her a little, ushering her.
y/n's heart was aching, her cheeks were turning red. she stands up, completely hiding it away from richie. it was just a gentle push from richie, urging her to show him her thing, and she couldn't fathom why her heart was aching like this. every inch of her insides felt. . . nice. it was like gleaming and twinkling.
she shook her head, not trusting herself to look at richie while on her skateboard because it might end up with her and the ground together.
"holy shit, that's cool!" richie almost spit out the liquid on his mouth when the wheel of her skateboard hit the cement. he looks up at her from the curb he's sitting on with a look so struck, thinking she's so cool. amazed, he said "do that shit over and over again until you get tired."
y/n let out a breathy laugh, "what the fuck?" she giggled.
"i'm serious, y/n/n. because it's an advantage for you and me." richie took a sip from the plastic straw of his juicebox.
"how was that an advantage for me?"
"because you practice and perfect your trick, then i get fucking amazed because i have a fucking cool girlfriend. then there's this drink i got you that's waiting for your lips to get sucked, it's a pleasure for you doll 'cause you're thirsty—"
"beep beep, richie." y/n madly blushed.
"no, no, no! i didn't mean it like that, but in case you wanted to— anyway! it's just nice to see you feeling nice after drinking the juice box i bought for you. and then after, you're tired because of skating which leads to me, because you wanna get cuddled because you're exhausted. i like cuddles. and yeah, i'm a fucking sap. don't tell the losers about this." richie gave her a pointed look while saying the last sentence.
"i can't understand what's going on all over your brain right now but i kinda like it." she shook her head while adjusting the skateboard on her foot, the end of her lips tugging upwards.
richie smiles, shrugging. with his gaze softened, his heart picked up while watching her showing off her cool trick. he heard her nervously laughed when she almost fell off her skateboard again, looking at him as she ponder if she's going to continue skating—because she's pretty sure that it'll give richie another heart attack when she fell off right in front of him.
he rests his chin over his knee while sipping his drink, staring up at her while his mind is also preoccupied aside from how really cool his girlfriend is. preoccupied with something he's been thinking off ever since the day they spent a night at the clubhouse after bill left.
where does she wanna go? richie wonders. he's freakin' sure that y/n wanna leave this shithole town called derry. richie could listen to her all day long, yapping about places she would leave derry for, and he's kind of listing them already. and when bill left last week, it was all he could think of again.
maggie and wentworth has already thought of leaving derry too, but just not now. maybe soon. and maybe y/n will leave derry too, she said that she'll do anything to get the hell out of derry but it scared richie that the two of them will be separated when the time comes that the two will be apart because of it.
richie blinked, gulping before he frowned as he was looking at y/n with panic. he won't even be mad if someone pointed out that he is smitten with this girl because it is true. richie doesn't want to be away from y/n ever.
y/n stopped skating as if her radar of a worried richie went on, she sheepishly sat beside richie, sweat trickling down from her hairline to her temples then to the side of her face. he quietly passed her a fresh face towel and her juicebox. a 'quiet richie tozier' after a 'tired from skating y/n' is very unusual, he should be cracking up jokes now or driving her cray cray by giving her another pickup line.
"why are you acting peculiar now, trashmouth?" y/n tried to loosen him up as he poke the straw on her juicebox and gave it to her. "you okay?" she asks before taking a large sip.
"i'm fine, really, just thinkin'" richie shrugs, scooting closer to her.
"wow, thinking, that's a surprise." she kids, mocking a smile.
"fuck you, hotstuff. but add that as my new character trait." richie grins along with her, hearing her laugh made him smile even brighter. "you wanna leave derry, right?"
"i thought i was clear about that already, we've even talked about it months ago." she said. "why?"
"have you thought about where you want to live?" richie shyly asks, turning his head at her. of course she has, it wasn't a surprise if y/n would just bring out a list from her pocket containing her itinerary for her next five years.
y/n definitely picked up what he was up to. "aw, richard tozier wants to live with me." she gushed. her demeanor may look like she's just kidding around but she was definitely screaming inside.
"i'm serious, y/n." richie blushed as he let her pinch his cheeks while doing kissy faces.
y/n pulls back, exhaling through her nose with a smile on her face. "well, i'm trying to target stanford university in college because it's in cali."
richie waits for her to add up another reason why she wanted to live there. "and?"
"it's because of the beach too." she adds. "good education and beach. that's it." y/n takes a long sip of her juice box until she hears the popping or cracking sound inside, meaning it's empty.
"yeah," richie nods, eyebrows furrowed. he has never been to a beach, even as a kid. he always don't wanna go with his parents ever since, he just hated it because it's always cold and wet because it always rain in maine. "and it doesn't always rain like here."
"and i heard there's lots of skateboard rink there."
"yeah, and i also heard that i will always get to see you in a bikini." richie smugly smirks.
"beep beep, richie." y/n raised her middle finger at him, shooting him a frosty look. "are you really that infatuated with me, trashmouth?"
richie looks at her, as if offended. "what do you mean 'infatuated'?" he scoffed. "do you even know what that means? my feelings for you aren't short-lived, my darling angel, it's going to go on forevermore." richie scolded.
y/n was left a little speechless. she wouldn't admit that this made her heart ache a little, and she would say the same to him if she only had guts to do so.
"what about you?"
"what about me, toots?" he brought out another juice box for the both of them.
"where do you wanna go?"
"i think you already know." he poked the straw again for her and gave it to her. not before he stole a kiss on her lips. "i want to be with you everywhere."
merry chrysler