Shine *Richie X OC*

C.5

We were soon all dry and at Ben's house, and I was quiet as I rode on Bev's bike.

I was conflicted because of course, I didn't want to be seen as a slut or something, but at the same time, I loved the attention Richie gave me. I rarely got attention from guys, and this one was cute and funny and shit I'm in trouble.

I lowkey just wanted to give him a peek, just to see what he would do. Would he flirt even more? Would he make some sort of dirty joke? Would he touch me? Would he freeze up or what? I needed to know.

Besides, we were all sixteen. Wasn't this our time to make mistakes? It wouldn't hurt to fool around with him a bit. Would it?

"You're awfully quiet," Bev said as we walked into Ben's room, seeing papers everywhere on the walls.

"Just thinking." I shook my head, giving her a smile and sat down at the end of Ben's bed.

They all looked around a bit and I mostly kept to myself, chewing the hell out of my lip.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone think so hard." Richie's face was right in front of mine, and I blinked. "You're going to eat your lips off, and I can't have that." He shook his head.

"Huh? What's your problem with it?" I asked.

"Because I'm supposed to be the one biting your lips." He said and I couldn't help it; I threw my head back in laughter.

"You could've done a lot worse." I smiled.

"Yeah, I thought you'd appreciate the more innocent of the two." He shrugged and I just shook my head with a smile.

After an hour or so, we left Ben's, and Bev came with me to my house. We got up to my room with our lemonade and she faced me. "Talk."

"I am so stuck." I sighed, taking a drink.

"With Richie?" She asked.

"Who else?" I sighed again.

"Don't tell me you've got a crush on him." She asked.

"That's the problem, I don't know! I don't know if I like him or if I like that he likes me. I don't even know if he really likes me! Do I like him, or do I like the idea of him? Do I have a crush on him, or am I just lonely? Do I even want to be in a relationship, or do I want to prove I'm worthy of one?" I put my glass down and put my head in my hands.

"I can talk to him for you, figure out if he actually does like you." She offered.

"Stan told me today at the quarry that he acts differently around me," I said and she hummed.

"I mean, he does rarely stop teasing people, and he did call your writing beautiful." She nodded.

"There were some times today when he was actually sweet to me," I said, fingers fumbling in my lap.

"Really? When?" She asked.

"When we were swimming he came over to ask if I was doing okay or if I needed help. Then later at Ben's house..." I blushed a little and she got the message.

"I think he might actually like you. I'll still talk to him, though. I want to hear it for myself." She said.

"But if he doesn't actually like me, then what do I do? What if it's not just the attention I like, but I actually like him?" I asked.

"Then we work through it. We make him like you, or we help you realize he's not worth it." Bev shrugged.

She left after a little bit, I realized I still had to fill my prescriptions, so I grabbed the pill bottle and my wallet and went to do that.

As I walked down the road, I got to the alley opening and something caught my eye.

There was a clown standing there with a red balloon, orange hair, white and red face paint, and just stood there grinning and drooling. I smiled at him and went on my way, going into the pharmacy.

After a few minutes, I got my prescription filled and slipped the bag into my bag and exited the store, seeing the clown was no longer there.

When I got to my house, it was standing right outside in my yard. I looked around and saw nobody except us.

"Hello, Briar. Would you like a balloon?" It said in a joyful voice.

"No thanks. You must be the interdimensional entity I keep hearing about." I hummed. "There's nothing for you here, keep moving." I said.

"Briar is a pretty name. Would you like a rose." It produced one from its sleeve.

"I said there's nothing here for you, especially not with me." I snapped.

Its face shifted from a smile to a serious one. "Perhaps you'd like to see your father again. I can bring him back."

"No, you can't." I scoffed. "He's head. The most you can do is shift into his form, and that's not going to scare me. Try all you want, but with me, you. Will. Starve." I threatened and It gave an angry look before disappearing.

"That's what I thought." I huffed as I went into my house, then shook off the nerves with another pill.