𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝓾

ᴴᵃʳʳʸ ˢᵗʸˡᵉˢ ♥︎
⇄ ◁◁ I I ▷▷ ↻
⁰⁰ ²⁵ ━━●━━━━━━━━ ⁰² ⁰⁸

Walk in your rainbow paradise (paradise)
Strawberry lipstick state of mind (state of mind)
I get so lost inside your eyes
Would you believe it?
You don't have to say you love me
You don't have to say nothing

Richie's POV

Flashback to Homeroom.

I was half-listening to the teacher drone on, not really expecting much from the day, when she walked in.

Lily Anne Robinson, new girl. I'd met her before, briefly, and if I'm being honest, I didn't think much of her at first. She was just another kid with a story about moving to Derry, probably going to leave by the first week.

But the second she stood up to introduce herself, I could tell she had no plans of being just another kid.

"Why don't you introduce yourself, Lillian?" the teacher said. I noticed that Lily was trying to edge away to the back like all the rest, but then she whipped her head around and acted like she wasn't going anywhere.

"It's Lily," she corrected her automatically, stepping up to the front super confident, like she already owned the place. "Hey, uh, I'm Lily Anne Robinson. I just moved here to Derry to live with my grandparents. And, just so you know, Charlie is my brother. Whatever he tells you, don't believe it."

Okay, not bad. She was pretty quick on her feet. But, whatever. I wasn't worried. I'm Richie Tozier-there's no way some new girl could take me down.

The teacher, being all chipper, asked Lily to share a fun fact about herself. She paused for a second, then, with all the confidence of someone who actually had their act together, said, "I can make killer jokes," Straight-faced, like she wasn't even trying to brag.

Oh, hell no.

I leaned back, slapped my boots on the desk, and smirked. "Don't take my spot, new girl. There's only room for one class clown, and that's me."

The whole class turned to look at me, and I could practically hear the smirk in my voice. This was going to be too easy.

But then, out of nowhere, she says, "Oh, relax, Four Eyes. Your crown is safe. I'm not here to dethrone the court jester. I've got a reputation to maintain, unlike you."

The whole class exploded into laughter. What the hell just happened?

She called me "Four Eyes"? Like, yeah, I wear glasses, but what kind of new girl comes in and decides to roast the reigning king on Day One?

It hit me like a ton of bricks. She just fucking roasted me.

I shut my mouth, my smirk completely gone, as the class kept laughing. How the hell did she pull that off so smoothly?

The bell rang, and the rest of the class moved on like nothing happened. But me? I was sitting there trying to piece my ego back together.

After class, Bill and Eddie made a beeline for Lily, grinning like idiots.

"That was s-seriously cool," Bill stammered, his face all red.

"No one's ever shut Richie up before," Eddie added, practically bouncing.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I got shut up," I muttered, trying to save face. Not like it mattered.

I glanced over at Lily, who was still chatting with them, still rocking that smirk.

Goddamn it. Why did her roast feel like a punch to the gut and some weirdly hot power move that I absolutely didn't ask for? Damn new girl.

Damn me for definitely liking it.

I swear, my brain decided to go full on kinked without my permission. Was it the way she didn't even blink when she shut me down? The way she smirked, like she knew exactly how to wrap me around her finger-and then had the balls to enjoy it?

I mean, what kind of new girl shows up, looks me dead in the eye, and says, "Four Eyes," like it's foreplay?

And now all I could think about was what else she'd say if we weren't in class. Something sharp, something biting-probably something that would make me wish I'd kept my damn mouth shut for once.

Which, honestly, was kind of a turn-on.

Jesus Christ, Tozier. Pull it together. You're in fucking homeroom, not in the middle of a bad teenage rom-com where you start crushing on the girl who just destroyed you in public.

Except... maybe I was.

ℍ𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕣 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕀 𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕠𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕡𝕝𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕀 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕚𝕡𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕗𝕦𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤!