Chapter Text
Richie was late to class on the first day of his senior year of college - a surprise to absolutely no one. His Marshall headphones were around his neck because he couldn’t go anywhere without them, yet, he didn’t have the time to get his music set up for the ride from his dorm to the classroom. Today, he opted for his skateboard, the one with frog stickers on the underside, instead of his usual rollerblades, simply because he could not be fucked doing up all those laces just to undo them when he arrived at the building.
It did mean, however, that he wasn’t paying as much attention to where he was going as he would have been if he were blading, and that was ultimately what lead to his board rolling over a bump in the road that sent him flying, palms and knees hitting the concrete hard and scraping as he skidded along the sidewalk, phone falling out of his pocket and landing somewhere beside him, under him, squashed between the pavement and his hip.
Richie groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. His hand shot out and fumbled for his glasses which had also fallen off with his tumble to the ground. He slid them back into his face. They weren’t cracked, thankfully, just a little scraped and banged up. Nothing that a little polish and shine wouldn’t fix right up. His phone, on the other hand, was completely wrecked, screen cracked in several places and glitching between light and dark when he clicked the home button. He was going to have to replace it entirely.
Great.
What a perfect way to start the year.
His glasses, as it turned out, were not in perfect shape even after being meticulously and methodically cleaned by Stan, and Richie resolved to calling his mom on his new phone to double check his prescription before he headed out to get a new pair (and maybe a couple of spares). The problem here was that he didn’t know his mom’s phone number - who the fuck even remembered phone numbers anymore? When he was a kid, when cell phones were rare for children under the age of twelve, Richie distinctly remembered being allowed to borrow his dad’s phone when he took his sister for a walk around the neighbourhood on the condition that they called Maggie when they reached the end of Faulkner Street before returning home. Richie had remembered his mom’s number then, because little Alice’s freedom and independence relied on it. Richie did not remember his mom’s number now.
Well, he thought he did. He remembered most of it. It was just that very last number that he couldn’t quite figure out. So, instead of fretting endlessly about it or trying to recall the memories in which he had first heard it as Stan suggested, Richie just texted all ten possible phone numbers and hoped that one of them would be right.
Richie [2:37 pm]: hey mags! u will never guess what ur fav child did today
Richie [2:37 pm]: i’m sure u can guess bc this is my new number lmao anyway can u tell me what my prescription is cause I need to swing by the mall today and i figured i may as well pick up some spares
He received a few “sorry, I think you’ve got the wrong number”s within minutes, so that narrowed it down to six. Then there was a “Who’s Mags? I’m not Mags” and a “I’ll pick up ur prescription, just tell me ur name and ss number”, which made Richie bark out a laugh and Stan, who was reading over his shoulder, roll his eyes and decide now was the time for him to shower, while the communal bathrooms were relatively empty. Richie was sure that Stan had showered that morning already but, hey, who was he to judge people’s weird habits? He was the one who’d been gifted a stress ball, fidget spinner and fidget cube from three different people for his birthday last year. Maybe they were trying to tell him something.
His phone buzzed again and he looked down, relief flooding through him when he saw his mom’s signature - her favourite emojis were the pink heart with sparkles, a flower and the heart-eyed cat. He added her as a contact.
Mags 💖🌸😻 [2:58 pm]: Did u break ur glasses again Richard ? Y do u hav a new cell ?
Richie chuckled, imaging his mom with her own glasses perched low on her nose and typing with one finger, as slow as a snail. He quickly tapped out a response and pocketed his phone, slipping his shoes back on to head to the store for his replacement glasses.
He didn’t feel the vibration in his pocket alerting him to a new message until half an hour after it was sent. In the midst of trying on some new coloured frames, debating whether or not to grab some takeaway for him and Stan and then getting distracted with all the fast food options, Richie completely forgot about the other numbers he’d texted, now that he’d found Maggie’s. He finally pulled his new phone out when it started buzzing incessantly in his jeans, seeing that Bill was calling him.
“‘Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello. Billy Denbrough, what can I do you for, my man?”
“I’d rather you didn’t do m-me at all, Richie.”
“Not what your dad said last night,” Richie chuckled, hearing the signature groan of Stan in the background. “What’s up, dude? You with Stanley? I’m thinkin’ about grabbing us some dinner if you wanna come hang tonight.”
“Yeah, we’re at your dorm now. Sssstan’s been complaining about you s-s-skipping class on the first day, so can you p-please get that Thai thing he likes so he’ll sh-sh-shut up about it.”
“I’m right here and can hear you,” Stan’s voice came through the phone.
Richie snorted. “Yeah, man. I’ll pick something up. See ya soon.” He hung up, then seeing a bunch of new messages from the remaining numbers he’d texted. Most of them were simple wrong number texts, but there was one that caught his eye.
Unknown number [4:17 pm]: I think you’ve got the wrong number sorry
Unknown number [4:19 pm]: But how the fuck do you lose a prescription? You should have a system to keep your important forms and shit somewhere you’ll remember so you don’t need to text Mags every time you have to go to the drugstore
Richie barked out a laugh. “What a little asshole,” he muttered.
Richie [4:52 pm]: i will have u know that my actual meds prescription is kept in a very special place
Richie [4:53 pm]: perfect for when i finish seeing your mom on the weekends
He pocketed his phone and set off to find Stan’s favourite Thai place in the restaurant area right outside the mall.
When he arrived back at his dorm, backpack full of rice and curry and new spare glasses and a comic book from the store near the restaurant that he wandered into while he waited just to have something to do, he found Bill lying on his back on Richie’s bed, shoes still on, and Stan hunched over his laptop at his desk.
“Make yourself at home, why don’t you, Billiards?”
Bill rolled his eyes, but moved his feet off Richie’s bed. “You took so long, Richie. I was co-co-contemplating having a nap. And your sssssheets are dirty as fuck anyway so I didn’t think you’d n-n-notice.”
“It’s nearly six,” Stan said. “If you napped now, you wouldn’t be able to sleep later and then you’d be late for class tomorrow and I’d have to start calling you Richard.”
“Hey! I resemble that remark,” Richie said.
Stan snorted. “Did you get green curry?”
“Yep.”
“And did you r-remember the coconut rice this time?”
Richie’s eyes widened and started digging through his backpack, pulling out everything that wasn’t the rice. He looked up at his friends and sighed dramatically.
Stan crossed his arms. “Why do you always d—”
“Aha!” Richie pulled out two containers of coconut rice and brandished them in Stan's face. “See? My course is doing wonders for my acting skills! You guys were totally fooled!”
Stan narrowed his eyes and Bill snatched a container away.
“I sssstill think you should start making lists so you don’t keep forgetting s-s-stuff.”
Richie rolled his eyes and his whole head moved with the gesture. “Yeah, alright, Mom.”
His phone started going off in his pocket just as they finished eating and Stan was searching YouTube for their favourite Vine compilation on his laptop. Richie pulled his phone out and frowned at the screen, wondering who could possibly be texting when his two best friends were with him.
Unknown number [7:25 pm]: Oh my god how old are you
Unknown number [7:25 pm]: Wait i’m not talking to a teenager am I
Unknown number [7:25 pm]: Stay in school kid
“What are you smiling at?” Stan’s voice came from across the room. “Come on, we’re all set up.”
Richie quickly turned off his phone like he’d been caught doing something wrong and joined his friends on Stan’s bed, legs thrown over Bill’s lap, and didn’t really think about the unknown number until they switched from YouTube to Netflix and got halfway through a movie, and even then it was because Bill took out his phone and started texting.
“Eddie says s-s-sorry he couldn’t come tonight,” Bill explained, reading from his phone. “He’s already swamped with work from today.”
Stan rolled his eyes. “Are we ever going to meet your mysterious roommate?”
Richie’s ears perked up. “Ooh, who’s Eddie? Your boyfriend, Billy?”
Bill scoffed. “No, don’t be g-gross, Richie. He’s been my roommate since we st-started college. He’s just always busy studying because he got a sssscholarship and he’s afraid of losing it if his g-g-grades drop.”
“Eddie seems cool,” Stan said. “I saw him once when I went to visit Bill and he was bustling out of the dorms to go to the library or something.”
Richie’s phone buzzed again before he could add his two cents to the conversation.
Unknown number [10:30 pm]: Also don’t do drugs
Richie threw his head back and laughed, earning a confused look from Stan and Bill. “Oh, don’t mind me,” Richie said quickly, talking out a response.
“You don’t need to ask me twice,” Stan mumbled, turning back to the laptop.
Richie [10:32 pm]: i’m not talking to an old fart am i?
Unknown number [10:33 pm]: I’m glaring so hard right now
Unknown number [10:33 pm]: No I’m not an old fart I’m in my early 20s
Richie [10:34 pm]: !!!!! what a coinkidink!! so am i
Unknown number [10:35 pm]: well you act like you’re twelve
Richie [10:35 pm]: wow ro0d
Richie [10:35 pm]: 12 year olds would kill to be as cool as me
Unknown number [10:44 pm]: sorry I didn’t mean to be rude
Unknown number [10:45 pm]: I’m a little distracted rn
Richie [10:46 pm]: no stress my dude
Richie [10:46 pm]: u can’t be more of an asshole than me
Unknown number [10:51 pm]: I don’t think youre an asshole
Unknown number [10:51 pm]: From what I’ve seen
Unknown number [10:51 pm]: Read
Unknown number [10:52 pm]: You seem fine. If not a little immature
Richie [10:53 pm]: u should see/read me on my good days ;)
Richie [10:56 pm]: gtg sorry my friend is leaving and gotta give him a goodbye smooch
Unknown number [11:00 pm] Ive gotta get to bed soon anyway so goodnight.
Richie [11:15pm] nighty night old fart