october 29th, 1990

'you're going to catch a cold if you do this, vic' steve told me as i put on one of the jackets richie let me have before he left

'i don't care. i want to go' i answered him as i was about to leave,

right as the door was about to close after i left, steve yelled from the living room,'no matter how much you go down to those fucking meadows, richie's never going to come back! he treated you like shit! he doesn't want you!'

i didn't reply, just got on my bike and rode down to the meadows

as i lied down on the cold grass and looked up at the stars, i thought about how lonely i was

i had cut out everyone in my life waiting for richie to come back,

or even reply

it felt so lonely, having turned ice cold towards all of my friends without even realising it

even eddie stopped asking how i was feeling a while back

but i don't blame them,

i wouldn't want to be friends with me either

i sighed, looking up at the stars, hoping with all of my heart that one day richie would come back

'you're gonna get sick, laying here in the cold' a voice said to me

i sat up and turned around to face the stranger,'dustin? what are you doing out here'

'i needed some air, aren't you cold? you only have a thin jacket on'

i got up, richie still on my mind,'stick your nose someplace else, dustin. i'm going home, you can have the meadows to yourself'

i walked back, with my hands closely wrapped around richie's jacket.

'victoria, i didn't mean it like that..' dustin said but i ignored him and continued to walk back out of the meadows

'vic, i know you've cut everyone out of your life,' dustin started

'and that includes you.' i scoffed and continued walking

'i also know that richie hasn't sent you a single letter, and you've supposedly sent him tons'

i stopped and turned around

he was right behind me, our faces were inches apart

'who told you that?'

'no one; and frankly that was just a guess but it's true. how funny!' he almost said with a laugh

'it's not funny! not funny at all!' i spat back at him and rolled my eyes

'he has sent you letters; every week, actually' dustin said

'what?' my mean expression softened into curiosity

'you might wanna come with me to mike's house. lucas is there too, and we all have a feeling you're going to be interested in what mike has to say about your precious boyfriend' dustin said

'but richie hates mike?' i told him

'yeah, yeah. but you're really going to want to hear what he has to say! i promise, please?' he begged me

'fine, but you freaks have five minutes of my time before i'm out.' i told him sternly before we walked back to our bikes and rode to mike's house

'what do you guys have to say' i asked mike, dustin, and some guy called lucas while we sat in mike's basement

mike started talking,'your brother, steve, has been sending the cards to richie, right?'

'yes.. what does that have to do with anything?'

'well, my sister, nancy, works at the post office'

'what the hell does that have to do with anything?' i asked him

mike continued,'because, every thursday steve comes in to the office, hands in the letter that you wrote in the trash, gets the letter from new york, which i'm supposing is from richie, and throws that away, too'

he paused

'richie's been sending letters?!' i asked, but rather loudly,'but steve always said he didn't!?'

dustin intervened to hush me,'we get it, victoria, this is big. your brother hasn't been sending your cards nor has he been giving you the cards that your boyfriend has been sending to you, but mike's mom doesn't know you're here, so hush hush please' he said with a smile

'is that it, mike? so i have been getting letters from richie?! oh my god i have to go!'

i ran out of the house as fast and quiet as humanly possible, and rushed home

'hey vic, how was th-' steve said before i interrupted him as i came in through the front door as he was sitting in the living room watching some basketball game that was on rerun from last week

'where are they, steve?'

he sat up in the couch and walked over to me,'where is what?'

'the letters'

'what letters, you mean the alphabet?' steve said trying to lighten the mood

'no; steve. tell me right now'

'where are the letters from richie?'