Chris chambers once upon a body

Ghosts, Tears, and Something Shiny

Once Gordie and I got back, the guys organized the sleeping bags in a big circle. Gordie tried to start the fire how he learned in boy scouts but I used my lighter and got the fire going much faster. I looked around to find my sleeping bag. In front of me, on the other side of the fire, were Vern and Gordie, to my left was Teddy, and to my right was Chris. 

We waited for the fire to gain more momentum so that we could start cooking the meat that Gordie had bought. Vern was the first to speak to the group as a whole, but he directed his question to me.

"Hey Rosie, whatever happened between you and that Sam guy?" he asked

"What do you mean? Sam Emerson?" I asked him

"Yeah, well, you guys got detention together for a week and you guys always laugh a lot" he commented

"Nothing happened between them" Chris answered

"Well how would you know" questioned Vern

"Doesn't he like some older girl?" Chris questioned

I could tell Chris was getting annoyed at Vern's choice of conversation but part of me also wants to know what everyone has to say about this. 

"Oh yeah some Connie Palermo chick" responded Gordie

"Well I don't know, I heard some things from the guys at school" said Vern

Everyone looked at Vern and I questioned,

"What things" 

"Well, they said that you guys were secretly going steady but that you didn't want anyone to know because your parents don't like him" he said

Chris, Teddy, and Gordie looked at me as if they were betrayed. They had issues with Sam in the past, so I was stunned for a second. 

"Vern," I said calmly at first, "WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD THINK THAT SAM AND I ARE GOING STEADY JUST BECAUSE I LAUGHED WITH HIM A LITTLE BIT, NOT TO MENTION THAT EVEN THOUGH HE DOES LIKE CONNIE, HE IS ALSO GOING WITH STAR FROM MATH CLASS, BESIDES MY PARENTS ACTUALLY LIKE HIM" I yelled at him

Obviously, I was pissed, first off how dare people start a rumor based on the fact that someone had detention with me and we laughed. Also, I've known Sam practically since I was born. In a small town, you know everyone, but Gordie and I know Sam pretty well considering that his mom and our mom host the annual garden/yard competition.

I try not to yell at Vern mostly because I get that he doesn't really understand social cues very well, but that was due to how his mom raised him. Sheltered and babied, she never taught him that there are things you shouldn't say to people and in turn, this has gotten him in trouble with people multiple times.  I try to explain to him why what he said was wrong and sometimes he listens to me, but I'm not always there when he says such things. 

I took a deep breath. "Vern," I started, "you know that rumors aren't something you should believe," I looked at him and he had his head lowered after I just scolded him, "just because people say something doesn't mean it's true. Remember when people were saying that you stole candy from the store after the owner said that his supply had gone missing, but you had actually bought it from him before it went missing." I finished

"Yeah, I remember" he said finally bringing his face up to look at me. 

"Do you remember how those accusations made you feel?" I asked him "Pretty shitty right?" 

"Yeah, some kids stopped talking to me after that" he replied

"So imagine how I feel when there are people saying all those things about me, and they're probably saying worse right" I stated