Redwater's Secret

Sneaking and Competition

February 13, 1965. Redwater, Tennessee.

The child sighed, playing with the only two toys he owns gets boring after a while. Besides, the cup he was using had holes in it, making it unusable. Sometimes, he wished his father was not so busy. He wished that the old man would play with him. However, he never did. The boy just had to make his own fun, and he was fine with that. Walking out of his room, he glanced down the hallway. His room was the farthest away from the stairs, which gave him a good vantage point. The room closest to the stairs was his father's office. An office the boy was forbidden to go in, of course. Consequently, curiosity was building up again. The child had nothing else to do, why not go exploring?

Walking down the hallway, he did not have to be sneaky this time. His father was downstairs, watching the television. The child was not allowed to watch the television, but he did not know why. If he was, maybe he could shake the boredom. Instead, he opened the door of his father's office, and walked inside.

Inside the office, there were many boxes. They were all labelled different things and the child did not understand some of the words. He shrugged, looking around more. The room had a phone, a desk, the boxes, and a closet. Jumping up onto the desk chair, the child was looking through the drawers. He came upon several drawings of weird symbols. Symbols he did not understand, so he assumed they were just adult drawings. He decided long ago that adults were weird, and they did weird things. As he was snooping through drawers, he heard the television turn off. Pausing, he turned towards the door. His father could be heard grumbling, and soon began stomping up the stairs. The child started panicking, knowing he did not have time to run back to his room. Instead, he rushed into the closet and hid there, hoping the adult would not need to open it.

The old man, grumbling, stumbled into the room. The man reeked of alcohol, and it burned the child's eyes. Clumsily plopping down on the desk chair, he picked up the phone. He slurs, grabbing his head and trying to type in the numbers. When he finally gets it right, he places the phone to his ear and waits.

"Hello, yeah, hey. It's me." The man grumbles, rubbing his eyes. The child knows he should not be in there listening to this, but there was not anything he could do. "Yeah, I know. Listen," he threw his free hand up in defense. "I don't want a repeat of that shit either." A pause. "Listen, listen." A hiccup. "My kid, if you'd call him that, will be locked in his room next time." He lets the other person speak, and the child realizes they're talking about him. "I know that, listen, Micah won't be able to listen to the meetings again. I can assure you." He points at nothing in particular. "He will know he needs to stay in his room." Micah looks around in the closet, recognizing the robes that the adults wore that night he witnessed his father slap that guy, Harold. "Yeah, okay. Alright." His father, frustrated, hangs up the phone. He sits there for a while, before getting up and stumbling back downstairs.

Micah sighs, allowing himself to exit the closet. How had he not gotten caught? He smiled a little, he must be very good at sneaking around. And with that, Micah walks back down the hallway to his room. Picking up his two toys, he continues where he left off.

Present Day, RedWater High

Cherry sits on the steps of the school with a worried expression on her face. Everyone seemed like they were going to be late. Even Eve, who is usually early. Cherry's thoughts roam back to the body they found near the bridge. She bounces her leg, becoming increasingly nervous. Being out this late was dangerous anyway, let alone with a psycho killer on the loose. The wind was cold and that just made her nerves worse. She began to wonder if she should attempt to call one of them when a bicycle's bell could be heard.

"I'm here! I'm sorry-" Eve began, "I couldn't decide what to wear -" She was out of breath, Cherry standing up and rushing to help her gain balance on her bike. Eve offered her girlfriend a smile.

"It's okay," Cherry smiled back at her. "None of the others have showed up yet. I'm glad you're here, though." She kisses Eve's forehead and leads her to sit on the stairs of the school.

Eventually, Rocco pulls up in his rundown car. Jackie is the first to get out, followed by Gio. Rocco makes sure the car is locked before joining everyone near the stairs. Gio was already ranting about how Rocco almost hit a squirrel on the way there. Jackie was recounting what had actually happened as Gio's dramatics weren't doing Rocco any favors.

"No, he was almost in a ditch! Dude, I swear-" Gio grabbed Cherry's arm, shaking her a little. "I was so scared!" He flailed.

"That isn't what happened, Rocco was going the speed limit." Jackie huffed, crossing his arms.

The argument was interrupted by Dante and Carmen biking up the hill, Dante arriving first and waiting for Carmen to catch up. Poor Carmen was wheezing by the time he got to the group.

"Is this everyone?" Eve asked, looking around. Cherry mumbled, "I think so."

"Wait!" a voice was heard from the hill, and everyone turned around to see who it was. When the stranger made it to the top, everyone was shocked to see it was Luke.

Dante chuckled and turned to Gio. "Hey, look what the cat dragged in." He patted Gio's shoulder, maybe too aggressively. Gio muttered an 'ow.'

Cherry smiled and nudged Gio, urging him to go help Luke with his bike. "He a gentleman," Cherry laughed. "even though you're about as gentle as a thorn bush."

Gio blushed, scurrying to his feet and practically running over to Luke. "Let me help you!" He yelled, a bit too loud. Luke chuckled and nodded, letting Gio take his bike. From the stairs, laughter could be heard.

Gio put the bike beside of Eve's and stood there, staring at Luke. With a blush on his face, he extended a hand out. "Hi." He said.

Luke smiled, sporting a blush of his own. "Hello," he took Gio's hand, shaking it. "Are you gonna introduce me?" Luke chuckled, tilting his head.

Gio paused and looked at the crowd sitting on the stairs. "Oh- Yes!" He grabs Luke's arm. "Come with me." He practically drags Luke to his friends with a big grin on his face. "Guys, you know Mr. Gardner. Well, this is his son; Luke." He steps back, out of Luke's view and widens his eyes at all of them, gesturing towards Luke.

Cherry watches him in amusement while everyone keeps giggling to each other. Eve is the first to approach Luke and introduce herself. "Hello, Luke." She smiles gently. "I'm Eve, Cherry's girlfriend." Luke smiles back at her, nodding.

Cherry joins her girlfriend, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "And I'm Cherry." Luke chuckles at her. "You could probably guess because of the hair." She grins.

Rocco is next, nodding to Luke. "I'm Rocco." He isn't much for physical contact or conversation, so he doesn't exactly approach. More like leans against the rail of the stairway and observes. Luke nods back to him, offering a smile anyway.

Jackie is next, patting Luke on the shoulder. "Gio's told us about you before," he grins. Gio can be heard sputtering. "You seem great." He smiles at Luke. Luke grins.

Dante and Carmen are next. Dante drags Carmen over to Luke. "You know," Dante starts, "You two have a lot in common." Carmen mutters an, 'oh no.' Dante cackles, "I'm not going to elaborate. You'll have to figure it out." He shakes Luke's hand. "I'm Dante. This is Carmen." Luke says hello to both of them.

Rocco sighs. "We should get going, you know." Everyone turns to face him. "We're going to be late."

The group starts gathering things they may need. Luke, suddenly becoming nervous, practically sticks to Gio's side. "Um," He fiddled with his sweater. "Where are we going?" Gio looks at him.

"We're going to the park," Gio tilts his head. "You ever been?" Luke shakes his head and Gio frowns. "Well, that's okay. I'll show you." He grabs Luke's hand and leads him along with the rest of the group. Luke feels like his face might melt off.

Joy and laughter can be heard as the group makes their way to the park. Gio is still holding Luke's hand, swinging it as they walk. They're straggling behind the rest of the group, but neither of them seem to mind. Not a word is said; however, they understand each other perfectly. Cherry seems to notice this and nudges Eve, gesturing her head towards the pair. Eve smiles, taking Cherry's hand in her own and swings it like Gio is swinging Luke's. With the sun setting, the group makes their way to the park.