Chris chambers once upon a body

Sam, Issues, and a Tussle

I was too anxious to look at anyone other than Gordie and Vern, so I averted my attention anywhere but Chris and Teddy. I decided to stay near Gordie. I was concerned by the look on his face and figured that even if he didn't want to talk about it, he at least wouldn't be alone. 

Even though we were on Harlow road, we still had about an hour's walk to get all the way to the back end of it. At this point, Gordie and I were leading in the front of the group, Vern and Chris behind us, and Teddy at the back. 

My mind kept going back to the conversation with Vern. I felt almost unsettled by everything at first, but now it's all starting to make sense. All those times when Teddy and Chris would be irritated with each other, and all the times I thought I had lost something only for Teddy to find it and go to my house to give it back to me. I also thought back to detention. Even though Sam and the guys had some issues, Sam and I were already somewhat friends to begin with. It was true, our moms are friends and they have been best friends since they were little girls. When we were younger, my mom told me that the only reason she brought me along to Sam's house was because Sam's mom hoped that he and I would one day end up together so that she and my mom could see each other even more often and spend holidays together. All those "play dates" were just that to us, a time to play. As we got older it was more of a time to hang out rather than play. Occasionally his mom would send us out to eat together or do something "date like" but he and I only ever saw it as free food. We would tell each other the school gossip, even though the guys gossiped a bit, it wasn't as juicy as Sam's. His older sister would also tell him about stuff going on in high school and that's how we learned some things that we were taught later in health class. 

Even with all of that, Sam and I never liked each other like that. He says I remind him too much of his sister, besides he likes older and edgier girls. Sam knows about my crush on Chris, and I know about the crush he has on his sister's best friend Conny Palermo. In all totality, I never really knew why he and the guys had issues, neither Sam nor the guys wanted to tell me, although Chris did some explaining later on. Sam would just tell me to be careful with them, and the guys would tell me to be careful with Sam. 

Sam has a bit of a reputation for getting into some trouble, but he's always been kind to me and made sure I wasn't involved, and if I was, he always took all the blame and refused to let me take mine. He would walk me home every time we hung out because my mom had the habit of leaving without me so he and I could be out longer. He also isn't somebody who puts effort into school, but when we were partnered on a project, he put all his efforts into it. He told me that he wished I was his sister because we're alike and we get along well. He and his sister got along but they weren't all that close. She was a senior in High school so she preferred to be out anyways.

What's bothering me though, is that I can't remember ever talking to him through my window like how people were saying. He wasn't the type for that anyway, he said that only for prince-type guys and that he was more of a bandit. 

The whole story makes sense except for that. If it took place around the time I purposefully got detention to hang out with Sam, then it was also around the time that Chris and I started hanging out by ourselves without any of the other guys, including Gordie. I wanted to hang out with Sam so I could tell him about all of that without being overheard at home. 

Chris and I would hang out almost every day for about two weeks straight. The first week was a little harder since we would have to lie to the guys about why we wouldn't be able to meet them at the tree house after school. I remember telling them that my mom said she wanted me to spend more time with Sam, which Sam knew about the lie and went along with it, but now that I think about it, Vern probably said something and that was the foundation of the rumor. Chris on the other hand said his dad wanted him to clean out their garage to make room for a gun display he wanted to make. This was true but it wouldn't actually happen for about another month.