Crime Came With Love

Chapter Twenty

Chapter 20 Adulthood

It's been two years since Chris returned. We have stood by each other's side every second. Gordie even invited us to double date with him and Katie his girlfriend now. The original gang has matured a ton in these few short years. We don't go out getting high all the time but we also don't sit at the ice cream shop where the kids all hang out.

Now we are used to paying for gas, cars, cell phones, and anything extra we want. We work to get out own money now. Gordie has been working at the animal shelter. He loads their bags of food into the storage compartment, takes them on walks, cleans cages, and whatever his boss tells him. Verno has shed out of his chubby kid body and now works at the gym training other kids how to take care of their body. Kinda hard to believe I know.

Chris got a job at the fire station. Thankfully he doesn't go out and put fires out or I'd be a nervous wreck. What he does is fix the fire trucks so that they are always ready to start up and go. His schedule varies but it's safer than be called at any time to risk your life. Working on cars and engines is one of Chris' talents and I know he's enjoying his job. Since all my friends got jobs I decided it was time for me to get one. My favorite store, Macys was hiring so I went ahead and applied. A week later I got a call that I would start the following Tuesday.

Now that I'm an employee I get to wear the new clothes for advertising purposes! So far everything is great and I'm loving it! I've only had to deal with a few nasty customers. Then when we all get off work we would go to the treehouse we built as kids. When Chris was gone the three of us didn't dare go to the treehouse, it wasn't the same without everyone. But now we are reunited it suddenly feels right again. I feel like even though we are stressed about college and we have to prepare for the future we've always made time for each other.

It was the night before high school graduation. The four of us squeezed inside our rotted treehouse and talked about all our crazy adventures. We laughed about stepping into a pond full of leeches. We mocked Vern standing gaurd. Then we grew serious talking about coming home to tell our parents why we ran off.

"You know I've spent my whole life with you guys. What'll happen when we all get separated?" Leave it to Vern to push us back into the reality we don't want to face. Together Gordie, Chris, and I moan "Vern"! "Everyone will have to come back to Castlerock to see their families." Gordie states matter of factly. "Can't we just have one night together without talking about being separated?" I say. We all agree for the rest of the night no talking or thinking about the future.

To take our mind off of things we played cards, watched home videos, and smoked a few cigarettes. In exactly nine hours we will be dressed in gowns walking across a stage to receive a piece of paper sending us on our way into adulthood.