The Back Harlow Road • Stand By Me

Chapter Nine "Bad Boy, Good Person"

The next morning I met the up with the rest of The Cobras. They were casually walking out of Irk's Billiards and they held beers in their hands.

They didn't notice that I walked up to him but I observed all of them. Richie's nose was bleeding and my face scrunched in confusion.

"Why is he bleeding?" I asked and Ace turned around.

"Because he's an idiot," he said and I rolled my eyes and scoffed. Thanks for the explanation Ace.

"I didn't know that idiocy caused people to just start spontaneously bleeding from the nose," I said sarcastically and the guys laughed.

"I think it's a new phenomenon," Ace joked and I ignored him.

"Hey, Connie, I'm really sorry, I heard about you brother," Charlie said and the guys glared at him.

"It's fine," I said partially to Charlie and partially to the guys to lay off him. But it wasn't ok. I felt something catch in my throat, a sudden surge of sadness that caught me unaware. It almost managed to take my breath away. That was the thing; you never got used to it. You never got used to the idea of someone being gone.

Just when you think it's okay, and you think you've accepted it, someone points it out to you, and it hits you all over again, and it's just as shocking as the first time.

I continued walking to an unknown destination at the moment with the rest of the guys. I figured they would probably do something illegal again, when did they not?

That's the thing, they needed to be wanted, even if it was by the police. We aren't all that different when you think about it, people just don't want to see it.

"So what illegal thing are we doing today?" I asked curiously and Ace smirked.

"Wow, never expected you to say something like that," he said and I shrugged.

"It's the efflorescence of our society," I said barely noticing the guys staring at me like I was crazy.

"What the fuck?" Billy asked and I looked at him confused.

"What?"

"You can't use words like that, nobody knows what they mean," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"Efflorescence? It's recognized as a state of development," I said smoothly "idiot."

"Yeah idiot, everyone knows that" Richie said jokingly and I giggled lightly.

We continued walking until we got to our usual hang out spot. I sat on the hood of Ace's car and Richie sat next to me, putting his arm around my waste.

"What is up with you two?" Ace asked coolly and I bit my tongue so hard that it started to bleed.

"None of your business," Richie shot back at Ace and I could tell he was not about to let this go.

"Does Eyeball have a girlfriend?" he taunted and everyone stared in disbelief and my bravado died in my throat as I sink back, aware of the whispers that rise like the smoke of a fire.

"Fuck off," he shot back and I rolled my eyes, is it really that big of a deal?

I hopped off the hood of the car walking away from the awkwardness that was bound to come. I started walking to get something to eat for my starving stomach.

Only part of me took notice to Richie, who was following me. I turned around once we got off the Main Street.

"What happened to your nose?" I asked carefully and he sighed.