infinite • chris chambers

Chapter 5

"No Trespassing" was enforced by Milo Pressman, the junkman, and his dog Chopper. The most feared and least seen dog in Castle Rock. Legend had it that Milo had trained Chopper not just to sic, but to sic specific parts of the human anatomy. Thus a kid who had illegally scaled the junkyard fence might hear the dread cry: 'Chopper, sic balls!!' But right now neither the dread Chopper nor Milo was anywhere in sight.

As the gang climbed over the fence, Teddy continued being the young, annoying child he was, saying "Stand back, men," and then, "Paratroops, over the side."

Ariana and Vern climbed down after, joining in on his game as he pretended to hide behind cars, signaling they were safe to move on.

"Come on, men!"Teddy yelled to Ariana and Vern who were hiding behind a car across from him, "Move out!"

Ariana and Vern pretended to hold up guns as they followed after him,rolling over to the water pump. Chris watched as she played along. 

"Ariana is something else, isn't she?"Chris smiled. When Gordie didn't respond, he turned his head to see him smirking at him. "What?" Gordie smiled and nudged his shoulder. Gordie knew Chris liked Ariana. Chris just didn't wanna admit it.

"Come on, let's steal this water quickly, my men!"Teddy whispered to them as they pumped it. Meanwhile, Chris and Gordie raced down from the fence, a little ways pass the pump. Ariana rolled her eyes and laughed at the two of them.

"They're crazy,"She giggled, pumping the water with Teddy, while Vern was catching it with their Canteen's.

"They won't live to be twenty, i bet,"Teddy claimed, rolling his eyes.

"Can't you guys see the bromance between them, though?"Vern spoke up. Ariana and Teddy spun their heads around towards them. They both shook their heads, mumbling words in disgust. "What? I believe it could happen.."

"Well then stop believing it,"Ariana said, a hint of something, like..jealously..enter through her. She shook it off. She knew Chris was as straight as a line, so she didn't need to worry.

"Whatcha' guys talking about?"Chris asked as him and Gordie walked over to them. Teddy and Ariana stared over at Vern, saying no without even saying anything.

"Nothing,"Vern blurted out quickly. Ariana looked over at Teddy and he shook his head, continuing to pump the water. Chris and Gordie knew something was up when they saw Vern's red cheeks.

"There is something. Vern, what happened?"Gordie asked, tilting his head towards the boy. Vern looked up at him and went to speak, but Ariana cut him off.

"Guys, we're done. Let's go sit before Milo and Chopper get here,"Ariana played it off, handing Chris and Gordie their Canteen's, then skipping over to the fallen over truck. Chris watched as she did so, arching an eyebrow. Gordie looked over at Teddy, hoping for an answer, but he just shrugged. Vern sat on her right, Teddy on the end, Chris on her left, Gordie on the other end.

"You guys been watching the "Mickey Mouse Club" lately?"Teddy asked. The gang nodded. That was their thing. They were all 12-13, so they watched kid shows. Who really cared? "I think Annette's tits are getting bigger."

Ariana choked on her water, spitting it out everywhere. "Gross!" The boys laughed, knowing that they got Ariana embarrassed.

"I agree. I've been noticing that the "A" and the "E" are starting to bend around the sides,"Gordie agreed, pretending that he had boobs. Ariana immediately got red, squeezing her canteen.

"That's gross. Why are you nasties paying attention to cartoon characters breast?"She asked, glancing around at all of the boys.

"Aw, is Ariana jealous that we don't look at hers?"Teddy teased, poking her cheek. Chris laughed a pinched her other cheek. She slapped their hands away and groaned.

"Don't worry we do, honey,"Vern said, but then got red, "wait, did i just say that out loud?"

"WHAT!!!!"

"Great. Good job, Verno. Now she knows,"Teddy groaned, smacking him in the back of the head. "Don't tell us you didn't know, Ariana?"

"Now i wish i didn't!"Ariana shouted, bringing her knees to her chest so she could cover. Couldn't take any chances. Teddy stared at her in awe, seeing how he could get her so red so quickly.

"Don't worry, we only stare for 22 hours a day,"Chris assured her. Ariana gasped.

"Oh gross!"Then she stood up and walked off, away from the inappropriate boys. She couldn't believe them right now. Chris sighed and jumped up, running in front of her. He tended to do that a lot. Teddy just scoffed, seeing them two be together almost all the time. It made him angry-jealous? He shook it off and stared down at the ground.

"Ariana, come on. You were asking for this talk ever since you came on a journey with four horny teenage boys,"He stated, smiling at her. She rolled her eyes and brushed past him. "Come on, Ari. It's funny."

She turned around and shook her head. "No, it's not. Now i'm gonna have to worry about covering and watching your eyes every 22 hours!"

"Fine, if it makes you happy, we'll only look for 19 hours,"He told her. She scoffed.

"Oh my god, i'd rather you don't look at all! These are my privacy. They are not for you to be ogling,"She stated, staring him straight in the eyes. Gordie and Vern were still laughing, as if it were the funniest thing in the world, seeing Ariana flip her lid.

"Arrriiii, you know it's impossible for us not to look,"Chris dragged out, frowning at her.

"Then erase my memory so i don't know you stare,"Ariana said, placing her hands on her hips. She had a right to be stupid right now. Chris played along. He placed his hands on her head, smiling down at her. After a few moments, he pulled away.

"Better?"

"Perfecto,"She said with a thumbs up. 

He smirked. "Your weird, you know that?"

She giggled, sending him the cutest smile. He almost couldn't take it. "But you love me"

Chris smiled, placing his arm around her shoulder as they walked back. "Yeah." He meant to say it more to himself, but Ariana still heard him. She smiled at that.

"Sorry, but we had to tell you the-"Vern started, but got cut off by Chris.

"I whipped her memory. She doesn't know. Shh."

"Know what?"Ariana said innocently, tilting her head with a smile.

Teddy shook his head, throwing pebbles into a tin which was a few feet away from him. Chris and Ariana sat back down, joining in on throwing the pebbles.

"This is fun,"Vern smiled. They all agreed.

Vern didn't just mean being off-limits inside the junkyard..or fudging on our folks..or going on a hike up the railroad tracks to Harlow. He meant those things, but it seems to me now..there was more, and they all knew it. Everything was there and around us. We knew exactly who were were..and exactly where we were going. It was grand.

Teddy sucked up water into his cheeks, and went to spit it out in the tin, but turned his head and spit it out at Vern instead. They all burst out in laughter, Ariana falling over, leaning on Chris. Chris smiled at her. He had always thought that her laugh and smile was adorable but..it was as if he were under her spell. He couldn't get her out of his head. She was like a drug to him. She was a stronger drug than him smoking. He could quit and forget about smoking..he couldn't do that with her.

"Great. Spit at the fat kid. Real good. The time, Gordie?"Vern asked.

"1:15,"Gordie replied after checking his watch.

"Better get the food. Junkyard opens at 3:00. Chooper will be here,"Vern said. Everyone grinned.

"Ah, sic balls!"Chris laughed, causing everyone else to. Everyone knew about Chopper. Who could forget about a dog named Chopper who specifically, sics balls?