Tragic Kingdom (80s/90s imagines)

55. Gordie Lachance (Stand By Me)

For beastkat100

"Guys, this is Alex," Gordie introduced you to his friends. He turned to you. "Alex, these are my friends: Chris, Vern, and Teddy."

Each boy made some motion at their name to identify himself.

"Hi." You offered a wave to the group. "I just moved in next to Gordon."

"Gordon, huh?" Chris chuckled softly, glancing at Gordie. "It's nice to meet you, Alex. Though, we're probably not the best crew to be making friends with right away."

You cocked your head sideways. "Why not?"

The boys all looked at each other.

"Chris is just messing with you," Gordie said quickly. "Some people are just jerks in this town."

"Oh. Well, there are jerks everywhere. I'm sure you guys are alright." You smiled at your newfound friends. At least, you were now determined for them to be your friends than before.

"Hey, why don't we do something to get to know each other," Teddy suggested, getting very close to you. "This might only require two of us though." He smirked at you.

Gordie narrowed his eyes at his friend and wedged himself between you and Teddy, much to your reassurance.

"How about truth-or-dare?" Vern asked.

You all agreed to the idea, and Chris started the game off.

A few rounds in, you felt like you hadn't just met these boys a mere hour ago.

"No! Don't do that!" you exclaimed as Teddy began to scale the side of the treehouse. "I was joking!"

Chris and Gordie were in stitches as they watched you try to talk Teddy back into the treehouse.

Gordie patted your shoulder. "Don't worry too much. He does stuff like that anyway."

"Yeah. Most of the shit he does is 10 times stupider too," Chris added.

"What's stupid about truck dodging?" Teddy threw his hands up in defense.

Once again, laughter rang through the space.

Teddy shrugged. "My turn." He turned to you. "Alex, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

He grinned evilly. "Do you like Gordie? I mean, would you kiss him?"

"Teddy..." Gordie warned.

"What? We're just playing around." The smirk on Teddy's face persisted.

You furrowed your eyebrows. "I just met Gordie. I can't exactly like someone I just met." You turned to Gordie. "No offense, though."

Cheeks burning, Gordie shook his head. "None taken. Teddy's just an asshole." He glanced at his watch. "I should probably head home. It's nearly dinner time. Uh, Alex, I can walk you home, if you want."

You got up. "Sure. My parents are probably winder in where I wandered off to anyway." You turned to the other three. "It was nice to meet you guys."

They all expressed their pleasantries as you and Gordie made your way back to your road.

"Sorry about Teddy," Gordie apologized after a while of silence.

You snorted. "Trust me, there are worse people to spend an afternoon with, and besides, he's your friend. If I'm going to be friends with you, then I should be friends with your friends."

He let out a breath of relief. "Yeah, there are definitely worse people. Pray you never meet Ace Merrill and his Cobras."

"He has a bunch of snakes?"

"Not exactly. It's his gang of thugs. One of them, Eyeball, is Chris's brother- in name only. Chris doesn't care for his family much."

You nodded. "I can see that. So are they just jerks or what?"

"They're crazy. You just really want to run into them." He stopped as you both reached your house.

"Thanks for showing me around and letting me a couple friends before school." You offered a smile, which he was quick to reciprocate.

"Of course! Again, sorry Teddy being a jerk."

"I get the feeling you'll be apologizing about Teddy even when I've lived here a few years," you laughed.

"Probably." He glanced at his own house next door. "I should probably head in before my parents eat without me, but I'll catch you later."

Giving him a thumbs-up, you nodded. "Sure thing. Bye, Gordie."

"Bye, Alex."

Oof this is kinda bad. I highkey hate the ending there but I had no idea how to end it. I hope you don't hate it! Thank you for requesting am for waiting the whole century and a half that I took to finish this. M'kay.

~Mariah