stand by me

chapter five

^^^play the song while you read^^^

I was walking down the road after I had gotten far enough away from my house. I spotted a small blue truck with a boy on it. As it got closer I could tell it was Chris. The truck came to a stop and Chris thanked the driver. "Hey Chris!" I greeted. "Y/N," he said as he bowed. I heard running behind us and I looked back to see Gordie running to catch up with us. "Gordo!" Chris said. It seemed like Gordie wasn't really paying attention so Chris asked if he was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine," he told him. "I wanna show you guys something," Chris told us. "What is it?" I asked him but he started running and me and Gordie followed. "C'mon man, what is it?" Gordie persisted.
    We reached the back of the Blue Point Diner and Chris reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a gun. "You wanna be the lone ranger of the cisco kid?" Chris asked. Gordie grabbed the gun and held it up. "Walkin talkin Jesus! Where'd you get this?" Gordie asked in awe. "Hawked it from my old mans bureau, it's a 45," Chris told us. "I can see that!" Gordie said. "You got shells for it?" I asked. "Yeah, took all that was left in the box. My dad will think he used them himself shooting at beer cans while he was drunk," Chris said in disappointment. Gordie made a gunshot noise and then asked, "Is it loaded?" I looked at Chris and he looked back at me tilting his head and then finally said," Hell no! What do you think I am?" Gordie pulled the trigger and a bullet came flying out and hit the trash can. "Jesus!" we all screamed in unison. "Let's get outta here!!" Gordie yelled. "Gordie Lachance did it!! Gordie Lachance is shooting up Castle Rock!" Chris yelled as we ran away. "Shut up!" Gordie said angrily, still running.
"Hey! Who's letting cherry bombs off out here?" we heard Mrs. Tupper yell behind us.
Me and Chris were laughing so hard as all three of us turned the corner. "You shoulda seen your face! Damn that was cool! That was really fine!" Chris said still laughing. "Yeah!" I said, also laughing still. "You knew it was loaded you wet-end! I'm gonna be in trouble now, that Tupper babe saw me!" Gordie shouted at Chris. Chris rolled his eyes and kept walking. "Oh shit Gordie! She thought it was firecrackers," Chris told him trying to make him calm down.
I knew it was best if I stayed quiet while they were having their dispute so I just listened to it. The last thing I needed was Gordie lashing out on me!
     "I don't care! That was still a mean trick, Chris!" Gordie continued.
     You woulda thought that being friends with guys would keep you outta arguments...but take it from me, they had their fair share of ups and downs just as well as being friends with all girls.
     "Hey Gordie!" Chris said as he grabbed his shoulder, "I didn't know it was loaded. Honest." I could tell Chris was being sincere. Chris hardly ever lied to us.
"You swear?" Gordie asked. "Yeah, I swear," Chris told him without hesitation. "On your mothers name?" Gordie asked. "Yeah," Chris insisted. "Even if she goes to hell if you lied?"
     I could tell that Chris was getting a little annoyed even though he was always very good at hiding his emotions. For some odd reason, I could read him like a book.
      "Yeah! I swear!" Chris said in a louder tone. Gordie narrowed his eyes and held up his pinky, "Pinky swear?" Gordie said it in a sorta tone that sounded like it was the most serious thing in the world. "Pinky swear," Chris told him quietly, kissing his pinky. Chris smiled and we finally started walking again.
     As we were walking past a corner store, out came Ace Merrill and Chris's brother, Eyeball.
    "Hey girls, where you going!" Eyeball asked with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. We tried our best to ignore them but as we walked past, Ace took Gordie's hat that Dennis had gave him.
    "C'mon man my brother gave me that!" Gordie yelled. "Yeah, well now your giving it to me," Ace teased him. Gordie was screaming for him to give the hat back. Finally Ace held him back with his hand and Gordie stopped screaming. Out of nowhere I hear a voice beside me say, "You're a real asshole, you know that?" It was Chris. I knew he had fucked up. He knew it too and so did Gordie. I looked at him with my eyes wide.
    "Ooh, your brother's not very polite Eyeball!" Ace said as he tossed the hat to Eyeball and walked towards Chris. "Now Christopher, I know you didn't mean to insult my friend," Eyeball taunted. "I know he didn't mean to insult me, that's why I'm gonna give him the opportunity to take it back," Ace was now all in Chris's face.
    Before Chris knew it, Ace had him pinned to the ground. "Take it back, kid!" Ace threatened. "Ah shit! Oh!" Chris groaned and I could tell he was in pain. "C'mon man stop it! You're  hurting him!" Gordie yelled. "You bastard! Let go man!" Chris yelled, his face turning red. Ace kept persisting that he take it back and all I could think about was the pain Chris was in, not only was it embarrassing but it also probably hurt. All of Ace's body weight was on Chris. Keep in mind that Ace Merrill was fit as hell!
   Ace picked up the cigarette he threw on the ground earlier, which was still hot, and held it to Chris's face. "Take it back!" I couldn't see why Ace didn't just let it go. "I take it back! Fine I take it back!" Chris cracked.
    Ace pulled him up and said calmly, "Great, now I feel a whole lot better about this," I knew Ace was a psycho. "Don't you?" He asked us. He slapped Gordie in the neck. "Fuck them!" I said quietly once they were far enough away and slung my arm around Chris. "That scared the hell out of me! You could've gotten burned!" I told Chris. "But I didn't," Chris said calmly as he hugged me.
     Chris was my best friend and I felt a little bad that I hadn't done anything to stop Ace, but what could I have done. I was a 12 year old girl and he was 17. I weighed around 85 pounds and he probably weighed around 200. I didn't stand a chance.