Idle Town [Stand By Me]

"LEECHES!"

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," Cherry cooed over me. I flopped my forearm over my eyes, blocking the light.

"Leave me alone," I groaned.

"Sorry, Aspen. If we do that you'll sleep in 'til twelve. I know you too well." She pulled me up and started gathering the pillows and blankets. Minutes later we were walking again.

...

"And I said - hey, Aspen," Cherry cut herself off, grabbing my shoulder. "You're not looking at me. Are you even listening?"

"No."

Cherry sighed. "What're you so distracted by?" We stopped walking as Cherry grabbed my face, looking into my eyes. "Oh my God," she gasped, letting go of me. "It's a boy!"

"W-What? What's a boy?"

"W-What?" She mocked. "You're distracted because of a boy!"

"Fine, alright? Keep it down!"

"Right, sorry." She lowered her voice. "Now spill it. Who's the boy?"

I scoffed. "Who the hell do you think?"

Her eyes widened. She looked to the boys far ahead of us, then back at me. "Chris?" I nodded. "No way," she smiled. "You're back together?"

"Oh, uh, I don't know. We didn't... actually... talk about it..."

"Well, talk about it!" She demanded before sighing again. "It was such an easier time when you were together."

I chuckled because even then I knew she spoke older than she was. "Yeah," I agreed. "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good ol' days before you've actually left them." Little did I know that these were some of the best days of our lives.

...

I stood behind Chris, surrounded by the others as we looked down this small lake. Chris grabbed a long branch from a tree, poking the ground through the water. "Hey, you know it's not that deep. We can just walk across."

We all took a few steps forward before falling into the water that was deeper than we expected.

"My hair!" Shelby squealed. We were all annoyed until Dolores started laughing contagiously. I felt a splash on my face and I looked at Chris.

"Hey," I laughed.

"What?" He chuckled. I splashed his face back. Soon we were all laughing and fucking around.

"Chicken fight!" Dolores exclaimed, jumping on Teddy's shoulders.

"Alright!" Chris also exclaimed, looking back at me.

"No way," I chuckled.

"C'mon," he held out his hand. "I'm not doin' this without you." I took his hand, giving in. He kneeled down so I could jump on his shoulders before we heard an ear piercing scream.

"LEECHES!"

We jumped out as fast as we could. The boys and girls separated as we removed our clothes, ripping leeches off each other.

Shelby stood in front of me, rotating. "Am I good, Aspen? Am I good?"

"Yeah, you're good," I replied after checking her.

Shelby circled around me. "You're good, too."

Soon I was crying. I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the blood sucking creatures I just ripped off my skin.

"Hey," Cherry started as I wiped my eyes. She placed her hand on my bare shoulder. "Are you okay?" No. Nothing about any of this was okay. I pulled her into a hug, resting my head on her wet shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I heard Chris ask from behind me.

"She's upset, Chris," Cherry replied in obvious annoyance.

"No shit," Chris replied in the same tone. I felt his hand on my back. "What is it?" I opened my eyes to see Gordie from a distance, passed out.

"Gordie," I muttered.

"No...Chris..."

"No," I spoke louder now, detaching myself from Cherry. "Gordie." They both turned to look at him and we all rushed over. Everybody knealed over him.

"Is he dead?" Verno asked.

"He's not dead. He's breathing, you idiot." Teddy retorted. We didn't say anything. We just stared at Gordie until he woke up. His eyes widened as they opened.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?" Chris muttered. Gordie looked around, not knowing what to say. "Give him some space, guys."

...

Later we were dressed back in our semi - dry clothes. I stood beside Chris, arguing with Teddy and Dolores.

"No way we're goin' back!" Dolores refused. "We didn't come all this way to not find a body."

"This can't be good for Gordie. We should take him back home," I replied, trying to remain calm.

"Oh, surprise!" Teddy exclaimed. "The queen of the pussies wants to go back!"

"Hey, man. Don't talk to her like that, she's got a point," Chris defended. "You almost got her best friend killed and then you call her a pussy? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Teddy scoffed. "God, she's got you wrapped around her little finger. You're just as pussy as her!"

"He had a leech hangin' from his balls, man!"

Soon we were screaming at the top of our lungs. All of a sudden, almost out of nowhere, I was trying to pull Chris off of Teddy. I always believed that violence was never the answer. Believe it or not, Chris felt the same.

"STOP IT!" Gordie finally spoke. We all stopped in our tracks, looking over at him as he sat, leaning on a tree. He stood up. "We're not going back."

...

this was kinda shit ehh sorry

~Sara