Going On 16

Chapter 2

September twenty-fifth.

After about three o'clock we left Ed and Jean's to go take our walk out in our place. Our own little world.

We decided to take Jack with us, because we decided that it would be fun to mess with Tiff and Jack a little on the way. Every now and then we would say something like "Why aren't you guys holding hands?" Or "Why aren't you guys together yet?"

There were also lots of laughs along the way. We finally got the chance to explain to Jack how our friendship started, and once I pulled him over to the side and even though I am only five foot seven and hes over six feet tall, I swear he got intimidated when I pulled him by the collar of his shirt and said "I swear to God if you hurt her I'm legitimately going to have Tanner beat you personally. If he won't, I will." But he knew I was just protecting my best friend. Tanner would do the same thing.

We continued to walk down the trails. I checked my watch. Four o'clock on the dot. I had about an hour before I had to go home. I kinda wanted to stay later though, so I texted mom.

"Is it alright if I'm home a little later? Maybe around 7 or 8?"

Tanner spotted me texting her. "You ok?" He asked.

I smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm fine!"

Mom responded. "Sure thing, honey. Please make sure Tanner brings you home. I'll have some pasta for you in the microwave! I love you."

I smiled. "Love you too, mom. See you soon."  Did I really know that though?

I slipped my fingers into Tanners, keeping my small hands warm from the yet colder fall weather. I looked up and smiled at him, and he smiled back. It felt like it was just the two of us there.

Tiff and Jack were ahead of us, talking together. Tiff looked so red, but I didn't say anything, because I knew it would embarass her.

I yelled ahead. "Tiff we're gonna go this way!" I said, pointing to our normal path.

She smiled back at me. "Have fun!"

I loved my friends.

Tanner and I were still holding hands as we set off onto our own separate trail. His blonde hair looked golden in the sun, and his eyes seemed more green than ever when he looked at me.

"You ever think about our future?" I said, looking at him with innocent eyes.

"Sure," He said, chuckling.

"Just 'sure'? That's it?"

"You didn't let me finish." He said. I then felt stupid. "Of course I think about our future. I think about all those times we're gonna be able to hang out, and I think about the first sunrise we're gonna be able to watch together.  I think about how much my little sister looks up to you and how you've always been like the big sister she's never had." He looked at me with great compassion. "I remember the first time I saw your eyes." He says. He stops and lifts my chin. "When I was only five years old."

I giggled. "I'm serious!!" He says, trying to keep a straight face while blushing. "I remember when I first saw you and fell in love with you. It might sound cheesy, but it's true."

"What? Noooo." I said sarcastically. "I remember when I first met you and Tiff. You were so small." I started laughing.

"Hey!!" He says. "Listen, your mother was the one who made me as fat as I am now."

"At least her cooking is good." I said, struggling to get my words out from laughter. "Your mom can burn water."

"That's not true!!! She can make- uh- she can..." he paused for a good while.

"I told you!" I said. "You little suck up."

"Why are you being so mean today??" He said, sounding like a small child.

"Because I love you." I said.

We continued to walk towards our place. Our own little house. We promised each other that one day we would fix this place up and live in it together. And slowly, we already have started.

It was a two story house, but it was more on the smaller side. We had already replaced the door and some of the windows, and we both had worked jobs since we got our working papers to start. We were slowly saving money to replace furniture, but for now we had to stick with what was inside, which wasn't terrible. We had already started a savings bank account together for this house.

I think of the family that had lived here before. There was still even canned preserves in the pantry of what we thought was the kitchen.

We tried to keep some snacks out here, just in case something happened. Just some things like canned goods, some chips, noodles... and the oven worked (it was not electric) so we just kept bottles of water out here to boil in case we needed them or wanted a drink, because there was no running water.

The first floor consisted of the living room once you walked in, then the dining room, the kitchen and pantry, two bedrooms and one small bathroom. Upstairs, there was the master bedroom, not as large as a modern home because this house was so old, but there was also a bathroom attached to it. There were two other rooms and a smaller living room up there as well as a bathroom.

All of the wallpaper looked old and was peeling, the old appliances and things were almost (if not, they were) broken, the furniture needed to be replaced, and the only kind of "electricity" we had were oil lamps. We had never spent the night here before. With or without each other.

I still held Tanner's hand when we walked in. We even had a portable record player and some old records so we could dance together and we had a small bookshelf and I had made some curtains. Since we didn't come here after dark, we didn't need any small electric lamps.

I grabbed a book and a blanket and snuggled next to Tanner. This was something we did often. Other times we would talk for hours at a time.

I snuggled closer. "So what're we planning on doing?"

"Well I mean, I just wanna stay like this." He said.

"Me too."

And we stayed that way until we both fell asleep.

°°°°°

I woke up to what sounded like a gunshot.

My body jolted up, I checked my phone. 8:50 it read.

Tanner was already awake, trying to make himself aware of what he had just heard. No one was hunting at this time, and if they were, they would have let us know.
*note: "they" are the people Tanner and Vanessa know that own the property*

"You heard that too?" Tanner said.

"Yeah, that was louder than anything I've ever heard in my life." I said, standing up.

We grabbed what we brought with us and a flashlight and ran out into the woods. We slowed down once we got to where we thought the shots were fired.

Bam! Bam! Two more shots were fired.

We ran closer to where they were fired, to find Tiffany. She was standing next to what looked like a lifeless body. We could barely make out who it was though.

I could hear Tiffany start to sob, as she pointed to the person on the ground.

°°°°°

Ah yes, jealousy.

Something as evil as this could give you enough courage to kill.