The Right Kind Of Wrong

Chapter 5

I turned back toward a confused Justin. "What's going on?" He asked.

I stood and dust myself off before turning and offering him my hand. "Come on and find out," I said an evil smile on my face. He looked unsure of himself but eventually gave in to the curiosity and took ahold of my hand. My smile grew bigger and I started to drag him to middle of the park, the Center.

I heard Justin take in a breath as we came into the clearing. I let go of his hand and turned to face him.

"This," I said waving my hands around me, "-is the Center."

The Center was were everything happened. It was where the entire town came together to celebrate. Whether it be Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, a birthday, that was where it happened. And the last eight days of September, from Tuesday to Tuesday, was just for the kids. Or more specifically, the Teenagers.

And we took it very seriously.

The tops of the trees around the Center were draped and covered in streamers balloons, sparkles, and confetti. The trees were connected by three ribbons at the trunks. Everything was either white, green or yellow. Or even all three. The colors we decided would represent us as teenagers.

The perimeter of the Center was lined with tall bamboo wood floor torches, all lit. Eight plastic white tables were also lined around the Center. They held various items. Food like pizza and chips, drinks like pop and beer. Gifts all wrapped in bows or some sort of wrapping paper. Sleeping gear, hygiene products and "bored" games and laser tag.

In the middle of the Center sat two large gazebos, one gray topped another blue. The blue one being the larger of the two. Under the gazebos were outdoor chairs and sofas.

The Center was already filled with kids and more where still filing in. All carrying various items for the tables scattered about.

"What is going on here?" Justin asked still in awe.

I clasped my hands in front of my chest and turned to take in the festivities. "We call it Freedom Week." I smiled as I took in the crowd. I swear it got bigger every year.

"Freedom Week?" He now stood beside me.

I started to walk farther into the Center and he followed. "At the end of September, the Center is reserved for the Teens in town for a whole week. We eat, play, and party all night and sleep all day."

"You stay here for a whole week?" He asked baffled.

"Most of us do," I stopped next to one of the refreshment tables and grabbed a slice of pizza and a Coco Cola. "Some people only come for a day or so, for the day, then they head back home. I don't. This makes for a nice getaway," I continue, taking a bite of the plain cheese pizza. We made our way to the gazebos to find a seat.

"What about school?"

"It still goes on." We found a nice spot to sit on one of the creme colored sofas. "If you don't stay here the full week you have to go back to school." I took a sip of my drink and relished the feel of it fizz in my nose.

"But couldn't you just not participate in Freedom Week and stay home from school anyway?" He asked.

"Yeah. If you want a truant officer knocking your door down," I said sarcastically. "If you don't go to school or participate in Freedom Week, someone will find out and you'll find yourself doing thirty days of community service."

He whistled and his shirt rose as he rubbed his hand through his hair. I held my breath as I caught a glimpse of his toned stomach. I looked back up realizing I was staring. He had a smirk on his face and that's when I realized he had been doing it on purpose. I felt my face heat as I downed the rest of my drink.

I held up my empty can for him to see. "I'm gonna go and throw this away," I said avoiding his gaze. I stood and he grabbed my hand.

"There's one right there." I looked in the direction his finger was pointing and sure enough there was one right next to the sofa, on the edge of the gazebo.

"Right," I said my neck getting hot. I threw the can into the bin and sat back down. Just as my butt hit the seat, feedback echoed across the Center causing everyone to wince.

I looked for the source of the noise and saw a boy standing in the middle of the Center on a wooden crate, a megaphone in his hand. He wore a green t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and ratty old sneakers. His honey blonde hair was slicked back atop his head and he wore a huge smile on his face causing his bottle green eyes to sparkle. I immediately recognized him as Walter Younge. He was a year above me but I saw him sometimes in the halls.

"Testing, testing," he said tapping the megaphone. "Can everyone hear?" The crowd gradually went silent, signaling the boy to continue. "Good. First, I'd like to start by saying Welcome, everyone, to Freedom Week." The crowd burst into cheers and applause. Walter waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet. The crowd got quite again and he continued. "Now as most of you know we usually kick this thing off with a good old fashioned game of man hunt." The crowd once again erupted but Walter continued. "This year it's the Bulldogs," the boys howled, "vs. the Lioness'," the girls, including me, growled. Justin looked at me a smile on his face. I punched him in his arm and he mouthed "ow" and rubbed his arm. "In other words, girls vs. boys. This year the boys shall be the hunters and the girls," a mischievous grin came across his face, "-the hunted." The boys started to cheer and holler and the girls roared in protest. "The game shall begin at seven. In about five minutes though the girls can go and hide while the boys gather themselves here. Until then feel free to help yourselves to the various snack items, make yourself comfortable in the resting and entertainment area, and enjoy your Freedom Week!" The crowd cheered once again as Walter stepped down then everyone went back to what they were doing.

"Man hunt?" Justin said from beside me, "Sounds fun."

I looked at him a grin on my face. "It is, and you know what?" I questioned, leaning into him.

He swallowed before stuttering out, "Wh-What?"

I leaned in closer to where our lips were inches apart. He looked at my lips and I couldn't help but smile. "You're going down." He quickly looked at me to make sure he had heard me right.

"Oh really?" He challenged me.

"Yep. And you know why?" I asked, my voice full of confidence.

"Why?" He responded incredulously.

"Because girls are awesome." I smiled and hopped off of the sofa making my way back into the park.

He got up too and came after me. "You aren't going anywhere until we settle this."

"There's nothing to settle." I picked up speed so I would stay ahead of him. But he had long legs and caught me just as I was concealed by the surrounding trees. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him and my hands flew to his chest. He pulled me against him and rest his hands at the small of my back.

"I think there is." He said seductively.

"Oh yeah?" I said trying to catch my breath, aware of how close we were.

"Yeah," he said leaning down closer to me. I couldn't help but stare at his full pink lips. I grabbed a handful of his chest as he pulled me even closer.

He was centimeters away from my lips, and I found myself in the middle of deciding if I wanted him to kiss me or not. Before I could decide, a loud horn sounded around us. I threw my head to the side and saw all of the girls running from the Center.

"Well looks like you'll have to tell me what we're arguing about once you find me." In his stare of confusion I manged to slip from his grasp and run away from him. He yelled after me and almost came after me before someone stopped him.

A large smile spread across my face as I continued to run. I knew he would be looking for me all night. And that made me smile bigger. I know the feelings I had were probably not the feelings one should have toward her brother, but in that moment, I didn't care. I couldn't wait for him to find me. Hopefully we could finish what we started.