*Graces POV*
I was being shaken and heard voices. My eyes slowly fluttered open and I could hear more clearly. "Cashman get up, and stop sleeping with my friends." It was Teddy. Big surprise. Chris was sitting in the chair with his feet on the table reading a magazine laughing to himself and shaking his head slightly. "Okay I'm up. Sorry I was really tired." Teddy smirked, "Why? Were you busy last night?" I flipped him off, "Fuck you alright?" He just smiled and sat down. "Teddy, she just fell asleep on me that's all. Okay?" He smirked, again, "Well, when I found you you were both fully clothed, that doesn't prove anything but I'll take it for now." This summer was going to be an adventure. I don't like Chris. No matter how many times I say I do, I don't. I just like the attention he gives me. "Okay so what's on the agenda for today?" I asked. "Well Vern is busy, I don't know what Gordie is doing so...." He left it open for interpretation. "Why don't we just ask him?" Said Chris. "Why can't it just be the three of us?" Said Teddy. "I'm not saying it can't be, I'm just saying if we don't know, why don't we just go and ask him? Wouldn't it be rude to leave and let him come up here to not find us." Teddy shrugged, "I guess. Whatever let's go ask him." Chris and I took the ladder, and Teddy, well Teddy decided to jump out the window. "Take no prisoners!" He yelled, but it kind of sounded like "Take no prisonaaas!" Chris and I looked at each other and laughed, we waved him off. We walked to Gordie's which wasn't too far from the tree house. I've never known Gordie to be busy or need to do anything since Denny died. Chris just kind of walked in while Teddy and I stayed back because we thought it was rude to walk in without knocking, but Chris motioned for us to follow. We went to Gordie's room, "Gordo!" Chris yelled when we walked in. He was writing in a notebook. Even though I liked Chris and Teddy, I secretly hoped Gordie came with us. "Hey guys, what's up." He wasn't really asking, just making conversation. "So you comin with us today?" Teddy asked, Gordie kinda shrugged. "Aw c'mon man, you pussyin' out?!" "I'm not sure guys, I don't feel too well. I think I'm gonna just stay in today and maybe write a little bit." Chris nodded, "okay, that's okay man. Hey, get some rest so you feel better because you're ours tomorrow. Got it?" He said clapping his shoulder. Gordie smiled, "Thanks man, I'll see you tomorrow." We all nodded and said goodbye. Well, those were my hopes. "Well let's go back to the tree house. We got beer?" I said. "Yeah, bottles too, not cans." Teddy said smiling triumphantly. "Ooh, fancy." I said sarcastically. We got back and I really didn't feel like spending an entire day drinking and telling Teddy to go fuck himself. I wanted some action. "Let's do something. I'm so bored." They agreed. "We could lay down in the middle of the street." Chris said. "Well that's an idea." I said laughing. "Cards?" I shrugged, "Yeah whatever." It wasn't going to get much better than that. We played poker for a few hours. They were talking about girls the entire time so I was very bored. "Y'know guys, I think we should go on adventure this summer. Hop the train or something. It'll be easy." I said. "Okay, so we hop the train, to where? With what money? And how do we get back? Where are we gonna stay huh?" Teddy asked. I waved a hand at him, "I don't know yet, we'll talk about it when we're all here. It's just and idea Teddy." I said, annoyed. "My mom wants me home for dinner today, so I'll see you two around." He said waving as he climbed out of the tree house. "Bye Teddy." We mumbled in unison. I was gonna leave too when Chris grabbed my wrist, "Hey, Grace, will you stay here with me... again? If you don't want to or can't that's cool, just wondering." I smiled, "Yeah sure, whatever." And sat back down.
*** 2:00 AM ***
I felt someone shaking me and sat straight up, startled. Chris jumped and held up his hands, "Gee, sorry Cashman. I didn't think I'd scare you that much." I grabbed my chest, "Jesus Christ, Chambers. You nearly gave me a heart attack, what's going on?" "C'mon get up. We're going somewhere." "What? Why? Chris, it's 2:00 AM!" He chuckled, "You said you wanted an adventure, now come with me." He said extending his hands to help me up. We were walking through the forest, and for kind of a long time, "Jesus Chambers, you wake me up at two AM, to drag me to who knows where, the least you could do is give me a piggy back ride." He smiled, "Hop on." We walked for a long time-well, actually, Chris walked for a long time. While he carried me. I felt the warm breeze tickle my skin as we approached and he put me down. "Wow." I said in awe. The sight was breath taking. The way the moonlight fell on the glassy lake was beautiful, more extravagant than words can explain. Chris was taking his shirt off, so I gave him a questioning look and he laughed then started wading into the water. I did the same, I jumped in and the water was warmer than I expected. I splashed Chris. "You did not." I giggled, "Who says it was me?" I asked tauntingly. "You die!" I started laughing and tried to get away, but he dove after me and had gotten ahold of my wrist. He pulled me into him, our eyes met. He looked so perfect in the moonlight, my laughter soon faded to heavy breathing, just because of our situation. He started leaning in, and so did I. He looked away and I pulled back and looked at the moon. "Sorry." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. I just smiled lazily and bit my lip, not looking at him, "Yeah, uh- me too. Sorry." We got out of the water and sat on the old dock trying to dry off a little bit. "Thanks for taking me here, at this time I mean. It's so pretty." "Yeah, no problem." He said leaning back on his hands. "I used to come here late at night when I was a kid, with my mom. Before she died." He said. "I'm so sorry Chris. We all loved her." His voice was thick, "Yeah, so do I." I took note of the way he said that. He said 'do' not 'did', implying that just because she died doesn't mean he stopped loving her, and to me, that was really really sweet. He cleared his throat, "But now I can come here with you, and we can make different memories and see different sights." He was smiling and rubbing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. "I'd really like that. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. You're the best friend anyone could ever have, we're all really lucky to have you, Chris." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, and he looked kind of disappointed. "Alright, let's head back." I said. And we started off into the night, heading home.
