The Evermore Dissociate(Creek)

0039

*Five years ago*

It wasn't long until excited, yet tired legs that ran through the fields, kicking up daisies that caught beneath their shoes whilst chasing down their friends, turned into uncomfortably numb butts as the children rested on the hard ground. They panted through tight chests as they sat beside the monkey bars. All except Token and Kevin who climbed on top of the bars with their legs dangling through, playfully kicking at each other's shoes. Kevin's tiny grunts passed between the two of them as he kicked out, his shortness giving him a disadvantage against his opponent.

Craig was silently watching them, his hand blocking the sun from his eyes as he peered up from the ground. He barely even noticed when Jimmy stood up, brushing himself down as Clyde passed him his crutches. Craig barely even heard the goodbye Jimmy called over his shoulder as he walked over to his dad's car.

It was getting late, and by late, I mean seven o'clock, but for a bunch of fifth graders who had a set bedtime, that's late enough. If it was winter, the streets would already be dark and vacant. There'd be snow so deep it covered the bottom of the slide, wind would blow violently through the leafless trees, or through the disheveled hair in it's wake. But it wasn't winter, fortunately enough it was summer. The sun still shined high in the sky with gentle winds that calmed sensitive skin. The ground they sat on was warm to touch, and the metal of the slide was painful for whoever decided to play on it.

Craig barely heard his friends that sat beside him, calling out a chorus of goodbyes to the one they call Jimmy. He barely saw the hands that waved, or the one that waved back from across the parking lot. Instead, his pale blue eyes stayed trained on Token's muddy sneakers that dangled from the monkey bars, swinging back and forth carelessly. It was only until said sneakers jumped down and on impact, sent dirt into Craig's eyes, that he was snapped out of his daydreaming. He muttered profanities and he rubbed his eyes, scowling up at Token who blocked the sunlight with his body, grinning down at his friend.

"I have to go. Mom will kill me if she finds out I haven't started my homework."

"We have homework?" Clyde asked, climbing to his feet as he stared, dumbfounded by this new discovery.

"Yeah, from Miss Harvey's class, last Wednesday." Token affirmed.

"Crap."

Craig watched beside him as Tweek rose to his feet, his fingers twitching as he anxiously scanned the playground, more specifically the gate at the far end as a bunch of older kids made their way in, squeezing their bikes through one by one. Kevin climbed down from the monkey bars, and as soon as his feet met with the ground, he was rubbing the red patches on his sore hands.

"Are you walking my way?" Kevin asked Token, still too engrossed with his hands to see his friends reaction, but thankfully he received a verbal reply.

"It's the only way I can get to my house, so what do you think?"

"Alright smartass, a yes would've been fine."

Token rolled his eyes, looking to those he considered his real friends to quietly mutter a goodbye, before stalking out of the park with Kevin right behind him. Craig huffed as he stood up beside the remaining two, Clyde and Tweek. Both of them looked ready to leave, feeling uneasy with the older kids making their way over, now that the last one had squeezed his bike through.