Confessions of a Teenage Sheriff (A Separate Peace Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Gene clung to the rungs on the tree truck for his dear life. "Finny," he called up with a breath of fear, "I really don't think we should be doing this."

Finny glanced down and smiled at Gene. "Oh, don't be such a weenie!" he exclaimed flirtatiously. "You're the one wearing the sheriff's badge anyways. You should be a lot braver than little old Finny."

Gene scoffed. "Please, Finny. No one can ever be as great as you," he retorted. His face flushed with hot embarrassment turning his cheeks a bright tomato red when he realized what he had said. He really wish he didn't say that. It appeared to him to be very misleading. What if Finny thought he liked him more than just a friend. But what it Gene really did like as something more than just a friend. Finny cleared his throat with uncertainty, ready to justify what he told him. "I mean, you're so athletic, and everybody loves you. You're a really great guy and a really neat friend."

"Aw, come on buddy," Finny chuckled with amusement. "Don't patronize me, you little twerp." When he reached the top, he stretched an arm down to Sheriff Gene. "Come on, I'll pull you up."

Gene reluctantly grabbed his hand. He was so nervous it felt like his hand was forming a lake between their palms. His heart was beating so fast and hard it felt as though it would jump out of his chest as soon as it cracked a hole in his breastbone. He could barely keep his hand entwined with Finny's due to the moisture, and he felt their hands would slip, and he would fall to his inevitable death. "Phineas," he choked out, "I'm scared."

Finny blinked for a few moments. He appeared to be confused, but quickly recovered. "You don't have to be scared. I am here, after all."

"But Finny, what if I slip, and you can't catch me?"

Finny shook his head. "Don't worry about it, bud. I won't let you fall, and if you do happen to slip, I promise I will catch you."

Gene tried swallowing the lump of fear, but it got caught in his throat, and he nearly choked. He kept himself from coughing aloud so Finny wouldn't be too concerned. He pulled him up on the limb and helped him keep his balance. Gene looked out into the distance. Beyond the Devon, there was a beautiful forest of trees. Wow, he thought, I could cut down them there trees and build me a brand-spankin' new Sheriff's Department. Gene wasn't really one who enjoyed nature much. "I don't know that we should jump from this height. It could be fatal."

"We'll be fine." Finny grabbed Gene's hand once more and held it tighter than anything. "Ready?"

Gene shifted uneasily on the limb. "I guess. As long as you're with me, I guess, I think I'll be fine."

Phineas smiled his bright, beautiful, perfect smile. "Then let's do this." He pulled Gene towards the end on the limb. "1... 2... 3...!" Finny jumped high and dragged Gene down. They landed in the water with a huge splash. 

"LOL!" Leper, a friend of theirs, screamed as he was soaked with river water.

"UGH! YOU GOT ME WET, YOU IMBECILES!" Chet, someone who is completely irrelevant to the story but somehow manages to be involved during certain situations in the plot, yelled with anger as he too was splashed.

"You guys are super-mega losers," Brinker, who probably wasn't in this part of the story, said with anguish.

"OMG, leave them alone, you guys," Leper said. "Don't you know Hitler is burning people alive right now. The least of your worries should be how Gene and Finny get you wet."

Gene and Finny swam to the river bank and got out of the water. Gene shook like a dog to get the water off. He proceeded to redress himself in his sheriff uniform. 

"Hey, let's go play some sports," Finny suggested. 

"K." everyone said in unison. And so they were off to play some sport that Finny made up in like ten seconds.