𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘋𝘰𝘭𝘭

Chapter Two

"Sure!"

Then Vern's face fell in realization and he said,

"What'll we tell our folks?"

Adelaide stated matter-of-factly,

"Exactly what you said. We all tell our folks we're tenting out on your backfield. You tell your folks you're sleeping over Teddy's. Then we'll say we're going out to the drag-races the next day... until dinner tomorrow night, that gives us around a solid 24 hours to do whatever bullsh*t we need."

Chris looked up at Adelaide and said,

"Well that's a plan and a half."

Me and Teddy exchanged glances and we started making gagging noises, which made the two lovebirds get flustered and Vern confused, until he said,

" But if we do find the kid's body over in South Harlow they'll know we didn't go to the drag-races! We'll get hided!"

Teddy looked over at him like he was crazy and said,

"Nobody would care cos everybody is gonna be so jazzed about what we found it's not gonna make a difference"

Adelaide turned to the gang and said,

"Yeah! My dad would hide me anyway,"

And Chris cut her off and continued what she was saying,

"But hell, it's worth a hiding."

They looked at each other, and as much as me and Teddy had made fun of them, we both knew that they were good for each other. They were the original to people of our group and they were the ones who built this tree house so many years ago. They met in school and built the tree house when Adelaide's mother was diagnosed with cancer and Adelaide ran out of the hospital, crying. Even though her mom had done nothing for her in years, it still stung. As she ran, Chris saw her, and his little eleven-year-old self pulled her into a hug underneath the tree, and she sat there, crying, for forty-five minutes. She decided that she wanted to hide in that tree. After that, they started hauling boards up into the tree so that they had a place to sit. Eventually, they built the tree house, which was how they became friends with the rest of the gang. They had seen each other through Adelaide's mother's death, and the nightmares that followed. Then on Chris's side, his Dad's drinking and his brothers. Since they helped each other, it was quite obvious that they were very empathetic people. As they befriended the entire gang, they helped us through our troubles, like Teddy's dad and my Brother. I wanted to share my friends' enthusiasm but I couldn't. That summer at home I had become the invisible boy. In April my older brother Dennis had been killed in a Jeep accident. Four months had passed but my parents still hadn't been able to put the pieces back together again.

Time Skip

It was noon when we set out to find the dead kid named Ray Brower.

I was walking down the street when a truck pulled up and in it's hay filled bed, Chris and Adelaide were sitting on the hay bale. Chris hollered out to the driver,

"Right here, thanks."

He jumped off the side and offered his hand to Adelaide, who gratefully accepted. He pulled her down and she hollered to the driver a quick,

"Thank you!"

Chris walked up to me, with his arm around Adelaide's waist, and she was limping, and it looked like her was supporting her weight. Adelaide slung her arm around me and I felt a light amount of weight put on me. We walked (or limped in Adelaide's case) for a little until Chris said,

"Heyo Gordo."

I looked up at them and said,

"I have two questions, 1. Who's truck was that and 2. Why is Adelaide limping?"

They exchanged glances and a blush was creeping up on Adelaide neck, and Chris answered me,

"Well I had packed up my stuff for our journey, I was going to pick up Adelaide, when I was hit on the with a pen. I looked up and saw Dolly crawling out of her window,"

Adelaide cringed at that name while Chris continued on,

"I walked over and I said, 'Do you need me to catch you,' figuring that she was gonna jump and her being the stubborn doll that she is,"

Adelaide's blush started dusting her cheeks as Chris continued his storytelling,

"She said, 'No, I can handle myself,' so I watched her stumble across her roof, into the tree that separates our houses,"

I knew what he was talking about. Chris and Adelaide crawl back and forth and no one else is allowed up there, not even the gang.

"She stepped onto a branch, and her foot slipped, as she started to fall, her foot got twisted on the window sill, and I caught the rest of her."

Chris said that last bit with a trace of a smirk, and a beet-red Adelaide started going off,

"In my defense, I wouldn't be able to go, so I said that I was sleeping over at Clarissa Jenkins and that she was picking me up, so I had to get out of the house undetected."

Chris' smirk grew bigger as he came back with,

"Sure whatever you say Dolly."

I looked at the two of them going back and forth, and how they had been through so much-

"Hey Gordo, you okay?"

I turn to Adelaide, who had interrupted my thoughts, and two pair of concerned eyes fell on me. I mustered up a smile and said,

"Yeah."

Chris' eyes shifted from worried to mischievous and he said,

"Good. Come on, I have to show y'all something cool."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N Second sh*tty chapter done.