We talked into the night, none of us mentioned the Ray Brower story but we were a thinking about him. We eventually got tired and ended up going to sleep, we all felt the temperature drop.
"Ugh, anyone else cold now?" Gordie asked, sitting up. "Yeah, sincerely" Vern sat up too.
I sat up too and rubbed my eyes, "yeah, the temperature dropped for a real one." They all nodded their heads, "what do we do?" Chris asked.
I shrugged, "we'll just keep the fire going, I'll keep an eye on it" I laid back down, I probably wasn't gonna sleep anyway.
"Good idea" Gordie laid back down too. "I'll keep an eye on it too" Chris rubbed his eyes and laid back down. I shrugged and smiled, he returned it.
I wasn't fully asleep I was just resting my eyes. (My dad says that all the time LOL) All the guys went back to sleep, until we heard what sounded like someone screaming or howling.
Everyone jumped up, "Omg!" Vern yelled out in fear. "It's that Brower kid. His ghost's out walking in the woods" Teddy joked. Vern closed his eyes and put his hands together, was he praying?
"I promise I'll hawk no more dirty books. I promise I won't say no more bad words. I promise I'll eat all my lima beans"... yup, he was.
"What is it, Chris?" Gordie asked.
"Maybe it's coyotes" he answered looking around us, gun in hand. "It sounds like a woman screaming" Gordie looked around the woods, I shook my head in agreement, "it's not coyotes, it's his ghost" Teddy said, standing up and walking around. "Teddy, sit your ass back down" I growled at him.
"I'm gonna look for it, I wanna see what it looks like!"
"Don't say that!" Vern called out, he looked like he was about shit his pants. "Maybe we should stand guard." Vern suggested. "Yeah, that's a good idea" I agreed. "Gimme the gun, I take the first watch" Teddy put his hand out to Chris.
Who in the right mind would give Teddy Duchamp a loaded gun... good thing we're not in the right mind. He stood next to tree making shooting sounds with his mouth and talking to himself.
"Shut up, Teddy and keep you eyes peeled" Chris complained. He just kept going, "Hey, Teddy, cut it out! Before I slap you like I slapped Vern!" I yelled at him.
They all had their turns, Teddy, Gordie, Chris, Vern, then me. I was asleep next to Chris, we were farther apart when we fell asleep but we were closer now. I heard some footsteps by my head, only to open my eyes and see a gun dangling down in front of my face.
I pushed it away, "Jesus Vern, this bitch is loaded you know" I grabbed the gun from his hand, walking over to the tree. Vern just shrugged and got in his sleeping bag.
I walked around the tree in circles a couple times, looking at my shoes. I would occasionally look up to see if there were any like animals or sum shit.
I was getting bored so I sat down, leaning on the tree. I grabbed a Winston from my back pocket and lit it. I leaned my head back on the tree, looking up at the sky.
I looked back down at the gun, let's just say I'm not in the right state of mind to be holding a gun either. I wouldn't do anything but I think about it a lot you know?
Like, I have a loaded gun in my hand right now. One shot to the head and it's all over. No more pain, no more suffering, no more dad.
But what stops me is more important, Chris, Gordie, Vern and Teddy. These guys may seem like complete idiots and bad kids as others would describe us but in reality, they're like family.
I had the gun aimed my way, I was holding it and hand my arms resting on my knees that were pulled up to my chest. I didn't even notice it was pointed toward me until I zoned back out. I let out a sigh, looking straight into the gun then turning it away.
I looked up at the sky, only to hear a voice shortly after, "North?"
It was Chris, hopefully he didn't see that. "Oh, hey, what's up?" I asked as he walked over to me and sat down. "What was that all about?" He asked, I could see the worry in his eyes.
He was referring to the gun.
"I don't know, I just kinda zoned out" I shrugged.
He looked at me in disbelief, "North, you're telling me now." He demanded. "Tell you what?" I played dumb, I knew exactly what he wanted to hear.
He stared me down, more in worry then a normal anger stare down.
I sighed, "okay, Chris, I'll tell you what's up" I mocked him from earlier. "I'm all ears" he smiled.
I looked forward and took a deep breath, this is gonna be a long story.
"Well, what do you want to know first?" I looked over at him. He shrugged, "I don't know, how much is there to tell?" I shrugged. "How about you ask, I tell?"
"Okay, that's a good plan... but what if I like... ask a question that hurts your...feelings?" He looked nervous. I giggled, "it's fine, Chris. Ask away."
He still looked nervous to ask, I motioned my hands for him to start asking. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry in advance."
I shook my head and giggled as he started asking.
"Alright, what's wrong with you. Like what's the whole zoning out thing about"
I don't even know what it's about honestly. "I- I don't exactly know, Chambers." I breathed, "I guess it just happens a lot. I just zone out, that's like normal for some people." I shrugged.
"Yeah, but like what goes through your mind. You always look so upset."
I tilted my head a bit, thinking about the stuff that goes on. "Well, everything goes completely silent and I have no control over myself, it's weird honestly. Sometimes my mind goes blank, other times it's filled with thoughts. Bad ones mostly."
He didn't take his eyes off me that whole time, I glanced over at him. "Okay, next question" I rested my arms on my knees.
"Oh yeah umm, why did Pressman say that about your mom and why did you come back... honestly" He scratched the back of his dead, he was nervous about that one.
Well shit, I knew that one was gonna come up. "It's a long story" I sighed. "We've got time and plus, I like spending time with you" he smiled. I smiled back and began to tell.
"It was after we left, a year actually. The first year I was gone, it was great honestly. Just me and my mom, we'd do everything together. I wish I could have brought you guys with me, you would've loved it there. She was doing really good, she stopped drinking. It was hard for her but she did. One day, we decided we wanted to go for a drive, you know just blast some music and we were having a great time. Until we werent " I looked down at my hands that were resting on my knees.
Chris was keeping his eyes on me, he looked sad. Already he looked sad, this is gonna be the first time I cry in front of someone. I just know it.
"I was in my own little world. I was looking out the window and feeling wind from how fast we were going. I looked over at my mom and she looked at me. At this time she wasn't watching the road and... and-" I choked up a bit on that last sentence.
"Everything went black, I only woke up to see we were upside down. The cat was flipped and the other car had sped off, like a hit and run I guess?" I wiped a tear that had fallen and sighed, Chris put his arm around me for comfort. He had tears in his eyes too.
"I managed to get out but when I got to her side... she wasn't breathing." I looked over at him, he felt bad for me. I coped with humour so that's what I did to lighten the mood.
"That's how I got this, can't tell if I hate it or hate it" I rolled the waist of my jeans down slightly to reveal I big scar from the accident.
He pointed at the scar, "now thats pretty badass." He giggled, earning one from me.
I leaned my head on his shoulder, his arm still around me. "I'm really sorry, Nor" he wiped his tears. "Me too" I looked up at him. He wiped my tears away, "and that's why I'm back, my dad is all I have left" I shrugged, looking back at the fire.
"That's not true! You have me... I mean- us. You have us!" He blushed, scratching the back of his head. He does that when he's nervous or lying or uncomfortable.
I smiled, "Chris, you don't have to be nervous around me ya know." His eyes widened, then he smiled. "Neither do you!"
"What do you mean? I'm not nervous" I sent him a confused smile. He titled his head at me and smiled in disbelief, "yes you are". I raised my eyebrows, I kinda was. "No way, Christopher" I shook my head, he hates when I call him by his full name.
He shook his head and giggled, "every time you are nervous or lying or uncomfortable and shit, you run your fingers through your hair."
Wow, he notices that? I don't even notice that, maybe that's why he's looking at me all the time? StUdYinG me.
I lowered my eyebrows into a smile, "well every time you are nervous, you scratch the back of your head!" I smirked at him. His mouth dropped, "I do not."
"Do too!"
"Nope."
There was a bit of silence, until we made eye contact again. We started laughing, god he makes me so happy.
Our laughing died down, we were now just sitting there with smiles on our faces. I was looking down at my shoes.
"Hey, can I tell you something?" He scratched the back of his head. I giggled, "yeah sure what's up?"
He took a deep breath, "I- I like you?" He looked confused. Why the hell was he confused? Anyway, my heart skipped a beat, Chris Chambers just said that he liked me!
"Chri-" he cut me off.
"I think I like you. A lot, I like you a lot. I mean, I doubt you like me back because well, you're you. Every time we're together it's like the best day ever. You're funny and crazy and insanely pretty, it makes my heart beat just as fast as it was when I almost saw you guys get hit by the train."
I stared at him, mesmerized by his words, "and I don't even care if you don't like me back, I'll always like you because you're North Jones. Even those two years, I waited for you to come back and I-" I cut him off since he was rambling.
"I like you too, Chris" I turned him towards me, stopping him from rambling. He loosened up, "you do?" He looked at me with shock in his eyes.
"Yeah! of course I do, you're Chris Chambers" I shook my head and looked down at my shoes, blushing. "I always have" I mumbled.
I looked back up at him, only to see him smiling from ear to ear. He was so cute it's not even funny. "Well that makes two of us" he giggled, nervously.
I returned the smile and shook my head, "well, you should get some sleep." He looked at me confused, "what, no way. I'm staying with you!" He chuckled.
I stood up, making him do the same. "Chris, it's my turn to keep guard, now get over there" I pointed towards the fire. He shrugged his shoulders, not wanting too.
"Go" I raised my eyebrows, shooing him away with my hands, smiling. He shook his head and chuckled. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment until he kissed me.
He kissed me.
Chris Chambers kissed me. That was totally unexpected but hey, I'm not complaining. It was just quick peck since that was both of our first kiss.
He had shock in his eyes, mine too. "I-I'm sorry, I-" he mumbled but I cut him off by pulling him back in.
This kiss lasted a few seconds longer then the first but it felt like fireworks. Like a million butterflies in my stomach. I could basically feel my face getting warm, I was blushing so hard right now. Although I was totally freaking out in excitement, I played it off because you know, I'm a bad bitch. "goodnight, Chambers" I smirked.
He blushed even more then I did, he blinked a couple times to snap himself out of it, "goodnight, Jones" he smirked, still blushing like crazy and walked back to the fire. I sat back down, smiling at the moment on replay in my head.
Took him long enough, jeez.