She's back in town // Chris Chambers

Ø2

We we're walking to the treehouse, kicking a rock to each other. Gordie missed it, so we had to leave it behind. "Damn it" He said, giving up dirt on the ground.

"Don't worry about it Gordie, it's a rock" I said, giggling. They returned the giggle, "ok I have an idea" Chris said, stepping in front of us, making us stop. I looked at Gordie confused, he was too.

"How about me and Gordie go up, then you come up and do the secret knock. But we will all be up there already and you're the only one else that knows. Then they'll be shocked and happy to see you" He spoke very quickly, looking back and forth between me and Gordie.

I nodded, "sounds like a plan" I winked, as me and Chris skin it. It's been a while since we did that. It just came naturally though, like a found myself again. I looked back up at Chris smiling.

"Alright, let's go" Gordie said, as we walked closer toward the treehouse.

Chris's pov:

I watched Gordie climb up the latter first and do the secret knock. They let him in. I stopped on my way up and turned to North,  "hey ugh, I'm glad you're back" I scratched the back of my head with my free hand.

"Me too Chambers, now get up there" she said, smiling at me. I returned the smile, looking into her eyes for a second and climbed up. They let me in, "hey Chris" Vern greeted me, sitting in the corner. "Hey guys" I greeted them, going to my spot next to Gordie.

Nor waited a few minutes before coming up, until we heard the secret knock. "Wait, who was that" Teddy said, looking away from his deck of cards. "Yeah, what if someone heard the knock from far away" Vern whispered, almost sounding scared.

We opened the latch to reveal North coming up, "forgot about me already" she said, jokingly. "Holy shit, no way" Teddy said, as Vern and him gave her a hug.

"Hell no we didn't forget about you" Teddy said, sitting back in his spot. "Yeah we missed you a lot, sincerely" Vern said, making North shake her head and giggle.

North's pov:

This was great, were all back together again. After we all caught up, we just hung out in the treehouse like old times. This was the one thing I missed about this time.

I noticed Chris looking at me from the corner of my eyes a few times, I didn't think anything of it though. "Hey Gordie what time is it" I asked, looking away from the newspaper I stole from the market. Not my fault I'm 15 and broke... well I guess it kinda is my fault but that's not the point. "It's 9" he said, looking up from his watch.

I remembered a note my dad left, it said:

Hey kid,
I'm at the bar, don't come here looking for me.
Here are some of the house rules;
Never talk back
Never talk to me
Never interrupt me
Never be late

Along with other things that begin with never.

Curfew is 9:15, I'll be home by those times most nights, be there or suffer the consequences.

"Shit, I gotta go" I said, standing up and rushing to open the latch. "Hey wait, why?" Chris said, sounding curious. I looked up at him, "my dad" I said, before climbing down a few boards and jumping off the rest.

That's one thing we all share, except Vern, his parents are pretty nice. We have shit parents, Teddy is sensitive toward the subject so we never talk about it. Me and Chris on the other hand are used to people knowing us by rumours.

I ran home, it's about a 15 minute walk to my house. I stopped running in front of my door to take a breather before walking in. I opened the door to see my dad in the kitchen.

"Hey dad" I said, closing the door behind me. He glanced up at the clock that had just turned 9:14. "You're late" he said, putting his beer on the counter, kinda aggressively.

I glanced at it again, "but it's only 9:14" I said, out of breath and pointing to the clock. He looked at me, he was pissed. "What did you just say?" He said, walking closer to me.

Immediate regret came across my face, I guess that's considered talking back in his book. Even though I was only stating facts. "I'm not late" I said, taking a step back.

He looked at the clock that was now 9:16, "you are now" he said, balling up his fist. As I received a nice, solide, punch across my right cheek. That's one thing I didn't miss.

I held my cheek in shock but not looking at him. I stood up, since the force of his punch knocked me to the ground. "Never talk back to me again" he said, waving his finger in my face.

It was literally my first day back, I might as well just live in the treehouse if this is how it's going to be. "Yes sir" I said, as a tear fell from my cheek and I walked away, holding in all the anger I had towards him.

I've stayed in the treehouse before, with the guys and without. Figured might as well stay there like old times. So I got changed for tomorrow:

I walked downstairs knowing my dad will just let me leave, he didn't care where I stayed as long as I came back at 9:15 to show him I was still alive, don't see why he cared but anyway. I opened the door when he started talking, "you're not hanging around with that thief again are you?" He said, taking a sip of his beer.

"Chris isn't a thief, dad" I said, turning toward him, seriously. If anyone in our group was a thief, it's me. He shook his head, "no wonder you are the way you are" he said, looking back at the tv. I balled up my fist, my nails digging into my skin making it bleed. When people talk about me and my friends it pisses me the fuck off.

"I am the way I am because of you" I said, pointing at him. "You" I repeated, walking out the door and slamming it behind me. I heard a beer bottle smash, it scared me a little so I started jogging toward the treehouse.