I do not own Stand By Me or The Body. Stephen King and Rob Reiner do. I wasn't even alive when either came out so..yeah. I have taken elements from the novella and the movie, so it will be OOC.

12345

It was 1963, before The Beatles came to America, JFK was shot in Texas, and before I had any clue about life. This was a time when they only thing that was important to me was my four best friends Teddy, Vern, Chris, and finally, Gordie.

Our first day of tenth grade, also our first day at Castle County Sr High School, home of the Knights, I walked out of our house and through the white picket fence to my best friends house. Gordon Lachance was my best friend, and probably the love of my life, which I of course didn't know at the time. My mother always said we'd grow up to marry each other. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door slamming and as I looked up, I saw him. My breath was taken away for a moment. "Gordo!" I yelled, obviously surprising the teenage boy. When he looked up, he lost his footing and fell from the front steps, smack into the ground. I couldn't help but laugh, Gordie helping himself up and walking towards me.

"Nobody saw that, right?" He asked, out of breath, hands on his knees. I had to stand back a bit to take him all in.

"My god, Gordie. You're a giant." Gordie laughed, shaking his head. It was only about three days since I last saw him and he already grew two inches and was suddenly more attractive to me.

"Shut up, Greta." He rolled his eyes, throwing an arm over my shoulder as we walked down the street to school together. This was so weird, I never felt butterflies like this before and I've been around plenty of boys. I leaned closer to his black cotton t-shirt, taking in the smell - wait, no, ew. stop that. I could tell myself all I wanted to stop, but I couldn't help thinking he was cute. "So, are you as excited as I am?" Gordon asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. I shook my head, looking up at him.

"Oh dear Gordie, you have no idea how unexcited I am right now." I replied as he laughed, looking around for the others. I didn't even notice we were almost there, but it was true. School was one thing I was not excited about. Castle County Sr High was composed of two towns, Castle Rock and Castle View, bitter rivals of the classes. Castle View was the rich, Castle Rock the poor. I didn't personally consider Castle Rock poor, more of middle class but it didn't matter. Castle County High is right smack dab in the middle of the two towns.

Kids from Castle Lake go to Castle Lake Sr High, our, ironically, biggest rival high school. The Knights and The Stallions, also ironic. Castle Rock and Castle View had two different Jr Highs and grade schools, but our towns were so underfunded they bundled us together, which was a terrible mistake. By the time we got to Lloyd's Barber Shop, our twosome became a three.

Our other best friend, Theodore Duchamp, was a bit of a loony. To put it politely, he was one doughnut short of a dozen. His dad was prone to fits of rage, and once took Teddy's ear to a stove and almost burnt it off. Mr. Duchamp was carted off to some mental institution, become the town's token crazy. Teddy was good for a laugh and an adventure, but other than that he wasn't too much of a friend. You could never get a serious conversation out of the damn kid. Teddy also changed a bit. He had gotten taller and his hair a bit longer, his nose starting to fit his face.

"Hey Teds." Teddy nodded at my greeting, shoving a bagel into his mouth. I could tell by his unshowered hair and the smell of his shirt, he was in a hurry to get to school. "Lemme guess, you woke up late?" I asked.

"Yeah." He replied with a full mouth, it came out 'yef' with the bread product lodged up his mouth and around his face. I licked my thumb and brushed the crumbs out of his face. Teddy swatted my hands away. "Hey, watch it mother Greta."

I hated that nickname. The boys started calling me "Mother Greta" after Gordie complained that I "baby them too much." I rolled my eyes, pushing Teddy with my shoulder.

"Fine, if you want to walk through life with bagel crumbs all over your face, be my guest." I retorted, Teddy sticking his tongue out in response. "Wow, Teddy. After actually getting into high school, you'd think you would mature, but alas you have proved the population of Castle Rock that we were once again wrong."

"Ah, fuck you." Teddy really was the true image of maturity, as my sister would say.

"Schools about to start, guys. Come on." Gordie ordered, walking faster. That was weird, Gordie hated school. He dreaded coming here since I've known him.

"Oh, come on Gordo! Why you all excited about seeing those assholes from the View?" Teddy called out to his retreating back, Gordie flipping us off in the process. I rolled my eyes as Teddy put his arm around me, putting his weight on me.

"Come on, before Gordie has a big ol' fit." I said, the both of us trying to catch up to the tall teenage boy fast-pace walking away from us. "Gordie, come on, slow down! Teddy doesn't smell that bad!" I yelled, getting a laugh out of Gordie and a noogie from Teddy.

"Shut up Greta, I don't smell bad! If anyone smells bad, its you!" He smelled his shirt anyways, a look of disgust as he pulled back. "Oh god, maybe I do!" Before I could even process anything, Teddy's shirt was off. I stopped walking and brought my palm to my face in disgust. Told you Teddy was a nut.

"Sweet Jesus, Teddy! Put your shirt back on!"

"Ah, come on, Greta. You just said I stink!" He replied, whipping his shirt in the air like a cowboy making a lasso in a rodeo. I can't believe we have him as a friend. A few cars passing by started to honk at Teddy's naked torso. He cheered for himself and the passing cars, totally enjoying the attention.

We walked to our school, Teddy still naked, until we got to the front of the school where the visitor parking lot was. We stood around the flag pole, ten minutes until our first classes started. I leaned against the cold flag pole, Gordie and Teddy comparing classes. I knew that Teddy and I had French and Science together, but I wasn't sure about any of the others. Gordie turned to me and show me his classes. We had 2nd period English and 4th period History together. While we compared, our other friends Chris Chambers and Vern Tessio had shown up around the bend.

Christopher Chambers came from a bad family, his father a drunk and his siblings constantly getting in trouble. I didn't really know Chris very well. There was always an awkward tension between the two of us, since we both knew that if it wasn't for Gordie, we probably wouldn't even speak to each other. It wasn't that Chris was mean to me, it was just that if Gordie wasn't around to mediate the friendships, we'd never really have anything to say to each other. We talked the awkward small talk, like we were talking to a friends parents. Of course, Chris was extremely good looking, and got better looking every day. His hair was growing longer, and he was the second tallest of the group.

Vern Tessio was the "token fat kid" in the group, but I actually like Vern. Sure, he was annoying at times and not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but he had character and was always up for going back to our childish ways for the day. Vern was more of Teddy's friend, even if I didn't understand it. Teddy was a dick towards Vern, but Vern took it. Oh well, it wasn't like I actually knew the whole story behind them. I only became friends with them a couple of years ago.

"Hey guys!" I smiled, giving Chris and Vern a quick, friendly hug. They smiled at me, pulling out their class list and automatically went over it with the three of us. I learned that I had Chris in 3rd period Science and 5th period Math, I had Vern in History and 6th period Home Ec, and everyone had the same lunch. The bell rang, and I looked at Teddy as the other three boys shuffled off to class. "Off to class, Monsieur Duchamp?" I asked him in a pseudo-french accent, holding my arm out to him. Teddy accepted my arm, straightening his back.

"Why of course, Madame Hansen." He replied as we raced off to class, taking a seat in the class room as everyone shuffled around, trying to find friends and where to belong. Teddy sat in the open seat in front of me, where I got a full frontal view of his burnt ear. It was sort of interesting to me, I felt many days were I have almost actually touched it, which I know would be a mistake. It wasn't spoken, but I'm sure he was very self-conscious of his ear. But then again, he is a boy. Boys don't really get worried like that do they?

I was so focused on the mind of boys, I didn't even realize that class was over. I asked Teddy what went on, and he told me he fell asleep and didn't even think about it. I rolled my eyes. Classic Teddy.

The next few classes barely registered in my mind. In English, I sat next to Gordie and sat there, like a complete weirdo and stared at him all day as he wrote. I knew he wasn't writing the stuff on the board, but on a story. I couldn't help but notice the way his tongue sticks out of his mouth when he thinks, it made him kind of look like a puppy. He's my best friend and I'm thinking about how cute his is. You're not supposed to do that. I could tell this year was going to be really interesting.

In English, when I wasn't looking at Gordie, I was looking at my teacher. This year, I got the one English teacher who was really cute, Mr. Remar. All of the girls in our school wanted him as our English teacher, and I was actually lucky enough to be enrolled in his class. I don't think Gordie really felt the same way. If I wasn't excited for high school, I would always look foward to this class.

I had Science with Teddy and Chris, and any class with them is never boring. We had one of the most laid back teachers, Mr. Cooper, whom everyone loved. I didn't like him. He looked like your mom's creepy second cousin who only talked about pigs. Teddy sat next to me, Chris infront of me. Chris was always turning around to talk to us, getting a yell out of Mr. Cooper. Most of the kids in our Science class were from the View, which was awkward. Even if we didn't come from the same over-all neighborhood, we all knew who each other were. I could see everyone turning to look at Chris and Teddy, calling Chris a bad kid and Teddy a crazy bastards son. I felt bad for them, those kids didn't even know us.

After Science, I headed off to History with Gordie and Vern, then luckily off to Lunch. I had lunch will all four of the guys, so It wasn't going to be hard to find friends or anything. As we stood in the lunch line, Chris and Teddy stopped in mid-sentence, and looked up to the doors. Naturally, the rest of the group looked up to see what was going on. The doors opened to show one of the most dreaded cliques of the school. It was what we called "The Jo's" since everyone in the groups first name started with 'Jo'.

The leader of group Josie Cartman, the prettiest girl in school and probably the biggest bitch you could ever meet. She drove me nuts, she could do whatever and not get in trouble. She thought she was better than everyone, no wonder she came from the View. Her second in command was Joanne Davenport, she knows everything about everyone. She thinks she's really cool because she was invited into the group, but I've heard Josie doesn't actually like her.

Jolene Peters was the newest girl in the group and probably the dumbest person you would ever meet. She made Stuttering Stanley Tarbox look like Eleanore Roosevelt. The last of the group was Jo Ellen Hayes. Everyone thought she was a bitch, but she never actually talked so I didn't think she was. She was pretty, but in a normal way, not like Josie who wore the whole revlon factory on her face everyday.

I looked at everyones faces and what I saw almost broke my heart. They were in awe. Gordie's didn't leave Josie's breast until she walked up to us.

"Hey Josie." Chris said casually, grabbing a roll out of the bread basket. She nodded in response, fluttering her eyelashes at the four boys and flipping her hair over her shoulder. Ugh, it was the classic flirt technique that my sister Kristy taught me before she got married two years ago.

"Hi Josie." I said, pushing Gordie out of my way. She smiled with no teeth. That was never good.

"Oh, hey Greta." She said, putting her hands behind her back. "Love those jeans, they really show off your curves." I instantly looked down at my jeans. "They really show how you're actually a girl." Teddy started to laugh, his voice sounding like someone was dragging their nails into a chalkboard.

"Greta? A girl! If you didn't look at her boobs you wouldn't even know she was one!" His hands were on his knees, doubled over in laughter. Eventually, everyone was laughing. Even Gordie! I couldn't fucking believe it.

My own best friend of seven years.

12345

Review! :)