A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the reviews! Oh, and I just want to let you know that I'm open to constructive criticism and some of your idea…..actually, I'd really like to have it. I want to make this story the best I can make it, so I think I'm going to need your help. Thanks guys! Oh one more thing. To Kill a Mockingbird, a very famous book and movie, will be mentioned and will be a theme throughout the story. You guys don't have to read it to get my story, but I highly suggest you read it and watch it. Great story, great movie. Right behind Stand By Me in terms of movie, my favorite book.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stand by Me or its characters. Oh, and I definitely do not own To Kill a Mockingbird. The idea of carrying a book around in a pocket actually came from River Phoenix: he used to carry The Basketball Diaries in his jean pocket for awhile because he wanted to play the main character, Jim Carroll.

Chris Chambers let himself in through the back door of Gordie Lachance's towering, wooden, creaky house. He climbed up the carpeted stairs two at a time in a hurry, desperate in need of a talk with his best bud and some nice clothes. He opened the door to Gordie's room without knocking, since he was always welcome, and found Gordie lying on his bed, reading some writing magazine. Chris smirked. Gordie. Always reading, always writing. That's probably what made his best friend so clever and witty.

As Chris made his way over to Gordie, he studied all of the writing awards Gordie had received hanging on the walls. He always liked to do this when he was Gordie's room because he got to feel some sense of pride for him. Was it because there was rarely a time for Chris to feel proud of himself? Possibly.

"Hey man," Gordie greeted, his doe brown eyes shining, "Here for my clothes?"

"Yeah," Chris answered lamely, "Like I'll be able to fit into el feo y flaco chico's clothes."

Gordie sat up slowly, glaring at Chris. "Shit. I miss Natalie already."

Chris gave Gordie a half-hearted smile. Poor Gordie, he always had a problem. But they both knew that someone didn't hand this problem over to him: Gordie brought it to himself.

"Well," Chris started with a sigh, plopping down next to Gordie, "You made a bad mistake back at school, pal. You should have said no to Jenna."

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings…"

"But you hurt Natalie's."

"Yeah," Gordie agreed, frowning, "Because Jenna really means nothing to me at all. But Natalie does. She means so much…she's my best friend besides you. Ah, I'm so stupid."

"No you're not," Chris corrected firmly, "You just made a mistake that will easily be fixed."

"How?"

"After I leave, you are going to go find Natalie and Cat and apologize. They mean more to you than Jenna, like you said."

"Wait a minute," Gordie interrupted, "What about you? They mean more to you than Jenna does. I mean more to you than Jenna."

"Of course," Chris agreed.

"Then how come you're not going to apologize to Catherine and Natalie and going on this date with Jenna?" Gordie asked pointedly.

"It's not a date," Chris corrected, "She just wants me to meet up with her and talk. Man, this is so weird. I have no idea why she's doing this…why I'm doing this. Why am I giving her a chance?"

Gordie shrugged. "Don't you think everyone deserves a chance? You said so yourself."

"I do. But what if she tries to hurt us, physically and emotionally?"

"Well," Gordie reasoned, "Look at it this way. What could she do to you that hasn't been done already?"

That was true. Every twisted plot to hurt Chris in any way had already taken place in the last five years. What else could be thrown out at him that he hadn't learned to handle?

He didn't even have a clue.

So, why not go for it? Just tonight….if something was wrong, he'd get up and leave. He knew he at least had to show up.

"Ugh, you're right Gordie. A chance is a chance. Plus, I already promised her," Chris agreed.

Gordie smiled. "There you go. You know I'm such a smarty."

Chris gave Gordie a slap on the back. "Thanks man."

"You should definitely dress down for Chambers. He'll dig the whole 'I'm a dirty yet naughty little girl' look," Serena advised.

Serena was lying on Jenna's pink, almost heart-shaped bed, twirling a strand of her long, straight black hair around her finger. Jenna marched out of her adjoining bathroom, complete with a bath Jacuzzi, in faded blue jeans, a long-sleeved black t-shirt knitted from alpaca wool, and tall 2-inch dark high heels. With her silky blonde hair in an obnoxiously high ponytail, mascara-ed deep blue eyes, and fire engine red lipstick-ed lips, she looked more than ready to snag any boy and fight any girl who got in her way.

"Perfect," Serena remarked with a smile, standing up and strutting to her friend, "Now. Here's a test. You are definitely planning on having sex or at least fooling around to an extent, right?"

"Of course," Jenna snapped, like Serena was thick, "He'll really fall in love with me if we do it. He'll see why all the boys want me."

"Right," Serena said mechanically, "Anyways, you have to make sure he has a big….you know."

"What?"

"He must have a big…."

"Infatuation with me? Already does."

"A big COCK, damnit," Serena seethed, aggravated with Jenna's 'I'm a dumb blonde!' games, "You have to make sure the slime ball has a big cock."

"And how do I do that when I'm in a restaurant filled with other people?" Jenna questioned.

"Ugh, do I have to tell you everything?" Serena asked, fed up, "Okay, here's what you do. You pretend to drop something, a fork, an earring, whatever. It lands under the table you're sitting at. So, you dive down there and grab the thing. But pretend to have some trouble looking for it. And do your best to investigate. It won't be easy. His jeans will be covering it up pretty well."

Jenna shook her blonde head at Serena. "Nah uh, no way Sere, no way."

"Ah, come on!" Serena persuaded, "Live for the moment! And I'll be asking for a full report when you get back."

"What are you going to do on my night out with Chambers anyway?"

Serena began to study herself in a mirror hanging up on one of Jenna's deep red walls. "Hmm….I think I might see if I can get in touch with that babe from Canada."

"Canada man? I thought he sucked in bed?" Jenna asked, her eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"I said that?" Serena questioned, furrowing her thin, perfectly place eyebrows, "Wow, he was actually a bomb in bed. A regular love bomb, I'm telling you. He was great."

Chris' lips curled into a ghost of a smile as he saw Jenna entering the Blue Point, looking very dressed down for the occasion. This was what made him smile. It was almost as if she was trying to make herself fit in with him and not look superior with all of her stylish clothes. He had actually dressed much fancier than he normally did, with Gordie's insistence.

Jenna strutted to the tall red booth Chris had saved in the crowded restaurant and sat down gingerly. She gave him a small, shy smile.

"Hi Chris," she greeted, "You look really nice."

And she wasn't just saying that. He honestly looked very nice. He was wearing a button up, light sky blue shirt with a white undershirt underneath. Khaki pants (that suspiciously looked very tight and small on him) covered his legs. His hair was neatly combed and for the first time Jenna took notice to how good his grown-out dirty blonde hair looked.

"Thanks….so do you."

Pfft. What an understatement.

"Thank you."

An uncomfortable silence took over for awhile. Jenna was staring off into space while Chris was drumming his fingers along the plain, metal table. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"So, how's your senior year so far?" Jenna asked awkwardly.

"My first two days? They were alright, I guess," Chris answered just as awkwardly.

"Not as much bullying, I noticed," Jenna prodded, trying to get him to open up to her a little bit more.

Chris smiled sadly. "Yeah, but it's only the first two days. Don't you worry, since it's the last year for anyone to do anything, there's going to be some crazy shit. I'm kinda surprised you suddenly changed your mind."

Kind of? Sure.

Jenna frowned and apologized, "I'm really sorry for what everyone's been doing to you….and I'm sorry for what I've done."

"Whatever," Chris dismissed, annoyed.

He was sick of the apologies. If she wanted to really get on his good side, she was going to have to actually make good conversation and stop saying sorry. Sometimes sorry just didn't cut it, and he knew that.

"Hey," Jenna said, an idea popping into her head and in desperate need of changing the subject, "Speaking of last year, where're you thinking about going to college?"

"I'm not too sure," Chris mused quietly.

He honestly hadn't given the topic much thought. Just as long as he went to a college with an excellent law school, he was fine with anything.

"Really? You're going to have to apply soon," Jenna warned.

"Yeah, so what Princess? Where do you want to go?"

Without missing a beat, Jenna replied, "Columbia."

Chris raised his eyebrows. Wow. This girl was serious. He was kind of intrigued about this, actually. She knew what she wanted, and she was going to get it. This was putting her ambition to good use.

"That's a huge acting school, isn't it?" Chris asked tentatively, "You wanna be an actress?"

"Oh yes, more than anything," Jenna responded, smiling and nodding her head fervently. It was obvious she enjoyed talking about acting. "It has a lot of other stuff to, like a really good law school. But honestly, I just want to act. I've been wanting to as long as I can remember."

Jenna wanted to stop herself from spilling her feelings about acting to Chris, but he seemed interested. Well, semi-interested. And no one ever was interested to hear about her wanting to act anyway. They were all too interested in her looks and her thoughts about the students of the school. She suddenly came to a huge realization: that was all she ever did with her friends. Talk about hot guys and gossip. It really hit her hard. She knew she was more intelligent than that, and here was her chance to show it, and to let Chris really trust her. Not that she didn't know that she was more intelligent than Chris was anyway.

"There are so many people in the acting business I admire. I know this is cliché, but James Dean is just so boss," Jenna answered, diving right into a conversation, "He only did three movies, but he was just oozing with potential. It's really a shame that he died so early. He was only twenty-four, isn't that a waste of talent? A total waste. Who knows what could have happened if he hadn't gotten into his car that day-"

"Whoa, you really have some strong feelings for Mr. Dean," Chris remarked teasingly, "Yeah, he's very cool. Even though he's dead, he's very boss."

"Definitely," Jenna agreed, "Oh, and Judy Garland is my favorite actress. Kind of underrated in my opinion. She's hilarious, so I've read in magazines."

Chris smiled at her. He was enjoying her enjoying this. He knew he was getting a little out of hand….he was beginning to trust her a little more. But there was nothing wrong with having a conversation….he supposed. Well, his excuse could be that he was just humoring her. But deep down, he was enjoying this.

"She really seems awesome. She hasn't done anything in the past year or so, that sucks. I love her in A Star is Born."

"Me too!" Jenna exclaimed excitedly, "But of course, you have to love her in The Wizard of Oz. Whenever I hear her sing 'Over the Rainbow', I get chills down my spine. I even get tears in my eyes."

"Wow, I can't imagine you crying, Jenna," Chris remarked critically.

"Well, imagine it, Chris. Everyone cries," Jenna drawled knowingly, spinning her Diet Coke around with her straw, "I'm sure you even cry."

Chris was taken aback. Yeah, he cried. A lot, actually. But her tone sounded so icy in that moment.

"Yeah, I do," Chris snapped defensively.

"Ah well."

Jenna had no idea what to tell him. She couldn't imagine him crying. He seemed too butch and tough and rough to cry. Suddenly, she remembered: she had to dive under the table. Now would be a perfect time since he hadn't responded. She pretended to fiddle with her silver chain bracelet with a small heart attached to it, while she was actually taking it off. When Chris looked away for a brief second, she threw it on the black and white tiled floor.

"Whoops, dropped my bracelet. Be right back," Jenna told him.

Chris studied her critically. This would be interesting.

She carefully lowered herself under the wide table and onto the dirty, sticky floor. She began to crawl around, but more up towards Chris, dodging around the stand that kept the table up. Lucky enough, her bracelet was right by Chris's left foot. She went for it and looked up, hitting her head on the table.

"What the hell are you doing down there?"

"I'm fine," Jenna called.

She began to study Chris's lower half. Pretty nicely shaped legs, from what she could see from the way his (but it didn't even look his size?) pants wrapped around them. He still wore those boots. Ugh, so tacky. Go back to Texas, cowboy. Her dark blue eyes traveled to the spot. Holy land, as she liked to call it. Although he had pants on….they were tight since they were so small (she'd thank whoever let him borrow them later). Whoa, was her first reaction. Wow. Damn. She smirked to herself and knew that it was time to come back up—but something caught her eye: there was something rectangular bulging out of his pocket. She backed away from him and rose slowly and went back to her seat.

She waved her bracelet in front of Chris's face. "Found it!"

"Obviously," Chris remarked sarcastically.

"Hey, I couldn't help but noticing….there's something in your pocket. What is it?"

Chris cocked his head to the side in thought, but then his features brightened. He suddenly became really excited. He loved it when people took notice to the bulge in his pocket. He dove into his pocket and pulled out a tattered book. The cover was a light, soft purple. Framed on the cover was a tree, with a watch and other items in the hole in it. A black bird was flying away from the tree. The title said in capital, bold letters: To Kill a Mockingbird.

"A book, Chris?" Jenna asked, snickering, "You read?"

"Of course I read. Do you and your friends actually think that I couldn't read?" Chris questioned, humor and hurt evident in his tone.

"No," Jenna lied, "But what book is that?"

"To Kill a Mockingbird. Gordie gave it to me. And it is so good. No, not good. Great. Best thing I've ever read," Chris told her.

"What's it about?" Jenna asked curiously, eyeing the book critically.

Sometimes Jenna liked to read, but only books she was forced to. Oh, and magazines.

This was one thing Chris was willing to discuss with anyone.

"Well, it's about a lawyer named Atticus Finch in the early 30's. I think the year is 1932. Anyway, Atticus Finch is asked and steps up to the challenge of defending a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. See, Atticus is a really principled man, so he does it. Since the book is set in Maycomb, Alabama, the whole town disagrees with Atticus and thinks that the black man should go to jail, but it's totally obvious he didn't rape the white woman. Also, Atticus is the father of two children: Scout, who's a real tomboyish girl, and Jem, the coming-of-age son. Scout and Jem become deeply affected by having such an honorable father and learn many things throughout the book. They are also investigating about this guy who is locked up in a house in their neighborhood, Boo Radley. He's supposed to be this man who eats squirrels and cats. But, anyway, the book is fantastic. Really it's about 'the mockingbird'," Chris explained eagerly, forgetting who he was exactly talking to.

"The mockingbird? What's so special about the mockingbird?"

"The mockingbird represents the people in the book who don't do anything wrong. Like, hmm," Chris started to elaborate with difficulty, "I can't really explain. You should read the book. It's my favorite. You'd love it."

Chris pushed the book towards her. He wanted to see if she read anything besides those dirty, trashy gossip magazines. And he wanted to see if she could dissect the themes and importance of the book. Even though it was "just a book", it had always put Chris at ease. It made him feel more comfortable. It made him feel like he was someone.

"Ew," Jenna responded, pushing the book back towards him.

"No?" Chris asked in mock shock.

"No."

"I bet you're not taking it because you can't read it. You're scared," Chris retorted smartly.

"I am not scared of a book!" Jenna cried angrily.

"You just don't want to admit that you can't read something that a Chambers read."

"Not true."

"Very true."

"Not true."

"Very true."

"Very true."

"Very true."

"DAMN give me the book!" Jenna exclaimed, frustrated that her reverse-psychology had no affect on Chris.

"The main character, Atticus Finch? He's one of my main reasons that I want to become a lawyer," Chris confessed before he had any idea what had come out of his mouth.

Jenna eyed him strangely. "You want to be a lawyer?"

This surprised her a great deal. She had always thought that he would want to grow up and become an alcoholic. You know, take up the family business. But she was in no way expecting him to say that he wanted to be a lawyer. It kind of showed her how high his goals were set and how determined he seemed to reach them.

She was pretty sure that she was going to hate the book, but who said she was going to read it? She snatched it off the table and shoved it in her purse.

"Hey, it's kind of late," Chris informed her, looking at clock on the wall, anxious to tell Gordie about their evening, "What time do you have to be back?"

"Anytime," Jenna shrugged, "You can't walk me home though-"

"Like I'd want to."

"-because the boys in our neighborhood would jump you," Jenna finished, putting on a hurt look.

"Sorry," Chris apologized with a shrug, a little surprised about how caring that one statement had seemed, "I guess I'll see you later then."

"Definitely," Jenna nodded, standing up, "Look my number up."

Chris eyed her, shocked.

Then, Jenna walked out of the diner and towards The View without another word. The town was quiet and sleepy, even though it was a Friday. It was a cool night, and Jenna enjoyed the peacefulness, walking alone and letting the gentle breeze flow past her. She help up the book Chris had given her. To Kill a Mockingbird. Hmm. Interesting. Maybe she would give it a read. It'd probably end up being a book she was forced to read anyway. But she was surprised. She enjoyed her time with Chris……..was something wrong with her? He made her feel a lot more relaxed, like she could talk about anything instead of gossip and men. She could actually breathe around him. She mentally slapped herself. She must be sick.