Disclaimer-if I owned any of the stand by me characters than I would be living in Tahiti! Well I m not so I dont own them.......

a/n ~ thanx for the reviews.I got 4 but only *1* showed up.!

AN~ I CHANGED MY PEN NAME TO : PuNk PrInCeSs ~ JUST WANTED TO TELL YA'LL THAT.THANX BYEBYE.

shout out-

Sophie- thanx for reviewing!! I enjoy your stories too!!

*Chapter 3*

***Mary POV***

The next morning I was extremely tired. Rolling over on my bed, I felt pressure on my left arm and a stab of pain. Wincing, I sat up, remembering yesterday's events. Groaning, I looked at my clock. It was ten o'clock a.m. I got up and dressed in my other blue and white button up tank top and threw on yellow shorts. I quickly brushed all the tangles out of my hair and put it in a half ponytail.

Walking downstairs, I realized my father wasn't home. He wasn't home last night when I came in either. I wasn't really nervous, I knew he was out at some bar probably, and he wouldn't be back until late tonight. What worried me was that when he would come home, he'd beat the fucking shit out of me. I yawned. I was still tired, so I decided to go out on my porch and lay on the swinging chair/bench. I started rocking lightly in the chair, and enjoyed the gentle breeze of early summer. I listened to the birds chirping and their gentle rhythm. My mind wandered to Chris. Dozing off, I smiled. He was nice, and I could see myself liking him more than "just a friend" in the future. Before I knew it, I fell asleep, rocking on my porch, and took a peaceful nap.

I wasn't sure how long I was sleeping for, but I woke up to voices yelling. I didn't open my eyes, but I listened carefully. I soon recognized the voices as Chris and Eyeball.

"Shh," Chris was saying. His voice was close, so I figured they were on their porch. "You're gonna wake her up if you keep yelling! After what you did to her yesterday, you should feel fucking ashamed!"

I realized they were talking about me.

"I'm not gonna wake up your little girlfriend," Eyeball said. "But you better watch out, for you, her, and all your little friends. We're gonna get you."

I heard Eyeball walk off the porch and down the street. I didn't hear Chris move. Slowly, I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"You're up," Chris said. He walked over and stood at the bottom of the steps.

"Thanks to you," I muttered grumpily. "It's fuckin hot out here!" I laid back down on the swinging chair and put my hand over my head. Chris nodded.

"I know."

I got up. I was thirsty and I needed to be in shade.

"Want something to drink?" I asked casually. I began to go inside, but Chris didn't move. "I'm not gonna bite." I smiled at him.

He smiled back. "Sure." He followed me in my house and into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and looked around. I went over to the refrigerator and pulled out two sodas. Then I went back to the table and handed him his soda.

"Thanks," he said.

It was quiet for a few seconds, that long awkward silence. I wanted desperately to break it.

"So," I said, sitting back in my chair. "What are you and the guys doing today?" I looked into his big, blue eyes. my mother always told me when you're talking to someone, look into their eyes. he looked back in mine. His piercing blue eyes gave me butterflies.

"Gordie, Teddy, Vern and me are gonna go swimmin' in the lake. Wanna come?" He seemed shy right now. I smiled at him, trying to break the tension.

"Sure." I was so happy that I was becoming friends with them. we finished are drinks, mainly talking about anything that came to mind. Around 11:30, we headed over to Gordie's house to pick him up.

Chris knocked on the door and I waited by his side. A fairly young woman opened the door and smiled sadly at me. I grinned at her.

"Is Gordie here?" Chris asked. He seemed a bit uncomfortable. He had told me about the milk money incident, and how everybody thought he was a thief. I felt bad for him.

"Just a minute," the woman replied. She went to go back inside the house and a minute later Gordie Lachance was there.

"What's up guys?" he asked. When he saw me he smiled, then winked at Chris. Chris turned rather red and I stifled a laugh.

"Ready to go to the lake?" Chris said.

"Yep. Let's go."

Gordie, Chris and I began walking to the lake. We were going to meet Vern Tessio and Teddy DuChamp there. I was excited. Back in California, I loved to swim. My friends and I would go to the beach and swim every weekend. It was the highlight of my pathetic life.

We reached the lake in about twenty minutes and Teddy and Vern were already there.

"Hey Mary," Vern said. Teddy said hi too. I smiled at them.

"Hey."

I looked around for a moment the lake was crystal clear and very peaceful. It was just waiting for someone to jump in it. I sat down on the bank and sighed. The waster was probably freezing. I was a little nervous about swimming with four teenage boys I barely knew. But there was something about them, I don't know. But I could trust them.

I looked up and Teddy began taking off his shoes and socks, Vern was down to his underwear and began swimming. Gordie was second in, also down to his boxers. I shifted uncomfortably. I could feel myself blushing as I saw Chris get into the water, wearing only his boxers. Soon all four of them were in the water.

"Come in Mary!" Gordie yelled at me. "The water feels great!"

"Yeah!" Vern screamed, splashing around. "It's hot as hell out there."

Teddy splashed Vern. "Come on Mary, don't make me come and get you!"

I smiled at them and buried my face in my knees.

"I don't want to get my clothes wet!" I yelled, my voice muffled.

"Then take them off!" Chris yelled.

I looked up at him and he winked at me.

Gordie, Teddy and Vern laughed. I stood up and went to go feel the water. It was cool and felt so good. I wanted very badly to swim withthem.

Just as I was straightening up and about to head to shore, I felt Chris's hand grab my waist and pull me in the icy water, it washed over my head and I came back up screaming. The boys laughed hard.

"That's it," I yelled, standing up in the water. It came up to my shoulders. "You're dead, Chambers!"

I jumped on top of him and dunked his head under water. Gordie swam over and dunked me, then Teddy, then Vern. Soon we were all splashing around, laughing and having a great time.

We must have been in the water for hours, because around two in the afternoon, all of our hands got pruney and we were getting bored.

I crawled back to shore followed by the boys. After they put on their clothes, we headed home. Walking down the road, our conversation was getting boring.

"If Mickey's a mouse, Pluto's a dog, and Donald's a Duck, what's Goofy?"

"Goofy has to be a dog. He just has to."

"He can't be a dog.he wears a hat and drives a car."

"That's weird.what the hell is Goofy?"

"Let's go back to the tree house," Gordie suddenly said. "We can play cards."

Since there was nothing better to do, we all agreed.

We were about halfway down the road, when a car stopped beside us. My heart almost stopped beating when I saw it was my father.

"Get in the fucking, car!" He yelled at me. I could feel the tears threatening to spill. He was mortifying and humiliating me in front of my new friends.

"Do you know him?" Chris asked. He moved closer to me. I stared at the ground.

"He's my dad."

I was so ashamed. My father got out of the car and grabbed me hard around the shoulders and began to shake me. Silent tears rolled down my face. Chris, Teddy, Gordie and Vern just watched with sorrowful eyes.

"Why are you all wet, you fucking bitch?" He screamed in my face. I could smell alcohol on his breath. He had been drinking. Great.

"I was swimming." My eyes never left the ground.

"You fucking whore!" He screamed. Before I could stop him, before anyone could stop him, he struck me hard across the face, then he pushed me down hard and I hit my head against the pavement. I continued crying silently, the pain was immense.

"Stop it!" Chris yelled.

"Shut up you fool!" My father roared back.

"You're hurting her!" Gordie screamed. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

I didn't need anyone standing up for me. Shakily, I got to my feet. I put my finger to my lip and tasted blood. My head hurt extremely bad.

"Don't even bother coming the fuck home tonight!" My father spat in my face. He threw a beer bottle hard at my head and I blacked out for a few seconds, and collapsed on the pavement. My father got in his car and sped off.

I was burning with humiliation. The beer bottle had cut me above the eye and now I was bleeding in two places. I felt dizzy. Chris, Teddy, Gordie and Vern just stared at me. I felt so ashamed, like one couldn't believe. I truly wanted to die.

"I.I'm so sorry," Gordie said. "We never knew."

I couldn't look into any of their eyes.

"You can stay at the tree house tonight," Chris said softly. "I'll stay with you."

I felt horrible. "Thanks," I muttered.

"Come on," Gordie said. "We have a first aid kit a the tree house."

The walk there was silent. I couldn't walk in a straight line, and a couple times I fainted. Chris ended up carrying me the rest of the way, like a groom would carry his bride. I was surprised how strong he was. I wasn't no petite, skinny girl, I had curves. I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, my arms and legs just hanging limply.

I wanted to die, I really just fucking wanted to die. When we got to the tree house, Gordie cleaned up my cuts, and Chris found a big T-shirt for me to change into. It fell to my knees so I was well covered. I was extremely tired and my head hurt. I found a spare brush and took my hair out of its half ponytail, brushed it, and put it back in a half ponytail.

One by one, Gordie, Teddy and Vern all left until it was just Chris and me. I was sitting on a puffy chair and Chris was laying on the floor reading a magazine.

I started to cry. "I'm so sorry," I whispered to him. He looked up at me and his eyes were full of sorrow and comfort.

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

He came over to me and took me in his arms. We fell asleep like that, me in his arms, and we shared each other's pain that night. The pain only we knew. The pain that had so tortured us all of our lives.

**************************************************************************** ********* End up Chapter 3..chapter 4 is coming soon!!! It's done I just have to type it up!! wo0o ho0o plz review!! Thanx... and tell me what you think & also suggestions to make it better! Thanks

KudOs~ NiNa Aka PuNk PriNcesS