1"Vern?" I hissed. "Vern, are you down here?" I crouched down and crawled under the porch. My hands dug into the cold sand and I shivered. It was quite dark under the house, darker than it was it the movie. I started crawling forwards and my hand landed in one of the holes Vern had made looking for his pennies. I laughed out loud, thinking about a young Jerry O'Connell staring up at his "older brother" in the movie and having sand fall in his face.

I made a complete circle of the porch before I realized that Vern in fact, was not under there. He must have run out when the other boys and myself had left. That meant he was probably running to the tree house. But what the hell would he be telling them? He didn't know about the whole body thing. Maybe he wasn't telling them anything at all. After all, he was only 12 years old.

I crawled out from under the porch and walked to the dirt road. I looked left then right. Straight ahead of me was miles upon miles of corn stalks. I shielded my eyes and looked out onto the corn. The sun caught it at such an angle that nothing I'd ever seen looked to beautiful. I stood for a second and watched it.

I turned and started to walk back towards the town, not really sure where to go to find the tree house. The town was busier now. Not that busy, seeing as how I'm a New York girl, but quiet busy. From what I saw in the movie, this town had a lot more people than it let on.

I walked down what I assumed was the main street in town and tried to remember everything I saw. There were mostly stores here, the kind you would find in the late fifties/ early sixties. You know, barber shops, tailors, shoe stores, bars, restaurants, the works. Where was that tree house in the movie. I thought for a second then remembered it was on some sort of grassy hill type thing. Gordie walked up after getting his magazine from the town.

I stopped and looked up at the nearest hill. Nada. I kept walking, fixing my gaze above the town. Then I saw it. A little wooden shack about 8 feet high at the top of a grassy slope, about a block or two away. It was crudely meshed together, with random pieces of wood sticking out in odd places.

I continued to walk towards it. I stared up at the amazing tree house, wondering if the boys were playing cards like in the movie or if Vern had told them about something else. Whatever they were doing, I would soon be in there talking to them. It seemed like such a strange notion, talking to River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell. Seriously, what the hell am I doing in 1960?

That's when I walked straight into a walking mound of flesh. I was knocked backwards onto my butt. I hadn't even been looking forward. My eyes had just been concentration of trying to see the inside of the tree house from the street. I looked up and my jaw dropped.

Gordon LaChance stood in front of me. He was wearing that red stripped shit he wore in the movie with those faded blue jeans. His brown hair was parted on the left and obviously brushed down. His eyes were exactly like people always describe them: soft, doe eyes. He stood there, obviously shaken. I didn't blame him. When I was twelve, I got scared just looking at older kids.

I grinned up at him. "Hi Gordie." I said. He just stood there, staring at me. I realized then that I was still sitting on the ground and pushed myself up. He wasn't as short as I thought he would be, the top of his head being level with my nose. I smiled. "My name's Jayna," I said.

"Hi," he said nervously. "Do I know you?" I thought for a millisecond before answering.

"No, you don't. I just moved here. Uh, your parents. Yeah, my parents know your parents and they just moved so they told me to come find you in your tree house. You know, to hang out with you and your buds." I nodded proudly with this lie. He continued to stare at me.

"Ok, well!" I said, trying to change the subject. "Where are you headed now?"

His expression softened a little and he started walking. I walked beside him.

"I'm going to my house for lunch. My mom always makes me a cheese sandwich. I love them. Say, do you want to come over for lunch? My folks won't care, seeing as how they already know you," he asked. I smiled.

"Sure, I'd love to," I said. We continued to walk and talk.

"What are your parent's names? Maybe I know them?" he questioned. I laughed.

"I don't think so. Their names are, I dunno, John and Mary."

"Oh. Where did they move?" he asked.

"Just a little ways away from where you live."

"I didn't see any for sale signs," he said this mostly to himself. I thought fast.

"Yeah, that's because, well, we bought it right from the people that live there. They moved right out and we moved right in," What a lie, eh? He seemed satisfied.

"Hey, Jayna, how old are you?"

"16."

"Really?"

"Yeah"

"Wow! Hey, with you around, maybe Ace and Eyeball won't bug us so fucking much." I turned to him.

"Hey, you watch your mouth. You're only 12 for Christ's sake! Who taught you language like that anyway?" He frowned.

"I dunno, we all say fuck and shit and damn and hell. I dunno if anyone really taught it to me." I shrugged.

"Ah well, now I won't feel bad when I swear around you lot. That's ok, right? If I hang out with you and your friends?"

"Yeah, of course you can. They guys will think it's really cool if we hang out with a 16-year-old girl. Hey, what's up with the clothes you're wearing, Jayna?"

"Oh, uh, these? Well, back where I come from, this is how people dress."

"Oh. Where do you come from?"

"Ah, New York."

"Really? That's cool! Hey, we're here."

We stopped in front of a very old and sad looking house. The paint was white but chipped. It looked like it had been well maintained, but the owners just recently gave up on it. The house seemed to have a sagging, defeated look to it.

From the front lawn, I could see a man and a woman out in the backyard. The woman hung up the laundry monotonously and the man has hoeing the garden with no expression on his face. I shuddered. They were like that because of Denny.

"Come on," said Gordie. "I'll fix you a sandwich and we can eat them out here. I don't like being inside my house much. It's pretty sad in there since..." He trailed off. I didn't bother to question him further because I knew what he was thinking. His face had suddenly gone from happy-go-lucky to saddest kid in the world. I put my arm around his shoulders.

"Come on, Gordie, let's go get those sandwiches. Hey, maybe we could sneak some chocolate into them or something." His face brightened.

"You put chocolate into sandwiches?" He sounded amazing. Jeeze, kids didn't know much about food in the 60s.

"Course. You can put anything in a sandwich."

We walked into the house, passing the dining room and the living room. I remembered the flashback that Gordie has, with John Cusak playing Denny. Weird, man. We walked into the kitchen and there, sitting on a white plate, was the world's saddest sandwich. It was white bread with the crust cut off and a single sliver of cheese was wedged into the middle. I almost started to cry.

"Gordie, you are not eating that for lunch. Get some bread. I'll make us some good sandwiches." I started rummaging through his fridge, pulling out cold meats and condiments. I had some cold chicken and salami, mustard, mayonnaise and peanut butter.

"Ok, kid, what do you want?" He stared at me.

"I dunno, cheese, I guess." I sighed.

"Gordie, come on. Ok, look, I'm going to have chicken and mayonnaise. How about you have cheese, salami and mustard?" He looked confused, but nodded. I threw the sandwiches together and quickly washed the dishes. I didn't want his mom yelling at him.

We took the three sandwiches out onto the front lawn and started munching. Gordie finished his first and looked longingly at the cheese one. I handed it over and he gobbled it up.

"Boy, you sure were hungry. And your mom only makes you one sandwich a day?" I asked. He grinned.

"I usually make an extra one for myself. But they're never as good as my moms. Well, until I had yours. Those were amazing! How did you do it?" I grinned back at him.

"A woman's touch, my little grasshopper." He laughed. I didn't think he got it, but whatever. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Think of the strangest feeling you've ever had. Multiply that by 10 and that's how I was feeling right then. I could not believe I was sitting next to Wil Wheaton while he played Gordie LaChance. I mean, he didn't know he was Wil Wheaton. On a scale of one to ten, this was completely fucked up.

Gordie suddenly got to his feet. He stretched and yawned. "I'm going to go back to the tree house now. They guys are all probably there. So, you want to come with me?" I smiled up at him.

"Sure thing, Gordo," I said as I got to my feet. We started to walk away from the house when he suddenly stopped dead. I turned to him.

"What's up?" I asked. He just looked past me so I waved a hand in front of his face. He snapped out of his daze and gazed at me.

"I have to go back to get something," he said and turned and ran back.

"What did you forget?" I called after him.

"My hat!"

I stood there stunned for a second, wondering why he went back to get the hat Denny gave him. Maybe it's some wacko movie instinct thing.

Gordie came running back wearing the navy blue New York Yankees hat. It was obviously too big for him but he wore it proudly. I smirked.

"Nice hat," I said. He looked sheepish.

"My brother gave it to me. He's dead," he said flatly. I nodded.

"I know. Denny was his name. He died in a jeep accident. I was sorry to hear that Gordie." I put my arm around his shoulder and gave him half a hug. He sighed.

"It's ok. It was a year ago, I'm ok now," he muttered.

"C'mon," I said. "Let's go find your friends."

We started towards the town, going by the main road. We had just passed some old store when a blue pick up truck slowed beside us.

"Right here's cool," called a voice behind the truck.

Chris Chambers jumped out of the back and thanked the driver. He turned to Gordie and threw his arm around his friend.

"Gordo!" he said happily.

"Hey Chris, this is Jayna. She's new in town," Gordie said, pointing to me. I smiled at Chris.

"Hey," I said. Chris took his arm off of Gordie's shoulder and suddenly looked quite shy.

"Hi," he muttered, looking at his feet. Chris Chambers was every bit as attractive in real life as he is in the movie. River Phoenix, that is. He was tall, taller than me by an inch or so and had these deep blue eyes that just looked right through you. I wanted to hug him but I restrained myself.

"My parents just moved here," I lied again. "Is it ok if I hang out with you and Gordie until I make some friends my age?" He looked surprised at being asked such a direct question, but it seemed to loosen him up a bit. He smiled at me.

"Yeah, that'd be cool. Just watch out for Teddy. Teddy DuChamp is a real asshole. Hey, Ace and Eyeball won't rip on us so much if we've got an older girl here," he added thoughtfully. Gordie smiled slyly at me and I laughed. Chris looked confused until Gordie explain that's exactly what he said to me.

The three of us walked down the street to the tree house. Both boys walked together and kept asking me questions about New York and such. I tried to be as accurate as possible, seeing as how I'm not born for another 29 years.

We passed the spot where Chris and Gordie shot the gun when Chris suddenly stopped. He looked at Gordie with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Are we supposed to do something right here?" he asked. Gordie thought for a second.

"No, I don't think so." I smiled. I didn't know whether or not I should interfere with the events but I figured, fuck it.

"Chris, you and Gordie accidently shoot a gun here. I guess you forgot to bring it," I said, laughing slightly. They both stared at me. So I continued.

"Yeah, Chris you let Gordie hold the gun and then he pulls the trigger because you said it wasn't loaded. Turns out you were wrong and it fires a bullet. You both scream and run like the wind. Then you, Gordo, get angry at Chris and he says he's sorry and you guys skin it and you're friends again." Ok, this is really weird now.

They looked at each other then looked at me. I started laughing.

"How do you know this?" asked Chris. I put on a very whimsical face and said: "Chris, it's one of the great mysteries of life. Just forget about it, don't worry." I continued walking down the street and they followed me. I sighed.

"Guys come on, I was just kidding. I just made that up. It didn't really happen. Just forget about it, ok?" I said turning to them. I heard a door open behind me to my left at the same moment Chris opened his mouth to speak. Instead of words, his mouth just hung open and his eyes widened with fear and shock. I looked at Gordie and his face had a similar expression on it. Both were looking behind me.

Before I could turn around, I heard Eyeball Chambers say:

"Hey girls, where you goin?"