1When we finally reached the tree house, Vern and Teddy had been there for almost half an hour. They had started up a game of scat, which Teddy was without a doubt conquering.
Chris climbed up the ladder first and did the secret knock. We heard the table being moved aside and the door opened. We all climbed in, me going last. I was met by two surprised faces.
Teddy, who was never one for manners said, "Who the fuck is she?" He didn't say it in a mean way, nor was he angry. He was genuinely curious to who I was. I grinned.
"My name's Jayna. I'm new here and Gordie and Chris are the only people I know. Well, apart from Ace and Eyeball, whom I had the misfortune of meeting. But anyway, you must be Teddy," I said pointing to him. "And you must be Vern." Vern nodded sheepishly.
"You were at my house today, weren't you?" He asked, although it sounded more like a statement. "You saw my brother and his friend. What'd they say to you?"
They all looked at me curiously. I shrugged. I'm so used to guys hitting on me that it doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore.
"They wanted me to hang out with them and the Cobras. I told them to go fuck themselves and they started to cry." They all laughed and I was immediately accepted into the group. Even Vern loosened up.
"How old are you, anyway?" asked Vern, picking up a new hand that was dealt to him.
"She's 16," answered Chris. I half smiled and crossed my legs. I don't think I need to describe what the tree house looks like. It was exactly the same as in the movie. In face, the guys were all sitting in their appropriate spots. That is, Gordie sat on the bench like thing reading a comic book and the others, including myself, sat around the little box/table.
"Hey, maybe the Cobra won't tool up on us so much when she's around," said Teddy hopefully.
"No, they will," I said simply. "Hey Gordie, pass me a comic book." He threw one over. Some stupid monster comic but hey! How often do you get to read a genuine 50s comic book? Never, that's when.
"Wait, wait! What do you mean? What happened?" Asked Teddy looking quite alarmed. Vern looked at the three of us as we exchanged glances.
"Gordie, you tell 'em. I'm not good at telling stories," I said, going back to my comic book. He sighed and Chris and I laughed. He quickly told them what happened. He ended with Ace yelling to go get the Cobras. When he had finished speaking, Vern looked horrified. Teddy seemed amused that we would be getting into a fight today. Chris noticed Vern's face and punched him playfully on the arm.
"Come on, Verno, they won't be able to find us up here. And, how long could they hold a grudge for anyway? Well, I know Richie'll be pretty sore at me, but I've had worse, I think," he said to Vern.
"No you guys, we have to get out of here, sincerely," it was like he was panting now. I looked over at him.
"Chill, Vern. Chris is right, they don't know where we are. Plus, it's not like any of them will try anything with me here. Isn't the thing like, "I don't hit girls"?" I said casually.
"No, you guys, sincerely. They know where our tree house is. Billy knows. He'll tell them. We have to get the fuck out of here now," Vern was almost in tears now.
"What do you mean, Billy fuckin knows?" asked Teddy, slowly putting down his cards. "I thought this club was supposed to be secret."
"I told him by accident. He asked if we all went to Gordie's house and made out with each other and called us homos and fags so I told him we had a tree fort and he asked where so I told him. We have to leave, right now you guys. Sincerely," Vern's voice was shaking. I took both his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.
"Ok, it's ok, Vern, we're going to leave now, ok? They won't find us, don't worry," I tried to sound calm and reassuring but it was hard. I was suddenly overcome with a wave of fear. I didn't think it mattered anymore to Ace if I was a boy or a girl. I had attacked and embarrassed him. Not much would stop him now.
"Well, where are we supposed to go?" asked Teddy. "We can't fuckin just walk around the town. They'll see us or some shit."
"Teddy's right," said Chris. "They'll be in groups of two or three. The five of us could probably take two but..." his voice trailed off.
"Whatever we do, we better do it fast," said Gordie, staring out the only window. "The Cobras are on the street directly across from us, and Ace is looking up at the fort."
My blood went cold. There was a moment of silence while we all looked at each other and our eyes all showed the same emotion: fear. Then, I spoke.
"Let's get the fuck outta here. Now." We all sprang up and pushed the table aside. None of us bothered to climb down the ladder. We all just jumped and started running. There were some pretty nice climbing trees nearby but this really didn't seem like the time to mention it.
"Hold on, you guys," said Chris suddenly. "I got an idea. Gather up rocks and climb up at tree." He stooped down and began to pick up stones. The other followed. I just stood there.
"No, Chris, no. I know what you're going to do and it's a really bad idea. If you start throwing rock at them from a tree, you'll be cornered. One of them will climb up and drag you down. Trust me, it's a stupid idea." He nodded, dropping the rocks.
"You're right. What do we do, then?" He asked eagerly. I shrugged.
"There's not much we can do. There are five of us and seven of them. They could easily take us in a fight. And they'll probably have weapons," I added thoughtfully.
"She's right, Chris. We don't stand a chance," said Gordie. "Let's just get outta here while we still can." Gordie nodded but Chris looked stubborn.
"We can't just run! Come on! Sure, we won't be able to win against them, but I refuse to go out like a coward. How could you guys just leave out fort, after everything it's been to us. A home away from home. And now you're just going to run away because the bigger kids are a little upset. I say we stay here and face them! I say we stay here and fight!" Silence greeted Chris' big speech.
"Wow," I said. "Oscar worthy, that was." The boys all started to laugh.
"Yeah Chris, you been practicing that?" asked Gordie playfully.
"Yeah, a bit," he said sheepishly.
"Well, girls, if we're gonna go, now should be the time. The Cobras will be here any second. Let's split," Teddy said as he started to run down the opposite hill. We all followed him. We landed in what seemed like a deep forest.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"This is where we play baseball or any other sport we feel like," answered Gordie.
"What, in the forest?"
"No, just keep walking. You'll see it in a second," he answered.
We walked a little past the trees and suddenly found ourselves in an old vacant parking lot. It was crudely set up to resemble a baseball field. I was instantly drawn to it.
"Hey, do you guys think it would be terrible if we started a game?" I asked staring at the field. They just looked at me incredulously.
"Are you serious?" asked Vern.
"Yeah, why not? They'll see that we're not at the tree house and just go off somewhere. C'mon. I call first base," I said as I ran towards to field.
"Jayna, sincerely, what the fuck?" called Vern. The boys were still standing by the sidelines. I reached home plate and picked up the baseball bat and base ball that were just idling around. I threw the baseball in the air and swung the bat. I missed. I could hear the boys laughing like madmen.
"You wet-end!" called Teddy.
"That was just a practice swing," I called angrily, picking up the ball again. "Teddy, go play left field." He smiled and ran out. "Deep left, cocknocker!" I called, getting laughs from all the guys.
"Fuck you!" he called. I laughed.
"Chris," I said, throwing him the ball. "Pitch for me?" He caught it easily and looked at it.
"How did you know I pitched?" he asked. I grinned.
"Guessed. C'mon!" The boys all got into their positions. Chris was pitching and playing second base, Vern had first base and some of right field and Gordie was on third and some of left field. Teddy stood deep center field, in case Chris needed back up.
We were all ready to play when suddenly this scene looked very familiar. It was as if I'd been dreaming this and woken up in the middle of the night, fallen back to sleep and not remembered anything. Then it hit me. I'm unconscious. The ball at the last game of the season. It had hit me on the head and I'd been knocked out. That's why I'm here! That's why I'm in my favourite movie. What the fuck!
"Wait, wait! You guys! I know why I'm here!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Gordie, looking confused. "Didn't you move here?"
"Yes! I mean, no. Well, yeah, I did. Ok, this is going to sound a little weird. We're in a movie. You're all actors. This is actually a movie made in the 80s called Stand by me. I don't know how I got here but the last thing I remember was being hit on the head by a baseball while I was playing. I...think I accidently changed the entire plot of the movie when I went to your house, Vern." I paused for a second then yelled in surprise. "I've changed the entire plot of Stand by me!" Silence.
"Stand by who?" Teddy called.
"Me."
"You?" asked Chris.
"Yes. I mean no. The movie is called Stand by me." Silence again.
"Why would I want to stand by you?" asked Vern.
"What? Oh shut up, Vern. Just pitch, ok Chris?" I said impatiently. Chris looked at me curiously.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's ok. I was just thinking out loud anyway."
"Come on, Chambers, you wet. Hurry up before my clothes go outta style," called Teddy.
"They already are outta style, Teddy," yelled Gordie.
"Eat my shit, Lachance."
Chris started to wind up and I got ready. I smiled as the I felt the familiar grip on the bat and the smell of the game. I could already feel the ball cracking against the bat and seeing it soar, making a perfect arch. I closed my eyes for a second, remembering the feeling.
"Jayna, open your eye, I'm going to throw the ball," yelled Chris. My eyes snapped open and I smirked.
"Come on, I don't got all day, guys," called Vern.
Then Chris threw the ball and oh, what a feeling. I knew it was going to be a perfect hit and I swung the bat with all my might. There was that old cracking sound, of wood and leather. It made me smile so broadly as we all watched the ball sail gracefully over everyone's head. The boys turned to look at me, save Teddy who had started to run blindly after it. I shook my head, laughing at their surprise. Nobody expects me to be able to hit the ball so far, seeing as how I'm pretty tiny for 16. They just assume I'll maybe get a single, if I'm lucky. Some have even been so bold as to call their players in a little closer.
I started to run around the bases, dancing and singing. Then, just to mock the boys, I started to crawl and saw things like, "I'm a little inch worm! Going an inch at a time!" Teddy started to charge back towards me with the ball in his hand. I was only on second base.
"Hold her! Stop her! I could still get her out!" he screamed frantically. The three boys ran towards me and I yelped. I pushed myself off the ground, runner style and started to bolt towards third.
Vern caught me around the middle and pulled me to the ground with him. We were both giggling as Chris and Gordie jumped on us. They held my arms down as I laughed my head off. I pulled free of the boys and touched third base. I was halfway to home plate when the boys caught up with me again. They tried to tackle me again and did, only thing time I managed to keep moving with them trying to pull me back.
Then, my hand was a foot away from the plate and Teddy was at second base. He was really running like the devil was after him. I felt Chris and Gordie pulling at my feet and I surged against them. Suddenly my shoes flew off and my palm slapped home plate just a split second before Teddy pushed the ball into the small of my back.
"Safe!" I screamed and rolled over laughing. Teddy collapsed in a exhaustion and we well just lay on top of each other, panting and laughing. It was contagious. Soon, none of us could breath as we all held our stomachs, exploding with laughter.
We didn't even know how much noise we were making, or the fact that the Cobras weren't that far away. We were just kids, even me, laughing in the dirt about something stupid no one could ever explain. Our loud laughter must have covered up the sound their footsteps made in the grass and twigs walking through the thin forest. The first we knew of them was Ace Merrill's voice say, just a few feet away from us and still getting closer: "Well what the fuck do you know about this?"