Have you ever had that one group of friends, the friends you leaned on, depended on, and hung out with too much? Have you ever had those kinds of friends who would do any for you even if it meant getting their asses beaten by the Cobras? Well, even if you haven't, I have. Four of my best friends stuck by me more than anyone in my family ever had. If you don't think that's unique, then screw you.
I'd known most of them since I was 12, going into the 7th grade. I moved in next to Teddy DuChamp, my best friend to this day. When I first met him, he had been outside, digging for something I didn't know what and I had never found out. He'd just told me to use my imagination, to just imagine. Unlike him, I had never been creative, so I couldn't come up with anything. He just threw his head back and laugh his trademark laugh.
I met Vern Tessio the day right after I'd met Teddy, since the sincere boy had come over to Teddy's house to talk about something "girls didn't need to know," as Vern had put it. They ended up discussing the important, secret discussion right in front of me. "Who would win in a fight," Vern had asked Teddy, "Mighty Mouse or Superman?" I soon found out they'd been doing that ever they'd gone out to find a boy's body that I'd never heard of, Ray Browner or something along those lines. Of course I didn't learn about that subject until later on in my friendship with the boys.
On the first day of school, I walked through the doors with Teddy and Vern as they discussed another topic that was pointless. I laughed occasionally at some of the comments the boys made. I don't even remember how long it was before a wide-eyed boy walked up to us, grinning from ear to ear. Teddy and Vern approached him, yelling out various nicknames. I couldn't stop looking at the boy who was later introduced to me as Gordie Lachance. For some odd reason he fascinated me, and I had been attracted to him ever since that day.
The next week, after I'd finally gotten used to school and the three boys who I was always with it seemed, Chris Chambers walked up to us one day while we were eating lunch. He didn't notice me at first, chatting it up with Gordie. Soon, he turned and looked directly at me, raising an interested eyebrow. I looked back at him, raising my eyebrow in the same manner. Teddy introduced me as Dodger, and Vern said that I preferred to be called Dodge. He complimented my name before going back to Gordie, giving him his full attention. I wasn't close with Chris then and I'm still not now, but he was apart of the group and that could never change.
Life started for me there, in that small town of Castle Rock. Nicknames flew left and right, boyfriends came and went, we named called constantly, but no matter what, those boys stayed by me, never letting anything get too serious for me to take offensively. I never really grew close to many girls, two or three were friends with me for probably a few months before realizing I was too much like a boy. I'll admit, I'm a girl, but sometimes-most of the time-I feel like a boy.
When I wore skirts, day dresses, or tight shirt (which all three were fairly rare) the boys would look at me different, and not in the good way. Teddy would ask me, "What the hell are you doing?" and Gordie would tell me that I should go home and change so we could play baseball. Vern usually said something nice just to make me feel good, and Chris— well, Chris hardly said much to me. Enough to say I was known to the boys as nothing more than a "tom-boy."
I guess I've gotten used to the fact that I'll always be known as just one thing in the four boys' eyes, and I'm not too worried about it anymore. I used to panic, thinking that I'd become a boy over night or something, but now I'm liking how things are going. With friends like Teddy, Vern, Gordie, and Chris, how can you not?
I guess I better stop here before I get too mushy.
A/N:
Hey, I hope everyone liked this first chapter. I hope it's not too Mary-Sue-ish because I tried to make sure it wasn't.
Revised On:3/19/06