Hey, guys! Thanks for the good reviews! I've got some good news, too. Last weekend, I participate in the Power of the Pen (a writing competition) regional tournament, and I received first place individually, a best of round for round three (there's three rounds overall), and the Dennis Grey Memorial Award! I'm going to state for the second time!

Now to continue with this story! I do not own Stand By Me or any of its characters or Nat King Cole or any of his songs!

Chapter Two

Blue Skies

After we four had returned to Castle Rock and I'd said my goodbyes to Teddy and Vern, I stood up by our tree house with Chris, looking out over the town. Even with the discoveries we'd made and the drastic changes that had occurred in our friendships during the trip, only one person filled my mind.

I couldn't wait to see her again; but I didn't know where to start looking. I realized that I had no idea where she lived. Oh well-in a town with 1,281 people, it couldn't take too long to find her.

"I'm never gonna get out of this town, am I, Gordie?" Chris wondered aloud.

Reluctantly, I pulled out of my thoughts about her and told him, "You can do anything you want, man."

"Yeah. Sure," Chris said disbelievingly.

I gave him a look to show that I meant what I said.

After a few seconds, Chris said, "Gimme some skin."

I complied, and then said, "I'll see ya."

"Not if I see you first," Chris said, turning away.

I smiled and watched him walk away. At one point, he turned back and raised his hand in farewell, and I did the same. Then he was gone, and I turned back to look out at Castle Rock once more.

Where could she be?

Turns out I didn't have to look for her after all. After several minutes of just standing there beside the tree house, wondering where to begin my search, I noticed a small figure begin its trek up the side of the hill, and instantly knew it was her.

I broke into a grin in relief and waved at her. She shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand and raised the other hand to wave back at me.

She had her hair pulled up into a ponytail today, and she was wearing all blue instead of purple. I found it peculiar how I'd only seen her twice, and yet I was already rapidly thinking her more and more beautiful.

I walked down the hill, and we met each other halfway.

"Hey," she said, and I marveled at how the sound of her voice calmed me.

"Hey," I replied lamely.

We began to walk beside each other, and I tried to match her, footstep for footstep. It was a beautiful summer day, with a pristine blue sky, and it wasn't quite as hot as it had been the last couple of days; it was just the right temperature. But I barely noticed these things because of the girl walking next to me.

"How was your trip?" she asked.

I thought of a way to put it in one word. "Interesting."

"Why is that?" she asked, turning her head to look at my face.

"It's a little complicated to explain," I said. Plus I didn't want to admit to her that I'd cried alongside my guy friends. She'd probably think I was a wuss.

She came to an abrupt stop. "Are you all right?"

Oh no. She'd noticed something.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" I pretended to be oblivious.

She shook her head. "Nothing…I just thought you…never mind."

I made a mental note: She wasn't one to hover over subjects that I didn't want to discuss.

"So," she began after a while of silence, "did you see the body?"

"Yeah, uh…we did," I admitted.

"How was it?" she asked, and then she hurriedly added, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay," I said. "He, um…definitely got hit by a train."

"Oh. That bad, huh?"

"Well, not as bad as I thought it'd be," I told her truthfully. "He was a little bloodied up, but nothing I couldn't handle." There you go, Gordie. Make yourself sound tougher than you really were.

"Hmm," she acknowledged. Then she looked up at the sky, as if noticing it for the first time. "It's a really pretty day, don't you think?"

"Yeah," I agreed. But not as pretty as you are, I wanted to say, but I stopped myself. What was I doing? I'd only known Riley for two days. I couldn't be transforming into a romantic after that amount of time, especially since I'd barely noticed girls before Riley came along. I'd even noticed the last couple of days, though, that my conversations with my friends were starting to seem insignificant compared to her.

"Race you to the five-and-dime," Riley challenged me.

I smiled at her, and she smiled back and raised her eyebrows, waiting. "You're on," I said.

We both took off sprinting, clouds of dust flying behind us, and to tell the truth, I'd never felt so free in my life.

Yes, that was a short chapter, but it's kind of a…transition chapter, I guess. This was a very early posting, and I'm just warning you: Don't be expecting an early posting every week! I actually should be working on schoolwork and cleaning my room, but that all just seems so dull, wouldn't you agree? I will probably post on Sundays and Mondays from now on. I'll let you know if my schedule changes. Please review!