Only one review for this, but ima still update for you jezzlovescherrypez. Please keep reviewing hun! Even if no one else does... xx

Now listen close, for I'm not smart,

You wrap your thoughts in works of art,

And they're hangin' on the walls of my heart.

CHRIS

The first day of school. As Gordie had said, "eugh". I walked down the corridors, smelling that familiar scent of cheesy feet and undercooked food. Why the hell did kids have to go through this every day?

I spotted Becky Newton leaning against my locker, flipping her hair extensions over her exposed shoulder. She was brown, healthy looking - either from a lack of sunscreen, or extensive visits to the tanning salon. However, these improvements did not detract from my opinion of her. That teeny-tiny voice made me dig my nails into my palms.

"Chris! Hi!" She chirped. Nope, her voice hadn't gotten more bearable over the summer.

"Hey, Becky," I said, not wanting to be rude as she got in my face. "How were your holidays?" I quickly pulled my books out as fast as humanly possible.

"Cool, thanks. I was just wondering if you wanted to-"

"Hey." I turned to see Gordie standing behind me. I wheeled around, relieved.

"Gordie!" I said too loudly, flinging an arm around his shoulder and yanking him down the corridor.

"Ow, Chris!" He complained. "What the-?"

"Sorry," I muttered when we were a safe distance away. "Had to get away."

"That's not nice," He looked back at the disgruntled Becky and paused. "She's not bad looking, y'know?"

"Nah. I like 'em a little less obvious. Someone I actually like would be good."

"You don't like anyone at this school."

"Don't I?" I waggled my eyebrows at him suggestively, laughing as his face went a fetching shade of red. It was so fun making him blush. What a shrimp.

He started walking really fast all of a sudden, so I was half running to keep up with him.

"Hey, Gordo! Stop, man."

He kept going, so I quickly grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him into a locker.

"Gerroff, Chambers!" He squirmed, staring at the floor.

"I laaaaaiikee yooou!" I smirked and, before he could stop me, planted a sloppy kiss on his red cheek. So wet I half spat on him.

"Ewwwww!" He squealed like a girl as I released him.

"Too bad you don't have tits and hips." I said, straightening up.

"Yeah, too bad." He murmured, wiping his face as we started to walk again. I looked at him, but he seemed lost in thought, his eyes far away. What was up with him today?

***

Later, in History class, I found myself in another girl situation. This was one of the few classes I had without Gordie (he was such a brainiac, he was gonna go places) so I was on my own.

"Hey, Christopher." This was Kerri Brandon.

"It's Chris." I muttered. Kerri was wearing a weeny vest top and miniskirt. Seemed like someone was enjoying the heat, but weirdly I wasn't mesmerized by her body. I was just bored and missing Gordie's idiotic chatter, class sucked without him.

"Just wondered if you'd like to come to my party tonight?" She said hopefully, leaning over my desk and giving me an eyefull.

I looked at her, properly this time. Yeah, she was pretty. I could probably fancy her if I worked myself up to it. Wasn't that what normal guys did? Normal guys didn't do stupid things by rivers because of hormones, did they? Normal guys didn't strip off in front of their best friends.

"OK, I'll be there."

She jumped, surprised and elated.

"Y-you will?! Great! Starts around eight. You know where I live, right?"

Of course. Everyone knew where everyone lived in Castle Rock. That's why we all bolted our doors when Ace Merril hit the beer - this was scarily often, I always thought the man had a liver of steel.

"Yeah, see ya there."

"Awesome!"

At that moment, the bell rang and I got the hell outta there before she started planning our wedding.

I saw Gordie leaning against the wall by the water fountain, pushing his floppy hair out of his thin face. I scared the shit out of him, grabbing him from behind.

"You're such a pussy, Lachance."

He jumped like he had when he was twelve. I chuckled, ruffling his hair and skipping out of the way as he aimed a punch at my back.

"There's a party tonight, we're goin'." I informed him.

"Who says?" He whined, "I have stuff to do."

"Like what? We haven't got any homework yet."

I always made damn sure Gordie did his homework. It was fine for a dumbass like me to flunk, but he had a future to uphold. He was real smart, and his stories were gonna make him famous someday, sometimes he said things that made me gasp. No kid ever came up with shit like that, it was like poetry or something. Stuff I would remember.

"Just stuff. You don't need to know every detail of my existence, Chambers. 'Sides, I don't feel like watching you hit on girls." He said the last part with feeling.

I glanced at him, but he kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.

"Aw, c'mon, Gordo. I ain't goin' by myself."

"You don't have to. Teddy and Verne will be there most likely."

"They're not you.I need you." This part came out fast. More intense then I'd intended, more true than I'd realised. I cleared my throat.

Gordie grimaced for a moment, as if in pain. But then his expression cleared.

"Alright, fine. But you owe me for this."

"Sure, sure. I'll swing by your place 'bout eight. You never know, we might find a sap desperate enough to let you feel her up."

I shrugged off the weird feeling I got at that idea. Fuckin' hormones.

That river thing was not gonna happen again. I'd half been trying to scare him, but part of me had wanted him to see...

***

At eight, I chucked a few rocks at Gordie's window. Our old signal from years ago.

"Oi, Lachance! Get out here!"

"Fuck off." Was his lovely greeting as he stepped out on to the front porch, swinging the door shut behind him. He was wearing baggy jeans (hell, any jeans were baggy on Gordie) and a black t-shirt. His hair was all floppy again.

"Ugh, Chris, do we HAVE to go?" He pouted like a little kid and I heard a double meaning in his words. I was seriously tempted to forget the whole thing and go hang in the tree house, but managed to snap myself out of it. We had to go. Meet girls. Be normal.

"Yup. We're goin'. C'mon."

He sighed melodramatically, but sulked after me as I set off for the party.

When we got to Kerri Brandon's house, Gordie was still pissed. He disappeared as soon as we'd got through the door. I looked around for him, but was quickly pulled into the clutches of the hostess. Her manicured nails grazed my skin as she pulled me through the crowds of gyrating bodies.

We eventually emerged in a semi-quiet area in the hallway, where she immediately began simpering in my ear. She was wearing a short black dress and lots of lipstick. She smelt like a perfume factory. As the girl giggled in my ear, I continued scanning the crowd for my best friend. He must have gone upstairs, I figured. I'd find him later, I hadn't meant to make him mad...

I snapped back to earth when I felt Kerri running her fingers along my chest. Her body was tight against mine, suffocating. I felt a sudden urge to wretch, the room seeming to spin around me. It was too hot, her scent too overpowering. I pulled back, cringing away from the little alcove and running for the stairs. I soon lost her in the crowd.

As I pushed through the horizontal bodies on the steps, all I could think about was finding Gordie and getting the hell out of there. This had been a mistake. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All I knew was that I didn't want her. That gorgeous girl in the black dress, who would do anything with me. Kerri. She didn't appeal to me.

As I reached the top of the stairs, I ran into Becky Newton. She'd been drinking. Her breath stank of those cheap alchopops as she pressed her wet lips to mine. It was wrong. Sweet and soft and sticky and wrong. I pushed her away roughly.

"What is wrong with you?!" She slurred, "You faggot or somethin'?"

Luckily (for who I don't know) she ran off to puke her guts up, leaving me frozen on the landing. You're not a faggot, I told myself, You just don't like larey girls getting in your face. You need someone funny and kind and.. and...

I blundered through the rooms, ignoring the cries of protest from the various couples strewn across the beds and carpets. I stopped short when I finally found Gordie. He was leaning against a wall, a pretty girl pressed up against him. He was laughing animatedly at something she was saying, looking more alive than he had all day. Well, excluding the kiss we'd shared in the hallway. I felt an urge to make him happy too. Make him feel alive, too. What did she have that I didn't? Tits and hips. I repeated my own words to myself. And it was true., wasn't it? We were both normal guys. Straight, normal guys. We liked chicks. We were just connected in a freaky way. Brothers.

But the way I looked at Gordie slightly outweighed brotherly affection as I hurried toward him. A torrent of white hot protectiveness seared at me. I grabbed him by the shirt - shaking the girl off easily - and dragged him away.

"Oh, see ya later, Gordo!" I heard the girl call from behind us in her stupid voice.

Well they sure had gotten cosy.

Hope you liked ;)