My Own Private Paradise
Author: hell's lil angel13
Summary:Before and after the journey to find Ray Brower, there was another one there. After their journey, what happens next? How did they change, how did they stay the same?
Disclaimer:see chapter one
A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry bout not updating in a while. But, there were finals going on, then I had camp and then I went on vacation with my family, then with my friend and her family. But, I'm back now, yay, you should be happy! Um, here's the shopping scene and just so you know, I'm not from New York and haven't been to this part of New York ever, so the street names, stores, etc. are all just random names.
Fire and Ice
It was a few hours later and I was working on a letter to Chris and Gordie when Amberlee came into my room. At this point, it was after lunch and I swear this was the fifth outfit I'd seen her in, in only a few hours. She started to run her fingers through her long hair and said, "Come on, I want you to meet my friends, then we can go shopping." I nodded and put down my letter on the bed and followed Amberlee out the door to the living room. On the couch were two other girls who looked about our age.
Did you ever notice that whenever you watch movies that have a group of three best girlfriends, they always seem to have a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead? Yeah, Amberlee and her friends are no exception.
The brunette and the redhead were watching TV when we walked down the stairs and looked like they were snacking on a plate of raw vegetables. What were these chicks, rabbits? Who eats raw vegetables as snacks? God, I'll never get used to New Yorkers.
Amberlee, in her always annoying and perky voice said, "Guys, this is my cousin, Shannon Collins. She's here from Boulder Mansion, in Maine."
"Its Castle Rock, actually," I corrected my cousin quietly, but she either ignored me or didn't hear it.
"Shannon, these are my friends. That's Julie and Brie Baker. Okay, let's go," she said and pulled me by my wrist out the door, with her friends following us. So, the two were twins...wonder how Chris and Gordie would feel if they met them?
Ah, why did I just say that? Man, I am sincerely turning into a guy everyday.
Brie, the redhead, was a bit nicer to me than her sister, but that didn't stop her from being just like the kids from up on the View from where I come from. They were nice about asking me about Castle Rock and that kind of stuff, if I missed it, what my friends were like, but I could tell that they were only doing it to make fun of me.
We walked into a shop in town called Madeline's Boutique which smelled like every perfume known to man, As soon as I walked in, I almost passed out from the fumes. The three other girls walked into the shop and looked at everything around them as if they owned the place. Hey, did you notice that everyone uses that line, 'as if they owned the place'? Why do so many people do that, what's so great about it? Again, something else I'll never understand.
Anywho, I walked around the store a few times, looking as if I wanted to buy something but just didn't see anything I could afford or that was in my size. Actually, I was thinking of a way to get back to Castle Rock. I knew I would never be able to gut out an entire school year without Chris and Gordie.
"Shannon! Shannon, come here for a minute," I heard Amberlee calling me and I walked over to her. She was by a rack of clothing that looked like it would've cost more than Chris' entire house. "What do you think about this? I think you would look great in it." She was holding up a black dress that could've been a really short prom dress. It was a halter dress and covered in sequins and jewels and had a matching scarf to go with it.
"Uh, no thanks Amberlee," I said, faking a saddish voice. I'd never wear something like that, but I wouldn't tell her that.
"Why, you'd look so great in it," she insisted. But I shook my head.
"That would cost me two years' worth of allowance where I come from," I said, glancing at the tag for the first time. Yeah, like I could ever afford something like that in my life.
"Honey, this is Brooklyn now, price really doesn't matter for style."
"Sorry cuz, I'm just used to what I was taught. But, when does school start around here?" I asked her and she told me it started in a week. Chris and Gordie didn't start for three weeks and I start next week? How unfair is that? I walked away again and started to fake look around again. I was bored and lonely as hell.
We walked to another store down the street called Sally's Hair and Nail Care. It smelled of nail polish remover and hair spray to the extreme. I can't stand that smell, never could, and it was excruciating in my nose then.
"Brie and Julie are both getting their nails done for the start of school. It won't take long," my cousin told me and dragged me down an aisle in the back of the shop. We were near some hair dyes and hair bands. To tell you the truth, they weren't that bad. I was looking at this vibrantly bright lime green and orange dyes that I had a good feeling would annoy the shit outta my mama...hmmm...
"Alright, listen, Shan," Amberlee said quickly and I jerked my head around to look at her. "I'm trying to be nice here, but you need to listen good here, now. You're my cousin and word is going to get around at school fast. If you don't pull your act together fast, you'll be sorry once school starts."
"That a threat?" I challenged her.
"No, it's not yet. But, it will be if you don't listen a little better," she said. She really doesn't know who she's messing with, does she?
"And if I don't?" I asked sweetly.
"Then you'll learn a whole new meaning of a living hell," she said. I grew up with Chris Chambers as my best friend; I think I had a pretty good idea of what living hell was all about. But, again, I didn't tell my cousin that.
I bought the hair dyes, with the other three girls giving me disgusted looks the entire time. Good, maybe they'll leave me alone now.
They wanted to go into a perfume store next. That's when I faked sick and told them I wanted to go back home. So, I left them and went back to Mama's house and started to work on my letter to Chris and Gordie again. I decided to leave out the half-threat that my cousin gave to me. I didn't wanna worry them over something that small.
But, I said how I missed them a lot and I couldn't wait to come home. I hoped to somehow get away from here during Christmas or something like that to see Daddy and them, but I don't know how I'd be able to do that. I told them to write back to me soon and keep me posted on everything.
I put the letter in the mailbox immediately and then went back into my room. I wanted to stay up and think over some things, but my mind said otherwise. I fell asleep soon and didn't wake up until the middle of the night. I guess no one in the house cared to wake me up for supper.
I was wide awake then. The moon was bright and the few stars that I could see in the sky were dotting here and there around the moon. I walked to my window, wishing I'd been woken up by the familiar tap of Gordie or Chris, asking me if they could stay the night or if I wanted to go for a night swim or hang out in the tree house for a while.
I opened it to let the cool, night air blow onto my face for a few minutes. It felt good on my hot face as it pushed my hair back from my forehead.
There was a big apple tree right outside my window. I think it was the only tree I had seen in New York since I got here. One tree, how do kids build their tree houses around here? Man, New Yorkers are just weirder than shit.
I looked up and, as if on autopilot, I climbed out the window, onto the tree branch and up to the roof. The shingles were uneven and splintery under my bare feet, but I didn't mind. I climbed up to the top of the roof and sat down with my back against the window to the attic. It was actually pretty comfortable, and it felt nice to be here, just by myself. I looked up at the stars and sighed. I always liked the stars, and in Castle Rock, you could see so many of them, all the constellations and the shapes they took. I didn't know too much about them, but I like to look at them all the time.
I don't know how long I was sitting up on the roof, but I jumped off after I had been sitting there for a while and landed in a pricker bush...yeah, jumping off the roof was not one of my best ideas. But, I got up quickly and just started running. This was Brooklyn, this was New York City, and it was night. The entire place was open to me.
I had no idea where I was going, but I just let my legs take me. They seemed to know exactly where they were going and I didn't argue.
Running was like the ultimate high. There was just something about it that made it so...I don't know, I'm Gordie and I can't describe everything with words...but running just felt right to me. Then, it ended and I stopped. I held onto my knees to catch my breath a moment, then looked up to see where I was. I was at a train station, and it was still open.
I cocked my head to one side and just looked at it for a minute. I guess this was as good of a place as any to run to, I mean where else would a kid go if they wanted to run away? So, I walked in to see what was inside.
It wasn't much. Not many people were there, as they must've liked to ride on trains in the day, when it's safer. There was a rack for brochures and the train schedules. I walked up to it and took one. It could come in handy later on. I felt weird in there, though, so I decided to leave and go back home. I could get a few more hours of sleep.