Chapter Six - The Wrong Path

Mr. Feeny was surprisingly understanding about the entire situation and even went as far as to make a comment that he was amazed Harley hadn't gotten hit before that. However, being as it was wrong to hit someone and it was his job as the principal to enforce rules and order, I did have to be punished. But instead of a suspension, I received a week's detention instead and was made to clean the cafeteria up after I more or less confessed; since I did play a big part in helping make a huge mess by making Harley defy gravity. I was actually okay with it though and found it to be a fair judgement call. Maybe it was because I was expecting more or maybe it was because I secretly felt kind of bad for hitting him, but either way I wasn't complaining. Before then I had never been in detention, shockingly enough, and not knowing what may lay ahead of me, behind closed doors, made me anxious. I was a movie fanatic so I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew movies were obviously very far off of reality but I knew there was some truth in it because really, where would stories like the ones we watched come from to begin with? When I got home however, my aunt wasn't as understanding. I didn't think I would ever hear the end of it.

"What were you thinking, Sarah?" She chirped, following me into the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes, threw my backpack onto a nearby chair and went into the fridge to grab a drink. "Trust me, he had it coming." I grabbed out a carton of orange juice, poured myself a glass and was hounded some more as I tried to retreat to my bedroom.

"It is never okay to strike anyone. No matter how much you think they 'had it coming'." She said trying to sound stern. I had reached the bottom of the stairs before I turned around to face her. Her eyes were conflicted and dancing with anxiousness; a look I was all too familiar with. "

Let me ask you something Aunt Julie, "I said , my voice starting to shake. She continued to give me the stare down. "If he hit me first, would it be okay to defend myself?"

She quickly frowned. "Well of course but that isn't what -"

I cut her off. "You just contradicted yourself within a few sentences. If it's never okay to hit someone then it isn't okay to defend myself, right?"

"Sarah, don't turn this around and make me out to be the bad guy."

I shrugged before taking a quick sip of my juice. "I'm not. I'm just simply pointing out the facts. When I say he had it coming, believe me; he had it coming. I'm going to my room now. Ground me as long as you want. I don't exactly have a fan base to go sneak out and go see anyways." And at that, I skipped steps up the stairs and as soon as I knew it, I was in my bedroom.

I grabbed a random note book and pen from my night stand, plopped down belly first an began to draw, or doodle rather; just random things like flowers, spirals, little letters with different things happening to them you name it . It was funny how little things as such kept me entertained or occupied. As fast as it was light out, it had become dark and I was bored. It was only 9:13PM yet it felt so much later. I could hear my aunt Julie getting ready for bed. She wasn't even forty but she acted like she was peeking into her mid-sixties. It must have been a McKennen thing to love sleep and cherish it as long and as best you could. I mean, if I could I probably would have slept my life away; that was if the annoying eerie reminder of not knowing who I was yet didn't constantly bother me like a fresh bee sting. I got up and went into my bathroom, changed into a black pair of jogging pants, a white tank top and tied my long hair back into a neater pony tail . Staring into the mirror, I shrugged. My appearance was as good as it was going to get. I wasn't out to please anyone and it was also 9 o'clock at night. Hearing my aunt close her bedroom door across the hall sparked the idea to be some sort of rebel. I hadn't spoken or even seen her since the confrontation by the stairs and I knew she knew better then to add gasoline to an already building fire, so seeing her in the morning made the most sense on both of our parts. I knew her like clockwork, she'd be asleep within ten minutes, be up around 3am to use the washroom and then she'd be awake for the day at 6:45am. I slipped on a pair of ankle socks, pulled out a pair of worn out sneakers from under my bed, followed suit and then waited for a few minutes to be sure she wouldn't hear me. As soon as I heard her snoring, I knew I was good to go. I bit down on my lip and as quietly as I could, slid my window open. The fresh breeze and sweet scent of the air hit my face like an explosion, so much it stole my breath for a moment. It wasn't because it was super windy or anything, just unexpected was all. Pittsburgh's air was nothing like Philadelphia's. It was more stale and filled with smoke from cars driving every which way. This air was almost, pure; being in the suburbs definitely helped with that fact that was for sure. It was filled more with family oriented and Eco friendly people. I had barely been back for a month but loved it all so much already.

I poked my head out of the window, looked around and then carefully climbed out onto the roof. Luckily for me it was a shingled roof and not a tin or ceramic one. For two reasons; one being, so it wasn't clanky and loud, signalling someone around to think I was breaking in or have my aunt hear me and then being in the biggest trouble I've ever been in for the entire 16 years I've existed and two, I didn't feel like falling and having my brains become a part of the pavement beneath me. Not anytime soon anyways, or ever for that matter. I quietly shut my window until there was just enough for my fingers to fit back in to open it when I got back and the scaled down the lattes that had many beautiful roses stemming out of every nook and cranny you could think of. Unbeknown to me however, many of them had thorns. By the time I reached the bottom, my hands were cut up and I had to pick multiple pieces out before I went on my way; wherever that was. I was not looking forward to climbing back up the prickly beast. I decided to make the best of it anyways. I didn't just scale down the side of my aunt's house, in the middle of the night for nothing after all. I hurried down the street, in slight fear of being seen by my aunt even though I was sure she was asleep and in slight excitement too. Philadelphia was bringing out a new, adventurous, almost dangerous side in me and I was liking it, a lot more then I should of. I contemplated on what I wanted to do. I could have gone for a late night swim, or I could have explored the end of town I wasn't supposed to, or I could have even just walked aimlessly.

The possibilities were pretty well limitless and I was enjoying the freedom I definitely wasn't supposed to have. Glancing down at my wrist watch, it flashed up at me reading me that it was 10:26pm. I had been walking for a little over an hour but it felt like a lot less. I thought for a moment and decided to go and see Shawn. I knew where he roughly lived and had circled the area a few times out of pure boredom so I didn't really think any harm to it. I wondered how trailer parks worked; in the sense of mailboxes anyways. Depending on what I found when I got there, I realized finding his house may have not been as easy as it seemed in my head . The thought didn't even cross my mind that he may not even be awake due to having school tomorrow until I was already in the trailer park. During the day I'm sure it was very nice and welcoming but at night it was the complete opposite. Dogs howled and the odd trash can fell but besides the eerie feeling, it seemed pretty harmless; or so I had hoped. I read multiple mail boxes as I passed and couldn't seem to find the one that read Hunter.

"What do you think you're doing?" A deep, scratchy voice came. I whirled around, heart racing and every hair on my body standing tall. I immediately glared when I realized it was Shawn who stood proud with the biggest smirk I'd ever seen.

"You butthole!" I said smacking his arm with a growl. "I almost pooped my heart out!"

Shawn chuckled. "Looks like my job here is done then, huh?" I glared some more but then couldn't help but grin back at him.

"Jerk." I mumbled.

Shawn shrugged and we began walking forward. "So I've heard." He replied. We walked until we left the trailer park and ended up in the street on the outskirts. "So, why are you out so late, and here of all places?"

I stayed silent for a second before turning to him as we walked.

"I got grounded for giving Kiener a shiner," I started. Shawn looked at me and then down at his worn out sneaker.

"I never did thank you for that. I mean, I'm usually pretty good about hiding and defending myself if I have to, so you didn't need to-"

I mocked his shrug. "You're my friend. And besides, I hit him more for the sake of being angry about the fact that he was treating me like a piece of meat or like his property or something . I hardly know him. And even if I did, I'm not owned by anyone, you know?" I ranted a bit.

Shawn nodded. "I know exactly what you mean." We walked a bit farther until we reached a small playground. There wasn't much to it; just a few swing sets, a slide and some tunnels made of wood. We gave each other a mutual look and then made are way over to the only two swings that were either not broken or baby swings. I took a running step back and sailed off, pumping my legs as hard as I could to gain air and speed.

Shawn wasn't far behind in following suit. "Hey Sarah, can I ask you something?"

I turned my head towards him and got even higher. "Sure," I responded.

"If you're grounded, why are you out? You never did fully answer my question."

I let out a giggle. "I needed some air. And then decided to come and see you. I knew Topanga would have already been asleep and if not, she'd never sneak out with me. And I don't really know Cory that well yet, so, it only made sense." I grinned over at him. "By the way, you've got nothing on me , Hunter. You swing like a preschooler," I teased.

Shawn gawked at me like I had just said the most hurtful thing ever and pumped his legs with immense pressure until he flew past how high I was. "Yeah? What do you have to say for yourself now?" Just as I was about to respond, the swing set shook and the left chain on his swing broke , sending him flying backwards , face first in the dirt. Gasping, I immediately jumped off my swing to get to him and regretted it right after. Pain shot up through my feet and nearly all the way to my knee caps; a mistake I often made when I jumped off of something high. You'd think I would have learned better by that point but I guess not. I raced over to him and gently placed my hands on his shoulders which were covered by his leather jacket and sand as well.

"Shawn," I said silently.

He moaned and rolled over, sputtering. "For future reference, sand is not a good night snack." I rolled my eyes and then giggled at him.

"Are you cursed or something?" I helped him to his feet as he gave me a strange look.

"What do you mean?" He dusted off his tattered jeans, jacket and then ran his hands through his hair and shook it wildly.

"I mean, I haven't known you long and you've already managed to almost meet your end twice." I said jokingly but also have seriously.

Shawn wiped the remaining sand from his jacket and then shrugged. "Guess I'm just lucky," he grinned at me and then went over and examined the swing. "I feel fat." I bit my lip and turned my head away , attempting to contain my laughter. "Oh you think that's funny do you?"

Attempting to contain my laughter soon after failed; I giggled so hard that I ended up snorting which in turn made him laugh as well. "I'm sorry," I said in between giggles. "I've just never seen anyone face plant so perfectly before." My belly began to ache but it felt really good to laugh, especially considering I hadn't done so in a long time.

*Shawn's POV*

Although I had embarrassed myself , it was worth it to hear her laugh. I still felt awful for being the spineless coward I was but I was really glad that she gave me a second chance to be her friend at the same time. Growing up, I had no one but Cory. I distanced myself in order to not get hurt. I had been hurt and made to feel alone the entire 15 years I had been alive so really, what was I losing by keeping people away? To that day, I hadn't had anyone but him, and Topanga too of course. So knowing I had someone else, willingly anyways, felt pretty good.

"We'll I'm glad my pain amuses you, Sarah." I joked.

"Oh admit it, if it was the other way around, you probably still would be laughing." I couldn't deny it. I found it pretty funny already, let alone if the shoe had been on the other foot. Without another word, we began walking as I still shook sand from myself every so often. We walked until we reached what used to be a beach, but was now covered in litter and Lord only knows what else, and sat down on the shore line, the waves crashing up at our feet. She sat cross legged and I sat normally, my feet outstretched and my arms behind me, supporting my sloppy posture. The moon reflected off of the water; the stars not far behind in giving the already beautiful sight more to look at. Besides the waves, we sat in silence. It was weird to me. In most other cases, I would have brought a girl down where we were to make out, or to at least more or less lure her into thinking about it, but with Sarah it wasn't like that at all and I really liked it. I liked having common interests and not having to worry about making the next right move. It was the most relaxed and laid back I had felt in a while. Finally deciding against many thoughts to not do so, I broke the silence with a question I had wondered since she had told me.

"Hey, Sarah?" I muffled out. She turned to me after throwing a random stone into the water and waited for me to continue. "How did you know where I lived?" I asked. "Did Cory or Topanga tell you?" It did strike me odd that she knew I lived in a trailer park and I had never mentioned it nor heard anyone I knew mention it and I'm not going to lie, knowing she knew so bothered me. For a while, I was able to act like I was mysterious and lead an interesting life and not have her know anything different. She didn't know part of my background and I liked it. I was able to escape being "that Hunter from the trailer park. The slight break from being me was, nice.

She paused for a moment. "Honestly, I was out for a walk one night and just happened to walk by it and saw you taking out the garbage while being yelled at by your folks," she explained. I slightly hung my head and was only able to reply with an "oh". I could hardly see her face but I knew she had smiled. She put her hand comfortingly on my shoulder and gave me a small squeeze; something I also wasn't used to. "It doesn't mean I think any less of you though," she said with confidence in her voice. "You could live in a dumpster and I would still like you just the same," she then hesitated. "Except you'd be a little stinkier, that's all," she teased.

I rolled my eyes and pushed her hand off of me. "Gee thanks," I said with a grin.

She let out a giggle and then pushed herself to her feet, brushing off the sand that clung to her jogging pants. "Anytime Shawn," she smiled in return. I stood up and followed suit. I had a feeling I was going to go home, take a leak and then cover my bathroom floor with half the beach and playground; sand couldn't help it though, being clingy and full of attachment is all it knew. God it was an odd feeling to be accepted for who I was but it was a great one none the less. I kept waiting to hear she had black mail or something or that she was only being so nice because she felt bad; but that wasn't the case at all and that was probably the oddest feeling of all. She then spoke again.

"So what kind of trouble can we get into now?"

*Back to Sarah's POV.*

Shawn thought for a moment and then looked around; a mischievous grin spread across his darkened face almost right after doing so. He disappeared for a second and then reappeared holding two cans of black sprays. "How much trouble do you want to get into?" He asked his grin more apparent than before. It was a side of him that I had never seen before but I was sure came out a lot and I kind of liked it. I timidly grabbed one of the spray cans from him and examined it. It was half full but still very much in need of use. I shook it as then looked at him again.

"Have anything specific in mind?"

Shawn looked behind me and then nodded. "See that house not too far up the hill? You can't really see it too well but there's a bunch of scrap metal, bike parts and who knows what else."

I squinted to try and see but couldn't. I could see the outline of a house lit up by a single street light but nothing really popped out at me. Just the general knowledge of knowing a house was there was good enough for me. "Yeah?"

Shawn's mischievous little grin hadn't faded at all. "It's Harley's house." I knew exactly what he was getting at and was totally on board with it. Maybe I didn't feel guilty after all, especially considering I was about to vandalize the jerk's house, perhaps it was just a bad judgement call to think the way I did and now I was making up for it. I wasn't sure but I was sure about our next move. Quietly, we moved off of the shore and within five minutes we were not even twenty feet from Kiener the shiner's house.

I looked down at my spray can and then over at Shawn. "Did you know these were going to be there?" I whispered as we moved closer.

"I had a pretty good feeling. That's where most of the kids from the trailer park dump them so they won't get caught and get into trouble." He replied. My heart raced as we finally reached his house. I had done some pretty sneaky and reckless things before but never something quite as so. When I was 12, I had glued all of my teachers things to her desk and then made her sit on a tack before realizing it and I had also wet down toilet paper and paper towels and made a very interesting ceiling but that was about it. It was thrilling in the best way possible; almost as if I were about to ride my very first roller coaster. We snuck around back and Shawn got into position, one hand on the house, the other popping off the lid to the spray. I quickly popped mine off as well and copied him.

"What should we spray?" He wondered, still whispering. I thought for a minute.

"How about Harley Kiener is a wiener?" Shawn chuckled. "Okay, sounds good."

Almost as if on cue however, just as he sprayed his first letter, a set of bright red and blue lights flashed and the strobe of a flash light made its way over to us. Panicking, Shawn quickly snatched my spray can away from me and held it in his free hand. I knew instantly what was happening but couldn't bear to move, I could barely even breathe. My sudden feeling of being a reckless rebel faded quickly as the strobe of light got closer. What had I done?

"Care to explain yourselves, kids?" Standing before us was a large well-built man wearing a tight cap that exposed a little bit of dark hair and the uniform I feared most at that moment. He was a policeman and we were fresh donuts and coffee.