Will Hartmans Creek

I lifted my hand as I sprinted out of the school, attempting to shield my eyes from the beating sun. looking over my shoulder I let out a high pitched yelp. Marty, Philip, and Jamie were at my heels their long legs propelling them forward.

“Alastor!” Jamie shouted in a sing song voice. I lifted my middle finger and shoved it behind my head. A small smile began to pull at my lips as I heard the three of them shouting at me.

“Oh Al, what’s with the attitude?” Marty hissed. “I have never witnessed this side of you before, infact, i’ve only ever seen you act like a little bitch!” Jamie and Philip burst into laughter at that one. I whipped my head around.

“Oh haha, very creative Marty, never heard that one before!” I shouted. The three of them jumped at me, grabbing a hand full of my shirt, and sent me reeling into a small patch of dead grass. Jamie jumped up triumphantly, his foot resting on my back.

“We got you ya little shit, now you have to buy the snacks!” he shouted. I lifted my head. A few feet in front of us stood the old bus stop pole. Our end point.

“God dammit!” I shouted. “Would you get the hell off of me?!” Jamie’s foot slipped off of my back, Marty and Philip both snorting as they jumped up. I rolled over, Jamie’s hand extended out to me.

“Come on then, let’s go get Johnny” I looked up, a slight summer breeze slithering through the stuffy air and shifting Jamie’s dirty blond hair. He smiled and hauled me up. “We all know Johnny, he’ll get all pissy if we keep him waiting long” Marty and Philip snickered.

“Ya” Marty hissed. “Such a little bitch!”

“You aren’t exactly an angel either Marty!” Philip yelled shoving him. Philip turned and began booking it down the road. Marty growled and ran after him. I shook my head and grabbed Jamie’s arm pulling him forward.

“Let’s go” I said walking in the direction of Johnny’s school.

I felt at peace as the four of us walked down the the road. Philip and Marty were a few feet in front of us, balancing along the edge of the sidewalk, trying to win a year long bet. I looked around. The hot summer sun sat in the middle of the sky slowly roasting the four of us as we trudged along the cracked cement. My eyes flickered down. Jamie’s arm tangled with mine. Jamie and I have always been close. I love all of my friends but, i’ve just known Jamie so much longer. And yes it’s the eighties, i've heard every slur beaten into my head thousands of times, but I really dont give a shit. Those assholes are just jealous. It seems even my own friends get jealous of our relationship. Especially Johnny. Johnny and I have been through alot together, he is one of my best friends next to Jamie. But for some reason Johnny has never liked Jamie. They are always getting into stupid little fights. I snapped back to reality as the sound of shouting filled my ears.

“Hey look it's the homos, how's it going homos?” on the side of the road sat Mark, Michael, and Trevor. Jamie turned and laughed. “Thanks Mark, what is that, the fifth time this week?”

Jamie turned back to me his green eyes sparkling with amusement. He narrowed his eyebrows and smiled. “You excited to finally see johnny? it’s been a while since we all hung out together.”

I sighed. “I guess, but johnny is a bit of a loose cannon.”

Jamie snickered. “Ya, I would know”. I laughed and shook my head. I glanced over his head at Marty and Philip who were beginning to run again. About a block away sat the preppy private school johnny was forced to attend. It was huge, and almost brand new. Johnny's family is the main sponsor of the school, and they are always making sure it looks presentable. Can’t have the son of the richest man in town going to some run down dump. As we came closer to the school I noticed Johnny sitting on the shiny front steps.

He jumped up his eyes filled with anger. “You guys are such assholes! Ugh do you know how long i've been sitting here.” he snorted and crossed his arms.

“Oh come on stop being such a baby, it's only been a few seconds” Marty snorted. My arms fell to my sides and I let out a breath.

“Alright guys just stop, we're gonna run out of time if we don’t get going, I still have to buy our snacks before we go to the Will’s.” Marty and Philip burst into laughter

Johnny walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “So you got caught then?” he smirked.

Philip jumped forward “yup, we got him, he was so close too.” I groaned and shoved them away. Johnny smirked and grabbed Marty.

“Aww Marty i haven't seen you in soooo long” Johnny purred. I turned and frowned stomping over to Dale's corner store. I threw the door open and felt the cool air of the dimly lit store soothe my burning skin. I sighed and walked towards the candy.

“Hey there Alastor, is it really the last day of school already?” I turned to see Benny leaning on the counter.

“Yup, finally it feels like it's been 50 years”

Benny chuckled “oh trust me Al, you'll wish it had lasted 50 years when you get out, i sure do”

I shook my head “ok, whatever you say Benny”. I turned and stepped forward, grabbing a bag of Jamie's favorite sour candies. The brightly coloured package filled my mind with memories of last year. Our trip to Will’s has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. Every year on the last day of school we buy a ton of snacks and go to our secret spot at the creek. I'm sure other people have found it many times before but, it's ours. I bent down and grabbed two packages of pastries. “That should be enough” I mumbled to myself. I quickly grabbed a bag of chips and ran up to the front. I threw the stuff on the counter and stood back. Benny smiled and began bagging my items. I looked down and quickly grabbed a package of strawberry gum and put it down. Benny handed me the bag and smiled. “See ya Al” he called after me as I ran out of the store.

Philip and Marty stumbled to a stop and turned their heads in unison. I swear those guys are twins. “Here we are” Marty said triumphantly. We all stood on the side of the road staring at the old wooden bridge. The sides of the road sloped down into a small valley, the hill slightly concealing the river at the bottom with its small forest. Marty and philip slid down the hill quickly disappearing into the trees. Johnny turned to me. “You ready?” He asked.

I nodded and shooed him away. I'm coming right now just have to look for something. He flicked my forehead and started making his way down the hill. Jamie looked at me. And raised an eyebrow. “It's nothing just go make sure johny doesn't shove those two into the river” jamie shook his head and nodded.

“Ok” he shouted over his shoulder.

I watched jamie disappear into the trees before I took my backpack off. I ripped it open and quickly dumped everything out. In the pile sat my small sharp pocket knife Nora had given me before she went off to college. I held it tightly and shoved it in my back pocket. I went through the rest of our stuff. A sweater, polaroid camera, and of course the snacks. I grabbed my pack of gum and shoved a few pieces in my mouth before stuffing everything back into my bag. I slung it over my shoulder and sprinted into the forest after jamie.

At the bottom of the hill Jamie sat under a tree, fiddling with a piece of grass. Marty, Johnny, and Philip were trying to lift a rock. Philip stood and stretched out his back. “What were you doing?” he groaned.

I shrugged, “making sure we had the polaroid”. Marty grabbed Philip and tugged his shoulder causing his back to crack like a broken branch. He groaned and let out a sigh of relief.

“Well do we?” Marty asked.

I nodded. Jamie jumped up “ok great let's get going then”

I sat down beside him and began taking off my shoes. I quickly shoved them in my bag and waded into the stream. I sighed with relief, the clear water surrounding my feet. Marty and Philip jumped into the water and began sprinting down the stream, johnny quickly following behind. Jamie stood beside me and smiled. “You ready?” he asked. I nodded and stepped forward.

We all walked down the middle of the stream, slowly the water began to rise to our knees. I smiled as i saw the trail of rocks that began as the stream grew into the river. We all winced as our soft feet touched the sun baked rocks. We trudged forward slightly jumping from rock to rock. Thanks to the river all of the rocks surfaces had been smoothed out creating a soft path for our feet. After all the years of cut toes it was nice to finally not have to worry about scars. After awhile of walking we all decided to stop at a small pool surrounded by a bunch of boulders. I sat down and pulled out a package of pastries. I closed my eyes as the warm rocks filled me with peace. The sun slowly burning into my skin, The crystal clear water splashing against the rocks and my great friends. I leaned back against jamie and sighed. This is nice. I felt Jamie slowly run his fingers through my burning hair.

“HEY, WHAT THE!”. My eyes flew open as Jamie and I slid off of the rock and into the water below. I gasped as the cold water hit my skin, sending goosebumps all over my body. Philip and Marty were cackling. “Oh come on Johnny we were just sitting there you asshole!” Jamie shouted.

Johnny laughed “i'm sorry you can't take a joke.” Jamie growled and stood up his hands balling into fists. Johnny's smile turned to a frown. He stood up and stepped over to jamie his eyes flashing with anger.

“Look! Guys it's fine everything is fine, let's just get going” I yelled. I stood up and grabbed the garbage from our pastries and put it in my bag. Before anyone could say anything I started walking.

For the rest of the walk I was at the front by myself. God why are Jamie and Johnny always getting into fights I just don't understand it. They just never rest. I snorted and crossed my arms. It's so tiring. Why can't they just get along. I jumped into the water and stared down. A small school of fish darted around my feet. I stomped forward. I was really starting to think that maybe just maybe we could have a day where we aren't getting into stupid fights but I guess that's just too much to ask. I looked up at the clump of bushes that sat in front of me, climbing towards the sky. I grabbed a branch and pulled it to the side. On the other side of the brush sat Will’s.

My mood immediately changed once we got to Will's. everyone's did. It was more beautiful than ever. The clean clear water sparkled under the sun casting a beautiful glare onto the rocks surrounding it. The rest of the day would be spent swimming in our beautiful creek and finally letting go any stress the year had brought us. Marty and Philip sprinted past me throwing their shirts onto the ground and jumped into the water. I covered my face as the drops flew into the air. Johnny walked over and patted my head. “Well i think this is definitely the best year yet” I nodded. He was right. It was amazing. I turned to Jamie and smiled. I pulled off my shirt and jumped into the water. Under the water I felt at peace. I looked up at the sun as is shone down through the water. Today would be good it had to be. I popped back up to the surface to find Marty and Philip standing on a stone trying to push each other off. Jamie and Johnny were going through my bag and pulling out the snacks. I felt for my back pocket. still there. I quickly stood up and walked out of the water. I stood in front of Jamie and looked at him.

“Please hold onto this” I said handing him the knife. Jamie nodded his mouth stuffed with candy and took it.

“Sure thing there al” he mumbled. I grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

“Cmon lets challenge those dumbasses to a chicken fight. Jamie smirked and nodded.

“Hey Marty! Chicken fight” Jamie yelled turning to Marty. Marty's eyes lit up and he grabbed Philip.

“Ya thats what im talking about, let's do this!”

The rest of the day was spent in the water throwing each other and splashing around. When we all got out for a snack I grabbed my polaroid and took a picture of everyone. They all posed in stupid ways and completely ruined the picture but whatever. I pulled on my sweater and decided to go up to the cliff that hung over the creek to get some pictures of the sky. I grabbed a handful of chips and made my way up. At the top of the cliff a slight breeze swayed the long grasses. I quickly snapped a picture of some flowers and then found a soft spot to sit down. The sun was slowly dipping into the horizon causing a burst of orange and yellow light to hit the creek. I knew we would have to head back soon. I held up the camera a shot a picture of the sky. It was beautiful. I jumped at the snap of a twig. I whipped around to Jamies smirking face. I groaned.

“God Jamie you scared me!” he just laughed and sat down beside me.

“Did you get any good shots?” he asked

I just shrugged “I guess wont know for a couple of minutes though” a warm breeze hit my cheeks and I closed my eyes. Through the sounds of the forest and the sounds of Philip yelling I could hear Jamie's steady breathing. I dropped my head against his shoulder and sighed.

“Good day?” he asked. I nodded. I felt at peace once again as i sat there with Jamie my head on his shoulder. I felt his fingers run through my wet hair, moving in a continuous loop, never stopping.

“WELL WELL WELL, IF IT ISN'T THE HOMOS!” my eyes flew open as I whipped around. Mark.

Jamie stood calmly and crossed his arms. “Why are you here Mark, did you really follow us?” Mark laughed and stepped forward.

“I saw you all going on your dumb gay trip and decided to tag along!” he yelled

Jamie smirked “well looks like mark has a crush on us Al, why else would he be following us around?”

I let out a huge laugh. Mark fell silent.

“We don't need you homos in our town, soon it’ll be infested with fuckers just like you, and we cant have that” he sneered.

I turned to jamie his face draining of any sort of amusement. “What is that supposed to mean? He asked”. Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out and small knife.

“Oh i think you know what that means”

Jamie's hand slid into his pocket, Pulling out my knife. “Don't you fucking try anything”

“Oh come on Jamie do you think i'm that stupid, I wouldn't go after some brute like you no” Mark jumped forward and punched me in the stomach sending me to the dirt. “No I think i'll try and keep my hands as clean as possible, and go after the runt. Less blood.

Fear. fear was all I could feel as mark towered over me. Fear was all i could feel as the hungry teeth of the knife glinted. Fear was all I could feel as Jamie hurled himself at Mark. And fear was all I could feel as I stared down at Mark’s lifeless body.