Post by Sean Novak on Jul 25, 2007 21:43:50 GMT -5
[[Ok, so don't laugh if this is really bad ok? I'm not used to writing stories is this style. Most of mine are stictly third person.]]
Perfect, this summer was supposed to be perfect. Did it turn out that way? Well, I'll let you decide that for yourself. One of the things that is for sure is that that summer certainly took all of us for an emotional roller coaster ride. So let me take you back to then, two years ago when I was about two inches shorter and wasn't as well known as I am today.
Twin Lakes has always been somewhat of a lazy little tourist town that is really active during the summer. Through the years I've become accustomed to the way the town worked. You would get together with your neighbors for a barbecue at least once a week. On Sundays you went to church and after that you were free. Which in my case was good, since I never could sit through the entire church sermon. I always moved around and could never get comfortable, plus it always seemed like the same things were talked about the same time. Of course, maybe I would be able to sit through an entire sermon if Sean wasn't sitting next to me saying little comments under his breath, that make it hard not to laugh.
Sean and I have been friends ever since we were born and we were always doing things together. He always makes me laugh plus sometimes he gets so hyper that you almost have to hold him down in order for him to calm down. Luckily, I know what his weakness is it's gummy worms. He's been addicted to them for years now and he's very particular about where he buys them too. Since he says that the major stores buy them when they're stale and he will only buy them at two places. One of them is a small shop that is near the boardwalk that is so small that only ten people can comfortably fit in it. That place gives me the creeps, it reminds me of a jail cell. The other place is his dads hardware store. Sometimes he will order a whole case of them, or rather his dad will. Then Sean will promptly buy them for a price that would make most people fall over.
Now Sean and I were not the only ones sitting there. Mike was with us and he would usually be on the other side of Sean so that he could poke him whenever he started to get too riled up. Compared to Sean Mike was almost like a polar opposite. He was calm, relaxed and always knew what to say to make a person feel better. That didn't mean that he was so laid back that you could fall asleep listening to him. Mike wasn't like that at all he was just calm, when compared to Sean. I also knew Mike basically since I was born, that was why we were so close. Now, Mike was the one who would think up some new thing for us to do. Like, jumping into the Foxtail River from the boardwalk. Now this happened at ten o'clock at night mind you, we'd never do something like that in broad daylight. People have always said that Mike and I could be twins since we looked alike. I guess you could say that we did, we both have the same hair and eye color. Except for Mike was about an inch taller then me, I was always the short one.
Then there was Marissa, she was the lone girl in our little foursome. She was also my girlfriend, in a couple of days after school let out marked our one year anniversary. Most people said that we were a cute couple. She had moved here when she was just five years old and surprised Mike, Sean and I by walking over to us when we had been playing in the sandbox and immediately starting to play with us. She could have went over to where the girls were playing hopscotch but she didn't, now this surprised us. We really had never encountered a girl who played with trucks. We got over our initial shock and things just took off from there. Of course, she did develop friends that were girls later but she tended to hang out with us a lot. I'd like to say that she was the first girl that I kissed but that honor goes to Jackie. She was the girl that I went steady with all through junior high and then she dumped me for some sophomore who was supposedly better then me. I'd never thought about going out with Marissa, we were too good of friends. Or at least that's what I thought, Mike's the one who gets the honor of setting us up.
Well, this particular day of church had been very hard to handle. They had been talking about how everybody had to be nice to each other and things like that. Well, as usual Sean was adding his own little comments and Mike was poking him whenever he started to get overly excited. The four of us were sitting in one of the back rows, it made it easier to have a private conversation, and nobody stared at you. Marissa was giggling sligtly as I leaned back and tried not to laugh when Sean said something about not being able to forgive his grandmother for making him hug some old lady who he didn't know who had ended up kissing him. Then after saying that he made a face and shivering. This was especially funny since I had been there when all of this had happened. So I just looked over at Marissa and sighed. She'd became accustomed to what happened during church. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder why our parents even let us sit together in the first place. They knew what went on, but the probably figured that they had done the same thing when they were younger too so why should they try and stop us?
Just when I thought that I wouldn't be able to take anymore, church was finally done. Sean was the first one to get up and he began to make his way through the crowds to the exit. Which meant that the three of had had approximately ten seconds to catch up with him otherwise he'd leave without us. You'd think that he would wait for us right? Nope, you see a couple years back he revealed to us that he was afraid of ladybugs. The church always had ladybugs that were near the windows. I know what you're thinking, how could he possibly be afraid of ladybugs? Well, his brother is responsible for that one I actually feel sorry for Sean for what happened. I would tell you but then I'd be breaking the promise and he would probably be very mad at me if he found out I ever told.
"Well, we better catch up with him before he runs off without us." Mike said before rolling his eyes and getting up and making his way through the crowd. I knew that Marissa and me needed to get going besides, my brother would say something if he noticed the two of us sitting all by ourselves. Sometimes Josh could be a pain, plus he had been looking at me like he knew some big secret that he wasn't going to reveal yet. It was getting annoying and if he didn't tell me by tonight then I'd have to do something about it. Sure he was taller then me and was stronger then me but I could hold my own against him.
"Are you coming or not Branden?” Marissa asked before standing up to wait for me. Well, at least somebody waited for me. I know that Mike would have if he wouldn't have had to go catch Sean though.
The two of us were almost out of the church when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't even have to look around to know who it was, Josh. Maybe he'd finally tell me what the big secret was. "Find Mike and Sean, then meet me at the boardwalk in an hour. I've got some information that will maybe make you as popular as me with time little brother." Josh whispered before disappearing into the crowd. Thanks Josh, now I'd have to run home and change before running over to the boardwalk and hoping that I could find him. What the heck did he want anyway?
Perfect, this summer was supposed to be perfect. Did it turn out that way? Well, I'll let you decide that for yourself. One of the things that is for sure is that that summer certainly took all of us for an emotional roller coaster ride. So let me take you back to then, two years ago when I was about two inches shorter and wasn't as well known as I am today.
Twin Lakes has always been somewhat of a lazy little tourist town that is really active during the summer. Through the years I've become accustomed to the way the town worked. You would get together with your neighbors for a barbecue at least once a week. On Sundays you went to church and after that you were free. Which in my case was good, since I never could sit through the entire church sermon. I always moved around and could never get comfortable, plus it always seemed like the same things were talked about the same time. Of course, maybe I would be able to sit through an entire sermon if Sean wasn't sitting next to me saying little comments under his breath, that make it hard not to laugh.
Sean and I have been friends ever since we were born and we were always doing things together. He always makes me laugh plus sometimes he gets so hyper that you almost have to hold him down in order for him to calm down. Luckily, I know what his weakness is it's gummy worms. He's been addicted to them for years now and he's very particular about where he buys them too. Since he says that the major stores buy them when they're stale and he will only buy them at two places. One of them is a small shop that is near the boardwalk that is so small that only ten people can comfortably fit in it. That place gives me the creeps, it reminds me of a jail cell. The other place is his dads hardware store. Sometimes he will order a whole case of them, or rather his dad will. Then Sean will promptly buy them for a price that would make most people fall over.
Now Sean and I were not the only ones sitting there. Mike was with us and he would usually be on the other side of Sean so that he could poke him whenever he started to get too riled up. Compared to Sean Mike was almost like a polar opposite. He was calm, relaxed and always knew what to say to make a person feel better. That didn't mean that he was so laid back that you could fall asleep listening to him. Mike wasn't like that at all he was just calm, when compared to Sean. I also knew Mike basically since I was born, that was why we were so close. Now, Mike was the one who would think up some new thing for us to do. Like, jumping into the Foxtail River from the boardwalk. Now this happened at ten o'clock at night mind you, we'd never do something like that in broad daylight. People have always said that Mike and I could be twins since we looked alike. I guess you could say that we did, we both have the same hair and eye color. Except for Mike was about an inch taller then me, I was always the short one.
Then there was Marissa, she was the lone girl in our little foursome. She was also my girlfriend, in a couple of days after school let out marked our one year anniversary. Most people said that we were a cute couple. She had moved here when she was just five years old and surprised Mike, Sean and I by walking over to us when we had been playing in the sandbox and immediately starting to play with us. She could have went over to where the girls were playing hopscotch but she didn't, now this surprised us. We really had never encountered a girl who played with trucks. We got over our initial shock and things just took off from there. Of course, she did develop friends that were girls later but she tended to hang out with us a lot. I'd like to say that she was the first girl that I kissed but that honor goes to Jackie. She was the girl that I went steady with all through junior high and then she dumped me for some sophomore who was supposedly better then me. I'd never thought about going out with Marissa, we were too good of friends. Or at least that's what I thought, Mike's the one who gets the honor of setting us up.
Well, this particular day of church had been very hard to handle. They had been talking about how everybody had to be nice to each other and things like that. Well, as usual Sean was adding his own little comments and Mike was poking him whenever he started to get overly excited. The four of us were sitting in one of the back rows, it made it easier to have a private conversation, and nobody stared at you. Marissa was giggling sligtly as I leaned back and tried not to laugh when Sean said something about not being able to forgive his grandmother for making him hug some old lady who he didn't know who had ended up kissing him. Then after saying that he made a face and shivering. This was especially funny since I had been there when all of this had happened. So I just looked over at Marissa and sighed. She'd became accustomed to what happened during church. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder why our parents even let us sit together in the first place. They knew what went on, but the probably figured that they had done the same thing when they were younger too so why should they try and stop us?
Just when I thought that I wouldn't be able to take anymore, church was finally done. Sean was the first one to get up and he began to make his way through the crowds to the exit. Which meant that the three of had had approximately ten seconds to catch up with him otherwise he'd leave without us. You'd think that he would wait for us right? Nope, you see a couple years back he revealed to us that he was afraid of ladybugs. The church always had ladybugs that were near the windows. I know what you're thinking, how could he possibly be afraid of ladybugs? Well, his brother is responsible for that one I actually feel sorry for Sean for what happened. I would tell you but then I'd be breaking the promise and he would probably be very mad at me if he found out I ever told.
"Well, we better catch up with him before he runs off without us." Mike said before rolling his eyes and getting up and making his way through the crowd. I knew that Marissa and me needed to get going besides, my brother would say something if he noticed the two of us sitting all by ourselves. Sometimes Josh could be a pain, plus he had been looking at me like he knew some big secret that he wasn't going to reveal yet. It was getting annoying and if he didn't tell me by tonight then I'd have to do something about it. Sure he was taller then me and was stronger then me but I could hold my own against him.
"Are you coming or not Branden?” Marissa asked before standing up to wait for me. Well, at least somebody waited for me. I know that Mike would have if he wouldn't have had to go catch Sean though.
The two of us were almost out of the church when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't even have to look around to know who it was, Josh. Maybe he'd finally tell me what the big secret was. "Find Mike and Sean, then meet me at the boardwalk in an hour. I've got some information that will maybe make you as popular as me with time little brother." Josh whispered before disappearing into the crowd. Thanks Josh, now I'd have to run home and change before running over to the boardwalk and hoping that I could find him. What the heck did he want anyway?