Chapter Text
I stared out the window looking at nothing. There was just fields upon fields upon fields. Although there would be the occasional group of cows. That was exciting. I hate the country. And my parents wanted me to live with my grandparents for the entire summer. I didn’t even do anything wrong. This isn’t punishment, rather “an escape”, as my mom calls it. She says it’s “unhealthy” to be on my phone all the time. So, she sends me to a farm in the middle of nowhere with an iPod from 2002 and a few books.
I looked down the road. Ahead was a sudden patch of woods. Now that’s exciting. As we drove through, I noticed that the trees curved in to make a tunnel. Far ahead was the end of the tree tunnel. Once we got out I saw civilization for the first time in hours. It was a quaint little town. In the center was a town square, lined with little family-owned shops. Right outside of that were just a few small white houses. On the outskirts were large spread out farms. And each one seems to have a purpose. One for livestock, one for corn, one for melons, etc.
We drove through the town. I kept my head down as the townsfolk stopped and stared at us, as they had never seen us before. In a small town like this I would assume everyone knows everyone. We had to drive pretty far out to get to grandpa's farm, which grows barley it seems like. Right across the road from Grandpa’s farm was at livestock farm. I watched as the boy my age chased a chicken. Oh boy.
I stepped out of the car and slammed the door, which caught the attention of the boy. “Hi! Are you Shayne?”
“Yeah… how do you know my name?” I replied.
“I like to talk with your pa. Ol’ Man Topp told me about you coming to visit,” he explained.
“Huh.” I opened the trunk to take out my suitcase. At this point my parents were on the porch talking to my grandparents.
“Do ya need help with your bags?” he asked.
“Nope I’m good. It’s just the one.”
“Okay. Well, in that case, I’ll take you on a tour of the town once you’re settled in.”
Jesus he is persistent. “Cool, thanks.”
I dragged my suitcase up to the porch where my grandparents saw me for the first time in years. “Oh, Shayne!” my grandma exclaimed as she pulled me into a tight hug. “Oh you’ve become such a handsome young man.”
I awkwardly laughed. “I guess.”
My grandpa only nodded his head at me.
“Well, we should be off,” Dad said, so casually as if he wasn’t about to leave his kid in a town hours away for three months. “Make sure to call us every once in a while, alright?”
“Yeah I will.” I mumbled. I really don’t want to stay here for the entire summer.
“I love you, Shayne. Please be good to your grandparents.” My mom kissed my forehead and hugged me. I could cry. But I didn’t. “And, please, do call.”
I nodded. They started walking back to the car
“Bye, I love you!” my mom called out.
“Love you too.”
And they were off.
“Come on, Shayne,” my grandma said, “I’ll show you to your room.”
I followed her. The house was old as all hell. Practically wooden everything. To the right was a staircase. She slowly climbed the stairs and I stayed right behind her. It led to a singular hallway with two doors. One was open and was a bathroom. I assumed the other was my room. She opened the door to reveal and worn room, but it hadn’t been used in a very long time.
“This used to be your father’s room. It’s a little dusty, but there’s cleaning supplies downstairs if you want to clean up a little.”
“Ok thank you,” I paused. I realized I haven’t seen her since I could barely talk. I didn’t know how to address them. “I don’t really know what to call you. What do the other grandkids call you?”
“You can call me Grans if you want.”
“Ok, Grans. Thanks.”
“Holler if you need anything, alright?”
I nodded. I decided I would leave the cleaning for later. I put my suitcase on top of my bed and went outside. Across the road I saw the boy holding a fighting chicken under his arm. It seemed like he was scolding it as if it were his child.
“Hey!” I called out.
He looked up suddenly. “Oh! Just give me one second. I gotta put Frittata back.” He ran across the grass to a chicken pen, quickly opened it, threw “Frittata” in there, and quickly closed it.
I walked over to him. “Frittata?”
“For every set of chicks we raise, we give them a common theme for names. For her and her siblings, we called them different ways to cook an egg.”
“Huh.” I realized something. “I never got your name.”
“Oh! I’m Damien.”
“It’s nice to meet you Damien.” We shook hands. His hands are were really soft. It was weird figuring he works on a farm.
“So you want that tour of the town?” He beamed brightly at me.
“Oh, uh, yeah. That’d be cool.” I barely even know this guy, but he’s so friendly to me. I guess this is just how people are in the country.
“Ok my truck is over here.” Damien started walking. “Ya know, you seem really cool. I hope we become friends. But it would be really sad when you leave… Oh! You should meet everyone in the club! It’s not an actual club. It’s just all the teenagers in the town hanging out together. We meet everyday at three. Maybe after the tour I can bring you along!”
During that entire spiel we had already gotten in the car and was driving down the road. “Uh, yeah. Sounds good.”
“Great!” We passed all the farms and were in the mid-section. “So here’s where all the families who own the shops live. And there’s the church!”
It was all white and was basically a box with a steeple. Not at all like the churches in my city.
“Do you go to church?” he asked.
“Sometimes. Usually on the major holidays. My parents aren’t super adamant about going to church every Sunday.”
“Oh.” Silence. It wasn’t a disappointed ‘oh’. It was more of a ‘huh that’s odd but ok’ kind of ‘oh’. “Here’s the town square! There’s the grocery store, the hardware store, the doctor’s office, the bakery, the clothing store, and the bookstore.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep! Pretty much.”
How do people live here?
“So… do you wanna go to club meeting now?”
“Why not.”
He started driving now the road and into the woods. There was an opening where two other trucks sat. We parked and got out. He grabbed my hand and led me down a small trail. Again with those soft hands. We arrived at an impressive looking treehouse. “Come on!”
I watched as he climbed up the ladder. He looked back at me and gestured for me to come up as well. Right. I climbed up the ladder and inside this tree house was a completely different world. The walls were painted green and blue, rugs and two sofas were strewn about the room, along with a record player in the corner. How did they even get all of this stuff? We’re out in the middle of butthole Arizona and they’ve somehow put together this bomb-ass treehouse. “Woah,” I whispered.
“Who are you?” A voice sounded from the corner of the room. I looked up and there was a younger boy with wild hair and large glasses. He was tall and lanky, but he also seemed like he hasn’t gone through puberty yet. Next to him were two girls. One was really pretty. Like really . She had blonde hair and wore a flannel shirt even though it was summer. The other girl was Asian with long black hair. She was very small in every possible way.
“This is Shayne! He’s Old Man Topp’s grandson and he’s gonna be living here the entire summer.” Damien wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“Nice to meet you!” The Asian extended her hand to me. “I’m Olivia.” She pointer to the pretty girl. “This is my best friend, Courtney, and that,” She pointed to the prepubescent boy. “is Noah. Everyone else should be here soon. Keith will be a little late.”
Noah turned to me. “I’m not twelve. I’m fourteen. I can see it in your eyes that you think I’m really young, but I’m not.”
Defensive much? “Alright, dude,” I said.
Suddenly a loud voice came climbing up the ladder. “—can’t believe you did that, Mari!” People laughed from outside the treehouse. Three more people made their way inside. They all noticed me at the same time. Damien probably sensed the confusion and he jumped to introduce me.
“Wait, what if we all just went around and said our name and age and stuff? Since Shayne will be here awhile, I think we should properly introduce ourselves,” Courtney said.
“We should wait for Keith and Ian, though,” Noah replied.
“I think they should be here about now,” said Damien. And as if he had seen it with a sixth sense, two people came climbing up a ladder, whom I assume is Keith and Ian. The white guy of the two looked at me weird for a second, but then sat down on one of the carpets.
“Again with the psychic stuff!” One guy with bright orange hair exclaimed. Everyone laughed. I’m very confused.
Once the laughter died down, Damien announced, “I have an addition to the club!” He gestured towards me. “Introduce yourself!”
Everyones’ eyes directed towards me. “Hi, I’m Shayne Topp. I’m Wayne Topp’s grandson. I’m staying here for the entire summer. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Let’s say our name and age,” Olivia suggested.
“Oh, uh, I’m sixteen.”
Damien went next. “I’m Damien and I’m also sixteen.”
The guy who came in late went next. “I’m Ian and I’m seventeen.”
The other late guy went. “I’m Keith and I’m sixteen.”
“I’m Courtney and I’m fifteen.” I would not have guessed that. She’s way too beautiful to be only fifteen. I mean, come on .
“I’m Olivia and I’m fifteen also.”
“I’m Noah and I’m fourteen.”
The guy with orange hair went. “I’m David, but you can call me Lasercorn, don’t ask why. I’m eighteen.”
Then was a girl with purple hair. Man. This is a weird farm town. “I’m Mari and I’m also eighteen.”
A nerdy looking guy went. “I’m Joshua Ovenshire, but you can call me Joven. I’m seventeen.”
Lastly, a man with silver hair and a cheerful voice said, “Hi! I’m Wes and I’m seventeen!”
I waved at all of them and suddenly I was bombarded with questions.
“Why are you staying here all summer?” Mari asked.
“My mom thinks I’m spending too much time on my phone.”
“What’s your favorite book?” Noah asked.
“Catcher In The Rye? I think?”
“Have you ever had a girlfriend?” Asked Joven.
“No, not really.”
“Shocking,” he said.
Damien interrupted. “Guys! You’re going to overwhelm him!” Too late. “Let’s tell a little about the group. Ian?”
“What really is there to tell?” Ian wondered. “Well, we had three other members. Anthony graduated early, Flitz graduated normally, and Boze moved. We miss them a lot, but it’s not a big deal. We meet everyday. Sometimes we share records we found in our parents stash, sometimes we’ll just talk about stuff, sometimes we’ll play board games, etc. We made this treehouse ourselves with the help of Wes's mom, who owns the hardware store. Anyways, welcome to the club, Shayne."
"Thanks," I started, "I didn't think there would be this many teens in this town. And with dyed hair. And diversity."
"We like to call this 'The Most Progressive Farm Town in America'," Keith said.
"Really? It definitely seems like it. I was expecting a bunch of old white people and maybe one other boy who's super racist," I said.
The group lightly laughed.
"My mom sent me here to bore me to death with old farmers, but jokes on her, there's a treehouse full of interesting young people!"
More laughter. I like this group.