The Nemesis Effect
Prologue
It was late in the summer of 2002, and our senior year of high school was due to start in a week, and me and Tommy decided that we would get our gang together for one last summer adventure. Tommy had been my best friend since before I could remember. Tommy was 18, and the athletic type with rippling muscles and the envied eight pack abs, and always seemed to grow taller every time I blinked. He had jet black hair, hazel eyes, and kinda resembled Tom Welling from Smallville. Tommy was varsity quarterback and had just about every cheerleader after him.
I on the other hand wasn't much for football, swimming was more my thing, and I was a member of our championship swim team at school. I had curly dirty-blonde hair, blue eyes, 17, and a very lean physic thanks to swimming every day. We knew everything about each other including the fact that Tommy was gay. No one at school or our parents knew Tommy's secret, and being his best friend I swore to never tell. It didn't bother me either, since Tommy had never tried anything with me and we had seen each other naked since kindergarten. Tommy was my best friend, and I was his. His being gay wasn't an issue with me. Anyways Tommy and I decided that we would take the gang and head on up to the mountains that backed right up to our town and stay the weekend. Our dads took us camping all the time up in those mountains, and we knew them like it was our own backyard. Seeing that it was Thursday, we wanted to get going on our trip early in the morning, and immediately went to work calling the fella's.
I first decided to call Billy, 'cause if I was to have two best friends, then Billy would be my second best friend. Billy lived in the nicer part of town, not that where Tommy and I lived was bad or anything, we were considered middle class, and Billy was the rich kid. He was considered to be the most popular kid at our high school, and all the girls had the hots for him. Billy was the typical blonde kid, 17, and with good looks, and the money to go along with it. Although Billy seemed to have it made, he was still pretty down to earth, and around us at least pretended not to be pretentious or anything.
Second on my list was Jason. Now Jason for the most part was a good kid, but it seemed that last year he was always getting' into trouble. If he wasn't sittin' in the principal’s office for doing something stupid, then he was getting questioned or harassed by the sheriff. Jason's father was a drunk, and beat up on him and his mom. He was always either trying to run away, or hold up my house whenever his father had had too much to drink. My parents had a soft spot in their hearts for Jason, and they too knew that he was a good kid despite the rough exterior he tried to portray. Jason was taller than the rest of us, 17, and had thick brown hair, and was always working out, building his muscles so that one day he could fight back against his father, and protect his mother and himself.
Finally the last person on my list was Kyle. Kyle was shorter than the rest of us and very smart for his age of 16. He excelled in school and was therefore advanced to a senior 'cause he was so smart. Kyle also was a trickster and was always trying to play jokes on anyone that was vulnerable. Kyle had dark brown hair and also was a member of the high school tennis team. We teased him all the time about it not being a sport, and every time he slugged us because of it. We knew it made him mad, and that's why we teased him about it. That's what buds do. It's not like we meant it or meant any harm by doing it.
It was late in the summer of 2002, and our senior year of high school was due to start in a week, and me and Tommy decided that we would get our gang together for one last summer adventure. Tommy had been my best friend since before I could remember. Tommy was 18, and the athletic type with rippling muscles and the envied eight pack abs, and always seemed to grow taller every time I blinked. He had jet black hair, hazel eyes, and kinda resembled Tom Welling from Smallville. Tommy was varsity quarterback and had just about every cheerleader after him.
I on the other hand wasn't much for football, swimming was more my thing, and I was a member of our championship swim team at school. I had curly dirty-blonde hair, blue eyes, 17, and a very lean physic thanks to swimming every day. We knew everything about each other including the fact that Tommy was gay. No one at school or our parents knew Tommy's secret, and being his best friend I swore to never tell. It didn't bother me either, since Tommy had never tried anything with me and we had seen each other naked since kindergarten. Tommy was my best friend, and I was his. His being gay wasn't an issue with me. Anyways Tommy and I decided that we would take the gang and head on up to the mountains that backed right up to our town and stay the weekend. Our dads took us camping all the time up in those mountains, and we knew them like it was our own backyard. Seeing that it was Thursday, we wanted to get going on our trip early in the morning, and immediately went to work calling the fella's.
I first decided to call Billy, 'cause if I was to have two best friends, then Billy would be my second best friend. Billy lived in the nicer part of town, not that where Tommy and I lived was bad or anything, we were considered middle class, and Billy was the rich kid. He was considered to be the most popular kid at our high school, and all the girls had the hots for him. Billy was the typical blonde kid, 17, and with good looks, and the money to go along with it. Although Billy seemed to have it made, he was still pretty down to earth, and around us at least pretended not to be pretentious or anything.
Second on my list was Jason. Now Jason for the most part was a good kid, but it seemed that last year he was always getting' into trouble. If he wasn't sittin' in the principal’s office for doing something stupid, then he was getting questioned or harassed by the sheriff. Jason's father was a drunk, and beat up on him and his mom. He was always either trying to run away, or hold up my house whenever his father had had too much to drink. My parents had a soft spot in their hearts for Jason, and they too knew that he was a good kid despite the rough exterior he tried to portray. Jason was taller than the rest of us, 17, and had thick brown hair, and was always working out, building his muscles so that one day he could fight back against his father, and protect his mother and himself.
Finally the last person on my list was Kyle. Kyle was shorter than the rest of us and very smart for his age of 16. He excelled in school and was therefore advanced to a senior 'cause he was so smart. Kyle also was a trickster and was always trying to play jokes on anyone that was vulnerable. Kyle had dark brown hair and also was a member of the high school tennis team. We teased him all the time about it not being a sport, and every time he slugged us because of it. We knew it made him mad, and that's why we teased him about it. That's what buds do. It's not like we meant it or meant any harm by doing it.
Anyways, after I got off the phone with the gang, I called Tommy back and let him know that our plans where set for the weekend.
Everything was set, and the fun was about to begin.
Chapter 1
It was a cool morning on that Friday, August 23, just three days before my birthday. Tommy, the rest of the gang, and myself had agreed to meet up at the old abandon iron works factory, and begin our trek to the mountains there. I was the first to arrive to the factory. Shivering a bit, I threw my backpack that was filled with gear to the ground as a cloud of dust rose from underneath from the weight of my pack. I strolled up to the steps that led up to the iron factory and took a seat.
I hadn’t gotten much sleep, ‘cause I was having the weirdest dreams. I had woken several times during the night in a cold sweat, shaking not from being cold, which now I was, but from being afraid. I could barely remember what it was I was dreaming about, but it left a definite uneasy feeling stirring within my stomach. I had always had an uncanny knack for knowing when stuff was gonna happen, but this was different. I really felt as if something bad was going to happen this weekend, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the feeling.
We had agreed to meet around 7am and I had arrived a little early so I patiently sat and waited for the rest of the gang to get here. I couldn’t help but think of all the possible things thought might go wrong, but I knew that I had to stay positive and not let the group know what I was feeling. I knew that if I told Tommy about my dream and the uneasy feeling that it had left me with, that he might call the whole thing off. So I decided to keep my trepidation to myself.
Although it was a little chilly outside, the sky was beginning to change colors from the early morning darkness to an impressive hue of colors that even an artist would marvel about. The birds were chirping; especially a little Finch that kept bouncing from one spot to the next in search of something to eat. I reached over to where my pack was resting and searched inside for the sandwiches that my mother had made. I pulled the first of many sandwich baggies from my pack and opened the plastic bag. Inside I could smell the sweet aroma of roast beef and mustard stuffed full in-between two slices of Wonder bread. I tore off a corner of the bread; closing back up the sandwich bag and stuffing it back into my backpack. I began to throw bits and pieces of the bread at the Finch. He frantically went from one crumb to the next ‘till all the pieces of the bread were gone. He then looked over to me wondering when I would throw some more.
“That’s all the food that I can spare little bird, now go away and catch a worm or something. That’s all the charity that I can give for today,” I said. And with that I looked up to see Tommy sauntering up the road headed my way. He seemed to be grinning from ear to ear and had a bit of grass sticking out of his mouth.
“What’s up man,” Tommy shouted?
I replied, “Just sitting here waiting for your sorry ass to finally git here!”
“What took ya’ so long,” I inquired?
“Awe nothin’, just taking my time!”
