Chapter 4: Disputes & daydreaming

"This is the most fun I've had in a long time, Hic!" said Jonathan cheerfully "Everything happened so fast, at first it was like Boom! And then Bam! And in the end paff!...''His eyes were wide open while he talked, and one of his hands came close to hitting me the first two times while he was gesturing for an explosion with them. Jeremy wasn't as lucky as I, he got hit several times between Jonnathans's euphoric expressions.

"Are you sure that he's okay?" I asked Jeremy, who was holding his stomach and applying pressure to his left cheek.

"D-Don't you think that you're…" he took a hoarse breath "...asking the wrong person?"

My finger fumbled in Jonnathans's hair, since it was curly it was hard to sort out the hay. Often I would try to pick one out but it slipped through my fingers.

"Oww that tugs'' Jonathan the scarecrow cried. It seemed to be fine, if it's able to complain, then there is no need to worry.

"Shush" I pushed his head down for the third time, the hay had been caught up a lot in the back. " Let us get these things of you" I pulled three out and let them fall on a small pile of straw I had assembled." This will take us all night…".

"Not with that attitude" I peeked over Jonathan's back to Jeremy. Next to Jeremy, there was also a pile of straw, but it was bigger. Way bigger.

"You trying to pick a fight?"

As if the hay on the ground suddenly was the most interesting thing, he crouched forward. Hiding behind Jonathan's physique and making it hard for me to see him.

"No, not at all" A hand put the found hay on the bundle of straw. As quickly as it appeared it retreated again."Hey, Jonathan help us a little will you? You even got some of these in your clothing"

With an abrupt shake, pointy straws flew around and stung like needles. Oh yes, they did, no exaggeration. Neither Jeremy nor I saw that coming so all we could do was try to shield ourselves from the rain of spikes.

"Why did you do that!?" Jeremy shouted at him.

"In what world would that work?" uncomfortable prickling lingered on the skin. As if nothing happened, Jonathan straightened his clothing and looked at me with all-knowing eyes.

"But it did work"

—Huh?—. And believe it or not, his hair and clothing were mostly free from any hay. Instead, now it was us who had them partially stuck onto us.

"Didn't I tell you to stop doing that!?" Jeremy said as he grabbed the collar of Jonathan's jacket. His eyes scanned Jonnathans's face."How do you feel?"

"Dude, I'm not going to fall over from this" Jonathan said while shoving Jeremy's hand off.

"What's wrong?" my voice was rather quiet, not intended to be taken notice of. Like a child that isn't comprehending something but is too shy to raise their voice. Jonathan glanced over at me and let out an awkward laugh, with his right hand he scratched his head, probably to get tiny bits out that were somehow still stuck.

"Ah nothing, you see, my core is a rather delicate one. If I try to activate it too often or use it excessively-"

"It damages his body" Jeremy added. A baffled Jonathan looked at him.

"Don't say it like that! That makes it sound worse than it is"

"But it's the truth!" Jeremy stemmed his hand against his hip "What are we supposed to do if you faint?"

"Bring me home?" he replied with a look that questioned the obvious.

"Do you have any idea of hard it is to lift you up and take you home?"

"You calling me fat?!"

While the two of them were strangling each other by the neck, I took the chance to sit down again.-What is that core they talked about?-is what I thought while watching the two. I noticed that my drunkness was fading, and surely they were getting soberer too.

The night was cool, and though the streets were dark, up in the sky the stars were shining brightly. A landscape came to mind, well, I wouldn't call it a landscape because it differs from the traditional scenery one may think of.

To explain it, the parking lot was visible from the top, a road that lead to the town close by and a bus stop, playground and a kiosk, all that was pretty much around the corner. Doesn't sound very romantic, right?

By day I would agree, though looking at the families and people walking around outside had its interesting moments, it was a very common sight that one quickly got used to. But by night, when no one was awake, it all felt more mystical.

That's a thing you might not know about me yet, but I adore dark stories, and fantasy too. And though it is embarrassing to admit, edgy stories count as my junk food entertainment, among other things. But I'm getting off track. The thing that was the most astonishing during the night was the sea of stars in the sky. I could've spent hours looking up to it…

"Ah! Wait I remember now, It's my turn now to give you a dare! Dip your head in this barrel!" Jonathans' potent voice pulled me out of my thoughts and brought me back to reality.

"I don't want to!"

"Don't tell me you're afraid you chicken!"

-Huh? Did I miss something?-

Before I could comprehend what was happening, water spilt over to me as Jeremy dunked his head with full force into the surface of the water.