Railhowlers

Four teens get banned from prom and they go out to one of their friends cabin instead, what happens there will change them all forever.

Assistant principal Caldwell read four names from the truant sheet he was emailed. Maddison Jackson; Gabriel Crackrock; Blain Dearmore; and Thalia Pavelski.

“Typical.” Caldwell says to himself.  When he called them four to the office the conversation was fast and simple, no detention, but no prom. Gabriel laughed to himself, the other three looked down in fake disappointment. They give no s***s about prom but lunch was the prime time for them all, far more than prom ever was. As they walked out of the office they looked down to avoid any awkward eye contact or smiling.  The first one to say something was Blain which was: “F**K!”

Gabriel laughed at Blain, “What's the problem?”

“I'm supposed to be taking Ella to prom dude. She’s going to be so upset with me.”

“Don't stress Blain” Thalia says with a smirk, “she'll find another date. Just don't forget to tell her. Make sure it's face to face too or else she'll be even more pissed.” She giggles and leans back facing her nose up at the ceiling.

Gabriel laughs at himself, “Good thing Alice had to leave to California or else she'd be pissed haha.” Alice has been Gabriel's girlfriend since the 3rd grade. She was his first everything and he was her first everything; they grew up in love. She couldn’t attend because she had too leave to California for her half-sister's graduation. That was okay because they had the rest of their lives to dance.

“F**k man, I'm scared.” Blain says looking down. ~

Throughout the day they all just kept patting their feet waiting impatiently for the weekend. It was the period before lunch when Blain told Ella he could no longer go with her. It ended in a way that involved Ellas code red Mountain Dew going down his body; he immediately went home too smoke off the embarrassment. Later that day after school ended Blain met up with them three out front at his car; they all left to the abandoned sewage plant on the corner of town. It was there that they were aloud to cuss, smoke, and drink as freely as they pleased.

They pull up at the old brick building with the broken doors and windows scattered. The s****y graffiti on the side was from when they all got wasted and stole spray paint from the hardware store. The four of them go through the side door and duck under a piece of wood going across connecting one side too the other. Their footsteps lightly echo as they walk to the old wooden table in the middle of the room. Gabriel, Maddison and Blain sit on three of the bar stools and Thalia leans against the table. Thalia reaches into her bag and pulls out a cigarette while Gabriel grabs his phone out to play some music. Maddison stares blankly straight and then begins to laugh hysterically remembering what happened too Blain. Blain knew she was laughing at him from the way she was looking at him.

“That's f*****g EMBARRASSING boy!” She leans over and gives him a hug, he turns away and smiles at the thought.

“I was pissed at first haha, good thing that's over with.”

“So,” Maddison says letting go of Blain, “what are we going to do this weekend since we can't go to prom? Our schedules were packed because of that bullshit and now we can't even go which means we’re all free.”

“We could get fucked up.” Thalia says smoothly passing the cigarette to Gabriel.

“Well I mean we were gonna get fucked up anyway but they’re all going to prom, we should do somthing memorable too.”

“I agree.” Gabriel says, “It's our Senior year and we can't even go to prom. We should do something crazy, something you'd read outta the books.”

Maddison jumps up with passion: “Even just getting out of town would be nice, getting away from this place too forget it all.”  

Gabriel hits the table, “That's it! Let's get the f**k outta here for a day or two.”

“Let's go somewhere with trees.” Thalia says. Those three begin talking over each other with ideas and excitement.

“Dudes!” Blain says cutting everyone off- “my parents have this cabin like an hour and a half away. So many trees, there’s even a little lake with clear water by it! I could ask we never use the damn thing anyway, I doubt they would even mind.”

“I could get us Alcohol!” Thalia says.

“I bet I could get us some greens with the prom money I was saving.” Gabriel says, “It’ll be a kickass night.”

“Yeah and we can take my car out.” Blain says with joy.

“Alright guys,” Gabriel says, “Let's make this happen.” ~

It was saturday morning around 9:30 A.M. when they started to head towards Blains parents cabin. Thalia bought the alcohol like she said, Gabriel bought the weed like he said, plenty of it too. Throughout the drive they had pointless conversations while chain smoking cigarettes. Maddison kept getting fascinated by the view, the trees were huge, way bigger than any building they had back in town. A railroad stretched by the narrow road they were driving on, carrying a huge train with a dozen (or so) boxcars. The shadow of the trees reflected on the train; it whistled as it passed by. The air was warm and soft, it was a perfect day. They began praising the fact they were no longer allowed at prom, what they were doing was even better and more enjoyable. They arrive at the Cabin at 11:15 sharp. Gabriel is the first one to get out, he does a cheerful scream and stretches. Thalia gets out and looks around, they're surrounded by trees, big green trees. The lake is just down the short hill; about 30 yards the opposite direction lays the train tracks.

Blain and Maddison rush towards the cabin. Blain steps inside and looks around at everything. Childhood memories begin to flood back in Blains head making him smile.

“It's so beautiful out here, we should definitely come out here more often.” Maddison says. Thalia and Gabriel walk in while she's speaking.

“Damn Blain you should have brought us a long time ago. It's like f*****g nirvana out here.” gabriel says walking into the middle of the room.   

Blain smiles, “Yeah we never come up here anymore, I'm starting to wonder why. It's in better condition than I pictured.”

They all stand in a circle, Gabriel reaches into his bag and pulls out his bear pipe and some weed. “A hit to start off the weekend.” He says. He loads and packs the bowl. He passes the pipe to Blain, “It's all you boy.”

“Thanks man.” Blain says with a huge grin. He takes a hit and holds it in, he breaths out smoothly and a cloud of grey smoke comes out. He licks his lips and closes his eyes.

“That stuff tastes good Gabe. What kind is that?”

“That my boy, is called ‘Grandma’s Batch’. Good s**t huh?” Gabriel laughs and looks down. Blain passes the pipe to Gabriel and he takes a hit. The pipe goes around and after finishing the bowl they get their bearings together and begin on the hike. Besides the cracking of sticks underneath their feet and the sounds of birds chirping it's completely silent. The silence is blissful to them all, which is why none of them make conversation for a while. They just keep on walking getting deeper and deeper into the forest. After a good 30 minutes of walking Thalia sets her stuff down and sits on the floor against a tree. Madison, Blain and Gabriel all sit by her in a circle. Thalia grabs a pack of cigarettes and throws it in the middle for anyone who may want one, Gabriel pulls out his bear pipe and loads it. After that he pulls out his phone and puts on some soothing oldies.

“Guys this is a lot f*****g better than prom.” Maddison smiles looking at them all. The other three grow a smile and look back and forth at one another.

“I agree.” Thalia says.

“Just us four in the majestic woods smoking a bowl enjoying life.” Gabriel says leaning back letting the sun hit his face.

“I can't believe our lives are going to be starting soon.” Blain says. “You and Alice still getting a place together?” He asks looking at Gabriel.

“Yeah that's the plan, we don't know if we wanna go west or east. There's so much the world is offering we don't know what to do. But i'm looking forward to anything.”

“I'm going to go visit New York first thing. I've always wanted to see that big tree they put up around christmas.” Maddison says looking up at the blue sky.

“Can I come with?” Thalia says in a envious voice. They both begin to laugh.

“Blain what do you wanna do?” Maddison asks.

Blain says: “I'm not sure, probably stay close to home. I got all I need here, why would I leave? Stay close to the family,  get a job at a nearby town or city even. I'm going to take my time on life.”  

“Sounds chill.” Gabriel Smiles. “We all better stay in contact too, best believe it.”

“For sure.” Maddison says. Their four different minds began to think of the same things, memories, what's going to happen in the future. None of them say anything for a while, they just sit laying back letting the sun beat their body with the warm glow. Everything was peaceful. ~

Later that day they returned to the cabin around Twilight. The sun was going down and everything was grey. They start a fire in the fireplace the cabin has inside and eat some Mac & Cheese Thalia made for everyone. After they were done eating and their stomachs were satisfied they all sat by the fireplace in a circle. Thalia pulls out a bottle of 80 proof vodka. They socialize and pass the bottle around laughing. After they were halfway through the bottle they started playing drinking games: vodka pong, would you rather, never have I ever. In the middle of a game Gabriel's phone started to ring, it was Alice’s aunt. Gabriel went outside to talk on the phone, what he heard changed the man completely.

The love of his life died in a car crash that happened because of a drunk driver. After hearing that, he hung up his phone and hit the wall of the cabin so hard it split his knuckles almost instantaneously. He wasn't wailing or gasping for air but tears began streaming down his eyes like a faucet broke inside his head. He is angry, he is hurt, he needs to talk to Alice. He pulls up his phone and starts dialing a number which belonged to Alice. It began to ring and he held his breath listening, waiting for her to possibly pickup. It went to her voicemail, her voice answered leaving her number and an excuse for the reason why she didn't pick up. He loved her voice, he loved her.  

Gabriel cries into his phone: “Pick up, please baby pick up.” He continues to call and it continues to go to her voicemail. After 8 tries he stops and falls to the floor. Memories of what he and Alice used to be begin to engulf his head, memories of what they were going to be now cease to exist.~

Back inside Maddison, Blain and Thalia all sit on the floor laughing to music without a care in the world. Back outside their bestfriend named Gabriel cried on the floor screaming his love's name into the sky.

“Where the hell is Gabriel?” Maddison says with a slur. Blain grins and stands up stretching, “He went outside because he was getting a call from one of Alice’s relatives. Let's go check on him he's been out there for a while.” They all start towards the door; once they open it the first thing they see is their friend at a loss of breath on the floor. Blain runs over to Gabriel to help him up. Once he reached for Gabriel on the floor Gabriel starts fighting off Blain.

“Get, the F**K off me!” Gabriel screams. Blain walks a few steps back, “What the hell’s your problem!?”

Gabriel begins to laugh hysterically like a madman in disbelief about what he's about to say. Maddison and Thalia grab each other and begin to walk towards Gabriel. “What's wrong Gabriel?” Thalia asks in a soft voice. Gabriels laughs turn to cries, and then it turns into a mix of the two. “Alice is dead. ALICE is dead.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Thalia says walking closer to Gabriel. “Some drunk f**k killed my girl. In a car crash.”

They didn't need too keep asking him questions, none of them had too ask Gabriel if he was serious or not, for they didn't need too. They could hear, see and feel that what the boy was saying was true.

Thalia puts her hands over her mouth, Maddison begins to cry and turns the other direction. Blain begins to walk at Gabriel, who began wailing in tears once he finished his sentence. Blain reaches for Gabriel and places his hand on his shoulder. Gabriel pushes him off. “Don’t f*****g touch me Blain. Dont f*****g touch me.”

“I'm sorry,” Blain says, “I don't know what to say-”

“Because there’s nothing to say, she's gone and that’s it! She’s gone forever!” Gabriel's eyes get big and he smirks. He rushes inside past them three without saying anything, they don’t follow. Their all too drunk to function and so much is happening around them, that can't cope with any of it. They’re frozen from life. Gabriel gets inside without falling once. He walks over to the bottle of Vodka and chugs what’s left. Gabriel burps and then cringes thinking about all the alcohol he just chugged. He heads towards where the cigarettes were and grabs the pack. He pulls one out and sticks it in his mouth. He walks outside past his friends who haven’t even moved yet.

“Where are you going?” Blain says loud enough for Gabriel to hear.

“I don't f*****g know.” Gabriel laughs, he turns and lights the cigarette. “And don't follow me, please.” ~

He's been walking so long his legs begin to ache. He hasn't stopped crying over the loss of his love. He looks around and sees the railroad and he notices how he hasn't heard a train for a while. Gabriel slowly walks over and sits on the metal right where the wheels go. He pulls out a cigarette and lights it. He’s so tired, he could fall asleep now if he wanted. Gabriel pulls out his phone and plays a song that reminds him of Alice. He smiles, then bows his head. He had so many plans for the both of them. They were gonna see the world and have a family, now all of those plans are gone forever without a chance of return. The day was perfect, then all at once it changed in the worst way. The person he loved the most, died in a horrific car accident. He opens his eyes, everything was blurry from the tears aching too fall down his face. He closed his eyes and they spill out going over his cheekbones and down to his chin. The night was bright and warm, Gabriel was tired. He laid down in the center of the tracks on his back looking up at the sky; falling asleep to the thought of his love, Alice. ~

Back at the cabin Maddison, Blain and Thalia all went back inside. They didn't want to follow Gabriel, and if they did and if they did catch up what would they say?

“Where do you think he is?” Thalia asks with a crack in her voice. No one answers, Blain just gives her a grunting noise to signify ‘ I don’t know’.  They don't know what to do or how to help. They were almost just as confused and hurt as Gabriel was, after all they all had known eachother since the 2nd grade. No one says it but they all wonder if he is doing okay.

 They all jump when they hear the whistle of a train.