Adam held onto the backpack. It gently bounced up and down on his back as he ran up the street. He was heading for the big tree just up the road. He looked over his shoulder a few times to see if he was being followed. He was alone.
Finally, he could enjoy his freedom. This was the first day of the school holidays. And it was going to be awesome! The night was fresh and it smelled so good. It was a warm summer night and it was just so perfect.
He had begged his dad to let him go and visit Jake's so that he could give him his backpack. He even told him he might stay a little later to play online computer games.
He had just passed the road that led to Jake's place about fifty metres behind him. He slowed down as he came closer to the big tree near the sidewalk up ahead. It was dark under the tree's shadow. It looked like no one was there.
"Psst. Hey, you guys?"
"Shh. Quiet you idiot! You're going to let us get caught!" hissed Jake, Adam's friend from school.
Adam strained his eyes to try and see into the darkness. Jake suddenly appeared out of the shadows and grabbed Adam by the arms.
"Come here."
Adam tripped and nearly fell over as he was pulled into the shadow of the tree. Jake held him steady and stared into his eyes. Adam could see a glint of insanity in his eyes. The others at school thought he was crazy. Adam didn't believe that. He always saw the good in him. He believed that even someone like Jake could still be a good friend. And so they became friends.
"Did you bring it?" asked Jake, staring at the backpack.
"It's here. I made sure to check."
Jake grabbed the straps and took the backpack off of Adam. He knelt down and searched it.
"I didn't take a thing. It's all there," said Adam.
"Yeah, I know."
"Then why do you have to look?"
"Because."
"Hey Adam," said Peter, gently patting him on the shoulder, waiting to greet him.
Adam turned and looked at his short friend. "Hey, Pete." They did their secret handshake which included the snapping of fingers and a fist bump.
"You made it," he added.
"Ya, I know," said Peter with a giggle and a wide smile, "It's holidays and I'm here." He could hardly contain his excitement.
Adam tried to contain his own excitement too. But the thought of having to spend the first summer night with his friends from school was just too exciting. Plus, they were breaking the rules. They knew they were not supposed to be out on the streets at night and if they did, they had to be close to home.
"What did you tell your parents?"
"I told them I'm going to your place."
"What?" Adam laughed. He knew his short friend was a bit dull, but he did not mind him. He was a good friend and he was the youngest out of the three of them. He just wanted to be with the big boys.
"Okay, looks like it's all here," said Jake, shyly.
Adam turned to him and said, "Of course it is. I told you it was there."
"Ya, ya, I know. My dad is going to kill me if I don't take care of my video camera."
Jake stood up and turned to face Adam and Peter while checking the camera.
"Can I check?" asked Peter.
"No!" said Jake, slapping Peter's hand as he tried to touch the camera.
"Ow." Peter backed off, rubbing his hand while he went to stand next to Adam.
"Seriously, Jake?" said Adam.
Jake snorted and strapped his camera to his wrist. He ignored Adam and continued playing with his camera settings. "Okay, cool, it's working," he said without looking at his friends.
"That's cool," said Peter, pretending to be interested to ease the tension between Adam and Jake.
Adam looked at Peter and realized what he was doing. He smiled at his short friend.
"Okay, so look. We're going to go around the neighbourhood and do our thing," said Jake.
"Where do we start first?" asked Peter.
Jake looked up the street and said, "We'll start at Mrs. Wattle's house, then we go down the street."
"Okay," said Peter, giggling from excitement.
It made Jake regret having him with. He never seemed to get along with Peter. Maybe it was his girlish giggle that annoyed him or maybe it was just his face that begged him to punch it.
"Peter, just don't mess this up! If you get caught, that's your fault. I'm not going to get you," he said.
"Relax, Jake, it's just a game! Nobody's going to get caught. Just don't damage anything," said Adam.
Jake grunted to himself. Peter nodded his head with a wide smile.
"Okay, so you go first, Peter. I will record you while Adam will be our lookout."
"But what if somebody sees us?" asked Peter.
"Nobody would be out by now. We're in the quiet section of the neighbourhood."
"He's right, Pete. This area is dead anyway," said Adam.
"Okay." Peter started to bolt in the direction towards Mrs. Wattle's house.
"Wait, wait, Gawd," said Jake, trying to grab Peter. "Come back here."
"What?"
"We'll all go together, Pete," said Adam, shaking his head.
"Oh, okay. So let's go then," he replied.
Jake slung the backpack over his shoulders, shook his head at Peter and said, "Okay, let's go."
The three of them ran from out of the shadows with Jake in the lead and Peter behind him. They ran towards the first house on Jake’s list.