Steven kicked a tin can as he trudged down the street. Five was his best friend, she was sure to come, the only thing he was scared about was that his mom might reveal the secret. He never told anyone, not even Five, that his mother abused him. Sure, telling her about her drug addiction is fine, but not this. He just had to find a way to tell her in a calm manner before they entered his house at seven.

He smiled, as he remembered the joke, ‘Be there at seven’ their joke they always shared. Five always had him over at five, he always had her over at seven, always been that way. He walked fast, zipping his jacket. Leaves crunched under his shoes as he turned the corner. He was so lost in thought that he ran straight into a burley body. He hit the ground with a large, oomph! And looked up, to see he ran straight into Danny. He striated himself up quick, and looked at Danny with distaste.

“Steven, where is Richelle?” Danny asked, grabbing the collar of Steven’s shirt.

“I ain’t telling you,” Steven said, spitting in Danny’s face, so he let go.

“Oh, yes you will,” Danny smiled, and his teeth were yellowish. He had smoked, and he was also a drug addict and an alcoholic. “You will tell me.” He pulled from his jacket a revolver, “Or else, I’ll have to shoot you, now do you want that?”

Steven balled his fists, holding his tongue. The guy was burley, but his weapon wasn’t strength, Steven established that when he gave the dude two black eyes a few months ago. No, Danny now knew, Steven could never go up against a gun, he was too good of a kid to carry one of them. “Danny, you really don’t want to do that.” Danny gave him another yellow smile.

“Oh yes I do, unless you tell me where Richelle is.” He pointed the gun at Steven’s heart. Steven distinctively put his hands up, but stood his ground. He shook his head, and smiled.

“Oh Danny, you don’t have the guts, to shoot me,” he was stalling for time, thinking of a plan to get out of this. Danny fit his finger around the trigger, readying his gun.

“Yes I will, so spill!”
Danny almost pulled his trigger, when Steven yelled “Stop! Ok, ok I’ll tell you. She went the park down the road, at Roaring Rivers. She’s just about to leave.” Danny twirled his gun back into his pocket.
“Nice doing business.” Danny pushed Steven out of the way, and he fell to the ground again.
Once Danny was out of sight, Steven ran straight to the bushes, letting loose a paragraph of curses. “Have to get Five. Danny’s no idiot.” He took the short cut through the under bush, and ended back up at Five’s house. He banged on the door, screaming to be let in.
Richelle opened up the door calmly, giving Steven a look of confusion. “Back so soon?”
“Five, listen to me. Come with me, if you want to survive.” Richelle looked at him with disbelief. Steven told Five the story quickly, and he saw a mask of dread cover her face. “To my house,” he said.
“Got it.” She shut the door, locking it, and grabbing Steven’s hand. He pulled her along the under bush again, just in case Danny or any of his hooligans came by her house.
After one in a half hour, they arrived at his house. He knocked on the door, when from behind he heard, “There his is!” then a loud bang! Five pulled him to the side, and a nice bullet sized dent was made in the door.
“Seven!” Five yelled, and he pushed open the window right above him. Another shot rang, and they ducked. Steven boosted Richelle up, through the window. He started to climb, but then another bang was heard, and searing pain hit his shoulder blade. “SEVEN!!!!” Five screamed as Steven fell down, cursing. A bunch of laughter was heard from behind, and then steps receding. Five climbed out of the window, and fell over Steven’s body.
“Mom,” Steven mumbled, almost inaudible. Five looked at him like he was crazy. “MOM!” He now screamed, and fell into unconsciousness.

Richelle looked at Seven’s bloody, half-alive body, in shock. Out of all people, he needed his mom? She knew better than do disobey Seven. She rang the doorbell 3 times, before someone answered. “WHAT?!” A cranky voice answered.
“Ms. Boyard? Your son is dying on your front lawn.” Richelle yelled, tears streaming down your face.
“Richelle, it’s not nice to make jokes like that,” Seven’s mom opened the door, and shutting it. She looked Richelle in the eyes, then around her, spotting Seven. “Oh, dear you weren’t joking!” Ms. Boyard shrieked, “Call the police, the fire department, the CSI, the FBI-“
Richelle gathered her courage, “Just 911 is fine,” Ms. Boyard nodded in disarray, as Richelle called. “Hello, police, I’d like to report an accident. Someone shot a boy in the back with what seems to be a revolver, from the bullet.”
“Is this boy still alive?” a voice said on the other end.
“Yes, but not for long,” Richelle started to hypervenalate, “Please hurry. We are at, 456 Falls Gate Street, Roaring Rivers.”
“Ok, paramedics are coming, stay calm. What is your name?”
“Richelle Myra.”
“Richelle, what is this boy’s name?” the receptionist asked in a calm voice.
Richelle started to calm down, and looked over at Ms. Boyard leaning over Seven’s unconscious, bloody body. “Steven Boyard, but I call him Seven.” She explained why, and how, and the receptionist was quiet, not interrupting.
“So you two are best friends?” The receptionist asked, and Richelle heard faint sirens.
“Yes, know each other for 13 years now.”
“So you both are 18?”
“Yes, we both go to Roaring Rivers College. I moved out of my family’s house, he still lives with his mother.” The sirens were becoming louder, and she spotted a red ambulance turning the corner.
“How nice, my son goes there too,” the receptionist replied, sadly, “His name is Danny. Well, I can hear through the phone that the ambulance is here, so I have to go now.” The phone clicked to a dead line.
All Richelle saw was a blur of colors, and Seven on a stretcher. “Hey kid, you wanna ride the ambulance with Seven?”
Richelle nodded, realizing the receptionist must of memoed the paramedics about their names. She walked up the steps, following Ms. Boyard. She hugged herself, knowing Seven will be ok. As the back of the ambulance closed, some nurses were hooking Seven up to machines. Richelle looked to see Seven’s heart rate on a screen. She gasped as it slowed down, and then just a straight line. “NOOOOOOOOOO!’’ she screamed, and Ms. Boyard fainted. The nurses rubbed together two medal circles, and yelled “CLEAR!” they pushed it onto Seven’s chest, and the heart rate started to go again. Richelle looked in dismay as they arrived at the Emergency room. They wheeled him through at lightning speed to the surgery room.
Richelle started to follow, but one of the nurses held her back. “You might be 18, but you aren’t a surgeon, so you stay here.”
“But, but, I NEED TO SEE HIM!”
“I know you do, honey, but, how about we sit here, and wait, he will be fine.” They both sat, Richelle hyperventilating again.
“Why did his heart stop?”
“The bullet was too close to his heart, so he lost too much blood. He’s in the surgery room right now, so they can fix his heart and get the bullet out.” The nurse said, her tone soothing.
“When will he come out?”
“Well, we gave him a shot, so he won’t wake up until later. If the surgery goes well, he will be out in a week.”
Richelle forgot how to breathe, “A-a week? Our exams are in two days!”
“Let me finish, sweetheart. If he feels well tomorrow, you could leave, and have just enough time for the exams. I take it you won’t leave this hospital waiting room until he’s fine.”
Richelle shook her head, “The second he leaves the surgery, I’m following him strait to his hospital room.” The nurse nodded, and gave a small smile.
“Are you sure you aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Richelle looked at the nurse, dumbfounded. No one ever asked her that question, they all knew their story. They held hands, went to movies, but they were more like brother and sister. “Positive. He’s like my brother, my ‘other half’ so to speak.” Richelle’s phone buzzed, she answered it. “Hello?”
“Hey, this is Danny,” a male’s voice said. Richelle’s face went redder than Seven’s blood. She excused herself, and went outside.
“DANNY! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU ALMOST KILLED SEVEN!” she then called Danny a few unflattering words of loathing
“Richelle, I swear that wasn’t me! I might have done it 2 hours before, but now then. I was still at the park looking for you!”
“LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she said a string of curse words, “I BET ONE OF YOUR BUDDIES DID IT! HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY THEM? $10, $50, $100-“
“Zero. I swear to God, I do not have anything to do with this.”
“YOU ARE THE WORST LIAR THERE IS!” Richelle kept on cursing, and Danny’s end was silent. She calmed down, breathing hard.
“Got it all out?” Danny’s voice rose, as if he was challenged.
“Yah,” Richelle said in a small voice.
“I’m coming over-“
“Oh no you’re not! You stay away from Seven, you smoker!”
“Richelle, I haven’t smoked in 5 months-“
“You drug addict!”
“Haven’t had any since December of last year-”
“You alcoholic!”
“Haven’t had a can of beer since the semester began.”
“How do I know you’re not lying.” Richelle raised her eyebrows.
“I am hooked up to a lying detector. The second you called 911, I was a prime suspect. I wouldn’t talk to the police, unless I talked to you. So they hooked me up, so I wouldn’t lie to you, don’t believe me?”
“Not one bit, you cheater.” Richelle remarked.
A bunch of static was heard from the other end, and then Danny asked, “Richelle can you hear me?”
“Yah,” she said.
“Ok, police say hi,” Danny’s voice rang out. A bunch of ‘hi’s’ ‘hello’s’ and ‘how ye do?’ was heard on the other end. Then there was more static, and Danny’s voice came back on, “So, believe me now?”
Richelle sighed, “I guess I have to. If you really wanna come over, then come, but expect a big punch in the gut. From me, and Seven.” She hung up, and went back inside, the air too cold and crisp for her liking. She then cried herself to sleep on one of the benches.

The boy woke up on a comfy bed, and in some night clothing. He sat up, with difficulty, to find a girl, sleeping in a chair. “He-lo?” He said slowly, and the girl woke up with a jolt. She stared at him with disbelief.
“Seven, your alive!” He looked around, Seven, he thought. That can’t be my name.
“Who-are-you?” He asked, like a baby learning his first words. The girl looked at him in shock.
“Seven, I’m Five, is this some joke.”
“No-joke.” The girl named Five (she must have a mean mother to be named that) started to cry. A boy came in with a muffin, and two cups. In his mouth was a circular piece of food. He ate the circle in record time, and looked at Five.
“Richelle, what’s wrong?” He asked Five.
“I-thought-her-name-was-Five?” the boy asked.
“Danny, he doesn’t remember a thing!” He ran to the boy named Danny, crying on his shoulder. He patted Richelle/Five on the back with his muffin hand, and pulled her away.
“Richelle, take a breather, I’ll talk to him.” She nodded, taking the muffin, and one of the cups, and stepped outside. The boy walked over to the boy. “Steven, remember me? I almost killed you yesterday?”
“You must be the not so nice guy,” the boy said, “Is that girl, the not so nice girl?”
Danny took a sip from the cup, “She’s your best friend, Steven, and you’ve known her for 13 years.”
“What’s a friend?” the boy asked. He guessed his name was Steven.
“You really don’t remember a think, now do you?”
“Not one smallest bit of information.” Steven frowned. He tried to remember the dimmest memory, a smaller boy, playing with doll, and a small girl, playing with an animal. He remembered slightly them talking, but he forgot what they said.
The boy sat down, what a sigh, “Richelle isn’t going to like this.” The boy sat up, “Do you think me punching you will help?”
Steven knew enough that punching hurts. “No thanks,” he said quickly. A lady walked in, and Danny stood up. The lady looked at him suspiciously, but said nothing.
“Steven?”
“Yes?” Steven answered, readying for the long explanation.
“I’m the nurse, let me take your blood pressure. Your surgery was a success. If you feel better today, you can be released early, and have time to study for your exams tomorrow.”
“Um, Miss-“ Steven started to say, but Danny interrupted.
“That will be great. Richelle will be so excited. Why don’t you tell her before you take his blood pressure?” the lady nodded, walking out. “Ok, Steven, here’s what happened.” Danny explained to him what happened with the gun, and bullet, and his best friend, Richelle (who he called Five, and she called him Seven, for reason’s unknown) was running away. “Your guys’ saying is ‘thick and thin, thick and thin.’” Danny took a long sip of his cup, “so that’s the basics.”
Five and the lady returned, and long black lines were streaming down Five’s face, from her eyes. “Richelle,” said, wiping his eyes, “Your eyes.”
“I know, you dolt!” She glared at Danny, “Does Steven remember?”
“Yes,” Danny said, as Steven said “No.”
“So which one is it?” she almost screamed.
Danny whispered to Steven, “Say yes, man, or she will kill me.”
“Yes,” Steven said.
“How much?” Five raised an eyebrow.
“You are Five, I am Seven. Danny is the bad man, and our motto is ‘thick and thin, thick and thin.” Five ran over, and hugged Seven.
“You do remember, you do remember!” Steven pushed her off. She looked at him rejectingly, then her face turned to stone. “You don’t remember, you don’t…” she looked at the lady, who looked shocked.
“I don’t ever see this before, I need to take a look at your heart.” She walked over to Steven, and called someone on her phone. She started to push Steven out, of the room. “You two, stay here. We will be right back.” She walked out with Steven.

Richelle looked at Danny with distaste “You devil!”
Danny put his hands up in surrender, “He will get his memory back, and we’ll find a way.”
Richelle sat down, exasperated. “But what if we don’t? Seven and my relationship will never be the same again!”
“The nurses and doctors know what they are doing. Everything will be fine.” Danny’s phone rang, he answered it. His face looked sullen as the person on the other end spoke.
He nodded, “Ok, I’ll tell her.” He hung up, and put his phone away. “Richelle, I’d hate to tell you this, but the only way for Steven to get his memory back is with open heart surgery, along with some head surgery. His heart stopped again during the surgery. His heart stopped, well, a bit too long. Some of his memory nerves died. To get them working again, he’ll need those two surgeries.”
Richelle took this all in silence, “So, one more surgery?” Danny nodded.
“He won’t be back in this room for about another day.”
Richelle nodded, an idea forming in her head, “Then let’s find our shooter.”
Danny shook his head, “No, you stay here, I will go. I bet is Jacob, he’s always up to no good.”
“The voice sounded like Dave.” Richelle commented.
“We’ll check on both of them.” Danny said, putting his arm on Richelle’s shoulder.
“Oh no, you cheater,” Richelle pushed Danny’s arm off, “You keep some distance from me, or I’ll call the police, again.” Danny took two steps away from her. “Good, now let’s talk to Dave.”

Dave was sitting outside his house, with a beer in one hand, a cigarette in the other. “Hey, Danny,” his words were slurred, but drunk or not, he was going to give them some answers.
“Dave, you shot Seven.”
“Yah, so?” he puffed some smoke out, and Richelle waved it away, coughing.
“Why?”
“Because he gave Danny the wrong directions. I needed to get back at him. Jacob was with me, he was the one with the gun. I was the one that shot Steven. Jacob was the idiot who missed.”
“Why you!” Richelle ran to him, but Dave just smacked her. He dropped his cigarette and beer, running inside. Danny came barreling to the door, where it opened to Dave holding the gun at Danny’s chest.
“APOLOGIZE!” Danny yelled, stopping.
“No can do bro,” Dave burped, and fingered the trigger.
Richelle’s cheek burned, but she wasn’t going to give up, she ran straight to Dave. Before he could pull the trigger, she jumped him, so the shot went right into the sky. Dave held up his hands, and Danny called 911. “Police, I’d like to say who the people who shot Steven Boyard were.”

As the police took Dave away, and went for Jacob’s house, Danny got another call from the hospital. He frowned, and then looked at Richelle in shock. He hung up without saying a word, and looked at Richelle with tears in his eyes. Richelle got the message immediately. “No, no, NO!” She punched him in the nose, and started to bleed uncontrollably. “HE’S NOT DEAD! THERE HAS TO BE SOME MISTAKE!”
“No, no mistake.” Tears were streaming down Danny’s face now, and not from pain. Steven might have been a pain to him, but he was still Richelle’s best friend. “Richelle, Richelle, Richelle,” that was all he could say.
“Seven is not dead, please let this be a dream, LET THIS BE A DREAM!!!!!” She pinched, clawed, bite, punched herself, and all that did was making her cry worst. She ran away, straight into the woods.
She made it to the clearing of the woods, where a river laid. Tears ran down her face, and she whispered, “Seven, I’ll be with you, through thick and thin, thick and thin.” The mimed their secret hand shake, and dived into the river.

After the tragic death of Steven “Seven” Boyard, a woman’s body was found in the river in the woods. The police have identified it as Richelle “Five” Myra, Steven’s best friend.
Their story started as any story would. They were 5 when they met, and having their nick names “Seven” and “Five”. They have been with each other for 13 years now, and they were about to take an exam to get them into Law School. But then a shot out accured at Steven Boyard’s house, but David “Dave” Soyer, and Jacob Herrow. Daniel “Danny” Grams, Richelle’s ex-boyfriend was asking Steven for directions to Richelle’s house, and he gave him the wrong address. Angered by this, these two gang members bombarded Steven’s house, shooting him in the shoulder blade, near the heart.
After he was taken for heart surgery, his heart stopped, for a bit too long. Some of his memory nerves had gone dead, and he forgot everything that happened to him. After Richelle and Danny found this out, Steven went back into surgery for open heart and brain.
About 2 hours later, Steven’s brain went dead, and his body shut down. Danny received the call, and Richelle ran off into the words. From the evidence, she had drowned herself, just to be with her best friend, “Seven”.
Five and Seven you two have been together through thick and thin, and I think that is something all of Roaring Rivers need to learn. If you can hear us now Richelle and Steven, we are here think and thin, thick and thin.