“Aw, crap,” I muttered under my breath when I saw my mother's car in the driveway. “She's gonna kill me when she sees I'm not in my room.” “It's all good,” Cade said a bit too loudly, waving his large hand in dismissal. “Dude! How many did you drink?” I asked as I couldn't help but notice his slurred speech and swaying body. “You're freakin' wasted!” “Only four or five cups,” he replied. “It sure tasted weird for Kool-Aid.” “Wow, you're dumb,” I said with a laugh. “That wasn't Kool-Aid. Anyway, can you lift me up to the window?” He nodded and hoisted me up to the window. I'd opened it and had gotten half my body inside when the door to my bedroom opened. I stared in horror at my mother, who blinked in surprise at me hanging halfway out the window. Then her look of shock quickly turned to anger as she jerked me inside, making sure to pull me by the ear for good measure. “Jimmy Arnold Burkholder!” she screeched in an extremely high-pitched voice. “Was that your mom?” Cade called from below. I facepalmed myself. Great! Now she knew Cade was in it, too. Honestly, I wish Cade would learn to shut his darn mouth, that dumbo! “Cade Barnes! You too? I am calling your father!” “Hello Mrs. Burkholder!” Cade cried happily, his words, of course, slurred. “How are you?!” “Dear Lord, you're drunk, aren't you?!” my mother cried in dismay. She then shook her head and crossed her arms, rubbing her temple as her brows furrowed in frustration. “You too goons are always getting in trouble,” she muttered under her breath. “Ever since the day you met.” “I reckon it'll take me ‘bout a minute,” Cade said as he approached the door. “Maybe less if I hurry. Mama always said to be quick about stuff.” A second later, he disappeared into his house while I leaned on the wall, already tapping my foot impatiently on the ground. I hated waiting, even if only for a minute. I pulled out my new phone - some cool, new thing called the iPhone that my mom had gotten me for my birthday just a few weeks ago. I'd barely used it since then, and I now used this time to experiment with its apps. I was instantly intrigued by all it could do and soon became totally absorbed in what I was doing, which was why I didn't notice a tall man approach me until he was maybe ten feet away from me. I looked up after seeing him out of the corner of my eye. He was just standing there, staring at me like a freakin' weirdo. “Yeah? What do you want?” He slowly pulled something out of his jacket. The moment I registered what it was, I stiffened, and my phone dropped from my hand. It was a gun! “Wallet. Now,” he growled as his finger curled on the trigger, clearly telling me he meant business. I gulped and was about to comply when suddenly without warning, a large body crashed into the man! My heart stopped as a shot went off and ricocheted off a metal pipe of some nearby building just a few feet away from me. The person had the guy pinned to the ground. It was Cade! He punched the guy in the face once and knocked him out cold. “You okay, Jimmy?” he asked, out of breath. His eyes were widened and filled with fear. I slowly nodded, still in shock from what had just happened to speak. “Mama always said to be quick.” At that moment, I closed my eyes and thanked God for giving me the best friend in the world. The best friend a guy could have.