"Chris", I said, "why don't you go into the college courses? 
You're smart enough."
"They decide all of that in the school office. And in their smart little conferences. The teachers, they sit around in this big circle-jerk and all they say is Yeah, Yeah, Right, Right. All they give a fuck about is wheter you behaved yourself in grammar school and what the town thinks of your family. All they're deciding is whether or not you'll contaminate all those precious college-course dootchbags. But maybe I'll try to work myself up. I don't know if I could do it, but I might try. Because I want to get out of Castle Rock and go to college and never see my old man or any of my brothers again. I want to go someplace where nobody knows me and I don't have any black marks against me before I start. But I don't know if I can do it."
"Why not?"
"People. People drag you down"
"Who?" I asked, thinking he must mean the teachers, or adult monsters like Miss Simons, who had wanted a new skirt, or maybe his brother Eyeball who hung around with Ace and Billy and Charlie and the rest, or maybe his own Mom and Dad.
But he said: "Your friends drag you down, Gordie. Don't you know that?" He pointed at Vern and Teddy, who were standing and waiting for us to catch up.They were laughing about something; in fact , Vern was just about busting a gut. 
"Your friends do. They're like drowning guys that are holdning on to your legs. You can't save them. You can only drown with them."
"Come on, you fuckin' slowpokes!" Vern shouted, still lauging. 
"Yeah, comin'!" Chris called, and before I could say anything else, he began to run. I ran, too, but he caught up to them before I could catch up to him.