Crane - Chapter 7 Posted

Hi again! I finished most of this before I posted the first chapter, so I thought I’d finish it up and post it before I finished the next chapter of Just Couldn’t Help Myself. I hope you like it, and please leave me lots of reviews, good AND bad. I don’t mind if you’ve got something negative to say, I WANT TO HEAR IT. =)

Oh, BTW Lisa: Zeke is seventeen, Seth is eighteen. And the parents thing will get explained very soon, promise! Keep reading, you’ll find out!

Yay, moving on…
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“You be good for Evangeline.” crane told Apollo, who yipped and took a swipe at Crane’s face with his huge pink tongue. “No screwing around, you hear me?” he gave both the dogs a huge around their thick, furry necks, then stood, smiling affectionately at them. Then he turned to Evangeline, who was smiling at the adorable sight. “They’re usually really good, so I’m not too worried.”

“They’ll be fine, Crane.” she assured him, squeezing his shoulder affectionately. “Honestly, you’re worse than a new parent. I raised five kids for six years all by myself. I can handle two big dogs for a few hours.”

Crane smiled. “Thanks, Aunt Evie.” he told her, and then turned to Zeke. “You ready?”

Zeke nodded, and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for letting me borrow the car, Ma.” he said.

“Oh, sure. Now get out already, would you?” she turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

They piled into the car, Zeke in the driver’s side, and as they buckled in he said, “You’re shirt is fantastic, by the way.”

Crane looked down at his shirt and laughed. “Thanks.” he said. “Pearl bought it for me about a year ago.” Crane was wearing well cut dark blue jeans and brown Converse high-tops, and his shirt was gray and green. Decaled onto it were cartoon dinosaurs, each one with a speech bubble with their names in it, but each had an LOL in their names, so it was “veLOLciraptor” and “dipLOLdocus”, things like that. “I really like Johnny Wander, and-”

“What’s that?” Zeke asked, backing out of the driveway.

“An web comic. It’s fantastic, I’ll show you some time.”

They talked about dinosaurs for the entire drive to the museum, and as they wandered through the huge, cool building, looking at paintings and sculptures, fossils and rocks and a whole mess of nerdy stuff, Zeke found himself enjoying the day more than he could remember enjoying anything other. They stopped on their way home at a pizza place Zeke really liked, and Zeke found out that Crane ate the same things on his pizza that he did.

They found a booth near the back to wait for their order, and Crane showed him coin and sleight of hand tricks he knew, using an old, worn looking half dollar he said he’d gotten from their grandfather when he was a kid.

Zeke was watching crane make the coin dance along his knuckles when he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He half turned, curious, and then quickly spun back around, his face flaming. Crane frowned and caught the coin in his palm. “Something the matter?” he asked.

“No, just… don’t draw attention to me.” he muttered, covered his eyes with his hand. “Goddamnit.”

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Zekey-boy.” he felt a rough, callused hand shove his hair back and forth on top of his head, painfully hard, and flinched away. He didn’t even bother looking up, he knew who it was. “Who’s this, your boyfriend?”

“Don’t touch me, Mike.” Zeke snapped, jerking away from the painful fingers currently tangled in his hair. He wished Seth was here; Mike never bothered him when Seth was around. Mike was on the varsity football team, but even though he was roughly the size and shape of a bulldozer, he knew better than to fuck with Seth. But when Seth wasn’t around, the asshole couldn’t seem to help himself from making Zeke’s life hell.

Zeke caught Crane’s gaze and was surprised at the look of fury on his auburn haired cousin’s face. Crane unfolded himself from the booth, literally towering over Mike, whose mouth popped open comically when he realized how big Crane really was.

“You touch him one more time, and I swear to every God there is, you’ll be eating out of a tube for the rest of your natural born life.” Crane snarled, grabbing a fistful of Mike’s bright red shift and giving the shorter guy a firm shake.

Mike put his hands up and stuttered out, “Hey, man, I-”

“Don’t talk to me.” Crane snapped. “Your voice inclines me to make you eat your teeth.” Mike’s mouth snapped shut with an audible click. “Now get the fuck away from him, and so help me, if I ever see you even look at him the wrong way, I’ll break every single bone in that ugly, lowbrow, mouth breathing face of yours. Do you understand me?” He let go of Mike abruptly, and the guy got out of there fast.

“Holy fuck, Crane.” Zeke whispered, eyeing his cousin warily. “A little bit of overkill, don’t you think?”

Crane sighed and sat down, shoving his ponytail over his shoulder. “Fucking bullies.” he snarled at the table top, his hands balling into fists. He glared daggers at Zeke. “Why didn’t you stand up for yourself?” he asked, sounding furious.

Zeke cringed a little at his tone. “Mike’s a bully, like you said. You don’t go around-”

“You stand the fuck up for yourself.” Crane repeated. “Christ, Zeke, way to be a total cliché.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Zeke snapped, angry now. “Excuse me if I don’t much like the idea of getting the shit stomped out of me by a guy who easily outweighs me by like a million pounds.”

Crane’s eyes rolled. “Hell, he outweighs me, but that doesn’t change the fact that bullies are, at heart, cringing pussies. Stand up to them the right way once, and they’ll leave you the hell alone.” he shook his head. “I mean, come on Zeke. Do you really have to be that kind of a gay guy?”

Zeke’s mouth popped open I shock. “What the fuck, Crane?” he looked around, wondering if anyone heard them.

“Oh my fucking God.” Crane groaned, and buried his face in his hands. “You are such a dweeb.” he leaned forward, most of the way across the table, and put his face right in Zeke’s. “You’re gay, okay? You know it, and it would shock you how many other people know it. Now stop giving our people a bad fucking name and act like you have a backbone. He’s just a human, Zeke. All humans are weak in the same spots. Wail him in the fucking balls once, and he’ll go away.”

Zeke leaned away from him, angry and hurt and ashamed of himself. “Okay, I get your point.” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”

Crane growled in frustration and rubbed his temples as though he was developing a serious headache. “See? You instantly backed down, went right into apology mode.”

Zeke slammed his hands down on the table, making Crane jump. “Well, fuck you, too.” he practically shouted, not even noticing that half the people in the place turned to look at him. “Get off my fucking back already. Way to be a total asshole.”

Crane surprised him by bursting out laughing. “There you go.” he said, and leaned back smiling. “There’s some fight in you, after all. Now direct it at the people that deserve it once in a while, okay?” his eyes flickered up for a moment, and then he leaned forward again. “Your hair’s all fucked up.” he said, and surprised Zeke yet again by fussing with it until it laid flat. “Much better.”

Zeke flushed and pulled away from his hands. “Okay, stop it. You happy now?”

“No.” Crane told him. “I won’t be until you show that little fucker what’s what. But I’ll deal until then.”

Zeke rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to argue, but just their number was called and Crane slid out of the booth to retrieve their pizza. Zeke sighed heavily and put his head down on the table, still upset about the whole thing. What the hell was Crane’s problem, yelling at him like that? He guessed that what Crane said might’ve been right, but Zeke didn’t think it gave his cousin permission to jump down his throat like that.

He sat up just as Crane was sliding the pizza onto the table and ran his hands through his hair. “I just fixed that.” Crane told him, and reached over to fix Zeke’s hair again. Zeke dodged his hands, frowning, and Crane laughed. “Oh, hold still, you sissy.”

“Don’t call me that.” Zeke grumbled, shoving his hands away. Crane sighed and sat down again.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked, sounding like he was really worried that Zeke might be. “Look, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s nothing.” Zeke said, sounding angrier than he’d meant to. Crane looked away, looking hurt, but before Zeke could say anything, they were both scared half to death by Pearl, who seemingly materialized out of nowhere beside their table.

“There you are!” she shrieked, and Crane shot her a dirty look just as Seth walked over. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Aunt Evie said you went to the museum.”

“Geeks.” Seth said, and cocked a thumb at Zeke. “Sit with Crane.”

“Why?” Zeke asked.

“So I can sit with her, dumbass.” Seth said, sliding his arm around Pearl’s waist and making her giggle. “Come on, man.”

Zeke sighed and moved. The booth was tiny, so his and Crane’s legs were shoved together and they kept hitting each other’s elbows. Pearl and Seth took the other side, but neither of them seemed to mind the closeness. Crane gave Seth a furious look before starting to eat, during which he refused to speak or look at anyone at all. Seth caught the look, and in return shot Crane a smug, self-satisfied one of his own.

Pearl immediately launched into conversation, oblivious to the tension at the table. She told them about the movie they’d gone and seen, effectively ruining the ending for them, which made Zeke want to shake her. Then she gave them a detailed account of what she did that morning, before Seth had come to pick her up. Zeke ate, not really tasting it. He was annoyed with his best friend and his female cousin for their uninvited appearance, he was still upset at Crane for yelling at him earlier and now for his odd, moody behavior, and he was painfully, uncomfortably aware of how close he was sitting to his brooding, silent cousin.

When the pizza was gone, Seth suggested they go out to his father’s cabin later, which was about an hour drive north. He mentioned swimming in the lake, which made Pearl ‘ooooh’ with excitement. “What about you guys?” Seth asked. “You want to come along?”

Zeke bit his lip. He liked the cabin, like the quietness, the calm of the place, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be there for this particular trip. He knew why Seth liked to take girls up there, and normally it just annoyed him, but this was his cousin, so it was different. He shot Crane a glance, who seemed to be just as torn.

“I guess so.” Crane said finally. “If only to keep you from taking advantage of her.” he pointed at his sister, who rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away.

“I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” she snapped. “Are you coming too, Zeke?” she asked.

“You should.” Seth told him, smiling.

“I agree.” Crane said, and Zeke looked at him, surprised. He rolled his eyes. “Please. You know full well just by looking at these two that they’re going to spend the majority of the time attempting to swallow each other whole.”

“I can do that.” Pearl said, and Seth’s eyes widened and his face flushed.

Crane rolled his eyes. “I’d like the company.” he told Zeke.

“Okay.” Zeke nodded, and Crane smiled at him. “When?”

“Well, we’ve got to go back to the hotel to get some things.” Pearl said.

“And I need to get the dogs.” Crane pointed out. “If you’re willing to grab my backpack, Pearl, we can meet up at Seth’s house? Say, an hour?”

“Sounds good.” Seth agreed. “Is Evangeline going to be okay with the four of us running off for the night?”

“She’ll be fine.” Zeke said. “She’s just happy I’m out of the house with people.”

“She can join the club.” Seth said, and reached out to ruffle his hair.

“Goddamnit!” Crane moaned. “Everyone stop it. If I hate to fix his hair one more time, I swear I’m going to explode.”

Pearl burst out laughing. “You’re too weird, big brother.” she said, and then turned and beamed up at Seth. “Ready to go?”

“Yea.” he waved at Zeke and Crane. “See you guys in a bit.”

“Bye.” Zeke watched them go, then started when crane attacked his head again. “Let it go already!”

“It drives me nuts.” Crane grumbled. Zeke rolled his eyes and went to pay the bill. Then they headed out into the parking lot and got into the car. “Your friend Seth, he’s not going to fuck her over, is he?”

Zeke sighed. “Seth likes chasing girls, but when he finds one he likes, he usually sticks with it until something goes wrong. And luckily, he’s not one to make up wrong stuff just so he can move on. I think Pearl will be okay.”

“Good, because I’ll fucking turn him into a pretzel if he hurts her.” Crane said, sounding serious.

Zeke glanced at him as he drove. “You got a violent streak in you, huh?” he asked.

Crane shrugged. “I protect the people I love. Simple as that.”

Zeke half grinned. “So you love me?” he asked.

“What?” Crane looked at him, confused. “Oh, the Mike thing?” he laughed. “We’re family, Zeke. I love you by default.”

“Ouch.” Zeke put his hand to his chest, feigning pain.

Crane shook his head. “Oh, get off it. You’re also the absolute coolest guy I’ve ever met.”

“That’s better.” Zeke said, grinning, and Crane laughed.

At home, Evangeline agreed that she had no problem with them going, and Crane called his father just to double check. The younger kids whined and complained about not being able to tag along, but Evangeline promised that he’d make Crane and Zeke pitch their tents in the backyard before they were allowed to leave.

After packing up some stuff and putting it in the car, Zeke showed Crane the tents and together they pitched them both; the dark blue one for Max and Theo, and the brown and white one for Kay and May. Then they loaded up the dogs and got going.

At Seth’s they added two coolers filled with provisions to the car, and then Zeke followed Seth’s car out of the city. On the drive, Crane popped a CD into the player. A woman’s voice filled the car, clanging piano and weird drumming, and Zeke tilted his head, confused and intrigued. “Who is this?” he asked. “It’s… different.”

“The Dresden Dolls.” Crane told him. “I love them. The lead singer’s a trip.” he started singing along, his voice clashing fantastically with the tone of the song, which made Zeke laugh.

Once they’d gotten to the cabin, they unloaded their stuff and Crane expressed a want to swim. “Like, now.” he said, and hurried into the cabin to change. Pearl agreed, so they all went in to put on suitable clothing.

The cabin sat right on a thin strip of beach, and there was a floating dock about a hundred yards out. The dogs chased after Crane as he went bombing carelessly into the water, barking and splashing like crazy. Zeke watched him wade about chest deep in before diving. He squinted, trying to make out the tattoo on Crane’s back.

“What is that?” he asked Pearl, who had come up beside him in a red and black polka dot bikini.

“It’s a crane.” she told him, and for some reason that struck Zeke as impossibly funny. He stood there, laughing hysterically, until Seth grabbed him by the shoulders and forcibly marched him towards the water.

“Goddamnit, no, Seth!” he screamed, rather girlishly, and started thrashing. “I’ll get in when I’m damn good and ready, don’t you fucking dare-” he screamed again when Seth threw him over his shoulder and started running. Seth got about waist deep in and then dumped him, and the water was like a freezing cold punch in the stomach. He came up sputtering, and Seth was laughing at him. “You’re a jackass.” he yelled, shoving water at his friend.

Seth turned and pointed at Pearl. “Your turn!” he shouted, and she let out a shriek and started running. Zeke watched them chase each other around on the beach; Pearl was pretty fast, but he Seth would get her eventually.

He turned and started swimming for the dock. Crane was already there, sitting with his legs in the water, watching the dogs paddle around. When Zeke pulled himself up beside him, he flashed his cousin a smile and said, “This place is great.”

“Yea.” Zeke nodded, flopping backwards onto the dock. He threw his arm over his eyes and smiled. “I like it up here. It’s pretty.”

Crane made an affirmative sound, and Zeke felt him stretch out next to him. “You’re going to sunburn, aren’t you?” he asked.

“No.” Zeke replied. “I never sunburn… or tan for that matter. Ma says I’m half albino.”

Crane chuckled. “I don’t really get color either. Guess it runs in the family.”

“What’s your tattoo?” Zeke asked.

“Which one?”

Zeke removed his arm from his eyes. “Your back.” he said, and Crane sat up to show him. “Wow.” he said softly. “That’s amazing.” The tattoo was of a gnarled, bent cherry blossom tree, heavily shaded and detailed, with two cranes, one perched on the top most branch, the other in mid-flight. It was huge and looked like it took a very long time. “Did it hurt?”

“Of course it hurt.” Crane said. “But it’s not a bad kind of hurt.”

“You have others?” Zeke asked, sitting up.

Crane showed him the tattoo on his left calf, and Zeke couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s Link.” he said, and Crane nodded. “You really are a video game nerd, huh?”

“Damn straight.” Crane agreed. “I want to get a quote here, too, around my wrist.”

“What quote?”

“’What doesn’t kill us makes us stranger’.” he smiled. “It’s from a cartoon that used to be on MTV, back before it sucked.”

“Aeon Flux.” Zeke said, and Crane looked impressed. “I have all of that on my computer. The movie blew.”

“Hell yes it did.” Crane smiled. “Piercings aren’t really my thing. Tattoos, though, they’re addictive. My back started out as just the crane in flight, and sort of snowballed from there. Link, well.” he laughed. “What can I say? I’m a fan boy. Hottest video game character ever.” he fanned himself and fluttered his eyelashes, making Zeke snicker.

The dogs started swimming for shore, so Zeke and Crane followed them. By then Pearl and Seth were in the water; Pearl was wrapped around him like a leech and they were giggling and nuzzling at each other. Crane made a face at Zeke and suggested they go sit on the deck for a while.

They changed into dry clothes and sat at the picnic table for a while, until Pearl and Seth got out and Seth suggested they go in and watch a movie.

Crane shook his head. “What’s the point of coming out into all this nature if we’re not going to enjoy it?”

Pearl pouted. “It’s getting buggy.”

“That’s what they make bug spray for.” Crane told her, and she gave him the middle finger. He looked at Zeke. “Want to go for a walk?”

“Okay.” Zeke agreed, and they both sprayed themselves heavily with bug-repellant before heading out into the woods around the lake. The dogs tagged along, and Zeke pointed out that he thought it was strange neither needed a leash.

“They’re well trained.” Crane told him. “If you know how to handle them, they don’t need leashes. They know how far they can go, and if I call, they come back no matter what. Well,” he smiled. “Most of the time. Hestia’s a little bitch and likes to push my buttons.”

“You really like your dogs, huh?”

Crane nodded. “Like I said, I’ve never had friends before. They’re what I have, that and Pearl. And I love her, but you’ve met her.”

Zeke laughed. “Yea, she’s… flighty.”

“She’s sweet, don’t get me wrong, but man, sometimes I want to choke her. She never stops talking.” he gave Zeke a critical look. “How have you survived with that many siblings?”

He shrugged. “They’re good kids. Usually they behave themselves, and Ma taught us all about respect and privacy, so I don’t have to worry about them going in my room or taking my shit, and surprisingly, all but Theo are really good about not being annoying as humanly possible. Theo, well… he’s a jerk. But he’ll grow out of it.” He studied his cousin in profile for a long moment, then said, “How is it you don’t have any friends?”

“What do you mean?” Crane asked.

Zeke shrugged. “We get along great.”

We’ve hung out for less than 48 hours.” Crane pointed out. “You’ll get sick of me.”

“I doubt that.”

Crane smiled. “Everyone does. I’m a hard person to be around. People find me…” he searched for a word. “…unapproachable, I guess. Irritating because I don’t understand people in general. I have as much empathy as a rock. Human beings just confuse me. They’re so caught up in their tiny little lives with their tiny little worries, and they never stop and look at things. There’s too much etiquette, too many rules when it comes to social interaction. Its bullshit and I won’t buy into it.”

Zeke thought this over. “I guess I get what you’re saying. You can’t relate, so people can’t relate either. I’ve never understood other people my age, either, really. I mean, no one wants to actually know anyone.”

“Exactly.” Crane said, sounding impressed. “It’s like you can’t ask them anything personal, ever. Don’t show who you really are, don’t talk about politics or religion or personal anything. It’s crap. How can you know someone if you don’t know those things?”

Zeke nodded. “Maybe that’s why I like you.” he thought aloud, and Crane stopped to give him a curious look. Zeke shrugged. “You’re different. So am I. Maybe that’s why we get along.”

Crane grinned. “Zeke, if we had anymore in common-”

“-we’d be the same person?” Zeke filled in.

Crane shrugged. “I was going to say soul mates.” he said, and kept walking, leaving Zeke standing there, feeling like he just missed a very important moment.

When they got back to the cabin, Seth and Pearl were watching a comedy movie, which Zeke and Crane both agreed was way too lowbrow to sit through. Instead, they went into the kitchen and made sandwiches, then sat on the deck a while longer while Zeke told Crane everything he knew about fireflies. Which was a lot, considering the bug freak Max was.

Around eleven, Zeke’s cell phone went off, and he had to sit through twenty minutes of his mother’s questions before he could assure her that they were fine, that no one was drinking, and that they’d be home tomorrow in time for dinner. When he finally got off the phone with her, he gave Crane a ‘what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-parents’ look that Crane immediately understood.

Around one, Zeke called it a night, and went into one of the cabin’s four bedrooms to sleep. He picked one of the two that directly connected to the bathroom, and brushed his teeth and showered before crawling into bed.

He was mostly asleep forty five minutes later when Seth came into the room and told him that they had to be up at eight the next morning, that he had a surprise and if Zeke slept through it he’d kill him. Zeke sighed and reached for his cell phone… then realized he’d left it out on the deck.

He got up and pulled on his jeans, passing Pearl and Seth in the hall as they went to the master bedroom together. Zeke snorted at Seth’s wink and pat on the back, then moved through the cabin, noticing the dogs in the living room, curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace. He figured Crane had gone to bed already, so he was quiet when he slipped out onto the deck through the side door rather than the back door.

He rounded the side of the house, but stopped dead in his tracks, his breath catching painfully in his chest, at the sight in front of him. Crane was sitting in one of the recliner deck chairs, his head tilted far back on his neck, his hand down the front of his jeans. Zeke willed his feet to turn him around and get him the hell out of there, but for some reason they just wouldn’t listen to him. Crane seemed completely oblivious to his presence, and as Zeke watched, no able to look away, he freed his cock from his jeans and ran his hand up and down it slowly. Zeke was pretty sure that if he was functioning at all, he would’ve been either screaming or picking his eyes up off the deck; Crane was huge.

He stood there, his hands twitching helplessly at his sides, and watched his cousin touch himself. Crane’s hand slide up and down his cock, and he added a little twist and the end of each upstroke, which in turn made his hips jerk slightly. After a few strokes he began to speed up, and Zeke watched him catch his bottom lip with his teeth, heard the low, growling exhale of his breath, and realized his was incredibly, painfully turned on. He felt a wave of shame of guilt hit him, and that’s what got his feet moving. He turned on his heel and got the hell in the cabin as quickly and silently as he could. As soon as the door was shut behind him, he practically ran into his room, then into the bathroom, and slammed the door behind him.

He turned the water on and stuck his head under the faucet, noticing just then how his breath kept hitching, how sweaty he was. He wondered vaguely if he was hyperventilating; he certainly felt he had the right to. Just what the fuck was wrong with him?

He pulled his head up and glared at himself in the mirror. “What. The. Hell.” he muttered. “That’s your fucking cousin.”

He found a towel and rubbed it through his hair, thinking it was best to just go to bed and pretend nothing happened at all. He figured he could, should he ever think about it again, chalk it up to having too much pent-up sexual energy; after all, he was still a virgin. Halfway out of the bathroom, he realized he was still hard.

That was it. His entire stomach rolled and he felt dizzy. Turning, he just barely made it to the toilet before he started to vomit. Heaving, he fought back the urge to burst into tears. He felt so sick; not just physically, either. He couldn’t figure out why the hell his body had reacted that way, but he knew one thing; this was very, very bad. How the hell was he supposed to function knowing he’d gotten turned on by his cousin jerking off?

Eventually the heaving stopped and he managed to crawl back into bed, feeling weak and miserable. He laid there for a long time, trying not to think about what he’d seen, how he’s reacted to it, and managing to think about that, and that only.

The next morning found him irritable, overtired, and ready to kill the first person that looked at him wrong.

He sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and trying not to give into the urge to slap Seth until he stopped talking. He and Pearl were both running their mouths about his ‘surprise’, obviously trying to bait Zeke or Crane into asking what it was. Crane seemed perfectly normal, although he seemed to pick up on Zeke’s mood and did a good job of leaving him alone.

Now that it was daytime and he’d had time to think about it, Zeke realized he was furious with Crane. What the hell did he think he was doing last night? Who in their right minds would do something that personal, that private, right out there in the open like that? What was he, a exhibitionist? Zeke was half tempted to call him out on it, but that niggling, awful shamed feeling stopped him.

After they’d all eaten breakfast, they piled into Seth’s car. Crane and Zeke sat in the back, and Zeke crammed himself as far against the door as he possibly could, closed his eyes, and wished he was back at home, in his basement, and that all of this had never happened.

He must’ve dozed off, because the next thing he knew the car was stopped, Pearl and Seth were gone, and Crane’s hand was on his arm, shaking him gently. “Hey, we’re here.” crane said gently, his mouth way too close for comfort to Zeke’s ear. Zeke jerked up, flinching away from the contact, and crane pulled back, startled.

“What the hell?” Crane asked him, and Zeke shot him a dirty look before unfastening his seat belt and opening the car door. Crane caught his arm, making Zeke flinch again. “What’s the matter with you today?” he asked, looking concerned. “You’re acting like I-”

“It’s nothing.” Zeke snapped at him, yanking his arm free and getting out of the car. He looked around and groaned loudly. “Oh, God, Seth, no.”

Seth cackled happily from where he was standing with Pearl. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Crane got out of the car and came to stand beside Zeke, who wanted nothing more than to get back in the car and sleep. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” he said. “There’s no way in hell I’m doing this.”

“You two are such pussies.” Pearl told them. “What’s the harm?”

“There’s so much harm I can’t even begin to list it.” Zeke snapped at her. “I’m not going.”

“Yes you are.” Seth said. “And if you don’t, I’ll tell your mom. And you know what you’re mom will do if she finds out you wouldn’t do this with me.”

Zeke glared at him. He knew, all right. “The second to last thing I want to do is play paintball with you, jackass.” he told his best friend. “But the very last thing I want to do is play paint ball with my mom.”

Seth laughed. “She’s ruthless.” he told Pearl. “Now come on, you bitches.” he and Pearl turned and hurried towards the tiny building near the fenced off field, and Crane sighed heavily.

“Will you hold it against me if I shoot him in the face?” he asked.

Zeke snorted. “You’ll have to beat me to it.” he countered, and they both headed over to join Seth and Pearl.