Page 2 of Crew
It sufficed for Jordan, and he nodded. "Good." He turned, his long legs crossing the ground toward us.
I leaned against the bed of his truck, Cross still next to me, as Jordan opened the driver's side door.
Zellman had been standing nearby at the ready. That's what he tended to do--always lurking behind Jordan and waiting. Since Jordan had come over to us now, so had Zellman. He launched himself up to the opened truck bed behind us.
I heard the cooler open, and he tossed a beer Jordan's way.
"Bren? Cross?" he called.
Cross shook his head.
I turned around to look at the guys. "I'm good. Thanks."
"You sure?" Zellman extended a beer.
"I am."
Jordan's eyes flicked upward--his response to a lot of the things I did. We had each other's backs, but to Jordan that meant doing everything he wanted. Sometimes we disagreed, and every time I didn't do what he did, he took that as disagreeing with him.
Family doesn't work that way.
I watched him, just for a moment.
One day we would battle.
One day it would be me against him.
One day his disapproval would make me snap, or one day he wouldn't just be a jerk because I wasn't doing what he wanted. He would go too far, and that would be the day I'd meet him halfway.
I already knew how the lines would shift in our group when that happened. Cross would back me up. Zellman would probably back Jordan. It'd be two against two. Even though I was the only girl in the group--one of only two girls in the entire system--I could handle my own, and I knew I would enjoy lighting into Jordan on that day. But that day wasn't today, and I hoped it would take a long time to come. I did care for Jordan like a brother, though he wasn't my actual blood.
"So." Jordan slammed the door shut again, the force rocking his truck for a second. He propped up a leg. "What's the plan for tonight?"
This was the last night before our senior year started.
Sunday night. People had been to church this morning, and we'd beaten someone bloody this evening. There was irony in there somewhere. I was just too tired to find it.
"Ryer
son has a party tonight," Zellman offered. "I say we go." His shaggy curls bounced around as his blue eyes darted between us.
"Yeah?" Jordan's eyes lit up.
Zellman nodded. "I'm down to go. I think Sunday Barnes got new boobs this summer." He grinned. "I'm hoping to check 'em out personally."
Jordan laughed. "I'm good with that." He tipped his head back, finishing his beer, and then tossed the bottle into the trees behind us. "Bren, Cross, what about you guys?"
Cross would wait for me, so I said, "I'm good for the night."
"No party?"
"I'm gonna head home."
Jordan's disapproval settled in the air over us, but no one said a word.
"Think I'm down with you guys for the party," Cross added after a moment.
Zellman thrust a fist in the air. "Hell yeah. Take it." He offered his half-emptied beer.
