Top Priority

28

Taylor's pov

"The second level!" Sam shouted, leaning over the pieces of wood that made a square frame over a hole.

"Right there?" Colby pointed with his flashlight.

"Yeah," Sam nodded. I could practically feel his excitement, bouncing off the mine's walls.

"Is it stairs?" Corey asked, staying back with Colby and I back by the shelves and phone. Jake was leaning over the couch, also looking down into the hole.

"It's a ladder, straight down," Sam explained, and I glanced between him and Colby.

I really did not want to go down there, not when it hasn't been used in who knows how long. And without Brent's experience to help us, because the only other person who spent hours researching was the one who wanted to go down a rickety ass ladder with a back injury.

"Fuck that," I said, crossing my arms.

"Why not?" Sam glanced over at me, annoyance hinted in his tone.

"What do you mean "why not?" We didn't go down any goddamn ladders when we saw them last time," I snapped. I knew I wasn't normally so rude to him, but someone needed to knock some sense into him before he gets us all into something we can't get out of.

"Yeah but we were with Brent and now we're on our own," Sam looked over at Colby, who had been silent the entire time.

"Exactly. We didn't go down the holes because we were with Brent," Jake said, answering in a very indecisive tone. I couldn't tell if he was just echoing his friend or using his words against him.

"Much safer man. A whole lot safer," Corey smiled, his words contradicting his facial expression.

I looked over at Colby, trying to see how he felt about the discussion at hand, but he was completely distracted. I grinned, watching as he crept up behind Jake to poke his ass with the flashlight.

I considered warning Jake, maybe just telling him to put his cheeks somewhere where Colby can't smack them. But Colby knew that he had to do this to lighten the mood, and I couldn't ask for more right now.

"Oh- get the-Ow!" Jake said as Colby pushed the flashlight into him. The silly red haired boy turned his head around to give his friend a glare. I laughed as Corey shouted, "You're going to push him into the mine!"

"You think that's funny, huh?" Jake looked over at me with an equally hard stare, though a smile smeared across his face. I nodded, grabbing my stomach as he began giving me funny looks. He would raise his eyebrows, cross his eyes or stick his tongue out at me.

I had the humor of a two year old right now. Almost anything made me laugh.

Jake got up off the couch, storming over to me and grabbing my ribs gently, in a ticklish way. I immediately fell onto my knees, trying to get out of his grip. He moved his hands to my neck, and I brought my shoulders up to my neck as best I could. "Jake, stop, I'm serious," I laughed, trying to take breaths between words.

"Who's laughing now?" Jake asked, placing his hands on his hips in a sassy toddler fashion.

"Um, me still," I said, staring up at him.

"Oh," Was all he said as he offered his hand out to me, and I took his offer to help me get to my feet.

Sam was back in the main part of the cave now, but the boys were watching with smiles on their faces. For once, the camera was down and the two of us were having fun.

The two of us, repeated in my head when I looked at Colby. His smile faded quicker than everyone elses, his eyes darker and unreadable. I really didn't want to have this problem with him, and I didn't know how to handle it.