The Paint Wars

Red Handed

"Don't let it spill," Lucas warned as he handed me the bucket of paint. I took it from him, steadying the bottom with my other hand.

"It's fine, I've got it." I walked to the sidewalk across from the truck and set it down, rubbing my sweaty palms down my leather pants. "Is that the last of it?" I brushed my hand along the various sizes of paint brushes tucked in my belt, double checking that they hadn't slid out.

"Yeah, I think so," Lucas walked over to where Jordan, Ben, Jess, and I stood, all clad in black.

"Okay, it's game time!" Ben said, and we all flipped up our hoodies to obscure our faces from the cameras that were bound to be there. I tugged on my grip gloves. We picked up our identical paint buckets and, on Ben's count, we took off running into the breezy night.

Adrenaline racing, my pace shot forward, and I found myself at the front of the pack. Our shoes slapped against the pavement in the silent night, with only a few pitiful chirping crickets.

When we got to the fence surrounding the high school, Ben crawled over first. We were able to slide our buckets under through a small hole in the bottom of the fence, too small to squeeze through.

I latched onto the fence second. I cringed at the jingling the fence made as my converse came in contact with it. "Jump!" Ben urged in a loud whisper when I had reached the top of the fence. I'd had a little difficulty with the barbed wire. I managed to get away with only a small scratch on my ankle.

"Jump!" Ben encouraged a little louder. "I'll catch you, I promise." I wasn't one to be dependent, though. I leaped off the fence and hit the ground in a somersault, rolling smoothly to my feet.

Everyone followed shortly. Jess wasn't so lucky with the bared wire. Her jeans had been snagged, and she ended up with a good cut across her thigh. She was tough, though, and she refused to let anyone see how painful it was.

When everyone was over, we each took up our paint cans again and followed Ben up to the large brick wall that started at the PAC and looped its way around the side of our school. It was the perfect canvas.

"Ready?" Lucas asked, coming to stand beside me. He had a roller in his hand and was rolling it across his hand in excitement.

I felt my stomach churn, and I began to wonder the what consequences for tonight would be if we were caught. We had decided against graffiti early on in the game. Paint would diffuse any suspicions that this was a rebellious act against the school. I quickly pushed the queasy feeling aside.
I was already in too deep, plus what was the worst that could happen? Detention? Please. It was like a second home to me. Suspension? Who couldn't use a few days off from torture? Being expelled? I honestly didn't care. I probably had a sucky future ahead of me anyway.

I took the roller from Lucas and dipped it into the blue paint at Jordan's feet.

"Ready?" I asked in a hushed voice. I watched all of the hooded heads bob up in down in response. "Set...go!" I slapped the roller onto the wall and began my masterpiece. Next to me, Lucas's brushes were flying.

I painted a good large area blue before I really began to paint. I took my largest brush and dipped in my red. From there, my hands took over. I don't know how long it took, but suddenly I was staring at myself in an exuberant leap, yellow streams of light parting my wild hair.

I turned my head to look down the line at what everyone else had created. Jess had drawn a running silhouette that merged into Jordan's forest. On the very end, Ben had painted a mirage of colors, abstract art. I felt my chest swell with pride. Then I turned to Lucas, and my jaw dropped, not literally, of course.