Beneath the Surface

Chapter 8

Eric would toss them beers as he walked over, "Yeah and it's black with white stripes."

"How does it make sense for it to be black, it's white with black stripes," Noah would catch the beer as he shook his head.

"Okay fine it's just naturally two toned," he would go sit on the back of the couch.

Noah would watch him go to sit up there and he would get off the couch to sit on the back of it, so that they were on the same level, "So is a Dalmatian two toned?"

"No a Dalmatian is white with black spots," Eric would shake his head as he opened the beer.

"Exactly! A zebra is the same it's just black stripes instead of spots."

Eric and Noah could debate about striped and spotted animals for hours, but their debate was cut short when Jordan walked in.

Emily would look up from the guess who game she was playing with Connor, "Oh look it's the idiot."

"Fuck off Emily," Jordan would go over to  the kitchen setting a sack down on the counter and would walk back over, "Where's Mark?"

"Probably got grounded the second his mom saw how bruised up his face was," Eric would make a yikes face as he remembered how bad Dean beat him up.

"Oh, Well I picked up Scream on the way," he would hold up the dvd box and would toss it to Connor, "figure out how that works."

"Which one is it, I'm not listening to Emily talk about how hot Skeet Ulrich is the whole time again," Eric would shake his head drinking some more of his beer.

Connor would ignore this question laughing as he went to put the dvd in the player. He would then signal to Jordan to turn off the lights, who was going to the kitchen. He then grabbed the remote starting the movie.

"Okay I said it maybe once or twice," Emily would narrow her eyes at him as she spoke in a defensive tone, as she then glanced at the Tv.

"Every scene that he was in you had to comment on,"  Eric would side eye her briefly, then looking at the Tv.

"To be fair Have you seen him, I wish I had abs like his,"  Noah would signal to the tv then looking at Eric.

Jordan would walk back into the living room area and would glance at the tv then looking at Noah, "Mine are better," he would pause to take a sip of his beer and with his other hand he would lift up his shirt a bit on one side and would look over at Emily, "right Em?"

"Oh for sure," she'd look him up and down and would nod, trying to speak in a convincing tone as a laugh tried surfacing.

"She wants me guys," he would look back at Eric and Noah as he let his shirt fall back down.

"Yeah Emily didn't you have a crush on Jor in second grade," Eric would look over at her smiling. Any chance he had to be an instigator he would take it.

"No that was Caillou," shed flash a smile back.

"The cancer kid?!" Jordan would be in disbelief as he hopped up and stood on the couch.

"He didn't have cancer and it was second grade!" she laugh a bit as she defended herself and would watch him jump up on the couch.

"He was bald! What would you grip? Have you seen Jordan's hair?!"  Connor would signal to Jordan.

"I was seven I don't think I would be gripping anything." Her statement sounded more like a question and she would tilt her head a bit.

"And?!"

Everyone would look over at Connor  and would start laughing shocked at what he said, even though he didn't even realize at first.

"Con seems like the kinda of person to say 'age is just a number,'" at this point Eric was on his way to being the number one instigator.