The Surgery

Chapter Four

"You aren't fast enough." Dad scolded. I was already out of breath, trying to stop my knees from involuntarily buckling under me. My legs were covered in red dirt from the path we had to take that twisted in the woods and was easy to lose if you didn't know it well. Thankfully, I knew it.
"I just ran two miles in fifteen minutes!" I complained, bending over so my forehead was against my knees and letting my long ponytail hit the ground.
"Austin ran it in fourteen." He said.
"That's not fair. Austin plays sports. I sit on the couch and watch television." I panted, taking the water bottle he handed me. The Alabama heat was killing me, scorching my skin.
"I'm going to get a serious sunburn." I continued to complain. Dad looked at me with amusement, knowing I would not be able to move after I got sunburn; my skin would tighten and stiffen. I narrowed my eyes slightly, wondering if this was his grand scheme.
"That's what you get for being a ginger!" Austin shouted, shooting me with a nerf gun. Dad threw one at me, too.
"You can't shoot someone without a reason." I yelled back, aiming it at him and squeezing the trigger. The plastic bullet bounced off his skin harmlessly.
"I have a reason! You're my best friend!" He fired off another bullet, this one striking me in the leg and clattering to the ground.
"Precision." Dad called. I shot Austin in the stomach, then throat. Sadly, he shot me in the thigh and the stomach.
We locked eyes and made a conscious decision to both attack Dad. He started shouting and then laughing. He didn't find it funny when we all fell in the pool. Well, Dad backed up to escape the rain of bullets, then Austin laughed so hard he fell in, then he grabbed my ankle and pulled me in.
"Come on, Dad. It's just water." I called. I continued to pelt Austin with plastic bullets, only stopping when he went underwater.
"Austin-stop!" I screamed when he picked me up by the waist and tossed me over his shoulder.
"Ask nicely." He advised. He had taken his shirt off at some point, throwing the wet fabric out of the pool into the blistering heat.
"Please, put me down." I clung to his arm tightly, wrapping my legs around him. "No- Austin!" He tossed me up into the air, sending me to land in the deep side of the pool. I came back up to see him clutching his sides with laughter. I probably looked like a drenched cat.
I dove for my gun, coming back up and shooting him squarely in the throat. He choked for a second.
"You are the worst best friend ever." I said sourly.
"You know you love me." He grinned. I saw Dad watching us from the other side of the yard. I could tell he was thinking about something important. He didn't look like he wanted to be bothered.
"Hey, Avalon." I turned to face Austin, seeing him aim at me.
I ducked under the water and sank to the bottom. I saw him sit down beside me. I had known Austin for most of my life. My mom loved him. I think he was just as devastated as I was when she died.
He reached for me and I let him drag me up to the surface of the water.
"Are you okay?" He asked. He probably saw my look, the one I got whenever I thought of her. I nodded and smiled, pressing the gun into his abdomen. His eyes widened as I pulled the trigger. He howled, shouting that I had betrayed his trust. I laughed and continued our war.