Safe ➳ Zach Mitchell

➸Two

"Lift me up, I can't see!" Gray whined, leaping up and down to try and see into the triceratops paddock, where little kids were riding around on the horned dinosaurs.

"I'm not Dad, and you're not five." Zach snapped and I just rolled my eyes at him for probably the fiftieth time today.

"I can still ride the triceratops, I'm 47 and a half inches!" Gray said, bringing his camera up to his face and snapping some pictures.

"This place is for little kids." Zach huffed.

"I know," Gray brushed his comment off and I smiled at how he didn't care, "Hey, wanna go on the spinning dinosaur eggs?"

"Nope." Zach said bluntly, "And cover up your dork pouch." He pulled Gray's shirt down over his little fanny pack thing.

"Don't listen to him, Gray. It's actually pretty cool." I told the excitable eleven year-old, who grinned at me. Zach just glared at me so I glared back.

"So, are you always this much of a dick or do you just act like it to seem cool?" I asked him, crossing my arms and cocking my head to one side in mock curiosity.

"Whatever." Was his response as he rolled his eyes.

"Wow, you really have a way with words, don't you?" I said sarcastically.

"Aren't you a little young to be a tour guide, anyway?" He snapped, changing the topic.

"Maybe," I shrugged, "But I'm doing a better job than you could."

"I doubt that," He scoffed, "What makes you think you're any better than me?"

"Well, for starters, I don't treat people like total crap, especially not my own little brother." I ended the sentence with a death glare before walking over to Gray, who was still intrigued by the smaller dinosaurs.

"Hey, Gray, do you want me to show you something cool?"

He turned to me with wide eyes, "Even cooler than riding dinosaurs?"

"Even cooler than that." I smirked. Gray immediately said yes and I laughed at his excitement before taking his hand and leading him away from the triceratops paddock.

"No way!" Gray gasped when he realised I was leading him towards the Tyrannosaurus Rex kingdom.

"Yes way." I giggled, as Zach finally caught up with us.

"Thanks for leaving me behind back there, really appreciate it." He huffed sarcastically, panting as he'd just run to catch up with us.

"I just thought you wouldn't care about seeing the dinosaurs." I shrugged with a smirk as Gray sniggered. Zach just rolled his eyes as we walked into the T-Rex kingdom.

•••

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Mosasaurus show!" Angie, the Mosasaurus trainer announced into her microphone. The three of us had left the T-Rex kingdom and we were now sat in the audience, waiting to see the Mosasaurus. I was sat in the middle of Zach and Gray and we were sat right in the splash zone.

"The Mosasaurus was thought to have hunted near the surface of the water, where it prayed on anything it could sink it's teeth into, including turtles, large fish and even smaller Mosasaurs," Angie continued, "Okay, folks, let's see if she's still hungry after already eating today." She said as a dead shark was carried out and hung over the water.

"You might want to put that away and actually watch this." I muttered to Zach who was glued to his cellphone, like he had been pretty much all day.

"She's a little shy, so please be nice and give her a round of applause when she comes out," Angie said as the gigantic aquatic dinosaur emerged from the water and snatched the dead shark. Gray looked absolutely amazed and even Zach looked impressed as the Mosasaurus went back into the water, causing a huge wave of water to soak us and everyone around us as she did so.

"Oh my god! That was awesome!" Gray shrieked as the seats began moving down so we could see into the actual tank, where the Mosasaurus was swimming around.

"Hold on tight, we're gonna give you an even closer look at our Mosasaurus." Angie announced while everyone cheered and clapped for the incredible thing they'd just witnessed.

"That's eighty-eight teeth!" Gray squealed, the hope and amazement never leaving his eyes. I looked over at Zach who was laughing and clapping along with the rest of the crowd. He had a genuine smile on his face, it wasn't snarky or sarcastic like I was used to seeing on him. He had a gorgeous smile and I couldn't help but love the way his eyes crinkled.

Zach then turned and smirked when he saw me staring, "Take a picture, it'll last longer." I quickly looked away, focusing on the Mosasaurus as my cheeks heated up.