The Bertie Mansion

XI

As they made it up the long driveway and parked, Caleb held out an arm to stop Jeremy from leaving right away. "Sorry if I pressed too hard. I care about you, that's all."

"Same," Jeremy said. He unbuckled himself and stepped out of the car, then waited for his friend.

Caleb followed suit, pulling on his backpack and looking at the large home in front of him. "Wow."

Jade hurried down the stairs from the front door to greet her guest.

"Come in, come in!" she said. "It's very nice to see you again. You two have been friends for a while now, we're practically family! Welcome home!"

"Twenty years, give or take," Caleb provided. "We met at that kid boot camp thing, remember? Somehow Jer convinced me to prank the counselors. They got so mad when they found the missing scented markers."

"In my defense, I was expecting more training than how to color within the lines," Jeremy said. His mother gave him a disapproving look.

Caleb shook his head in mock frustration. "What did you expect? To learn how to shoot? After you almost took out that poor guy's eye the very first time we were there, they wouldn't even let us back to the obstacle course for safety reasons."

"Jeremy Findale the Third! You almost took out someone's eye? You're a walking disaster and shouldn't be released into the public," Jade proclaimed.

"Can you tell me something I don't know?" Jeremy asked dryly. He brushed past and pulled his friend with him by the elbow.

Rob was waiting in the living room and stood to greet them. Caleb headed for the fireplace first and put on the ash-streaked protective glove.

"I'm Caleb, and you must be Rob," he said, holding his gloved hand out. Because the thick cloth was inanimate, it was able to feel resistance from the ghost's body. Jeremy was in awe of the ingenuity. Of course, it probably came with the territory of knowing a ghost before.

Will entered the room. He snorted and wheezed with his amusement. "And my own brother hid under a blanket. What a pitiful blob he is."

"Give him a break, Will. I've seen a ghost before, plus he warned me. And there's nothing wrong with taking precautions," Caleb said, though his smile widened the more he talked.

"Hardy-har-har. Very funny, guys." Jeremy took the protective glove and slapped it onto the wood pile.

"No, no, I didn't mean it that way. There are dangerous ghosts and I'd rather you had run and stayed alive than fought and gotten fatally injured." Caleb patted the side of Jeremy's cheek but then pulled away quickly and turned pink in the face.

Jeremy crossed his arms and pouted. "But I'm tough. I don't want to run. I could take on any ghost."

"No, you couldn't," Rob said. "No human can. Caleb's right, listen to him."

Jeremy knew it would be childish, but he wanted to stomp away. His friend was smart. When it came to intellect, even though he never would gloat or pretend he was better, Jeremy fell in his shadow and sometimes became a little jealous. Caleb never got disapproving stares. His best friend, who had no muscles or physical abilities to speak of, the purest wimp in the world, was supposed to be the prime example.

For once in his life he wished he could be better than Caleb. He had strength, he had determination, but when his friend was around that was never enough. Humans weren't wild beasts anymore; they were supposed to be refined and use words to solve problems instead of going into battle. Jeremy could be the best fighter that ever lived and no one would care once someone intelligent stepped into the room.

"Alright," he eventually muttered, but he wasn't happy about it.

Caleb tried to defuse the tension by requesting to see the room he would be staying in. Jeremy alone showed him the way and felt more relaxed when it was just the two of them again.

Caleb was too kind and would interact with anyone in the room who wanted to chat, dividing his attention between them. As soon as they left, Jeremy had his devoted attention and was never talked down to, even when his ideas could be silly or unattainable. It was nice, and why they had been best friends for this long.