547 V2 ch19 (2/2)

His new sentence didn't make me feel any better. I ate my food in silence, trying to digest what he meant by that.

When it was time to leave for school, all of us headed for the car.

”Kyle.” Mr. Atkins got up from the table. ”Hang back. I'll drive you to school a bit later.”

Kyle froze.

Dave and Noah got in the car without looking back at him. I couldn't though. I glanced back, worried that he might be in trouble because of me.

Zeke rested his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. ”Let's go, Jake.”

”But-”

”It's not your problem.” Zeke told me. ”Leave Kyle to Dad. He's never let you down before right?”

That's right. I nodded and got in the car. Mr. Atkins wasn't going to hit Kyle or anything like that. He was wise and kind. He would know how to get through to Kyle without any extreme actions. I wonder if he would take him to the beach.

”Man, Kyle needs an attitude check.” Noah huffed as Zeke drove us to school. ”He's been too much to handle lately. If Dad doesn't smack him upside the head, then I might have to take it into my own hands.” He lift his two fists like he was preparing for a fight.

I reached out and placed my hand on his fists. ”Violence never solved anything. It just creates more problems.”

Noah looked a bit sheepish as he put his hands down. ”I'm just kidding.”

”You're not wrong though.” Dave said from the front. He caught me looking at him. ”Not wrong that Kyle needs an attitude readjustment, I mean. That part. It's good that Dad's going to talk to him. Hopefully we don't have a moodier Kyle this weekend or my birthday is going to be ruined.”

Birthday?

”Kyle and Dave's birthday is June 3rd, Monday.” Noah told me. He leaned forward. ”Do you want to celebrate without him? We can just leave him at home and go do whatever you want.”

Dave shook his head. ”Sometimes I think like that, but Kyle is just going through a phase. I don't want to look back and see how petty I was to not spend our 17th birthday together.”

Zeke nodded. ”Smart.”

Dave grinned. ”This doesn't mean that I won't be accepting better gifts than Kyle. If you guys want to show that you appreciate me more than Kyle, that is.”

”I can give you a better gift.” Zeke smiled lightly as he pulled into the school's parking lot.

Dave's grin fell off his face as he stiffened. ”Kidding. I don't need any gifts this year. Please.” He begged.

”I didn't need my locker decorated either.” Zeke parked. ”I think you're a more purple guy than pink.” He got out of the car.

I remembered how Dave had Garret decorate Zeke's locker for his birthday. I smiled as Noah laughed at Dave.

”Your birthday is on a school day this year, Dave.” Noah told him. ”You should have been more careful with your pranks. Let's go, Jake, we have some planning to do.”

I grabbed my backpack and followed Zeke and Noah to the school. ”Are we pranking the twins on Monday?”

”That's a given.” Noah told me. ”It's tradition, remember? It's especially fun for the twins because we get to team up with Zeke.”

Zeke's lips twitched. ”I think you mean it's more fun for you.”

Noah shrugged. ”Same difference.”

I laughed. It's not, but okay. ”What did you guys do last year?”

Noah shook his head. ”Just some fun stuff at home. Their birthday was on a Sunday last year. So this Monday, we've got to do something special.” He looked up at Zeke. ”You'll have to teach us your ways before you go off to college.”

Zeke smiled. ”We have the weekend to plan it out.”