Mutiny Below

Natalia

I woke up to someone singing loudly in my ear. I groaned and rolled over, coming face to face with Eric. I pushed him away but he just grinned at me.

"Eric, for the love of all that is holy, leave the singing to my brother."

"Hey! I take offense to that! I can sing!"

"Eric, doll, no, you can't."

He gasped and marched out of my room while Irolled out of bed and went over to get some clothes for the day. Once I was dressed, I went into the den, surprised that the only people sitting there were Nick, Eric, andof course John. I sat down between Nick and Eric so that I was as far away from John as possible. Nick and John talked and Eric poked my shoulder blade.

"Yes?"

He leaned in really close to whisper in my ear. "I'm starving."

"So go make yourself something."

"Let's go get something. Leave them here."

"Good idea."

The two of us got to our feet and went right out the front door with neither John nor Nick saying anything to us about where we were going. We got into Eric's car and drove into town. It wasn't long before we reached a Denny's where we ate enough food for about five people.

By the time we got back to Eric's place, we could barely move we were so full. Nick was gone somewhere but John was sitting on the left side of the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table, flipping through channels. I reluctantly sat down next to him, still with considerable distance and Eric plopped down on my other side.

The next thing I knew, I heard someone say "Aww, look how cute they are!" and then a noise, similar to that of an old camera. I opened my eyes partly to see Pat and Garrett standing across from the couch where we were. I was leaned almost completely down on my left side onto a body, while another body was practically lying on top of my right side. When I realized whose body I was sleeping on, I shot up straight, causing Eric to be jostled as well. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before looking at me.

"Did you just, like, twitch?"

I scoffed. "I do not twitch, Halvorsen. I was....startled."

"Startled. By what exactly?"

"Uh, a dream. My dream. That I just had. Just now. Yeah, that."

He raised his eyebrows at me but he let it go. I looked back over at John, who had his arm slung over the arm rest of the couch and his head resting on it as well, sleeping peacefully. I thought about how adorable he looked in that position but then I wanted to slap myself for even thinking it.

Pat smiled at me warmly from where he had plopped down indian style in the single chair across from me.

"Sorry about the picture. It was just so cute!"

I laughed quietly and got up to go steal a Dr. Pepper from Eric's fridge. The door opened and banged shut loudly as Nick came in. John shot straight up and looked around at all of us, who just looked back at him oddly. He shrugged it off and laid back down in his previous position and stared at Pat, who stared back. They sat like that for a long time until Garrett announced that it was time to go. Pat blinked and John sat up cheering.

"Ha! I win, I win! I beat you, Kirch!"

"Rematch next practice. Count on it!"

John rolled his eyes at Pat as he and Garrett left, leaving just Nick, John, Eric, and I alone again. Nick took the chair previously occupied by Pat, leaving me to go sit next to John again. Luckily, Eric saved me by grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door.

"Where are we going?"

"For a walk."

I really didn't care, as long as I was getting away from John for a bit. That's when I heard footsteps behind us and I turned to see John catchnig up to us with his extremely long legs.

"I told Nick we were going to the pool but he didn't want to come with."

I wondered why we'd be going to the pool when all three of us were fully dressed in regular clothes but I said nothing.

"So what's up with your brother?" John asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Kennedy, Jared, and I have all been trying to set him up with this girl but he keeps saying no."

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I mean, I know he's still kind of hung up on another girl."

"What girl? Someone back home?"

I shook my head. "No, he met her last time he was here. He came home practically head over heels for her. I don't know who she is but she must be pretty great. He hasn't been with anybody else since."

"Why doesn't he just go get her then if she's here?"

"I don't know. I don't think he can find her. He thinks about her alot though. Totally spaces out on me all the time."

Once we got to the pool, Eric began to walk around it. I found that extremely odd so I just stood at one corner while he and John walked around in opposite directions. That's when I realized what they were doing. They were circling me like sharks. I glared at Eric because he was the weaker of the two.

"Eric, don't you dare!"

"What are you talking about, Nat?"

"Eric! I will kill you, I swear!"

John and Eric both burst out laughing and came at me at once. Eric put his arms under mine and John grabbed my feet, picking me up off the ground. They counted to 3 together then swung back and let go of me. I crashed into the water, which was surprisingly cool. When I surfaced, I glared at both of them while they just stood laughing on the edge. I climbed up the side ladder and started to walk back to Eric's without saying a word to either of them. They caught up to me but at the pace they were walking, I soon fell a few steps behind.

When I reached the door to Eric's apartment, he and John had already gone in. They tried to tone down the laughter while Nick took in my appearance. Jayce had arrived in the time that we were gone. "Uh, what the hell happened?"

I huffed and glared at the both of them. I smacked them both in their stomachs and Eric actually winced. "Jackass and Dumbass threw me into the pool!"

I stormed off to my room and shut the door. I went over to get some more clothes since the ones I was wearing were completely soaked. Nick opened the door and sat down on the edge of my bed.

"What?"

He chuckled. "Are you really mad or are you just exaggerating?"

"I guess I'm not that mad. But they didn't have to throw me in the freaking pool."

"Well, at least you're getting along. Particularly with Eric."

I rolled my eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. You just seem a little cozy with him, that's all. I've never seen you like that with anyone before."

"Are you seriously going to do that? This is the first friend I've ever had besides you and you're going to go ruin it?"

"God, Nat, Sorry. I just thought maybe-"

"Well, I'm not. We're not. I don't."

"Okay. I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

He got up and threw his arm around my shoulders, leaning in to kiss my forehead.

"I love you, little sister."

"I love you too, big brother."

He grinned and left my room so I changed into my comfy clothes and went back into the den. John and Jayce were already gone when I got back. I went into the kitchen and got a pepsi then sat down on the opposite side of the couch from Eric and he looked over at me and smiled. I pretended he wasn't there as I began to pick at the dark purple polish on my nails. He poked me in the ribs and when I looked up at him, he made a pouty face.

"What do you want?"

"Naaaat, pretty please don't be mad at me."

"Why shouldn't I? You threw me in the pool fully clothed."

"But I'm sorry! Please, please, please?"

"No."

"Pleeeeeease?"

"Nope."

"Natalia, pretty please with sugar on top? Please, please, please, please, please?"

"Okay, fine! Geez man. Whine much?"

"Aww, you love me."

He scooted closer to me and put his arm around my shoulders, grinning the whole time. I just shook my head at him and went back to chipping my nail polish.

"Since you were so nice forgiving me and all, here you go." He handed me the remote control and smiled, laying back against the armrest. I took it gladly and began to flip through the channels until I stopped on the Discovery channel.

"Yes! Planet Earth is on!"

"What? Nat, no, no, no! No Discovery channel!"

"Come on, Eri!. Discovery channel rules."

"Natalia, give back the remote."

"Nope!"

"Natalia!"

"Eric!"

"Give it back!"

"No!"

I put the remote under me and just as he lunged, I laid back to dodge him. He ended up falling on top of me and immediately began to tickle my sides. I squirmed and moved to try to get away from him but he was too strong. He laughed at me laughing but it's not like I could help it. He was freaking tickling me.

I thought I heard a knock but my focus went back to Eric, who was still mercilessly attacking my sides.

"Give it back, Natalia!"

"No!"

"Umm, am I interrupting?"

My head snapped over to the door where the voice had come from. Jayce was standing in the doorway in front of Nick, looking at us oddly. Eric sat up so that he could see them, but it also meant that he was sitting on me, straddling my waist. I felt my cheeks heat up immediately so I stared up at the ceiling in order to keep my mind on something else.

"Jayce? What are you doing here?" Eric asked.

"My boyfriend ditched me for band night." She smiled but she didn't seem too happy about it.

"Kennedy?" Eric questioned.

"Boy's too forgetful for his own good," she answered as she came into the room and sat on the loveseat across from us. "So what are you guys doing?" She looked from Eric, to me, to Nick who was still standing over at the door.

Eric looked down at me with a playful smile. "Nat's hiding the remote under her butt and I was tickling her to try and get it back."

"Unsuccessfully," Nick commented. I laughed quietly, or so I thought. Jayce looked at me somewhat surprised.

"Right, well some idiot won't help me," he complained. He moved his hands back to my ribs and I squealed and jumped. Eric fell backwards off of me and hit his elbows on the coffee table behind him. "Damn it!"

Nick, Jayce, and I all burst out laughing.

"That's what you get," I told him cheerfully.

"Come on, Natty! I am so tired of watching the Discovery channel, " he whined. Of course he exaggerated. We'd only been watching it for like ten minutes at the most. He looked up at me from the floor with his big puppy eyes.

"Why don't you pick out something to eat then?" Jayce offered, handing Eric a take-out menu. "Dinner's on me."

Eric's face lit up as he snatched the menu from her hand. "Awesome!" He fell back onto the couch and opened the menu excitedly. "Hey, this is the one I highlighted in!"

Jayce smiled as she kicked off her shoes andstood up. "So I noticed. You have any Hard Lemonade?"

Eric nodded at her, still staring at the menu in his hands. "Bottom shelf in the back."

She got up and went into the kitchen and I noticed Nick follow her. I lookd over Eric's shoulder at the menu as we decided what to get. Nick returned before Jayce did with a bottle in hand and spread out on the loveseat. I told Eric what I wanted and he got up and practically ran into the kitchen shouting Jayce's name.

He soon returned to the living room and flopped down next to me.

"Natalia?"

"Yes, Eric?"

"Can I have the remote back?"

"Nope."

He stuck his tongue out at me and crossed his arms over his chest. I clutched the remote to my chest so that he couldn't take it from me. Jayce returned to the living room, holding a phone in her hand. "Um, I need a ride to go pick up the food."

Eric's hand shot up in the air. "I volunteer Nick!"

"Thanks, Halvo. I think I'll just eat your egg rolls on the drive back."

"Don't you dare!" Eric shouted. I shook my head as Nick followed Jayce out the door.

Eric randomly got up and went over to the kitchen counter, picking up a paper and returning with it in his hand.

"Look how cute we are."

He held it out to me and I took it from his hand, looking down at it. Apparently, I was right and it had been an old camera-- the kind that instantly gives you the picture when you take it. John was sleeping peacefully leaned over the armrest of the couch. I was leaned on him, practically lying down with my head on his shoulder. Eric was leaned basically on top of me with his legs curled up and his arms tucked against his chest, like he was cuddling up to me. It wouldv'e been a cute picture if I hadn't felt so embarrassed about being all up on John like that.

I handed the picture back to him. "Yeah, we are."

He got up and went to the kitchen, returning with a pepsi for each of us. We drank pepsi and talked while we watched the shark attacks on screen until Jayce and Nick returned. Jayce sat down between Eric and I.

"So what are we watching?"

"Whale Wars," I answered quietly.

Nick groaned. "We've watched all these episodes at least twenty times." He set the food down on the coffee table and sat down on the loveseat.

"Eric hasn't, and neither has Jayce." I stuck my tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes as Jayce began to pass the food out to us.

"Whale Wars and Chinese. Sound Awesome." She gave me a smile and we ate our food while we watched tv. By the time another episode had gone off, Eric was unusually hyper.

"Let's play a game!" he shouted and began to bounce.

"What kind of game?" I asked hesitantly. I switched off the tv.

"Card game!" Eric jumped up and went over to a drawer to grab a deck of cards.

"Poker?" Nick suggested.

"No!" Eric shouted. He glanced at Jayce. "This one's a devil! She'll strip you down to your undies in like ten seconds."

Eric looked absolutely terrified. Nick and I looked at each other confused.

"You guys played strip poker?" Nick asked.

"It was more like Halvo-takes-of-clothes-poker. I didn't take anything off," Jayce replied.

"And I have learned my lesson." Eric went into the kitchen so we all followed him.

"So what are we playing then, Halvo dearest?" Jayce asked as she sat down next to him.

Eric grinned. "Bullshit."

Nick and Jayce both chuckled as he sat down across from her. I smiled and took my seat across from Eric.

"This is going to be a long game," Nick muttered under his breath. "Natalia likes to call bullshit every few hands."

"Hey!" I shouted. I glared and smacked him on the arm.

"Halvo does that too, just because he likes to scream bullshit at the top of his lungs," Jayce informed us.

Eric glared at her. "That is only when I'm drunk, for your information." He shuffled the cards on the table and began to deal our cards. "Nick, you go first. Two's."

Nick cleard his throat and stared at his cards for a moment. "Alright, I've got one two." He smacked the card down in the center of the table.

I knew he was lying. I played this game with him enough. "Bullshit," I said quietly.

"What was that?" Eric asked, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Bullshit!"

Nick sighed. "Dammit, Nat." He glared at me and I giggled quietly. I got him every time.

"Oh, come on, Nicky. I can always tell when you're lying."

I pulled two cards out of my right hand and put them on the table, smiling slightly. "Two three's."

"Bullshit!" Eric exclaimed, pointing at me. I giggled again as I turned over my cards to reveal my two three's.

"Damn." He sighed and picked up my cards from the table.

The game did run extremely long. Nick, Eric, and Jayce broke out their alcohol but none of them got completely drunk. I had fallen back on the couch next to Eric and just closed my eyes for a second, hearing Eric and Nick talk back and forth.

The next thing I knew, I felt myself being suddenly lifted. I felt like I could fall at any moment but there was a pair of warm arms keeping me from that. I felt myself being lowered down and then the arms disappeared, leaving me on a soft, cool surface. I assumed I must be in my bed so I rolled over and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.