“Well, of course. I love the kid, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let him have all the fun,” Leland replies, filling out the form before passing it off to Cassel.
“What are the forms for? I feel like if we have to sign our life away, this is going to be really dangerous,” Waylon says.
Cam is already suited up while Waylon stares at his suit like it might bite.
“Did you forget how to dress?” Leland asks.
“Ooh, Waylon, did Leland tell you about the time that he put Jackson in a full-body bulletproof suit?” Cassel asks.
“We don’t need to tell him about that,” Leland says.
“I mean… that’s why I’m hesitating too,” I comment as I hold my suit out before me and judge my ability to swim in it.
Leland gives me a reassuring pat. “Oh shush. There’s no water here.”
“Water? What happened?” Waylon asks Cassel.
“Once Jackson was all suited up, he could barely walk, and that’s when he got pushed into a pool and sank like arock. Henry told me all about it and I was crying, I was laughing so hard.”
“Iwas not laughing,” I say as a suited Leland walks over to Waylon and picks him up off the ground in quite the hold. There’s like an arm under his armpit going around to his neck and another arm holding Waylon’s legs that he’s currently jabbing at Cassel.
“Get his feet in it,” he orders Cassel.
Waylon is flailing while Cassel pins his legs together so he can slip the feet in.
“Stop! I can dress myself!” Waylon demands.
“At this rate, I’ll be an old man if I leave you to dress yourself,” Leland says as Cassel grabs the suit and starts shoving it on.
“Hon, you’re putting it on him backwards,” Jeremy observes.
“Well, I’ve never dressed a child before!” Cassel says.
“I’m… I’m pretty sure it’s the same as dressing yourself,” Jeremy tells him.
“Let me dress myself!” Waylon cries as his friend laughs. With Jeremy’s help, they get the legs part of the suit on, so Leland finally puts him down. Waylon hastily pulls the rest of the suit on and zips it to the very top before Leland can even think about helping with the rest.
“Cam… do you think if we started running… we could hitch a ride to somewhere far, far away? I’d rather go to your parents’ party and babysit that annoying kid. I’ll even let her put makeup on me.”
“If you want someone to do your hair and makeup, Cassel is really good at it,” Leland says. “He made me look snazzy… at that… party… where we dressed up… as, uhh… guys… help me. Make it seem normal.”
“As women of the night,” Cassel tosses out.
“I wasn’t included,” Jeremy says. “Thankfully, I might add.”
“I don’t even want to know,” Waylon mutters as Leland ushers him through the door and into the next room where his eyes go wide when he sees the big tubelike thing in the center of the room. “Is this an indoor skydiving place? I saw one of these on YouTube!”
Leland beams. “Sure is. And Cam, don’t worry, I made sure your parents were good with it.”
“This is amazing,” Cam says as he hurries over to look at the tube with Waylon. Then the instructor comes over and talks us through everything before he gets them suited up with helmets.
Leland leans in to whisper into my ear. “We should send Cam in first, not because I’d want to sacrifice him first out of everyone in this group, but since we should let the guest go first.”
“I’m glad you clarified,” I say with much sarcasm.
Waylon eagerly watches and waits for his turn. Once Cam comes out looking windblown but thrilled, the instructor takes Waylon into the tube and helps him turn and rise and fall.He’s all smiles the entire time and when he comes out, we send Leland next.
“This is amazing,” Waylon tells me.
