Page 4 of Running With Lions

“Hey!” Mason scowls. “I’ve expanded my horizons. The guys on the swim team…”

Okay, so Mason flirted and gotoneguy on the swim team’s number.

“And Willie’s friend—”

“Miguel.” Willie sighs, nose wrinkling.

“Miguel!” Mason releases a pleased grin. “I hooked up with him at Carl’s last party.”

Willie tosses cheese puffs in Mason’s hair. They bicker like kid brothers constantly; Sebastian plays mediator. In less than a year, he won’t be pulling them apart anymore.

When Mason veers the car down a long stretch of familiar road, giddiness thrums inside of Sebastian. Clean countryside air fills his lungs. He can’t wait to fall into his cabin bed, run around the pitch, and hang with his teammates.

But this Emir rumor is a zombie feasting on his brains. The chance of Emir Shah turning up athistraining camp in any alternate universe is zero. Why would he? Emir is a loner who doesn’t play any sport, including soccer.

“You haven’t thought about it?” Willie asks.

Sebastian startles. Haven’t thought about what? Emir being at camp? The fact that their childhood friendship was unceremoniously flushed down the drain when they became teenagers?

“Being captain,” Willie says, face contorted.

He has. Sometimes he daydreams about being the leader who gets the team a trophy. It’d be incredible. But it’s an awesome responsibility too. It’s like floating on the ocean, being weightless and consumed at the same time. “I don’t know,” he finally says.

Sebastian closes his eyes. The sun burns pretty colors behind his eyelids: the cornflower of the sky mixes with the pink in Willie’s cheeks and a wash of green from the passing grass. The easiness of summer drowns out everything else.

2

Oakville isn’t officially atown.It’s a short stretch of narrow road with one gas station, a single traffic light, and a few attractions for summer tourists, like a cheesy ‘50s-style diner with wonky air conditioning but the best burgers Sebastian’s ever had. The ice cream shop has outdoor seating, and an old drive-in at the edge of town brings in a handful of townies at night. But the rest is mostly old shops selling “Greetings from Oakville!” postcards or antiques, owned by lifers who refuse to move out.

“Here it is, kids!” Mason says in a corny TV announcer voice.

A mile and a half off the main road, a summer camp has been renovated into their training facility. An ancient wooden sign hangs at the entrance bridge: “Camp Haven.” It used to be Camp Heaven, a Christian youth camp, but one of the E’s fell off a decade ago.

“Welcome to hell,” Mason says as they pass over the bridge.

Willie chuckles from the back seat while Sebastian takes it all in once again.

The modernized cabins fit two boys, a stupid rule according to Willie, but that’s because he wants all three of them to bunk together. Behind the cabins sits a massive lake that shines like black diamonds after sunset. Nearby is the old main lodge, now a cafeteria. Guys use the picnic area to sneak cigarettes at night. Around the bend is a huge shed used for equipment storage, affectionately called “the Hot Box” because there’s no ventilation, a hard lesson Sebastian learned his first year. The locker room is bathed in an eternal stench of sweat and jockstraps, but the water pressure in the showers is amazing.

The vibe reminds Sebastian of Jason Voorhees, Camp Crystal Lake, and all those lame ‘80s horror movies Willie loves.

Mason grins and hops out of the car. “And look, most of the hellions have already arrived!”

Willie says, “Quit it, Mace,” as he pulls on his backpack. “This place is a sanctuary,” he announces. “A no-man’s-land, dude.Sacred.”

Sebastian snorts, dropping an arm around Willie’s shoulders and a hand in his sweaty hair.

“Very poetic, Will,” Mason mocks. “Keep waxing sweet haikus like that and I’m gonna marry you.” Clearly, Mason has no ideawhata haiku is.

“Not because I’m a good kisser?”

Mason scrunches his face. “Dude, I’ll take your word on it.”

“You should.” Willie grins wryly. “I suck face better than I cook.”

Yep, these are Sebastian’s best friends.

Not too much later, therest of the team pulls in. Sebastian’s eyes scan the usual faces along with rookies who trained with them during the spring. He’s not searching for anyone…

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