He gave me a pathetic look and said, “That hurts, Cass. I’ve been shot. Twice. I almost died.”
I was actually starting to feel guilty about giving him a hard time until he started laughing. “You’re an ass,” I told him as I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, but you love me,” he taunted.
“Are you going to tell me what you need help with, or am I supposed to guess? No, wait! Let me guess. It’s something for one of your many, many girlfriends, or you need me to do your laundry again.”
“I’ve only asked you to do my laundry once,” he heckled.
“Only because you didn’t like my fabric softener.”
“I smelled like lilacs, Cass. No guy should smell like fucking lilacs,” he fussed.
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I remembered adding several extra sheets to the dryer just to make sure the scent would be strong enough to last, and it did… for days. I loved it. My entire apartment smelled like lilacs. Clutch wasn’t a fan.
“So if it isn’t laundry, it must be something about a girl.”
“No… well, maybe later. Right now, I need your help with Dusty. He wants me to help him with a project, but I don’t even know where to start.”
“What kind of project?”
“He’s gotta make a model of the Solar System for his science class. And it’s gotta have all the bells and whistles. Full on epic project, better than anything they’ve ever seen before.”
“And he asked you to help him with that?”
“Of course, he did. I’m the best.”
“Okay, Mr. Arts and Crafts. When is the project due?” I asked.
“Tomorrow,” he answered with a grimace. “He asked me to help a few weeks ago, and I kinda forgot.”
“Clutch!” I scolded. “How are we supposed to get this done in a day?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.”
“Let me finish this up, and then I’ll make a list of things we’re going to need. Maybe you can get Scooter to make a run for us.”
“Thanks, Cass. I knew I could count on you. I’ll go see if I can round up Scooter,” Clutch said as he grabbed a piece of cooked sausage off the skillet and turned to leave.
I quickly finished putting together the sausage and biscuits and turned off the stove. Once I had everything put on the table, I got out a piece of paper and started my shopping list. I was still writing when Dusty walked in.
“Hey, Cass-dy,” he smiled and reached for a biscuit. “Me and Clutch are gonna do my project today.”
“Clutch was telling me about that. It’s going to be awesome.”
“It’s the Solar System and it’s gonna have lights,” he said proudly.
“Lights!” I gasped. Clutch never mentioned he promised Dusty lights.
“Yep. It’s going to be ep-ic,” he laughed.
The smile on his face was contagious, and in a matter of seconds, I found myself feeling just as excited as he was about his not-so-little science project. “Yes, it’s definitely going to be epic.”
“Where’s Clutch?” he asked as he took a big bite of his biscuit.
“He’ll be back in a minute. He’s got to get a few things together before you can start your project.”
“Okay.”
“When I was a kid, I really loved doing projects like this. Would you mind if I helped a little?”
“Yeah. That’d be cool,” he answered.
“Awesome. I’ll let you know when he gets back so we can get started,” I offered.
“Okeydokey. I’m gonna go play video games with Wy-it,” he shouted as he walked out of the kitchen.
I finished up my very detailed list and gave it to Scooter and Clutch, giving them both explicit directions to buy exactly what was on the list. When they returned, they had me follow them into the TV room where Clutch had set up a table for us to work on. When Clutch dumped everything out of the table, I was completely flabbergasted. They’d done what I asked, but they’d also bought a ton of crap we’d never be able to use.
Astounded, I placed my hand on my forehead and asked, “Exactly why do we need balloons and confetti?”
“I told you it was going to be epic,” Clutch laughed.
“Just so we’re clear, I told him he didn’t need all this stuff,” Scooter said, shaking his head.
“Yeah, I think you may have gone a little overboard here, Clutch,” I warned.
“Nah, it’s going to be awesome. Where’s Dusty?” Clutch asked.
“He’s in his room, playing video games with Wyatt.”
Scooter headed for the door and said, “I’ll go get him while you guys get everything set up.”
“Thanks, man,” Clutch told him as he started organizing the huge pile of supplies he’d bought. I stood there and watched in amazement as he sorted through all the things he’d purchased. He’d finally gotten everything into place when Dusty walked in. When he saw all the goodies, he rushed over to us and looked at all the different-colored balls and paints spread out on the table.
“You ready to get busy?” Clutch asked him.
“Yep.”