Best-Friends with Issues

Chapter 18- Pride and Prejudice and Paintball

Sandy frowned. "I don't know. There's so many of them and only two of us."

I rolled my eyes, before turning my head back in the direction we had come from. "Hey, Thing One and Thing Two! Are you coming to regain your pride as human beings, or are you just gonna sit back and let your little brother and sister do all the heavy lifting?" I called over.

"Your sarcasm is noted!" Sam called back as he emerged from his hiding place and bolted forward.

"Hey, wait up- OWWW!" Stanton had moved approximately two steps before he was shot. He ran after his brother, his arms blocking his face as he was hit every few steps. "This is so- OWW!- not fair! Wh- OWW!- y am I the- OWW!- the only one getting shot?! OUCH!"

I'll admit, by this point I had already burst into laughter.

When the twins finally reached a hiding place a few meters away from me and Sandy, Sam gave me a nod and did some weird hand signals that I think were supposed to be military style. Well, I ignored the bit where he just made animals and butterfly shapes with his hands.

I saluted him, feeling like a total badass in an action movie. I turned to the younger brother beside me, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sandy, I'll cause a distraction. While the enemy fire is focused on me, you start taking them out. Got it?"

"But Selena-!" He protested worriedly.

I cut him off with a shake of my head. "This is something I have to do."

After a moment, he clenched his jaw and nodded in affirmation, his blue eyes shining with determination. I gave him my best smirk, and said "See ya on the other side, kid."

And with that, I leaped out from behind the shelter and sprinted towards the enemy lines, letting out a furious battle cry.

I swerved and dodged bullet after bullet with my feet barely touching the ground, weaving back and forth as I stared into the unnerved eyes of the enemy teenagers. Behind me, I could hear the sounds of my brothers shooting the ones who had come out from their hiding spots to try and shoot at me.

I went in for a forward roll, only to come up short and flop onto my back on the ground.

I had been so caught up in my movie scene moment, that it took me a minute to realize that I had just made a fool out of myself, and I was now a sitting duck in the crossfire of paint balls.

I made the grievous mistake of sitting up, only to be shot twice, once in the chest and once in the back. I yelped and hit the deck, while glaring over my shoulder at my brothers.

"WHICH OF YOU IDIOTS JUST SHOT ME!?" I yelled, fuming. One of the shots had hit me from the enemy's side, but one had also hit me from the opposite direction.

"Sorry, that was my bad!" Sam called back, looking not at all sorry. I bared my teeth at him and growled.

I hissed at the stinging after pain of being hit by the paint balls, turning back to face the front with my gun clutched to my chest.

Using every ounce of muscle I possessed, I started to army crawl towards the nearest shelter. Luckily, most of the opposing side was bust countering my brothers' shooting, and ignored me as I humiliatingly crawled for cover.

Unluckily, only most of them ignored me.

"Yowch!" I yelped as a paint ball shot me right in the butt. I paused to scowl in the general direction it had come from. "I know that was on purpose, ass wipe!"

After a few more moments of crawling and just daring someone else to shoot me in the behind again, I finally was close enough to the barrier. I log rolled the remainder of the distance, and took a small breather now that I wasn't in danger of being shot.

Just as I had gotten up into a crouch, Sandy came barreling past me, Sam right on his tail as they shot their weapons. Stanton brought up the rear, but of course, he was still a magnet to the paint bullets.

"OW OW OWWWWWW!! I hate this game!"

I watched in awe as Sandy and Sam halted a few meters from where the enemy team was hiding, Sandy crouched on one knee and Sam standing over him. They fired shot after shot with deadly precision, steadily taking down our opponents.

I saw Sam grit his teeth as he was shot in the stomach, but then he just glared and fired his weapons faster. After a minute or so, the firing died down and the winning bell went off.

The voice on the intercom announced, "Team Sam-Is-The-Coolest is the winner!"

"Victory!!!" Sam cheered, dropping his paintball gun and lifting Sandy into the air as he giggled.

The other team groaned as they got to their feet, glaring at us as they hobbled away towards the exit. "Rainbow really suits you, suckers!!!" Sam called after them, cackling as he spun the youngest brother around some more.

I stood up from my hiding place and joined them, grinning. When the pair saw me coming, Sam swung Sandy over to cling to his back.

"Sellbells! There's my favorite baddass soldier sister!" Sam cheered jubilantly, throwing an arm over my shoulder.

"Selena, you were so cool!" Sandy exclaimed, peering over the elder brother's shoulder to look at me with wide, awe-filled blue eyes.

"Minus the part where you tried to do a roll and fell flat on your ass." Sam pointed out, and I felt my cheeks go red. "That was just embarrassing."

I huffed at him and crossed my arms, but was in too good of a mood to start arguing.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Stanton complained as he finally caught up to us, panting and covered in colorful paint literally from head to toe. "How did Sandy not get shot even once?"

Sandy beamed, clearly taking it as a compliment. Sam reached over to ruffle his hair, grinning proudly. "That's just because my baby brother is freaking awesome!"

Stanton scowled, clearly unsatisfied. "Well then, how many times did you guys get shot?"

"Four times, I think." Sam answered, looking over his clothes to count.

Stanton turned to me expectantly. "And you?"

I held up three fingers. Stanton's jaw dropped in disbelief. "No fair!" Looking over his paint covered form, I had to agree.

"I know you got shot once by me in the back, and once in the front, but where was the third shot?" Sam asked.

I blushed again, and Sam's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Before I could react, he grabbed my arm and spun me around.

Sam instantly burst into hysterics, brought to his knees with Sandy still hugging himself to his back. Even Stanton let out a snort.

I turned back around and glared at them all. "Shut up! It's not that funny!"

"Someone shot you in the ass?!" Sam could barely get the words out through his laughter, and he dropped to his hands and knees.

Rolling my eyes and trying to hide my embarrassment, I picked up Sandy from his back and balanced him on my hip, before using a foot to shove him over.

Sam just kept on laughing though, so I huffed indigently and stormed away with Sandy.

Family bonding my ass.

I turned my head as Sandy patted me gently on the cheek, smiling and looking nothing like the battle-crazy paintballer he had proved to be.

"I'm glad we came here! Today was fun!" He told me happily, and I couldn't resist smiling back and planting a smooch on his cheek. He giggled and shied away, before leaning his head on my shoulder and squeezing me tighter. I could head Sam and Stanton laughing and bickering good naturedly a little ways behind us.

But still, maybe this kind of thing isn't so bad, once in a while.

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Sorry for the wait!

Just tell me what you think! Sounds like fun, if you ask me!