All's Fair in Love and War

Chapter 5: Laser Tagging and an Unexpected Kiss

When we pulled up at the laser tagging place I had only one thought in my mind.

This place was for babies.

To be more specific, it was for 8-12 year olds, but it still wasn't for 20-25 year olds.

The 'Laser Arena' was a tiny whitewashed building in a small-ish strip mall occupied with other little mom 'n' pop stores.

The windows of the building were photos of pre-teen boys smiling as they shot each other with blue light-up laser guns.

Drake got out of the car next, standing beside me.

"Let me guess," he said, the sides of his mouth twisted up into a playful smile. "Flynn picked this place out."

I laughed. "Yep."

Trish was on the other side of me in an instant. She was dressed casually in blue jeans and a navy top.

"Well, let's check it out," she prodded, her motherly instincts taking over.

I rolled my eyes but followed her anyways, taking Parker's hand and dragging him with me.

The inside was even more pathetic than the outside.

There was a clown blow up on one side of the room and there was a ball pit filled with more kids on the other side.

A pimple faced teenager looked up at us from behind the administration desk. His name tag read Sheldon. "You

guys here to pick up your kids?"

Trish shook her head. "No, actually we're here to play."

Sheldon raised an eyebrow. "You are here to play?"

Trish nodded, pursing her lips. "Is that okay?"

Sheldon seemed to snap out of it. "Um, uh, yeah, I guess."

He reached below the desk and retrieved 7 light blue cards. He slid them through what looked like a credit card slot.

"One game, right?" he asked Trish. She nodded and he passed her the cards.

"The first door to the left," he motioned us.

We stepped through the door and into a pitch black room. As my eyes adjusted to the strange lighting I realized that

the racks on the wall were occupied by huge light up vests and guns.

On the wall was an electronic board. It read 'Put on your vest and get ready. The arena will open in __ seconds.'

I looked at the blank spot. 8 seconds.

I pulled a vest on and held the gun in my hand. 2 seconds.

There was a loud siren as the wall with the electronic board on it shifted to the side, revealing the arena.

There was a loud 'GO!' as we all took off running. I grabbed Flynn's hand with me as we climbed up a huge ladder onto a loft where we had perfect view of everything below us.

I could see Trish wandering around and whistled at her. When she looked up I shot her in the chest.

"Hey!" she whined.

I laughed. "Only the strong survive."

We played like that for 5 minutes before I got shot by Flynn.

"Flynn, what the fuck?" I yelled. He laughed.

"Only the strong survive," he said mockingly. I scowled.

"I've been shot!" I moaned, falling to the ground dramatically.

The final alarm went off, alerting us that the game was over.