(thirty five)
GILINSKY'S POV
"Now, we'll be stacking each other. First group to reach the top of the ceiling wins. Simple? Yes, yes it is. I also have a survival game planned out." I heard Pepper from inside the kitchen say.
I walk over there and I lean against the doorframe while a nearby couple not so silently tangle themselves in each other's lims and lock lips. I attempt to casually listen to the conversation, but they suddenly quiet down.
I cross my arms against my chest and watch the display in front of me.
I was checking out some *ss. F*ck yeah. No girlfriend to get in between all of that. I was silently blending into the crowd when I saw Ella in the corner of my eye attempting to what I thought was twerk to amuse or distract Sam who was reaching for another drink.
If *sses had cup sizes, this girl does would not be allowed to do that. Oh, speaking of cup sizes, I feel like motorboating right now as I watch the girls jiggling their stuff everywhere much to my taste.
From the corner of my eye, I see that Johnson has taken control of Sam and Ella is walking over towards me.
"I'm sorry if I was heavy for you." Ella says gingerly and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
"You really need to eat. Maybe some will even go to your boobies." She stomped away like the child she was. I bet she'll send Johnson to fight off for her.
Then, I remember how Johnson kept hugging Ella earlier. He was obviously trying to get on my nerves. I could feel my eye start to twitch, which was really annoying. This is odd. Did I feel a little prang of jealousy when I saw that? No way.
I have a girl. I don't need Ella. She doesn't mean anything. Pepper came out from the door I was leaning on and he glared at me from under the ice pack on his head.
I smirked at the thought that I had been the one to inflict pain on that bastard. F*cking pissing me off. Who the hell does he think he is picking on Johnson (and me although I don't give a flying f*ck) like that?
I snickered as he walked away and in front of he crowd again. "Okay, this game involves stacking on each other. The first group with the most people stacked in the time limit wins."
Pepper is glaring and smirking at the same time. Maybe I was being paranoid, but when he glanced at me with a widening to a grin, I realized that something serious was about to go down.
"Let's go! I have an exciting game afterwards!" I stride over to where the three were standing and observe as they attempt to climb each other's shoulders.
Sam is on the very bottom which didn't seem clever considering he was drunk. I watched them as they wiggled while Ella was complaining about her fear of heights.
I bet that's a lie too. I bet she's just saying that to get someone's sympathy. They finally manage to stand firmly on the ground when a crowd starts to gather.
From behind the crowd grouping, I can see Pepper peeking out from the other faces. He reached his hand out while looking directing at me before teasingly laying a hand on the tower of three.
Sh*t, he's gonna to knock them down. If Ella was the only one up there and two irrelevants, I wouldn't have made a effort to save them, but I did know them. They did mean something. Jack and Sam meant something to me.
Even if I did hate Ella, I didn't want her in be in some coma, right? I convinced myself that at that moment that she actually meant something small to me in my life. I leaped from my position and outstretched my arms to catch Johnson and Ella since Sam would be okay landing on the floor with a few minor scratches give or take.
Johnson lands on my feet and make my legs jerk back a little while I prepare to brace for the impact.
Ella lands on my chest, muffling her sharp scream and burying her face. I get pushed back by her and fall backwards. I take it back. This b*tch needs to lose some d*mn weight. My head lands on the floor and the last thing I remember are two shadows tugging on me and yelling.
JOHNSON'S POV
Was I pissed off as hell? F*ck yeah. I know for a fact that was not Sam's fault that we fell. He was regaining himself around that time. Sam is a heavy drinker. He may not act like a sober person, but he can f*cking think like he's sober.
Gilinsky was dropped off in the hospital by Nash and Cam. I wasn't going to leave Sam here in a drunken mess because he thought it was his fault that one of his home boys dropped to the floor like someone snapped his neck while Ella was sitting at a table staring at nothing.
I think she feels a little guilty. I know he dislikes her. So why save her? I was trying to provoke him all night by just hanging out with her, so was it just a way to show me that he was stronger than me?
Was he trying to impress someone? I shake the thought out of my head and decide to investigate what happened. I didn't know if it was just my imagination or nah, but I saw a hand reach out to Sam. I saw what I saw. I know Sam didn't just happen to trip himself.
I overlook the crowd that has already forgotten the scene. I walked over to Ella put a hand on her shoulder.
"You okay there? Don't worry about G. He'll be fine as always. You know I pushed him off of this roof by accident once. His lucky self fell on a trampoline."
She huffed.
"But there wasn't a trampoline this time." It's silent again when suddenly Pepper wants to be a cheerleader.
"Hooray! Next game! Unfortunately, Gilinsky is no longer here to join us. I feel like he would have enjoyed his game the most." He looks down at floor while holding his heart.
I don't know what came over me, but whatever it was it felt angry and something similar to wanting to smash someone. With a wrecking ball. In the ball sacks.
It felt fake. His sympathy felt like genuine plastic.
"Survival game! Alright, everyone here will receive a BB gun and a pair of glasses to protect your eyes because we don't want another injury." He sing-songed. I frowned.
"Two separate groups will battle for the most flags inside and outside of the house. You may take the flags by squads, ambushes, or whatever. However, if you manage to take the team flags then your team automatically wins despite how many little flags you capture. Also, you'll be required to wear these bandanas to distinguish the team you're on."
"Gilinsky actually set up the flags so I have no idea were he hid them. The game starts as soon as I say go."
We're being split up into two groups and I take Ella's arm and drag her towards Wilkinson.
The three of us move where they were assembling groups together when Pepper stops us.
"Alright, Ella. You go to Omega. Jack, Sam, to Alpha." We look at each other briefly before going to where Pepper assigned us to.
We stand on the opposite side of Ella's group as we rack our brain to find a way to be together again. I turn to Sam to see if he had come up with ideas, but he's just staring at some girl.
"Sam really?" I say a little irritated with his weakness to distractions.
"Look. They just separated her squad. Her friend is on our team." Sam says pointing at her. I roll my eyes before realizing what Sam was really implying.
I nod at him and we both sneak over to her.
"Wanna swap sides?" Sam asks and the girl looks up to him with a flirtatious smile.
"That depends. What side will I be taking?" She raised an eyebrow and I can't help but roll my eyes again.
"Alpha." I mentally face palmed. Does Sam even realize what she's talking about exactly? She smirks and I step in.
"That group over there. We saw that you guys got split. Wanna switch or nah?" Her smile disappears as she turns to Sam and he's nodding in agreement to my words.
She walks off without another word. Sam nudges my arm as if telling me: I got game.
We search for Ella in the crowd and when we do, we arm ourselves with the BB guns that Pepper was talking about. I help Sam tie his bandana around his upper arm and let Ella tie mine on my head. We wait for Ella to finish tying hers on her pony tail.
"For Jack." Sam says in a low voice.
"For Jack!" Ella and I say in the same tone.
"Go!" The screams of girls pierce my ears. We all start scrambling as BBs come raining on us. I expecting Pepper to at least let us start at checkpoints, but I guess not.
I duck and drag the two down with me. I see Pepper on the top of the stairs firing like it was a d*mn machine gun. He looks concentrated, but he could clearly shot everyone down before they could blink.
He's looking for someone, isn't he? A tan with an ombré Afro comes running up the stairs laughing at Pepper. They handshake and laugh again, but he still looks concentrated.
He's definitely looking for someone, but not that guy.
"Ayeee! Guy with the white chin about to make it rain with 'em bullets!"
The three of us stalk towards the door for escape. I roll on the ground to avoid the bullets being shot at the door.
"Come on." I whisper, but it didn't really matter since my voice was inaudible with all the chaos inside. Sam and I run to the back of the house with Ella way behind.
"What're you doin'?" I turn around to see she's looking at a car parked across the street. At least, that's what I assumed.
"I thought I saw something."
"Okay, watch out." We head to the backyard and hide behind a bush. Sam is looking around to make sure no one sneaks up on us.
"D*mn it. Gilinsky set the flags up. Knowing him, this will be difficult."
Sam is still quiet as Ella sits nervously watching me intently.
"Knowing him, he'd probably only set one flag up to mess with us."
"Think like an idiot, think like an idiot. Where would I put flags?" I whisper to myself.
"I'd say he set them up in a place only we'd know. Since we always come here with him. It must be a place we're familiar with, right?" Sam speaks up.
Ella shrugs. "To be honest, he's a huge troll if you ask me. I think he'd hide every single flag in an obvious place because he just works like that. I bet it's hidden in plain sight."
I exhale a long breath.
"What about the basement?"
"I'd rather not resist going into hell again just to check."
I groan and bury my face in my hands.
"Come on. Let's just go to check." Despite my disapproval, Sam takes my arm and drags us back towards the house.
We were in open territory when a loud bang echoed.
"Sh*t where'd that come from?"
"Oh my hot d*mn." We turned around in search of the culprit.
"Maybe it was from somewhere else."
"Sounds logical. By now, we would've been shot at again." We stalk back towards the house and into the back door.
Surprisingly, Sam opened the door without caution. I slapped him on the side of the head for being careless.
"Ouch, b*tch. What if someone heard that?" I hear a gun reload and we all turn around in alarm.
"Ding! Ding! Ding!"
"Well, it seems like you've just jinxed yourself." I know that voice from somewhere.
"Brooke!" Sam and Ella say in a hushed tone at the same time.
"Nathan? Brooke? What are you doing out here?"
"Brooke, you were invited here? Why didn't you say anything?"
"You guys! What if you got shot?"
"Shot? Hold the f*ck up? They got guns in here?" Nathan jumps back into the conversation, which Sam pulls out his BB gun at.
"Hey, Brooke, can we still hanging out this Friday?" Sam says quickly and everyone turns to look at the two.
"Bippity, bobbipity, back the f*ck up. What is this exactly? You guys are going out? And were you two even invited?" They all start talking at once and I just stop listening altogether.
"Shut up. Let's just go find the flags and shoot that British f*ck in the dick already."
They all silent down and silently nod their heads. D*mn. Finally some peace-
BANG
A shot went off in the living room. We scramble to hide, but the hell do you hide in a kitchen?
The five of us duck behind the island table. Hopefully no one will walk in here.
Sadly, I expected too much of us. The unknown person turned to our direction, heading precisely in our way.
Maybe as well risk it right? If Imma get shot, at least let me fire at least once, right? I jump out of my place and my stamina completely fueled by my adrenaline.
I immediately and randomly shot at where I had guessed the person was standing and a large thud and a metal screech followed after. The pros to playing Call of Duty all day, everyday.
Suddenly, we hear the loud sound of soft stems against the checkered tiles. I turn to see the remains of a broken vase on the floor. Some flowers on the floor looking dead. I look up to where the case had fallen and see a matching vase that was standing filled with flowers and a small flag.
So that's why he came over here. Not because that stupid sh*t actually heard us.
I walked over to the vase just as the other three got up to inspect the place.
"Aye, I think the guy is knocked out."
"Probably from hitting his head on the floor." I muttered.
"Is that blood?" I frustratedly took in a breath before telling them to nicely shut the f*ck up.
"Well, someone's on their period." I know it's Sam just by what he said. If I wasn't so focused on the flag in the vase right now, I'd probably grab it and chug him in the face right now. I decide it's too risky and too much trouble though since it would cause a loud crash and someone would have to drag the body.
I slide the flag out of the vase and a slip on paper along with it.
Aye lucky you motherf*cker yah found the first flag good luck with the rest of them- twinies
This has got to be Jack. The word "twinies" brings up memories. The two of us were so inseparable that people just started calling us "twinies."
"This b*tch." I cringe when I felt hot against my neck.
"What the hell, Wilk. You're so f*cking close. Back up."
Brooke closes up from Wilkinson's opposite side and grabs the note from my sweaty fingers.
"What the-"
"Ahhhh. The typical Gilinsky with tricks up his sleeves. Where is that f*ck boy right now actually?"
The reminder of Gilinsky's accident irritated me. It was fine calling him names, but when someone purposely inflicts on my-
"He's gone."
Brooke turns to her, but Ella gives her a stern look. They stare at each other like they were telepathically sending a message to each other.
"Well..." I scoff and they all turn to me.
"Are you ready to avenge him?"
"No." Nathan flatly says.
"Let's do this." We marched out from our temporary sanctuary with heavy feet. Instantly, a chorus of thundering footsteps come from upstairs and firing. Somehow, we managed to shoot them down and they retreat someplace else in the house. Out of nowhere, I see a blur which I realize is a just BB. It hits the protective glasses over my eyes which I am eternally grateful for now.
Sam kneels down and surprisingly with one shot, the person surrenders, drops their weapon, and running away.
The impact of the BB made my head jerk back in a lame attempt of avoiding it. I'm faced with the ceiling when I notice another flag hanging on the chandelier.
"Hell. How'd no one notice that?" Nathan whimpers as Brooke pulls him toward it. She forces his hands in a cup position. She steps on his hand and leaps up to grab the flag.
She stares at the flag for a awhile, then passes it to me.
"It's for you."
I raise an eyebrow and take it from her.
Jack, I'm really rooting for yah, man. I literally set up the flags to your advantage. And if this isn't Jack then please give this to Jack so he'll win and forgive me.
My heart warms a little bit in the fact that he actually wanted my forgiveness.
"What advantage? I feel really offended that I'm not included in this." Sam's hot breath is blown on my neck again. I elbow his chest in attempt to ward him off of me.
A light bulb goes off in my head.
"The first flag we found was in a vase. Sam, we broke a vase the first time we came here. This one was found on the ceiling. Do you remember what we did-"
"We tried to use this slingshot to break the chandelier... Ahhh remember how pissed Pepper was at first. Then, he joined in." Sam chuckles.
"So you're saying that he set up the flags in a memorable place? He's a deep. I'll give him that." Brooke crossed her arms.
"What are we standing around for? Let's get this stupid flags and get it of this war."
"... You realize that when this party ends, you'll have to nurture G back to health, right?" Sam says in a perky tone. I hadn't thought about that either, but now that it was brought up, I guess so.
I turned to face Ella. By the look in her face, I could tell her world just came crashing down.
AUTHORS NOTE
Officially done with this chappie! I realize how slowly I'm updating but it's because of finals! :( but on the bright side, finals will be over Friday so... Expect another update soon?