The Last Girl (8 page)

Chapter 16: A Day with Luke, Finally

I take my card and slide it into the computer. A pop up comes on the screen and tells me to enter a player name. I enter “LastGirl”, just to be ironic. Luke laughs at mine and enters his to be “TheLukeator.”

I look up at him, “You’re kidding right?”

He shrugs and smiles, “Ever since I was 13 that has been my player name.”

We enter a tight room with a lot of vests hanging on hooks on the walls.

“Same team?” Luke asks me, handing me a vest.

“Hell no!”

He laughs and we slip the vests on. Mine is big, bulky, and bright red. The targets are on the back, the stomach, and the shoulders. We scan our cards with the guns and our names flash up on the guns’ screens. I walk up to the red team’s door and wait for other people on my team to be ready as I fiddle with my gun. It was a clear plastic in the shape of a handgun. How realistic.

I look over at
Luke in his blue vest at his door and he mouths, “It’s on.”

“Attention!” a woman’s clear voice over the loud speaker announces. “You will have exactly 60 seconds to explore the maze before we turn on the guns.
After that you have ten minutes to get as many points as possible. Every time you shoot someone, their vest will flash green and their gun will be turned off for ten seconds. You will get ten points for hitting the stomach or back targets and fifteen points for the shoulders. If you hit someone on your own team, ten points will be deducted. Each team has a base on either side of the room. Every time a person from the other team hits your target they will gain 50 points, so keep it well guarded. Please no hitting, shooting people in the eyes, physical contact, or covering the targets on your vests. Please be civil and keep language appropriate. Thank you, and have fun!”

There is a loud buzzing sound and the doors are pulled open. Even though the different team
s’ doors were right next to each other, when you enter the room there is a big wall separating them. I look into the deep black room as people from my team, who have obviously played here before, run in quickly. The room is filled with barriers and walls to hide behind. A few of the walls had mirrors on them, so the really skilled players can shoot people using the reflection. Some of the walls and barriers had cut outs in them, making it hard to tell which were mirrors and which weren’t. Everything on the left side of the room was painted red and everything on the right was blue. So the blue team’s base is somewhere on the right and mine is somewhere on the left. Each one was probably over flowing with people trying to protect them. There were three towers on each side as well, so people could hit others from above.

This is definitely the nicest Laser Tag I have ever been to.

On the wall in front of me is a big green, digital clock counting down. I have 50 seconds left to find a place to take cover. I need to get to a tower.

I run quickly to the tower farthest away from me, figuring the others were probably already full. I
nearly bump into my fellow teammates who were hiding up against walls. I run up the ramp into the dark castle. The ramp zigzagged and I feel nervous turning a corner every few seconds, afraid I would run right into someone coming the other way. After 6 turns, I finally get to the top and see four teenage boys already positioned at the windows of the tower, ready to shoot. They glance over at me and quickly look back out their windows. One boy is standing in the middle of the circular floor staring at the entrance. He was probably the lookout and was going to shoot anyone trying to get in the tower from the blue team.

I turn around and run half way back down the ramp. I lean up against the wall next to the third turn on the ramp and try to make myself as unseen as possible. A mirror is in front of me so I can see around the corner. I can use this to my advantage.

I wait a few seconds before I hear the woman’s voice count down from ten on the loud speaker. “Three, two, one, Go!”

My vest flashes green and my gun turns on. The entire room flashes as well, as the black lights come on, making the invisible paint spread all over the walls appear. I fire at the wall to make sure it works and a red beam come
s out of the end, hitting a little under the spot I wanted it to. Okay, so I have to aim high. Shouts and footsteps echo off the bare walls in the giant room.

After waiting a few seconds, I practice aiming in the mirror. I pick a spot I want to hit and aim. My laser bounces off the mirror and in the reflection I see it hit where
I wanted it to. I do this three more times and always hit the same spot on the wall. Awesome!

I am about to try a fourth time when I see a glowing vest appear in the mirror. It was blue. I quickly aim and fire as he is about to turn the corner. His vest flashes green and he looks down shocked. He turns around and runs away from the tower.

I smile to myself as the number on my gun changes from 0 to 10. Come at me, Luke.

Seconds later, the boy who was lookout in the tower comes down the ramp.

“Where did that guy go?” he asks.

“I shot him.”

He looks me up and down distastefully and says, “Why are you here?”

I am confused at why he asks me this but I answer anyway, “I thought maybe you could use my help. In case a big group comes so I can get a few and you can get the rest.”

“Who said I needed your help?”

What a jerk, he thinks I am stealing all these points he could be getting. “I’m sorry. We can switch places if you want.”

He nods and I walk quickly up the ramp. The others were still at their posts in the windows shooting constantly. I wonder how many points they have already. They don’t notice me this time as I position myself in the middle of the tower.

About a minute later, I hear the jerk kid yell, “Get him!”

Next thing I know, a guy with a buzz cut in blue runs from the ramp towards me, aiming his gun. I quickly fire at his stomach and he flashes green and then black. He looks up at me surprised. Luke.

“Wow, you are good.”

I smile at him, “I warned you.”

He stares at me a few seconds. Not knowing what else to do, I stare questioningly back. Then, a ding sounds from his chest and his vest flashes back to life. He raises his gun to shoot me again, but I am quicker and his vest once again goes dark.

“I can’t believe you just tried to shoot me in my own tower! After I already shot you!” I yell.

He shrugs, “It was worth a shot.”

He stands there for a few more seconds and I have to shoot him again. “Get out of here!”

He laughs and runs down the ramp. I follow and find the Jerk.

“I thought you said you didn’t need help?” I say sarcastically.

I glares at me for a while and sighs, “I underestimated you. Sorry.”

I smile. At least he apologized. “Let’s switch back.”

He nods and starts to walk up the ramp. Before turning the corner he says, “I’m ‘TheDestroyer’ by the way.”

I laugh and say, “I’m ‘LastGirl.’”

He nods and I watch him disappear. I feel a huge hand grab my waist and spin me around. I gasp as
Luke shoots me in the shoulder, gaining 15 points. “I told you to leave!”

His shoulders shake as he laughs, “Like I was going to listen.”

Suddenly, my eyes burn as the bright light from my vest reappears. Before Luke can do anything, I shoot him in the shoulder, and claim 15 points for myself.

I smile happily as he says, “I will be back,” and takes off running.

We’ll see about that.

Six minutes later, I slide the vest over my head and hang it back on the hook.

“Let’s see how we did,”
Luke says as he grabs my wrist. I follow him to the front room where we entered our names and look at the three big screens over the door. Out of 60 people playing in that round I got 21
st
place with 125 points and Luke got 17
th
with 200 points. I notice “TheDestroyer” got 27
th
with 100 points. Nice.

“How did you beat me?” I ask
Luke.

“Well if you had actually bothered to leave the tower, you might have gotten more points.”

I nod, “You’re right. There isn’t much action in the tower.”

He laughs, mumbling, “That’s what she said” and I smack him on the arm.

“Oh please,” I roll my eyes.

“Want to play again?”

I nod excitedly, “Maybe I can beat you this time.”

“I was thinking we could be on the same team. Like kick butt together,” he suggests.

“I’m fine with that.”

“But you have to promise that we will stick together the whole time and not hide out in a tower. Actually try to get their base?” he sticks out his pinky.

I laugh and wrap my pinky around his, “Promise.”

He pays for another round and we get two red vests this time. We slide in our cards and wait at the door. As soon as it opens, we run right to the wall on the border of the blue and red sides. We were gonna get some action.

The lights flash and I see tons of vests flash green immediately. Luke and I charge to the blue side and shoot everyone we see blue.

“Look out!” he yells and shoots someone behind me.

“Thanks!” I yell back.

I follow him because he knows where the base is. I
see Luke’s vest flicker green and tug his arm.

“I’ve been shot
!” he yells.

I push him into a corner and cover him while his vest recharges. I shoot about five people. When he is finally ready, we keep going. Shooting more people, and getting shot some more, we finally make it to the base. As soon as I see it I aim but
Luke pushes me against a wall.

“What?”

He looks at me for a while and I want him so badly to kiss me right then and there. We were literally centimeters apart. Close enough for me to feel his chest move as he breathes against mine and close enough for me to smell his Axe cologne.

“You can’t shoot it yet. They will know we are here. We have to get to a really hidden place where they won’t be able to find us for a while.”

I gulp and follow him. We make our way to the side of the base target and hide in a narrow passage in between two walls. I liked it because it brought me closer to Luke. We kneeled down and leaned our backs against each other’s so we were literally watching each other’s back.

“Now.”

We shoot at the base sideways and it flashes over and over again. I can see the number on my gun shooting up as I heard Luke laughing behind me. I hear people yell in confusion, wondering who is hitting their target so much and I am amazed no one has found us yet.

I see someone on my side near the target do a double take at us. I shoot him and he runs away. But I have a bad feeling he will come back. A few more shots to the target and sure enough he is back with an army of blue vests.
Luke and I try to crawl our way to the other end of the two walls but see another army trap us. Both our vests are dark and we are about to admit defeat when there is a loud ding and the lights come on.

“Time’s up!”

Laughing, Luke and I stand up. We walk to the door and pull off our vests eager to see our scores. We run to the screen and I see “LastGirl” with 1,015 points in third place. “TheLukeator” has 1,000 points in fourth place.

“HA! I win!” I yell at
Luke.

He grabs me in a headlock playfully and says, “I let you win.”

I tug away laughing, “Sure.”

“Fine, let’s have a celebration. Let’s go out. Since you won it’s your treat, right?”

I laugh, “Well, if I am paying we will have to go back to McDonald’s.”

Chapter 17: The Last Day

I wake up yet again to “Smile.” I breathe in the smell of Luke, thinking that this is my last day at his house. It’s the second to last night at his house before the second auction.

I take a shower to get ready for school. I forget to bring my clothes in the bathroom with me, so I walk into my room in just a towel, only to see
Luke still lying in my bed.

“
Luke!” I grip the towel tighter to me.

He looks up, still half asleep. He sees me and his eyes flash open
. Well, he’s awake now.

“Sorry!” he calls laughing and getting up quickly. “I was so tired I fell back asleep.”

After he leaves, I get ready quickly and soon enough I am in the car on the way to school. The car ride is a little awkward after this morning’s incident.

“I’m really sorry about that,” he says again.

I laugh, “It’s fine, really. I was in a towel.”

We get to school and I see my two best friends talking at my locker for the first time in a week.

“Hey,” Daisy says.

“Where were you all this weekend?” Jessica asks, putting her hand
s on her hips.

So I tell them every detail, from being with
Hayden to Laser Tag with Luke.

“Wait. You made out with
Hayden Sharpe?” Jessica nearly screams for the third time and I have to quiet her.

“Yes,” I whisper.

“How lucky are you?”

“Hey! You can’t say that while you are dating my brother!” Daisy says to Jessica.

“I am just saying. You know how many girls would kill to do that?”

The day goes by slowly and uneventfully. I sit in the library alone at lunch, not wanting to see Lance. I go home with Luke and spend three o’clock to nine o’clock working on homework. Stupid teachers, taking time away from my last day with the hot Luke Parker.

Without knocking, I open the door to his room.

“One last movie night for the hell of it?” I ask.

He smiles and makes room for me on the bed.

“Why are you saying last? You can still come over after the second auction is done and watch movies with me,” he says logging onto Netflix.

I smile and put my head on his shoulder just because I can. “I would like that.”

For some strange reason, I let him talk me into watching “Paranormal Activity.”

“Only because it’s your last night,” he says clicking it.

“I thought you said it wasn’t really the last?”

“Sh,” he says jokingly.

I make myself watch the whole thing without falling asleep or crying. Whenever I wanted to, I would breathe deeply and remind myself that this was probably the last time I will smell his scent. He probably didn’t even mean what he said about this not being the last night. He was just being the nice guy he is.

87 minutes later, I am shivering.

“I hope you know I won’t be able to go to sleep tonight, thank you.”

He laughs and says in a baby voice, “I will protect you don’t worry.”

“Oh no,” I mock back. “By the way you protected me in Laser Tag I wouldn’t say I am going to survive if a ghost comes and pulls me out of bed.”

“Harsh,” he lies down and pats next to him, “Come on.”

I roll my eyes and lie down too. It was so easy to do this now. Last week I had never even talked to him before. Now my head was on his chest like it has been the past couple nights in a row. Maybe I don’t like Luke in a crush sort of way. Maybe I like him in a brotherly way. No, wait, I like him in a crush sort of way. I would be stupid to deny it at this point.

“Jenna, I…” he starts.

“You what?”

There is a pause. A long one. “I’m going to…” he stops again and sighs, “miss you.”

I feel my heart pound. Yup, in a crush sort of way. “Why? I will see you at school. And we can still hang out, right?”

I feel him nod in the darkness, “Yeah, but I mean just having you here
, with me all the time.”

I feel myself blush, “I’m going to miss you too,
Luke.”

I’m going to be sad when I don’t go home with him from school tomorrow. It will be weird. I feel him rub my back a little and wish once again that he would kiss me. But he doesn’t. And I fall asleep, longing to feel his lips on mine. I promise to myself that this won’t be the last time I lie in bed with
Luke.

This isn’t over.